Multimedia

 
Escalation Management in Gray Zone Crises: The Proxy Factor

In this video, Egle E. Murauskaite and Devin H. Ellis brief the insights from the Escalation Management project with a broad audience of U.S. experts and security practitioners in an online seminar hosted by NSI, Inc. Drawing on the International Crisis Behavior (ICB) database, they discuss the link between proxy involvement and the use of violence in international crises. Their findings challenge the popular belief that the use of proxies is a good way to minimize costs for a state involved in a conflict, and point to the broad escalation potential in crises involving proxies. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.

This event is the latest in NSI’s SMA Speaker Series, which features leading experts discussing major challenges facing Combatant Commands, allies, and the world. Event archives include: audio or video recordings when available, written summaries of presentations, and speaker bios and briefing materials. If you would like to sign up to receive event invitations for the SMA Speaker Series, contact Nicole Peterson at npeterson@nsiteam.com.

A Tale of Two Caliphates

In this video, START Director William Braniff offers a virtual lecture titled "A Tale of Two Caliphates,” comparing and contrasting al-Qa’ida’s global jihadist agenda with that of the Islamic State, considering the implications of the competition between the two, and offering a grand-strategic response to the enduring threat posed by both. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government. Please send an email to start-events@umd.edu to receive a link to a recording with closed captions.

Swarms of Mass Destruction: Are Drone Swarms Weapons of Mass Destruction?

In this video, WMD Warfare and Drone Swarms Analyst Zachary Kallenborn provides a virtual talk on “Swarms of Mass Destruction: Are Drone Swarms Weapons of Mass Destruction?” moderated by START researcher Steve Sin. From the United States to China and Spain, numerous states are developing drone swarms. The technology has the potential to become a new weapon of destruction akin to chemical weapons, non-contagious biological weapons, and potentially low-yield nuclear weapons. Armed, fully autonomous drone swarms can bypass any arbitrary threshold for "mass destruction" and the limits of autonomous decision-making coupled with the complexity of swarms means the weapons cannot effectively discriminate between civilian and military targets. In considering traditional WMD roles, drone swarms could be effective mass casualty weapons, but are not likely to be effective strategic deterrents. Drone swarms could be useful anti-access/ area-denial and assassination weapons, depending on context. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government. 

How Did 9/11 Affect Terrorism Research? A Look at Disciplines and Gender

In this video, University of Essex Senior Lecturer Dr. Brian J. Phillips provides a virtual talk on “How Did 9/11 Affect Terrorism Research? A Look at Disciplines and Gender.” Terrorism research increased markedly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Beyond increasing, how has research on this subject changed in the past 20 years? I examine data on more than 6,000 academic articles on terrorism between 1970 and 2019, and the more than 1,600 authors of multiple articles. Several interesting findings emerge. (1) The post-9/11 proliferation of terrorism research does not appear to be winding down. (2) The proportion of terrorism research in terrorism and conflict journals decreased after 9/11, with other types of journals starting to publish a great deal of terrorism research. (3) Psychologists became the dominant subgroup of terrorism researchers after 9/11, displacing Political Scientists, although this trend appears to have now reversed. (4) The proportion of female scholars increased substantially after 9/11, outpacing the rise in academia generally. The seems to be at least in part because scholars new to the field after 9/11 were often from relatively gender-balanced disciplines such as psychology. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government. Please send an email to start-events@umd.edu to receive a link to a recording with closed captions.

ICVE Symposium – Getting to the Source: The Importance and Challenges of Field Research on Violent Extremism

In this video, presenters Alastair Reed, Haroro Ingram and Sukanya Podder speak on a RESOLVE Network Forum panel about “Getting to the Source: The Importance and Challenges of Field Research on Violent Extremism.” This is the final event for the International Symposium on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (ICVE) in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a multi-disciplinary symposium that aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the region and around the world to promote collaboration, present research findings, and discuss policy implication on preventing/countering violent extremism. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.

ICVE Symposium – P/CVE between Security and Resilience: Narratives, Social Media and Politics (2)

In this video, presenters Hafiza Nur Adeen, Avdi Smajljaj, Yuliyanto Yuliyanto and Donny Michael speak on a panel moderated by Amy Pate about the second session of “P/CVE between Security and Resilience: Narratives, Social Media and Politics.” This is the fifth event for the International Symposium on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (ICVE) in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a multi-disciplinary symposium that aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the region and around the world to promote collaboration, present research findings, and discuss policy implication on preventing/countering violent extremism. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.

