FEATURED RESEARCH
Report identifies strengths and weaknesses of Boko Haram; offers policy considerations
Nigerian military interventions against Boko Haram have, to date, been ineffective in decreasing the group’s attacks, according to both the qualitative and statistical analyses in a new START report. The report examines Boko Haram’s strengths and weaknesses and explores policy implications for engaging with the group. Read more.
START Special Edition: White House Summit on CVE
In light of this month’s White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, START released a special edition publication featuring new pieces of research on countering violent extremism.
- Research Brief: The role of Community Policing in CVE
- Research Brief: Understanding Communities' Attitudes toward CVE
- Report: Validation of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative
- Other related research
The Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe Event Series Comes to America
START will welcome the leading international Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe event series to the University of Maryland campus April 29-May 1 for its United States debut. The conference aims to provide a forum for the armed forces, government agencies, first responders and the industry to discuss crucial challenges of CBRNe preparedness. Read more or Register here.
DISCUSSION POINT
Aligning Research and CVE
START Researcher Stevan Weine, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, discusses how the recent White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) highlighted the need for CVE research to inform CVE implementation efforts. Read more.
What is the State of Islamic Extremism: Key Trends, Challenges and Implications for U.S. Policy
Congressional Testimony
Braniff, William
Leadership Protection in Drug-Trafficking Networks
Global Crime
Hofmann, David C. and Owen Gallupe
START participates in White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism
Drawing from work across the Consortium, START Executive Director William Braniff presented research to government officials, private sector representatives, and community stakeholders. Read more.
START directors brief Secretary of Homeland Security
START Director Gary LaFree and Executive Director William Braniff briefed Secretary Jeh Johnson on the Consortium’s DHS-funded projects and databases. Read more.
February briefings with Senator Ron Johnson, the House Armed Services Committee, the UN and the Global Counterterrorism Forum
This month, START researchers have been called upon to discuss their research with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI.), homeland security & governmental affairs committee chair; the House Armed Services Committee; the United Nations Counterterrorism Executive Directorate; and the Global Counterterrorism Forum. Read more.
START intern takes hit for Titans’ 2000 Super Bowl Championship loss
After START Intern Rachel Herren was diagnosed with pink eye, she experienced an unfortunate run-in with former Titans quarterback Steve McNair, right before their big game against the St. Louis Rams. Read more.
DHS grant enables further work using physics to understand terrorist threats
Dr. Prabhakar Misra, Professor of Physics at Howard University, will lead a team of DHS-funded researchers to make improvements to the machine learning algorithms that could eventually enable the prediction of terrorist threats. Read more.
More than 20,000 students studying with START
More than 20,000 students worldwide are participating in “Understanding Terrorism and the Terrorist Threat,” START’s free, massive open online course. Course lectures and materials will be available until the course concludes March 8. Read more or Access Lectures and Materials.
DHS S&T Launches the ‘National Conversation on Homeland Security and Technology’ Dialogue Series
The online and in-person discussion series will spur conversation about homeland security challenges and possible solutions. The series includes webinars, in person roundtables, town hall meetings, and workshops. Operational users, technologists, entrepreneurs, and the general public are all encouraged to join in the conversation Read more.
Our Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Understanding Terrorism and the Terrorist Threat” runs through March 8, and has more than 20,000 participants. Access the course here.
Training Workshops, The Devil is in the Details: How to Effectively Research and Interpret Data. March 19 – March 20 at University of Maryland.
Gary LaFree: Putting Terrorism in Context: Lessons from the Global Terrorism Database. March 25 at START Headquarters.
Gary Ackerman: Unconventional Methods for Assessing Unconventional Threats. April 16 at George Mason University.
International Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe USA conference. April 29 – May 1 at University of Maryland.
**START Junior Researcher, Global Terrorism Database (3 positions) Apply by April 1.**
START Postdoctoral Research Associates in Computational Social Science and/or Computational Linguistics. Final Deadline March 15.
Workshops: How to Effectively Research and Interpret Data. Deadline March 19.
START Summer Internships. Priority Deadline March 22.
Fellowships: Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Deadline March 27.
Dataverse Intern Explores Muslim-Canadian Attitudes toward Terrorism by Michael Raup
C-SPAN: White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism
START executive director William Braniff spoke with Washington Journal host Steven Scully about his experience at the White House summit and answered listener phone calls. Watch here.
Reuters: The lone-wolf militant: Feelings of inadequacy taken out on the world
In this op-ed, START Investigator Arie Kruglanski discusses psychological aspects of attacks perpetrated by lone actors. Read more.
Washington Post: Obama urges other nations to address sectarian problems to fight terrorism
Attorney General Eric Holder discussed a new University of Maryland-led START study as a counterterrorism effort being initiated by the current administration. Read more.
CNN: DHS intelligence report warns of domestic right-wing terror threat
START’s report on sovereign citizens is discussed in this CNN story. Read more.
The Atlantic: Is ISIS’s Social-Media Power Exaggerated
START researcher Anthony Lemieux is quoted in this article in The Atlantic about ISIS's social media influence. Read more.
NPR All Things Considered: Local communities key part of plan to prevent extremist recruitment
START researcher Stevan Weine spoke with NPR about his research into countering violent extremism. Read and listen here.
This is a selection of news clips from the past month.
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.