Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) now available
PIRUS is a cross-sectional, quantitative dataset of individuals in the United States who radicalized to the point of violent or non-violent ideologically motivated criminal activity, or ideologically motivated association with a foreign or domestic extremist organization from 1948 until 2013.
- Full dataset and Keshif data visualization tool
- Full Report: Empirical Assessment of Domestic Radicalization
Terrorist assassinations by region, target
In the wake of December’s assassination in Turkey of the Russian Ambassador Andrey G. Karlov, START assembled two visuals about terrorist assassinations over time and by target type using data the Global Terrorism Database. Read more.
Countering Terrorism
Brookings
Crenshaw, Martha and Gary LaFree
Rethinking Security Education
Springer
Izsak, Katherine Worboys
Nuclear Smuggling and Threats to Lithuanian Security
Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review
Murauskaite, Egle
Merrill College Presidential Scholar honors Dr. Izsak as mentor
With only a few months remaining until commencement ceremonies, UMD senior, START fellow and Philipp Merrill College of Journalism Presidential Scholar Erika Swanson recognized START education director Dr. Katherine Izsak as an influential mentor at a program luncheon. Swanson says that she was impressed by Dr. Izsak’s commitment to both professionalism and individuality. Read more.
ICONS Gray Zone work gets international attention
START researcher Egle Murauskaite recently co-organized and served on an expert panel during an event designed to promote quality discourse on international topics of significance to Lithuania. During the panel, Murauskaite discussed findings from the recent ICONS simulation "Gray Zone Crises in Eastern Europe," which she designed and managed. Read more.
Using Social Media as a Tool for Mobilization and Collective Learning
The June 2013 uprising in Turkey was unprecedented in many regards. According to some empirical studies, more than half of protesters had never participated in any form of collective action event before the June protests. Professor Gunes Ertan from Koc University in Istanbul joined START to discuss her work on collective mobilization through social media. Read more.
Strategic Multilayer Assessment call for poster proposals
The Department of Defense’s Strategic Multilayer Assessment Office (SMA) has released an invitation to graduate students to submit proposals for posters to be presented at the 10th annual SMA Conference in Camp Springs, Maryland. Read more.
Information Sessions: Global Terrorism Minor
Tuesday, Jan. 31 and Wednesday, Feb. 1
Book Talk: Gary LaFree and Martha Crenshaw “Countering Terrorism: No Simple Solutions”
Thursday, Feb. 23, Stamp Student Union
Apply for spring admission to START’s graduate certificate program Apply by Jan. 12.
START's global terrorism minor program is open to University of Maryland undergraduates. Apply by Feb. 24.
Identify relationships, conduct sophisticated analysis with dynamic TEVUS portal
Built from four related open-source databases, the TEVUS Portal compiles behavioral, geographic and temporal characteristics of terrorism and extremist violence in the United States dating back to 1970. Through the portal, users are able to build search queries on four data types: events, perpetrators, groups and/or court cases. The dynamic, unique interface allows users to quickly identify relationships between these types of data and conduct sophisticated analysis on terrorist attacks, pre-incident activities and extremist crimes in the United States. Access to the portal is free. Learn more or register to use the portal.
Learn how to navigate and analyze world's largest unclassified database on terrorist attacks
With systematic data on more than 150,000 terrorist attacks that have occurred since 1970, the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) has become a critical resource in providing empirical data on terrorism. To help new and seasoned GTD users better understand the analytical power of the database, START has launched a new self-paced, video training series. The first module focuses on the data collection process, instruction on analytical strengths and weaknesses of large datasets and an introduction to pivot tables and foundational graphing. The online training modules are appropriate for security professionals and scholars, and are designed to improve their analytical and critical thinking skills while advancing their competency in Microsoft Excel. Additional training modules – which focus on patterns over time, perpetrators, weapons and tactics and bivariate relationships – will be released over time. 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.
Defense One: How special operators trained for psychological warfare before the Mosul fight
Devin Ellis was quoted and the ICONS project mentioned in this piece from Defense One about a wargame exercise that was used to help train special operators in Iraq. Read more.
Washington Post: 45 years of terrorist attacks in Europe, visualized
Data from the Global Terrorism Database about European terrorism was used to create the visualizations in this article from the Washington Post. Read more.
New Yorker: The remaking of the world order
William Braniff is quoted in this story from the New Yorker about extremist violence and growing bias against Muslims. Read more.
AFP: Turning point as social media tackles online “terror”
Peter Weinberger is quoted in this article from Agence France-Presse about efforts to combat extremism on social media. Read more.
A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here.