Weapons and Tactics

Filter on Investigator Name

Project Title	Investigators	Project Period
Weapons Availability and Civil War Onset	Barnett S. Koven	March, 2018 to June, 2018
Unifying Approaches to Adversarial Modeling	H. Brinton Milward, Ronald Breiger	July, 2015 to December, 2017
Understanding and Combating Mass Casualty Terrorism (MCT)	Gary Ackerman, Victor Asal	June, 2008 to December, 2011
Two to Tango: Government and Terrorist Group Actions in Colombia	Barnett S. Koven	March, 2018 to June, 2018
Tracking Cartels: Exploiting Open Sources to Identify Trends	Marcus A. Boyd, Samuel D. Henkin	July, 2019 to July, 2020
Terrorist Groups and Weapons of Mass Destruction	Gary Ackerman, Jonathan Wilkenfeld, R. Karl Rethemeyer, Victor Asal	July, 2005 to May, 2008
Terrorist Behavior and Societal Tolerance of Violence	Risa Brooks	July, 2012 to December, 2013
Terrorist and Extremist Organizations (TEO) Database	Jonathan Wilkenfeld, R. Karl Rethemeyer	July, 2012 to December, 2016
Terrorism and Targeted Violence in the United States	Erin Miller, Michael Jensen	September, 2020 to January, 2022
Program to Prepare Communities for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks	Erin Miller	October, 2017 to August, 2019
Profiles of Incidents Involving CBRN and Non-state Actors (POICN) Database	Markus Binder	March, 2010 to June, 2018
More Bang for the Buck?: Examining the Effect of Technological Change on Terrorist Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction	Gary Ackerman, Jeffrey Bale	July, 2005 to September, 2009
Modeling Risk of Future Terrorist Attacks	Gary LaFree, Laura Dugan	May, 2005 to June, 2009
Key Dimensions in Understanding Terrorist Bomb Attacks	Margaret Wilson	June, 2008 to May, 2010
Guerilla Insurgency: The Springboard to Terrorism?	Mark Lichbach	June, 2008 to August, 2011
Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Acceleration	Erin Miller	January, 2019 to January, 2020
Global Terrorism Database (GTD)	Erin Miller, Gary LaFree, Laura Dugan	June, 2001 to October, 2022
Geospatial Analysis of Terror Finance	Marcus A. Boyd	July, 2015 to July, 2016
Empirical Analysis of IED Attacks	Gary LaFree, Richard Legault	June, 2008 to December, 2009
Dynamics of Terrorism and Counterterrorism Campaigns	Gary Ackerman, Joseph Young, R. Karl Rethemeyer, Victor Asal	July, 2014 to December, 2017
Dissuading Adversaries and their Radiological/Nuclear Pathways: Integrating Deterrence Theory and Analytics in the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA)	Amy Pate, Brandon Behlendorf, Gary Ackerman, John Sawyer, Steve Sin, Hamid Mohtadi, Marcus A. Boyd	October, 2013 to September, 2018
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency SIGMA+	Thomas Guarrieri, Marcus A. Boyd, Steve Sin	July, 2018 to April, 2020
Country Reports on Terrorism - Statistical Annex	Gary LaFree, Erin Miller	May, 2012 to May, 2018
Anatomizing Radiological and Nuclear Non-State Adversaries	Gary Ackerman, Jeffrey Bale, R. Karl Rethemeyer	June, 2012 to January, 2014
Advancing U.S. CWMD/CWMT Capabilities in Support of the SIGMA+ Program through Development of Anticipatory Human Social Systems Models and Adversary Weapon Selection Decision Processes	Steve Sin, Thomas Guarrieri	March, 2020 to March, 2022

Project Title	Publication Date	START Authors	Publication Type
When terrorists target schools: An exploratory analysis of attacks on educational institutions	June 2013	Wilson, Margaret	Journal Article
Weapon Choice and American Political Violence: A Comparison of Terrorists and Other Felons in Federal Custody	August 2009	Legault, Richard	Journal Article
Toward a Model of Terrorist Behavior in Hostage-Taking Incidents	August 2000	Wilson, Margaret	Journal Article
