Terrorism Studies Commons^™

Hilton Garden Inn Emergency Operations Analysis And Proposal, Mikaela Mcdaniel

CUP Undergraduate Research

This project is assigned as a senior practicum by Concordia University for seniors to demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired throughout their college education in pursuit of a degree in Homeland Security. The ability to identify and assess threat and risk in a company’s emergency operations is a definite demonstration of a student’s acquired knowledge and skill. Such an assessment was done for the Hilton Garden Inn located in Corvallis, Oregon. Through assessment of their current emergency operations, concerns were found regarding their lack of employee training, updates to the emergency operations plan, and documents. This project outlines the concerns …

Marion County, Oregon Integration Of School Emergency Preparedness, Mitch Sechler

CUP Undergraduate Research

Collaboration between schools and emergency managers is paramount in addressing the whole community approach to emergency management for increasing preparedness (FEMA, 2011). As every disaster is local, a unified and collaborative approach should be taken to ensure schools are not a hindrance but rather an asset for preparedness, response and recovery efforts. Schools must have ownership and accountability for ensuring they are prepared for emergencies. Additionally, local emergency management agencies with their capabilities, capacity and knowledge must take action in response to the opportunity to build partnerships and expanded their efforts to create a resilient community.

Does “See Something, Say Something” Work?, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute

Do “See Something, Say Something” programs work? The evidence strongly suggests that in the specific case of public surface transportation, the answer is “yes.” Transport staff and passengers play an important role in the prevention of terrorist attacks. By discovering and reporting suspicious objects, they have prevented more than 10 percent of all terrorist attacks on public surface transportation. Detection rates are even better in the economically advanced countries where more than 14 percent of the attempts are detected—and have been improving. This MTI Security Perspective analyzes detections since 1970 and suggests that “See Something, Say Something” campaigns are worthwhile.

The Logic Behind Suicide Terrorism And Its Connection To Islam, Sarah Minnick

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze suicide terrorism and to examine the logic behind it. The thesis will examine recent Islamic suicide terrorism and why it is so successful. This paper will also attempt to define suicide terrorism and explain how it functions.

The first half of this thesis reviews a short history of suicide terrorism to show the logic behind it. It will begin with the Old Testament and continue throughout history until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. This thesis will discuss the motivation for terrorist organizations to …

Counterterrorist Profiling, The Self, And The Problem Of Open And Quiet Skies, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Psychological profiling supporting counterterrorism may be based on an invalid presumption.

The Longevity Of American Terrorists: Factors Affecting Sustainability, Brent L. Smith, Jeff Gruenewald, Katie Ratcliff, Paxton Roberts, Madeline Brice

Research Projects

This project was an outgrowth of two previous NIJ projects being conducted under NIJ’s Research and Evaluation on Domestic Radicalization to Violent Extremism program area. The first of these projects, which ended in 2015, focused upon testing one of the most prominent theoretical models of extremist radicalization -- identity and framing theory. One of the findings from examination of this theoretical model is consistent with the notion that “people want to be associated with a winner.” Recruitment and commitment, crucial to the lifespan of any terrorist movement, improve when the movement has been able to commit successful terrorist incidents (Freilich, …

Qualitative Profiling Of The Humoral Immune Response Elicited By Rvsv-Δg-Ebov-Gp Using A Systems Serology Assay, Domain Programmable Arrays, Mariano Sanchez-Lockhart, Daniel S. Reyes, Jeanette C. Gonzalez, Karla Y. Garcia, Erika C. Villa, Bradley P. Pfeffer, John C. Trefry, Jeffrey R. Kugelman, Margaret L. Pitt, Gustavo Palacios

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

Development of an effective vaccine became a worldwide priority after the devastating 2013–2016 Ebola disease outbreak. To qualitatively profile the humoral response against advanced filovirus vaccine candidates, we developed Domain Programmable Arrays (DPA), a systems serology platform to identify epitopes targeted after vaccination or filovirus infection. We optimized the assay using a panel of well-characterized monoclonal antibodies. After optimization, we utilized the system to longitudinally characterize the immunoglobulin (Ig) isotype-specific responses in non-human primates vaccinated with rVSV-ΔG-EBOV-glycoprotein (GP). Strikingly, we observed that, although the IgM response was directed against epitopes over the whole GP, the IgG and IgA responses were …

