Does Country-Level Social Disorganization Increase Terrorist Attacks?

This study examines the effects of a measure of country-level social disorganization on levels of terrorist attacks and fatalities in 101 countries from 1981 to 2010. We measure social disorganization as the presence of state instability: revolutionary and ethnic war, adverse regime change, and genocide. The classic social disorganization perspective posits that individuals experiencing these types of rapid social change will be freed from the institutional and informal restraints that bind them to society, and keep them conforming to social norms and laws. We examine the extent to which this reasoning applies to the number of terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorist attacks occurring in countries. To control for the possibility that better functioning states are better able to prevent terrorist attacks, we include two measures of state capacity. We find that controlling for state capacity and a wide variety of other variables, social disorganization is consistently associated with increases in terrorist attacks and fatalities. We consider implications of the results for future research and policy.     

African biomedical scientists and the promises of “big science”

Abstract

An ongoing genomic revolution in biology has exponentially increased the rate, possibilities, scope and cost of biological research. Infectious disease genomics are often justified by the potential they have to ameliorate Africa’s disease burden. The molecular biology revolution that preceded genomic science widened the gap between the skill sets of many African biologists and their contemporaries elsewhere. Gap closure through genomics and the application of genomic data to health problems requires participation of, and leadership from, African scientists. However, few African scientists participate in genomics, and providing biological samples is their predominant contribution. Health-related applications are emerging from genomic activity for some infectious diseases that are endemic in Africa but not for many others. This article argues that the arrival of next-generation diagnostics, surveillance tools, drugs and vaccines could be accelerated by improving the nature and degree of participation of African scientists in genomic and post-genomic inquiry.     

“Scientific independence”, capacity building,and the development of UNESCO’s science and technology agenda for Africa

Abstract

This article analyses the shifting rationales for scientific collaboration in the work of the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the science sector in Africa from the late colonial period through to the era of capacity building. Focusing on the late colonial period and the post-independence decades of “national science” in Africa, it analyses UNESCO’s role in science policy, engineering training, and natural resources research. It demonstrates that in the era of national science UNESCO’s activities were couched in the language of independence: developing capacities in the sciences was regarded as the key to obtaining “scientific independence” to match the recently obtained political independence. This marked a significant change from the 1950s when UNESCO based its operations in Africa on collaborations with the European colonial powers. The article argues that the link between scientific independence and political self-determination gave way as UNESCO rebranded scientific capacity-building activities as efforts in the pursuit of an unclearly-defined common good.