TOC as a Growing Threat to Regional, Global Security	January 2022	Boyd, Marcus A.; Henkin, Samuel D.	Journal Article
The Strategy of Terrorism: How it Works, and Why it Fails	December 2007	Neumann, Peter	Book
The Softest of Targets: A Study on Terrorist Target Selection	July 2009	Rethemeyer, R. Karl; Asal, Victor	Journal Article
The Psychology of Terrorist Hostage-Taking	March 2003	Wilson, Margaret	Book Chapter
The Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Development of Mortars	March 2016	Ackerman, Gary	Journal Article
The Drone Debate: A Primer on the U.S. Use of Unmanned Aircraft Outside Conventional Battlefields	December 2015	Colon, Carlos Rafael	Book
Testing a Rational Choice Model of Airline Hijackings	November 2005	LaFree, Gary; Dugan, Laura	Journal Article
Terrorist behavior in hostage taking: Policy issues and research directions	November 2005	Wilson, Margaret	Book Chapter
Terrorist Attacks Targeting Critical Infrastructure in the United States, 1970-2015	June 2016	Miller, Erin	START Reports
Terrorist Attacks Involving Package Bombs, 1970 — 2017	October 2018	Miller, Erin; Distler, Michael	Fact Sheet
Terrorism in Mali	November 2015	Miller, Erin	Fact Sheet
Terrorism in Belgium and Western Europe; Attacks against Transportation Targets; Coordinated Terrorist Attacks	March 2016	Miller, Erin	Background Report
Terrorism and the North Caucasus: An Overview	April 2013	Johns, Mila	Background Report
Temporal Sequencing, Incident Sophistication, and Terrorist Outcomes	August 2016	Smith, Brent; Gruenewald, Jeff	Research Brief
Strategic Terrorism: The Framework and Its Fallacies	January 2007	Neumann, Peter	Journal Article
START Annual Meeting 2016: Quick-Fire Presentation - Terrorism and Radicalization	October 2016	Lemieux, Anthony; Koven, Barnett S.; Ackerman, Gary; LaFree, Gary; Ligon, Gina Scott; Satana, Nil; James, Patrick; Simi, Peter; Breiger, Ronald; Chermak, Steven	Presentation
Simultaneous Attacks by Terrorist Organisations	December 2013	Deloughery, Kathleen	Journal Article
Ricin Letters Mailed to President and Senator	April 2013	Ackerman, Gary; Pinson, Lauren; Johns, Mila	Background Report
Research Highlight: Bombing and Arson Attacks by Environmental and Animal Rights Extremists in the United States, 1995-2010	May 2013	Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven; Parkin, William	Research Brief
Probabilistic Pathway Projection to Counter Foreign Fighters	April 2016	Boyd, Marcus A.	Research Brief
Nuclear Weapons and Existential Threats: Insights from a Comparative Analysis of Nuclear-Armed States	October 2014	Asal, Victor	Journal Article
Momin Khawaja: Mechanisms of Radicalization	August 2016	McCauley, Clark; Moskalenko, Sophia	START Reports
Modelling Terrorist Technology Transfer	April 2019	Ackerman, Gary; Earnhardt, Rebecca (Becca)	White Paper
Modeling Costly Learning and Counter-Learning in a Defender-Attacker Game with Private Defender Information	September 2014	Zhuang, Jun	Journal Article
Maritime Insurgency	May 2020	Rethemeyer, R. Karl; Asal, Victor	Journal Article
Making the Wrong Connection: The Determinants of Terrorist Targeting of Airplanes and Airports	February 2010	Rethemeyer, R. Karl; Legault, Richard; Asal, Victor	Conference Paper
Jihadists and WMD: a re-evaluation of the future threat	October 2014	Ackerman, Gary	Journal Article
Jihadists and Weapons of Mass Destruction	November 2008	Ackerman, Gary	Book
Islamic State Chemical Weapons: A Case Contained by its Context?	March 2018	Tinsley, Herbert; Quigley, Jillian; Binder, Markus	Journal Article
Investigating the Applicability of Situational Crime Prevention to the Public Mass Violence Context	December 2019	Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven	Journal Article
Intersections of Illicit Trafficking and Counterfeit Parts Workshop	January 2022	Boyd, Marcus A.	Report