Train Wrecks And Track Attacks: An Analysis Of Attempts By Terrorists And Other Extremists To Derail Trains Or Disrupt Rail Transportation, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute

Attempts to sabotage rails and deliberately derail passenger trains have a long history in conventional and guerrilla warfare as well as during some particularly bitter labor disputes in the past. Since the 1970s, political fanatics have become a major adversary. Terrorists have sought to derail trains to achieve high-casualty events, while anarchists and issue oriented extremists have attacked rails to attract attention to their causes and impose economic damage. In this report, we examine the more than a thousand attempts to derail trains and to attack rail infrastructure to discern overall patterns and trends. We then look at four subsets …

Safety In Sanctuaries: A Threat Assessment Of Omaha Churches, Matthew Spicka

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Churches are a soft target for people with malicious intentions. They are filled with a large amount of people, including large groups of children and elderly folk. Religions also encourage people to be friendlier towards outsiders, which could result in the church goers lowering their defenses and being more vulnerable to attacks. Church security teams are also primarily composed of volunteers, which means there is limited experience in security protocol and that could lead to limited incentive to perform security tasks thoroughly. Churches are a crucial part of the spiritual wellness of a community. All these factors make churches a …

The Path To Terrorism: The Islamic State And Its Recruitment Strategies, Laura Turner

Honors Scholar Theses

The Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS, a terrorist organization that commits acts of such brutality that even Al Qaeda has denounced it, has recruited approximately 21,000 foreign fighters from countries all over the world. Why is this group so appealing? What has made it so effective at recruitment? What methods does it employ to recruit so many individuals? This paper seeks to answer these questions by examining the recruitment strategies of ISIS. Case studies of individual foreign fighters are analyzed to assess the strength of three explanations of ISIS’ recruitment methods that dominate the current literature: strategic targeting, online …

An Analysis Of Vehicle Ramming As A Terrorist Threat, Brian Michael Jenkins, Bruce R. Butterworth

Mineta Transportation Institute

Ramming attacks in which drivers deliberately plow their vehicles into public gatherings, pedestrians, or bicyclists, have become an increasingly common terrorist tactic. This MTI Security Perspective, by Brian Michael Jenkins and Bruce R. Butterworth analyzes 78 vehicular attacks between January 1973 and April 2018. According to their analysis, it is a growing trend, and a frightening one. The 78 attacks led to 281 deaths and around 1,200 injuries. Sixteen attacks took place between 1973 and 2007, while 62 took place between 2008 and April 2018. Thirty of these occurred in 2017 and the first four months of 2018 alone.

First Responder Preparedness Campaign For The Olympia Fire Department, Gabe Padukiewicz

CUP Undergraduate Research

The city of Olympia, Washington rests just inland of one of the biggest tectonic plate fault lines in all of North America, this is what is known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Scientists believe that it is only a matter of time until there is a massive mega-quake due to the tectonic plates friction as we can read, “the plates are stuck, and the stress will build up until the fault suddenly breaks. This last happened in 1700: the result was an earthquake on the order of magnitude 9.0, followed within minutes by a large tsunami—much like the earthquake and …

Terrorism Risk Insurance: Is It Really Working?, Rebecca Demarest

Honors Projects in Mathematics

This paper investigates terrorism risk insurance in the United States as well as those programs offered in other countries throughout the world. In the United States, particular attention is devoted to the interaction of government with private insurers to maintain an effective insurance program. An analysis is performed comparing terrorism insurance before and after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The paper looks into actual terrorist events that have occurred focusing on 56 world-wide events that are associated with property losses greater than $10 million. This paper not only investigates the losses that were incurred …

Clark County Fire & Rescue: Partnership Proposal, Samuel Gillenwater

CUP Undergraduate Research

(HLS) has evolved to combat our nations threats. Emergency preparedness is one area that must remain in a continuous state of increasing improvement. Federal entities, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have developed hundreds of plans, policies, and procedures to mitigate a wide range of emergency situations from natural disasters to terrorism. This paper will address the collective approach our federal agencies want to see at the local level, and more specifically how first responders can combine efforts to deliver a more effective service. First Responders are the foundation to our nations stability and mitigating elements.

