FEATURED RESEARCH
The number of terrorist attacks and resulting deaths worldwide decreased in 2016, but an increase in activity in Iraq and the ongoing violence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) curbed the reduction, according to a new report from START. Though the vast majority of attacks (87%) and deaths (97%) occurred in the Middle East & North Africa, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, 2016 was the deadliest year in Western Europe with respect to terrorist attacks since 1988. Read more.
CVE-tailored community policing is key to protecting communities at risk for violent radicalization
Adopting a community policing model is a necessary approach to better protect and serve communities at risk for violent radicalization, according to a new START study. The independent research study -- a process evaluation of Los Angeles Police Department’s CVE-tailored community policing strategy – concluded that the community policing approach helped humanize officers and shifted attitudes of immigrant and refugee communities who had initially feared and turned away from police. Read more.
Negative feelings and emotions are related to political opinions, including radical opinions, of U.S. Muslims, according to new study from START. The new report, which details results from the seventh wave of a survey of U.S. Muslims, shows that the same factors of alienation and depression common among lone actor terrorists are also found among individuals with radical opinions. Read more.
PUBLICATIONS
Special Issue – Understanding and Countering Violent Extremism
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
eds. LaFree, Gary and Joshua D. Freilich
- Exploring the Subculture of Ideologically Motivated Cyber-Attackers, by Holt, Thomas J. and Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak
- Studying Terrorism Empirically: What We Know About What We Don’t Know, by Safer-Lichtenstein, Aaron and Gary LaFree, Thomas Loughran
Disrupting Terrorist Assassinations Through Situational Crime Prevention
Crime & Delinquency
Mandala, Marissa, and Joshua D. Freilich
Influence in an Age of Rising Connectedness
Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) White Paper
Ligon, Gina, and Timothy N. Moughon, Gia Harrigan, Colonel Bill Edwards, Erik Dahl, Nawar Shora
*contact infostart@start.umd.edu to obtain a copy if you’re unable to access online
Toward More Audience-Oriented Approaches to Crisis Communication and Social Media Research
Social Media and Crisis Communication (Routledge)
Fraustino, Julia Daisy, and Brooke Fisher Liu
START NEWS
UMD’s “It Takes Just One” wins national competition to curb violent extremism
The “It Takes Just One” campaign, begat by START minor program students in September 2016, rose above 49 competing teams from across the United States to win the Peer to Peer: Challenging Extremism Initiative last month. The competition is a U.S. government effort aimed at finding new ways to challenge extremism and is led by the Department of Homeland Security, managed by EdVenture Partners, and supported by Facebook. Read more.
Braniff named Professor of Practice at UMD
This summer, START Executive Director William Braniff was named a University of Maryland Professor of the Practice in a unanimous decision by the UMD Criminology and Criminal Justice Department. The Professor of the Practice designation honors individuals who have attained regional and national prominence for outstanding achievement and leadership within their fields, and have demonstrated superior teaching ability appropriate to assigned responsibilities. Read more.
New crisis leadership project engages underclassmen in research
With the aid of a fresh class of student researchers, START is seeking the answers to how leaders effectively prepare and communicate during terrorist attacks and other crisis situations, as well as how they enable collaboration between organizations during crises. The project, which is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, is engaging underclassmen in research through the University of Maryland’s First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) program, specifically the Risk Communication and Resilience team. Read more.
Where religion, politics and terrorism meet
When the newly-elected Turkish government criticized the 2003 invasion of Iraq, many painted the government as typical radical Islamists, rejecting America and the West. However, Peter Henne’s research into the subject revealed a different story of nuanced interplay between the Islamic religion and politics. The former START researcher’s new book, “Islamic Politics, Muslim States, and Counterterrorism Tensions,” delves into those topics. Read more.
Training course provides hundreds with free access to research and resources
More than 700 people have enrolled in START’s newest online training course, Community-led Action in Response to Violent Extremism (CARVE), since its launch in March. Made available at no cost to learners, thanks to funding from the Department of Homeland Security, the self-paced course provides community leaders, school officials and law enforcement officers access to cutting edge research and resources. Read more.
EVENTS
“Best Practices in Preparing for and Responding to Domestic Terrorism & Mass Casualty Incidents” hosted by the Insight Exchange Network, in partnership with START
November 15-16 at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center, Washington DC
“Information Sessions: Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis”
6:00 p.m., September 7, October 5, November 2, December 7
OPPORTUNITIES
Global Terrorism Minor Program Apply by September 29
Call for Proposals: START/Oxford book series
START is partnering with Oxford University Press to sponsor a new book series on the causes, conduct and consequences of terrorism. Edited by Gary LaFree, Anthony Lemieux and Gary Ackerman, the interdisciplinary series will approach terrorism conceptually as having a developmental “life cycle” that includes the origins of political extremism and the formation of terrorist groups; terrorist dynamics and persistence; and societal responses to terrorism. Read more and submit a proposal.
TRAINING
Community-led Action in Response to Violent Extremism (CARVE) online training. Learn more and register here.
Using the Global Terrorism Database online training. Learn more and register here.
The Terror-Crime Nexus & Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Threats online course. Register now.
Understanding Terrorism and the Terrorist Threat online open course is now on demand. Participate now.
Free online short series of video lectures on “Core Capabilities and Potential Durability of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).” View now.
START IN THE NEWS
NPR All Things Considered: FBI Continues Investigation Into Minnesota Mosque Explosion
Erin Miller is interviewed about the definition of terrorism in this NPR story about the recent explosion at a Minnesota mosque. Read more and listen now.
2016 Country Reports on Terrorism Coverage
START received a number of media mentions following the release of the U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2016, including:
New York Times: Students are the newest U.S. weapon against terrorist recruitment
This article features an award-winning team of START minor students who created a social media campaign to prevent radicalization. Read more.
A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here.
SUPPORTING START
Help Support START Research and Education
The START Consortium is dedicated to generating knowledge of the human causes and consequences of terrorism. Applying rigorous standards to both research and education, START seeks to illuminate one of the most highly politicized and understudied phenomena in the social sciences for students, practitioners and policy-makers. Funded primarily through research grants to date, START is seeking to generate an endowment that will provide the flexibility and autonomy to ensure that it can continue to serve as an objective source of data and empirically based analysis into the future. To donate, or for more information, please click here.