8400 Baltimore Ave., Suite 250, College Park, MD 20740
On Wednesday, October 18th from 2:00 - 3:00pm, START Visiting Scholar, James A. Piazza, will give a lecture titled "Transnational Ethnic Diasporas and the Survival of Terrorist Organizations" at START headquarters. Piazza will address the following questions: what effects do transnational ethnic diaspora communities have on terrorist organizations they are linked with? Are diaspora-linked terrorist movements more resilient and longer-lived? What types of diaspora support affect terrorist survival? Finally, do diasporas affect peaceful resolutions of terrorist campaigns? Using data on 652 terrorist movements during the period 1970 to 2007, his study finds that movements linked to transnational ethnic diasporas are more resilient. They are significantly less likely to end, particularly through counterterrorism force, and this seems to be a product of diaspora provision of material support rather than diaspora political and propaganda efforts. Finally, diasporas seem to have a negative impact on political resolution of terrorist campaigns as diaspora-linked terrorist movements are also significantly less likely to end by entering into a political process. The event is free and open to the public but RSVP's are appreciated.
James A. Piazza is Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science at Penn State. He has authored over 30 publications on terrorism and his research investigates a number of topics, including the economic, social and political roots of terrorism, the interplay between repression, human rights and terrorism, regime type and terrorism, religion and terrorism, the relationship between state weakness and failure and terrorism and natural resources and the narcotics trade and terrorism. His most current work examines how engagement in criminal activities affects terrorist group longevity, foreign military interventions and terrorism and ethnic diaspora groups and terrorism. At Penn State he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on terrorism and heads a new Counterterrorism option for the online Masters of Professional Studies in Homeland Security degree program.