Clark County …

Emergency Action Plan For Lakeview Recreation Center, Jade Fessler

CUP Undergraduate Research

The objective of the Lakeview Recreation Center Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Action Plan Standard, 29 CFR 1910.38 and to prepare employees for dealing with emergency situations. This plan is designed to minimize injury, loss of human life and company resources by training employees, procuring, and maintaining necessary equipment and assigning responsibilities. This plan addresses all emergencies that may reasonably be expected to occur at Lakeview Recreation Center.

Living Water Church: Emergency Action Plan, Angela Hage

CUP Undergraduate Research

Fires, lockdowns, and active shooters are all too common in today’s world. In June 2017, a house in Waterbury Connecticut caught on fire while service was being held in the church adjacent to it (Stewart, 2017). In March 2018, a church in Mississippi was placed on lockdown while law enforcement officials used the grounds as a staging area during an active investigation (WAPT News, 2018). And in November 2017, a gunman opened fire inside First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Twenty-six people lost their lives, and many more were gravely wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in an American …

Genetic Characterization Of Enterovirus A71 Circulating In Africa, Maria Dolores Fernandez-Garcia, Romain Volle, Marie-Line Joffret, Serge Alain Sadeuh-Mba, Ionela Gouandjika-Vasilache, Ousmane Kebe, Michael R. Wiley, Manasi Majumdar, Etienne Simon-Loriere, Anavaj Sakuntabhai, Gustavo Palacios, Javier Martin, Francis Delpeyroux, Kader Ndiaye, Maël Bessaud

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

We analyzed whole-genome sequences of 8 enterovirus A71 isolates (EV-A71). We confirm the circulation of genogroup C and the new genogroup E in West Africa. Our analysis demonstrates wide geographic circulation and describes genetic exchanges between EV-A71 and autochthonous EV-A that might contribute to the emergence of pathogenic lineages.

Genogroup E was previously identified and characterized only on the basis of VP1 analysis (3). This study confirms the circulation in West and Central Africa of EV-A71 isolates belonging to the new genogroup E on the basis of the characterization of whole genomes. The divergence among isolates indicates that this genogroup …

Creativity In Two Types Of Violent Groups, Laramie Sproles

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Terrorism can be defined as a type of ideologically motivated violence that arises during asymmetrical conflict and has far-reaching psychological effects beyond the immediate target. This project seeks to isolate and examine one element of terrorism: ideologically-motivated violence. While malevolent innovation has been written about extensively over the past five years, little is known about correlates of creativity in actual violent individuals. At the broadest level, the current project focuses on personality profiles and creative problem solving of two different types of violent individuals. The goal of this study is to examine individual differences that characterize two types of violent …

Genomic Characterisation Of Human Monkeypox Virus In Nigeria, Ousmane Faye, Catherine B. Pratt, Martin Faye, Gamou Fall, Joseph A. Chitty, Moussa M. Diagne, Michael R. Wiley, Adesola F. Yinka-Ogunleye, Sola Aruna, Ebitimitula N. Etebu, Neni Aworabhi, Dimie Ogoina, Wari Numbere, Nwando Mba, Gustavo Palacios, Amadou A. Sall, Chikwe Ihekweazu

University of Nebraska's National Strategic Research Institute: Publications

Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is a large, double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Orthopox genus in the family Poxviridae. First identified in 1958, MPXV has caused sporadic human outbreaks in central and west Africa, with a mortality rate between 1% and 10%.1 Viral genomes from west Africa and the Congo Basin separate into two clades, the latter being more virulent.2 Recently, MPXV outbreaks have occurred in Sudan (2005), the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo (2009), and the Central African Republic (2016).3 A suspected outbreak of human MPXV was reported to WHO on Sept 26, 2017, by …

Studi Strategik, Kajian Stratejik Ketahanan Nasional Dan Perkembangannya Di Indonesia, Wan Usman

Jurnal Kajian Stratejik Ketahanan Nasional

This paper concern about the meaning of strategic studies, definition of strategy and its developing meaning up to now. The level of strategic studies in the world generally for master degree and doctor degree. Up to now the objective of strategic study are the strategy to solve the problem of solving the threat of peace, and strategy of solving conflict. In Indonesia, strategic studies known as national resilience, which is to solve the threat of national prosperity and security. The method of solving the problem in research are multidiscipline, interdiscipline and transdiscipline. Finally this paper explain about the construction of …