Terrorism and the blind men's elephant

Terrorism is best understood as a form of warfare. Considerable division exists among researchers on the issue of defining terrorism. A minority propose that terrorism is a form of warfare, possibly identical to guerrilla warfare. However, the majority disagree with this position, instead viewing terrorism as a distinct and separate phenomenon. This divergence has been fuelled by the distinctive questions of morality which cloak any consideration of terrorism. The impact of this special morality dimension to the problem is examined, with the focus being directed to biases arising from the moral standpoint which has been adopted by most. It is argued that many of the so‐called distinctions between terrorism and warfare are illusionary. The article concludes that while there are solutions to the current conceptual deadlock these are unlikely to be realised in the near future.     

The Role of Suicide in Politics,Conflict, and Terrorism

ABSTRACT

The central argument of this paper is that suicide has had a long and explicit role in politics and in conflict. Turning to historical examples for insight offers many advantages to current efforts to understand and respond to suicide terrorism. In particular, it facilitates greater objectivity and a calmer consideration of the actors and circumstances than can often be the case with contemporary events. Explanations of suicide in terms of madness, brainwashing, coercion, and fanaticism ring hollow with many of the historical cases, and other explanations, causes, and processes take on greater significance. By considering a number of case examples, this article shows how improved historical awareness can provide badly needed objective insight and help reveal strategic trends and issues. The article illustrates how historical cases offer valuable material and insight which is often extremely difficult to acquire on contemporary protagonists. Lessons and issues for research and policy are highlighted.

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death

—W. B. Yeats ¹ 1. W. B. Yeats, “An Irish airman forsees his death.” The Poems (London: Everyman, 1919/1990).

Rebel's dilemma: The changing relationship between the IRA,Sinn Féin and paramilitary vigilantism in Northern Ireland

The 40‐month period which has followed the introduction of the IRA's 1994 cease‐fire has witnessed the most intensive vigilante campaign ever carried out by the movement. A commitment to vigilantism has profoundly affected the evolution of both the policy and structure of Sinn Féin and the IRA. However, vigilantism bears costs for the two organizations and several serious attempts have been made by senior figures to end the practice. This article sets out to understand and describe the dynamics of militant republicanism's fluctuating commitment to vigilante violence, and in particular to understand the complex issues vigilantism has raised within Sinn Féin and the IRA in the past three decades. The article concludes that the two organizations are now irretrievably committed to vigilantism, and short of major RUC reform, they will be unable to end what has become a politically‐damaging policy.     

Online Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat haplotype reference database (YHRD) for U.S. populations

We describe here an online Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat haplotype reference database (YHRD) for U.S. populations, which represents 9-locus Y-STR haplotypes for 1705 African-Americans, European-Americans and Hispanics as of October 2001. This database is available online (http://www.ystr. org/usa/), free to access and was generated in order to supply the U.S. forensic DNA community with a valuable resource for frequencies of complete or incomplete 9-locus Y-STR haplotypes, as well as information about typing protocols and population genetic analyses. Pairwise R(ST)-statistics derived from the Y-STR haplotypes indicate no significant substructure among African-American populations from different regions of the U.S., nor (usually) among European-American and Hispanic populations. Thus, pooling of Y-STR haplotype data from regional populations within these three major groups is appropriate in order to obtain larger sample sizes. However, pooling of different major populations is generally not recommended due to statistically significant differences between African-American populations and all European-American/Hispanic populations, as well as between some European-American and Hispanic populations.     

Die Ordnung des Konsenses

For some time now, the welfare state crisis has been at the centre of the academic and political debate. But not only the analysis of crisis is omnipresent, the solution seems to be a matter of course, as well. Reasonable and united actors, who initiate the so-called “necessary” reforms are in great demand. Competitive corporatist co-operation of trade unions, employer organisations and governments, which emerged in several European countries since the late 1980s, are considered successful examples of a consensus-based crisis management. The most popular example is the Dutch Polder model that became world famous as a consensus model by the mid-1990s. However, in spite of its popularity, consensus has neither been formalized as an analytical concept nor has its creation been thoroughly scrutinized. In fact the question remains unanswered as to how and under what conditions it could happen that different and initially antagonistic actors started to regard the same solution of the stated crisis as the only conceivable option. Referring to the Dutch case and starting out from an interpretative perspective based on the Governmentality approach of Michel Foucault and the Symbolic Institutionalism of Karl-Siegbert Rehberg, the article raises the question why supply-sided strategies came to be seen as necessary and sensible and how power relations are embedded in the process of consensus creation.     

Digital forensic osteology--possibilities in cooperation with the Virtopsy project

In forensic pathology, the reactions that occur in the body from somatic death to cell death are commonly termed "supravital reactions". There are many reports of grossly visible and microscopic supravital reactions; however, few papers are available on the supravital reaction concerning gene expression. The aim of this study was to examine the gene expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) including c-fos, fos-B and c-jun in mechanically asphyxiated mouse brain and lung after somatic death and to identify the IEGs expressed at the point of supravital reaction in the brain and lung. Our results confirm that the expression of IEGs changed after death during supravital reaction and that the alterations differed according to the cause of death and the types of organ examined. In addition, IEG expression significantly increased following mechanical asphyxia. These results suggest that there is a specific pattern of gene expression following asphyxia. It is therefore important to identify the specific genes involved, as this may give significant information to aid in the post-mortem diagnosis of strangulation and hanging.     

Pluralism in the Mind and the Structure of Cognitive Minorities

In his book The Many Altars of Modernity Peter L. Berger (2014) called for the replacement of secularization theory, which in his view no longer has much relevance today, with a theory of (religious) pluralism. Such a theory must encompass two levels, the level of the mind and the level of society. In this paper I will focus on the level of mind and explain some of the conceptual linkages with the level of society which Berger only touches upon in his book. The paper’s main purpose, however, is to sketch out a framework in which Berger’s ideas on “pluralism in the mind” could be investigated empirically. I will argue to focus on “cognitive minorities”, that is, on groups of people whose understanding of the world differs significantly from that of their social environment. As concrete cases I suggest a comparative study of a religious group (Evangelical Protestants) in a strongly secularized city (Leipzig, Germany) and a group of skeptics and seekers (Unitarians) in a city characterized by evangelical religiosity (Dallas, Texas). With the help of these settings – that is my thesis – it will be possible to investigate what Berger formulated as the central issue in his pluralism theory: How is it possible for people to integrate religious and secular worldviews in their minds, more or less simultaneously?     

More Than a Glance: Investigating the Differential Efficacy of Radicalizing Graphical Cues with Right-Wing Messages

European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research - In recent years, online radicalization has received increasing attention from researchers and policymakers, for instance, by analyzing online...