Integrated United States Security Database (IUSSD): Data on the Terrorist Attacks in the United States Homeland, 1970 to 2011	December 2012	Miller, Erin; LaFree, Gary; Dugan, Laura	START Reports
Human and Social Forces in the Spread of the IED Threat: Innovation, Diffusion and Adaptation	April 2009	Ackerman, Gary	START Reports
How Community Ties Influence Terrorist Targeting of Civilians	November 2013	Brooks, Risa	Research Brief
Disrupting Terrorist Assassinations Through Situational Crime Prevention	July 2017	Freilich, Joshua	Journal Article
Developing An Empirical Understanding of Improvised Explosive Devices: A Social and Behavioral Science Perspective	August 2009	LaFree, Gary; Legault, Richard	START Reports
Correcting the Record: Civilians, Proportionality and the Jus ad Vim	June 2017	Colon, Carlos Rafael	Book Chapter
Common Sense or Gun Control? Political Communication and News Media Framing of Firearm Sale Background Checks after Newtown	November 2015	Sell, Tara	Journal Article
CBRN Activity and Attacks by Insurgent Organizations	October 2015	Ackerman, Gary; Rethemeyer, R. Karl; Asal, Victor	Research Brief
Catch Them Coming and Going: Probabilistic Pathway Projection to Counter Foreign Fighters	March 2016	Boyd, Marcus A.	START Reports
Bombings at the 2013 Boston Marathon	April 2013	Miller, Erin; Smarick, Kathleen	Background Report
Application of a Profile Similarity Methodology for Identifying Terrorist Groups That Use or Pursue CBRN Weapons	September 2017	Ackerman, Gary; Milward, H. Brinton; Rethemeyer, R. Karl; Breiger, Ronald; Asal, Victor	Book Chapter
Apparent intended lethality: Toward a model of intent to harm in terrorist bomb attacks	April 2013	Wilson, Margaret	Journal Article
Apparent Intended Lethality: Toward a Behavioral Model of Intention to Harm in Single Issue Bombing Campaigns	September 2010	Wilson, Margaret	START Reports
Analyzing Catastrophic Terrorist Events with Applications to the Food Industry	January 2007	Mohtadi, Hamid	Book Chapter
An Overview of Bombing and Arson Attacks by Environmental and Animal Rights Extremists in the United States, 1995-2010	April 2013	Freilich, Joshua; Chermak, Steven; Parkin, William	START Reports
A Strategic Analysis of Violent Extremist Organizations in the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility	March 2020	Ligon, Gina Scott	White Paper
A Quantitative Overview of Biological Weapons: Identification, Characterization, and Attribution	May 2008	Ackerman, Gary; Asal, Victor	Book Chapter

Title	Byline
Winter 2010 START Bulletin Now Available
Trends in terrorism in the U.S.: New report analyzes terrorist attack data 1970-2011
Terrorist attacks involving firearms more likely to be lethal than other types of attacks
Student researches ties between terrorism and the Olympics	Emily Bonta
START study leads to support for SLTT officials	Jessica Rivinius
START study assesses attacks by environmental and animal rights extremists	Emily Smith
START seeking 2014 Outstanding Article Award nominations	Jessica Rivinius
START Researchers Present at American Political Science Association Annual Conference
START Researchers Featured in Journal of Homeland Security
START releases first Research Review
START Releases 2011 Research Review
START Newsletter: Violent hate crimes and lone-actor terrorism; Cultural values and terrorism; Al-Shabaab
START launches online course on terror-crime nexus and CBRN	Beth Schwartz
START Investigators Participate in 2011 American Sociological Association Annual Conference
START director to lecture on contrasting nature of terrorism	Emily Bonta
START Assesses Impact of 9/11
START Announces Fellowships for 2005-06
START Announces 2009-2010 Undergraduate Research Program Award Recipients
