Since 9/11, "homegrown terrorists" have planned or implemented terrorist activities, supported others' terrorist activities, or become radicalized in the United States and traveled abroad to conduct activities against other countries or the United States. This paper examines the cases of homegrown terrorism, highlights lessons learned from those cases that suggest future actions, and includes a chronology of terrorist events in the United States.
Advances in digital technologies have provided ample positive impacts to modern society; however, in addition to such benefits, these innovations have inadvertently created a new venue for criminal activity to generate. Combating Violent Extremism and Radicalization in the Digital Era is an essential reference for the latest research on the utilization of online tools by terrorist organizations to communicate with and recruit potential extremists and examines effective countermeasures employed by law enforcement agencies to defend against such threats. Focusing on perspectives from the social and behavioral sciences, this book is a critical source for researchers, analysts, intelligence officers, and policy makers interested in preventive methods for online terrorist activities.
This book provides the first empirical analysis of lone-actor terrorist behaviour. Based upon a unique dataset of 111 lone actors that catalogues the life span of the individual’s development, the book contains important insights into what an analysis of their behaviours might imply for practical interventions aimed at disrupting or even preventing attacks. It adopts insights and methodologies from criminology and forensic psychology to provide a holistic analysis of the behavioural underpinnings of lone-actor terrorism. By focusing upon the behavioural aspects of each offender and by analysing a variety of case studies, including Anders Breivik, Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and David Copeland, this work marks a pointed departure from previous research in the field. It seeks to answer the following key questions: Is there a lone-actor terrorist profile and how do they differ? What behaviours did the lone-actor terrorist engage in prior to his/her attack and is there a common behavioural trajectory into lone-actor terrorism? How ‘lone’ do lone-actor terrorists tend to be? What role, if any, does the internet play? What role, if any, does mental illness play? This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism/counter-terrorism studies, political violence, criminology, forensic psychology and security studies in general.
The ability of law enforcement agencies to manage and act upon intelligence is the key to countering terrorism. Likewise, a critical foundation of intelligence-led policing is the proper analysis of all information gained. Terrorism and Organized Hate Crime: Intelligence Gathering, Analysis, and Investigations, Fourth Edition demonstrates how to recognize the indicators of an impending act of terrorism or mass violence, how to deter an attack, and how to transform information into intelligence to meet community demands for safety and security. The Fourth Edition has been completely updated and expanded to cover numerous topics facing those tasked with investigating and thwarting terrorism and the terrorist acts throughout the world today. Many investigators have sought to understand the growth of the radical extremist and terrorist organization ranks. The Fourth Edition dedicates an expanded new chapter to the concerns and processes centering on radicalization and recruitment. This new chapter covers such in-depth topics like: criminal roots, gang connection, conversion, causes of extremism, models of recruitment and radicalization including self-radicalization, recruiting in the digital age, social media, youth targeting, prison radicalization and recruitment, legal concerns, case studies and groups, as well as what can be done to prevent recruitment. In addition to the new chapter, there is a new guide to sources of information for investigators and expanded discussion on IRA tactics and ISIS. Using techniques applicable to the private and the public sector, the book combines academic, research, and practitioner perspectives to establish a protocol for effectively gathering, analyzing, investigating, and disseminating criminal intelligence. Additional overage includes the role of fusion centers, terrorism financing, the handling of classified materials, the National Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative as well as pre-incident indicators and behavioral traits associated with terrorism. A one-stop resource for the homeland security, intelligence analyst, and investigative professional, the book arms those tasked with protecting the public with a solid blueprint for combating and investigating crimes associated with terrorism and hate. Also widely used as a core text, Terrorism and Organized Hate Crime, Fourth Edition teaches practical applications to those students enrolled in such courses as Terrorism and Hate Crimes, Violence and Terrorism, Domestic Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Terrorism and Homeland Security. Accompanying PowerPointTm slides and a Test Bank are available to professors upon qualifying course adoption.
Considering an under-researched dimension of political violence, this interdisciplinary collection provides an extensive examination of terrorist victimisation. It explores how individual and public experiences of victimisation are constructed and how they are shaped by existing dynamics of violence.
This book aims to uncover the root causes of natural and man-made disasters by going beyond the typical reports and case studies conducted post-disaster. It opens the black box of disasters by presenting ‘forensic analysis approaches’ to disasters, thereby revealing the complex causality that characterizes them and explaining how and why hazards do, or do not, become disasters. This yields ‘systemic’ strategies for managing disasters. Recently the global threat landscape has seen the emergence of high impact, low probability events. Events like Hurricane Katrina, the Great Japan Earthquake and tsunami, Hurricane Sandy, Super Typhoon Haiyan, global terrorist activities have become the new norm. Extreme events challenge our understanding regarding the interdependencies and complexity of the disaster aetiology and are often referred to as Black Swans. Between 2002 and 2011, there were 4130 disasters recorded that resulted from natural hazards around the world. In these, 1,117,527 people perished and a minimum of US$1,195 billion in losses were reported. In the year 2011 alone, 302 disasters claimed 29,782 lives; affected 206 million people and inflicted damages worth a minimum of estimated US$366 billion.
This book examines two key themes in terrorism studies, the radicalization process and counter-terrorism policies, through the lens of social networks. The book aims to show that networks should be at the forefront not only when analysing terrorists, but also when assessing the responses to their actions. The volume makes a unique contribution by addressing two relatively new themes for terrorism studies. First it puts social relations and cooperation issues at the forefront – an approach often identified as crucial to future breakthroughs in the field. Second, many contributions tackle the role of the Internet in the process of radicalization and in recruitment more generally, a highly debated topic in the field today. In addition, the book provides a valuable mix of review essays, critical essays, and original empirical studies. This balanced approach is also found in the topics covered by the authors, as well as their academic disciplines, which include sociology, computer science, geography, history, engineering, and criminology as well as political science. Many of the true advances in terrorism studies depend on the successful collaboration of multi-disciplinary teams, each with a different set of methodological and conceptual tools. This volume reflects the newfound diversity in this field and is a true product of its time. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, social networks, security studies, sociology, criminology and international relations in general.
This volume examines the lone actor terrorist phenomenon, including the larger societal trends which may or may not have led to their acts of terrorism. With lone actor terrorism becoming an increasingly common threat, the contributors to this volume aim to answer the following questions: What drives the actions of individuals who become lone actor terrorists? Are ideological and cultural issues key factors, or are personal psychological motives more useful in assessing the threat? Do lone actors evolve in a broader social context or are they primarily fixated loners? What response strategies are available to security services and law enforcement? What is the future outlook for this particular terrorist threat? Although these issues are frequently discussed, few books have taken a global perspective as their primary focus. While many books focus on lone actor terrorists in relation to terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaida and the Islamic State, few, if any, cover lone actors of all ideological backgrounds, including the variants of active shooters and malicious insiders in information security, such as Edward Snowden – with both of these latter categories constituting an important variant of lone actors. Utilising the expertise of academics and practitioners, the volume offers a valuable multidisciplinary perspective. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, criminology, security studies and IR.
Counterterrorism: Reassessing the Policy Response promotes a more nuanced understanding of the effectiveness of current counterterrorism practices and the need for reform. It challenges government, media, and academic accounts that exaggerate terrorist threats, particularly in comparison to other threats such as organized crime. Author BenoGomis r