Presentations include:

Hafiza Nur Adeen (Student Scholar Presenter), Mapping Small and Fuzzy Networks of Malaysian Islamist Radical Militancy Through Social Network Analysis and Geo-Spatial: An Investigation of Domestic and Foreign Connections from 2012 to 2020 Avdi Smajljaj, Machiavelising The Transcendental: Employing The Transcendental Into Pursuing Of Political Objectives Based On Principles Of Realism, As Ideological Drivers Of Current Violent Extremism And Terrorism Having Reference To Religion Donny Michael and Yuliyanto Yuliyanto, Deradicalization of Terrorist Prisoners through Individual Treatment
ICVE Symposium – P/CVE between Security and Resilience: Narratives, Social Media and Politics (1)

In this video, presenters Hafiz Iman, Nicky C. Cardenas, Min Thang and Abubakar Usman Abubakar speak on a panel moderated by Amy Pate about “P/CVE between Security and Resilience: Narratives, Social Media and Politics.” This is the fourth event for the International Symposium on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (ICVE) in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a multi-disciplinary symposium that aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the region and around the world to promote collaboration, present research findings, and discuss policy implication on preventing/countering violent extremism. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.

Presentations include:

Hafiz Iman (Student Scholar Presenter), Uncovering unknown perpetrators in Attacks on The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) using Spatial and Temporal Filtering Techniques Nicky C. Cardenas, Validity of Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) Strategies in South East Asia: ASEAN’s Centrality on Regional Peace-building and Security Min Thang, Ethnic and Religious Nationalism: A Historical Study of Ethnic Conflict in Myanmar Abubakar Usman Abubakar, Brethren in Terror: A Comparative Analysis of the Digital Campaigns of ISIS and Boko Haram
ICVE Symposium – Women and Violent Extremism: Views from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh

In this video, presenters Nuri Widiastuti Veronika, Lailufar Yasmin and Dina Zaman speak on a panel moderated by Nur Adillah Omar about “Women and Violent Extremism: Views from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.” This is the third event for the International Symposium on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (ICVE) in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a multi-disciplinary symposium that aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the region and around the world to promote collaboration, present research findings, and discuss policy implication on preventing/countering violent extremism. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.

Presentations include:

Nuri Widiastuti Veronika, The Vicious Utopia: Indonesian Government Gender Specific Policy for Ex-ISIS Women Returnees Lailufar Yasmin, Women as Agents of Violence in Bangladesh—The Perks of Being Wallflowers Dina Zaman, Enabling Extremism
ICVE Symposium – Future of P/CVE Governance in Malaysia: Policy, Education, and Cultural Perspectives

In this video, presenters Nur Adillah Omar, Elmira Akhmetova, Muthanna bin Saari, Raja Muhammad Khairul Akhtar Bin Raja Mohd Naguib and Amelia Yuliana Abd Wahab speak on a panel moderated by Hafiz Iman about “Future of P/CVE Governance in Malaysia: Policy, Education, and Cultural Perspectives.” This is the second event for the International Symposium on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (ICVE) in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a multi-disciplinary symposium that aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the region and around the world to promote collaboration, present research findings, and discuss policy implication on preventing/countering violent extremism. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.

Presentations include:

Nur Adillah Omar (Student Scholar Presenter), Profile of Individual Radicalization in Malaysia Elmira Akhmetova, A Framework of Good Governance in Regulating Religious Extremism in Malaysia Muthanna bin Saari, Multiculturalism as a Driver in Preventing Radicalisation Process Raja Muhammad Khairul Akhtar Bin Raja Mohd Naguib, Mechanisms of Policy Implementation of Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) in Malaysia Amelia Yuliana Abd Wahab, Revisiting History of Malaysian Higher Education and Violent Extremism: The Universities And University Colleges Act To Counter Armed Communist In Second Emergency
ICVE Symposium - Opening Remarks & Panel: U.S. and Malaysia Efforts to Counter Violent Extremism

In this video, Rector of International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak and U.S. Ambassador Kamala Shirin Lakhdir provide opening remarks to the first day of the International Symposium on Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (ICVE) in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a multi-disciplinary symposium that aims to bring together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from the region and around the world to promote collaboration, present research findings, and discuss policy implication on preventing/countering violent extremism. Their remarks are followed by a project overview from Deputy Dean of Academic and Research ISTAC-IIUM Danial Bin Mohd Yusof and START Executive Director Amy Pate, as well as a panel on “U.S. and Malaysia Efforts to Counter Violent Extremism” featuring U.S. State Department representative Barbara Paoletti, Principal Assistant Director of the Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Divison (E8) Normah Ishak and CFS IIUM and Counterterrorism Analyst Ahmad El Muhammady. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of START, the University of Maryland or the United States government.