START study assesses attacks by environmental and animal rights extremists
Only 59 offenders were responsible for 147 criminal offenses perpetrated by environmental and animal extremists between 1995 and 2010. The perpetrators typically targeted property and not people in their attacks. Full story…
Hybrid political criminal organizations pose RN smuggling threat
Hybrid organizations that include both political extremist and criminal elements pose a greater threat of smuggling radiological/nuclear (RN) weapons than organizations that are purely criminal. The study also identified a critical need to address TTP and the Haqqani Network. Full story…
Lone-actors fueled by grievance, personal crises, weapons use
Both school attackers and assassins share several characteristics that may lead to their violent acts, including grievance against their targets, personal crises and a history of weapons use. Those characteristics may be useful in distinguishing lone-actor terrorists from group-based terrorists. Full story…
DISCUSSION POINT
‘Keep Wicked Calm and Carry the Hell On’: Boston, Terrorism and the Rhetorical Power of Resilience
In this editorial piece, START researchers Hamilton Bean and Lisa Keranen explore how the concept of resilience confers both benefits and limitations. While it can mobilize preparedness and response, it can also mask structural inequalities. Full story…
PUBLICATIONS
Local Health Department Capacity for Community Engagement and Its Implications for Disaster Resilience
Biosecurity and Bioterrorism
Monica Schoch-Spana, Tara Kirk Sell, Ryan Morhard
Comparative configurational analysis as a two-mode network problem: A study of terrorist group engagement in the drug trade
Social Networks
Ronald L. Breiger, Eric Schoon, David Melamed, Victor Asal, R. Karl Rethemeyer
Options and Strategies for Countering Online Radicalization in the United States
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
Peter Neumann
The Stasi-Meinhof Complex
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism
David Vielhaber
Terrorism and Democracy
Annual Review of Political Science
Erica Chenoweth
Unpacking Nonviolent Campaigns
Journal of Peace Research
Erica Chenoweth, Orion A. Lewis
START NEWS
Braniff offers Congressional testimony
START Executive Director Bill Braniff testified before Congress this month based on START research about Americans’ attitudes towards both terrorism and counterterrorism strategies. Full story…
Policy specialist takes on new challenge with START’s Graduate Certificate
Sarah Farnsworth, an international development policy specialist, has worked in the United States government and with non-governmental organizations addressing post-crisis governance policy challenges. She has begun a new challenge with START’s Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis. Full story…
Bureau of Counterterrorism's Blazakis offers career advice for students
Jason Blazakis, Director of the Office of Terrorist Designations and Sanctions in the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, recently provided START interns with insights and honest information about how to start a career in the government. Full story…
UMD football player maps his future at START
A rising senior at the university, Greg Parcher has literally mapped out a future with an interest in geography, a desire to help the homeland and an internship with START. Full story…
Researcher Spotlight: Daniella Fridl
The civil war that took place in Daniella Fridl’s home country of the former Yugoslavia sparked her lifelong journey seeking to find solutions that could prevent such conflicts in other countries. Full story…
OPPORTUNITIES
Study to stop terrorism: Earn your Graduate Certificate: Apply by July 15.
Teaching assistants needed for Global Terrorism Minor: Apply by July 1.
Apply for Fall START internships: Apply by July 14.
Teach a terrorism or political violence class? Participate in a study. Apply now.
START IN THE NEWS
Huffington Post Politics: Pushing Past the 'Grey Area' on Homegrown Radicalization
START researchers Peter Henne and Jonathan Kennedy co-authored a blog post about clarifying the grey area between beliefs and behaviors in homegrown terrorism. Full story…
The Washington Times: Index: U.S. among nations less likely to pursue peace
START’s Global Terrorism Database is mentioned as a source for the Global Peace Index. Full story…
ISN Zurich: Gary LaFree: Public Policy and (Myths About) Terrorism
ISN recently hosted Gary LaFree for his presentation, “Black Swans and ‘Burstiness’: Countering Myths about Terrorism” and featured a blog post about the event. Full story…
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.