START adds third course to summer line-up
Scavenger hunt activity helps START team assess capability of mobile radiation detectors
Researcher analyzes how community ties impact terrorist groups’ targeting of civilians	Laura Walker
Research Roundtable event features START researcher Brandon Behlendorf	Mary Beck
Press Release: START Panel Addresses Key Questions in Terrorism
New START model forecasts the flow of foreign fighters	Jessica Rivinius
New Fall 2008 UMD Course: Innovation and Terrorist Tactics
Lone-actors fueled by grievance, personal crises, weapons use	Mary Beck
Jeffrey Lewis discusses history and culture behind suicide bombings	Mary Beck
Intern team authors peer-reviewed journal article on Hamas	Jessica Rivinius
Hegghammer explains variation in western jihadists	J.R. Taylor
GRU team gives virtual talk on cartels for National Security Forum	Erin Copland
Global Terrorism Database Data Files Now Available through Terrorism and Preparedness Data Resource Center
Exciting Winter Courses Now Offered ONLINE
Egle Murauskaite appears on virtual panel on military mobility in Europe	Erin Copland
Discussion Point: The Prospective Military Power of Al Qaeda Affiliated Groups in the Syrian Conflict	Aaron Lin, Daniel Smith, Ryan Pereira
Discussion Point: From the Caucasus to Boston and Beyond	Gordon Hahn
Discussion Point: Black Swans and Burstiness—Countering Myths about Terrorism	Gary LaFree
Despite fewer attacks in Western world, global terrorism increasing
CALCE and START co-host Intersections of Illicit Trafficking and Counterfeit Parts Workshop	Erin Copland
Background Information on Terrorism in India
Al-Qaida's fatal terrorism under Osama bin Laden
A closer look at the 2,600 terrorist attacks in US, 1970-2012
START Releases 2010 Update to the Global Terrorism Database
Far-Right Attacks on U.S. Law Enforcement and Security Guards
*Terrorist Attacks on Religious Figures, Religious Institutions, and Military Targets*
*Background on Terrorism and Public Opinion in Indonesia*
*Background Info: Moscow Subway Bombing*

Title	Job Title	Institution
Victor Asal	Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of Public Administration	University at Albany, State University of New York
Tyler A. Clark	Data Scientist, Doctoral Student	University of Maryland
Thomas Guarrieri	Director of Undergraduate Studies Assistant Research Scientist, Unconventional Weapons & Technology (UWT) Division, START	University of Maryland
Steve Sin	Director, Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT) Subject Matter Expert Instructor, National Center for Security & Preparedness	University of Maryland
Rhyner Washburn	Cyber Intelligence Researcher, START	University of Maryland
Rebecca (Becca) Earnhardt	PhD student Research Associate, Stimson Center	University of Maryland
Prabhakar Misra	Professor of Physics	Howard University
Nathan Meehan	Director of Research and Development, Second Sight Training Systems, LLC	Second Sight Training Systems, LLC
Laura Dugan	Ralph Mershon Professor of Human Security and Professor of Sociology	The Ohio State University
John Sawyer	Director of Strategic Corporate Research Relationships	University of Maryland
Jeff Gruenewald	Associate Professor and Director of the Terrorism Research Center, University of Arkansas	University of Arkansas
Herbert Tinsley	Analyst, Government Accountability Office
Gary Ackerman	Associate Professor, SUNY Albany	University at Albany, State University of New York
Erin Miller	GTD Program Manager, START	University of Maryland
Brandon Behlendorf	Assistant Professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, SUNY Albany	University at Albany, State University of New York
Barnett S. Koven	Data Science Manager, Deloitte Government & Public Services