The Politics of Targeted and Untargeted Counterterrorist Regulations

Civil liberties came under pressure after Al Qaeda’s attacks in the U.S. and Europe. Governments in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries started questioning the effectiveness of counterterrorist policies and regulations. Incumbents responded to terrorism not only by introducing ex novo (or re-adapting) laws and regulations affecting a large set of civil rights; they also responded to international terrorism by choosing between an untargeted and a targeted legislative response. Some governments reduced the liberties of foreign foes more than the freedoms of citizens, while others preferred burdening all individuals within their borders, immigrants and citizens alike. This article analyzes the determinants of targeted and untargeted antiterrorist responses to Al Qaeda terrorism in a sample of 20 Western democracies from 2000 to 2008. The findings suggest that patterns of targeted legislation were more pronounced in countries governed by right-wing incumbents and those where the decisional power in the cabinet is divided among a few number of political parties. In addition, a larger share of Muslims and the degree of ethnic fractionalization played a relevant role in determining governments’ choices of prime targets.     

Arab Spring constitution-making: polarization,exclusion, and constraints

What determines the balance that democratizing constitutions strike between majority empowerment and individual rights? Some constitutions deliberately handicap state power to forestall threats to liberty, while others try to empower the government to hold the country together. We answer this question in the context of post-Arab Spring constitution-making, hypothesizing a U-shaped relationship between polarization among politically significant factions and net majority-empowering provisions in constitutions of new democracies, a relationship mediated by breadth of inclusion in the constitutional drafting process. We test the hypothesis through a controlled case comparison of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, the three Arab-majority countries in which protestors successfully toppled authoritarian regimes.     

The discourse and study of terrorism in decolonised states: the case of Pakistan

The existing literature in the terrorism field does not address the absence of terrorism scholarship in developing countries. This article focuses on this intellectual gap using the case of Pakistan. It argues that most decolonised states, including Pakistan, are yet to grasp the complexities of traditional approaches to the study of terrorism, let alone its critical dimensions. The article explores some of the prevailing conditions in developing countries, specifically decolonised states such as Pakistan, which prevent the development of a robust academic discourse on terrorism and the development of a strong field of study. It suggests that the main barriers that account for this shortfall include the state’s legitimacy deficit, a flawed education system that nurtures fictions as truth and inhibits knowledge production, the institutionalised role of conspiracy theories in national politics and the multiplicity of terrorism discourses among government and sociopolitical entities. The conclusion highlights a number of reasons that might help to explain this persistent condition and offers a few policy recommendations.     

自杀性恐怖袭击的防范与治理研究

自“9·11”事件后,自杀性恐怖袭击已成为恐怖活动的主要方式。深层次的情报搜集,理论上的揭露与批判,加强金融监管和理性的媒体战略是杜绝自杀性恐怖袭击的四大“利器”,而构建合理的国际政治经济新秩序,朝向公平与正义则是铲除恐怖主义滋生土壤的根本。     

闭路电视监控器与大型公共交通系统反恐问题研究

伦敦地铁爆炸事件、西班牙马德里火车站爆炸事件等一系列袭击公共交通系统的恐怖事件,使人们越来越关注大型公共交通系统的安全和防范问题。大型公共交通系统由于流量大,无法运用航空系统的安全检查模式。在大型公共交通系统安装闭路监控器,恰恰可以在不影响这些大流量公共交通工具运行速度和效率的情况下,有效地起到安全防范的作用。英国和美国在大型公共交通系统安装闭路电视监控器的经验和模式,可以为我国大型公共交通系统的安全防范提供借鉴和参考。     

Radicalism of the Hopeless: Refugee Flows and Transnational Terrorism

We examine whether refugee flows increase transnational terrorism in states to which refugees flee. Recent studies find that refugee flows contribute to the spread of interstate and civil war, but to a far lesser extent have studies examined how refugee flows could lead to other forms of political violence. We discuss two ways in which refugee flows can lead to transnational terrorism: how conditions in camps contribute to the radicalization of refugees; and how poorly host states treat refugees. We then conduct empirical tests using data on worldwide international refugee flows and transnational terrorism. Specifically, we model the effect of refugee flows on transnational terror attacks within a directed dyad framework to account for characteristics of origin and host states. Using a rare-events logit model, along with count models to check robustness, we find that refugee flows significantly increase the likelihood and counts of transnational terrorist attacks that occur in the host country, even when controlling for other variables. Given the prominence of refugee flows and populations worldwide, the results suggest that states with significant refugee populations and the international community at large should take measures to address the conditions in refugee camps, as well as the treatment of refugees by host states in order to prevent transnational terrorism.     

The Impact of the Boston Marathon Bombings on Public Willingness to Cooperate with Police

While a key to law enforcement success is the willingness of the public to cooperate with police, we have limited understanding of how terrorist attacks affect this public readiness. Prior research suggests that terrorist attacks might increase citizen cooperation with police through both prevention efforts and rally effects. We test these assertions with three nationally representative surveys on respondents’ willingness to help police combat terrorism: one before the Boston Marathon bombings and two after. As predicted, public willingness to report suspicious behavior to police increases significantly following the bombings and there is evidence that these increases generalize to ordinary crime. We also find that knowledge of key counter terrorism programs increases after the bombings, effects are somewhat stronger for the New England area than other regions, and the strength of the results are greatly diminished 16 months after the attacks. Conclusions are similar for both panel and cross-sectional analyses.     

Lone‐actor Terrorism and Impulsivity

In some recent cases of lone‐actor terrorism, there is evidence the subject acted impulsively, often in response to a triggering event which contained a loss and humiliation. Evidence suggests the subjects acted precipitously, despite planning and preparation carried out in the preceding weeks or months, and their attacks failed to include the often considerable preparation that had been done. The pathway became a runway. The authors recommend the traditional assessment of impulsivity in persons of concern for lone acts of terrorism, as well as other proximal warning behaviors for targeted violence. Both indirect and direct assessment guidelines are proposed, with an emphasis upon self‐report, psychological testing, collateral data gathering, and historical records.     

Teaching Students How to Fail: Simulations as Tools of Explanation

Instead of always teaching students how to succeed—as is the norm in higher education—it might also be useful to teach them about failure. Understanding failure (that is, why actors fail to reach common objectives in inter-group settings) gives students deeper insight into how to resolve global problems, and the conditions under which success can be achieved. This enhances student awareness of complexity in world affairs, including the nature of inter-group relations. Simulations are a good way to teach students about the possibility of failure, and how to learn from it, because they allow students to go through the learning process on their own. In this article I discuss how a simulation I ran on Middle Eastern politics can be used as an example of how to instruct students about failure as much as about success.     

The Next Generation: Creating New Peace Processes in the Middle East

This essay describes how Israeli students in a course on mediation and consensus building taught in an Israeli university law department by an American law professor and an Israeli instructor analyzed and studied the conflict in the Middle East. It describes the suggestions they made for process design for the next stages of whatever peace process might emerge for the region. In light of the students' suggestions, the authors present some ideas as to how different approaches to reconciliation and peace might be used, managed, and coordinated.