Terrorist Organizations
Terrorist organizations
TSAS WP17-06: ‘From nascent insurrections to full-blown insurgencies: Why some militant groups engage in sustained armed conflicts, a quantitative approach’
There is a growing threat from terrorism and insurgencies worldwide in recent years. It is puzzling why some initially weak militant groups, who face immense difficulties in garnering material resources – …
TSAS WP16-14: Talking to Foreign Fighters: Socio-Economic Push versus Existential Pull Factors
The research acquired primary data through interviews with foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, the families and friends of such fighters, and other online supporters of jihadism, to better understand – …
All Jihad is Local: What ISIS’ Files Tell Us About Its Fighters
An examination of the links between international terrorism and transnational organized crime: moving beyond the factual nexus in Multi-Faceted Approach to Radicalization in Terrorist Organizations
Abstract: Transnational organized crime and terrorism have been viewed as distinct entities. However, much attention has been given in recent years on the complex linkages between the two phenomena and – …
Case studies of selected al-Qa’ida members
TSAS WP16-10: Research into How Resources are Acquired, Moved and Used to Support Acts of Terrorism
The study was directed to answer six questions on terrorist resourcing in Canada through a comparative analysis that identified: resourcing activities; actors involved; interconnections of activities; importance of different forms; – …
TSAS WP16-11: Jihad in the Jazeera: Explaining The Islamic State’s Growing Insurgent Threat in Egypt
Why did Wilayat Sinai – The Islamic State’s affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula – evolve to become an unprecedented challenge to the Egyptian state?
TSAS WP16-07: Cheering on the Jihad: An Exploration of Women’s Participation in Online Pro-jihadist Networks
This paper poses the following questions: 1. Can identifiable patterns of engagement by female posters be discerned based on content of posts? 2. Does the type of the jihadist group – …
Bridging the Barrier: Israeli Unilateral Disengagement
The construction of the barrier separating Israel from the West Bank has become the site of one of the most heated controversies the world over, the source of virulent propaganda, – …
Narratives and Counternarratives: Somali-Canadians on Recruitment as Foreign Fighters to Al-Shabaab
TSAS WP15-04: No Sandwiches Here: Representations of Women in Dabiq and Inspire Magazines
How, and to what extent, are women represented within Dabiq and Inspire magazines? As we know from a wealth of mass media reporting, women are increasingly the focus of recruiters – …
Social Networks, Terrorism, and Counter-Terrorism: Radical and Connected
Social network analysis in the study of terrorism and political violence
Why Terror Networks are Dissimilar: How Structure Relates to Function
« La stratégie Af-Pak : une guerre contre quels Talibans?
Deradicalizing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE): Some Preliminary Findings
Networks as Strategic Repertoires: Functional differentiation among Al-Shabaab terror cells
Trying to Make Sense of Homegrown Terrorist Radicalization: The Case of the Toronto 18
Halting al Qaeda’s African Rebound: Why Supporting the Arab Spring and Exploiting bin Laden’s Death will keep Canadians Safer
Little doubt exists that al Qaeda currently faces two unprecedented challenges: the “Arab Spring” sweeping the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the death of Osama bin Laden in – …
Far-Right Lone Wolf Homicides in the United States
Relying on data from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), we comparatively examine characteristics of far-right homicides in the United States perpetrated by suspects with no evident affiliations with domestic terrorist – …
Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: a Choice Between Two Evils
Jean-Paul Brodeur’s research on terrorism spanned two distinct, yet inseparable aspects of the matter. The first concerns the inner workings, the objectives, and the methods of groups identified as “terrorist,” – …
Terrorist Networks as Strategic Repertoires: Functional Differentiation among Al-Shabaab Terror Cells
This article explains variation across the characteristics and structure of Al-Shabaab (AS) networks as a function of strategic repertoires. (Source: Publication).
The Link Between Unemployment and Terrorism
Impact and Ramifications: The Aftermath of the Aum Affair in the Japanese Religious Context
It is now seventeen years since the Tokyo subway attack that made Aum Shinrikyō and its leader Asahara Shōkō household names in Japan and beyond. The subway attack was swiftly – …
Globally Aum: The Aum Affair, Counterterrorism and Religion
Aum continues to feature in counterterrorism discourses and military training manuals, and continues to represent, for security services and policy makers, the “public face” of chemical and biologically oriented terrorism. – …
A Persistent Threat: The Evolution of al Qa’ida and Other Salafi Jihadists
This report examines the status and evolution of al Qa’ida and other Salafi-jihadist groups, a subject of intense debate in the West. Based on an analysis of thousands of primary – …
New Terrorism and New Media
This report examines how Al-Qaeda, its affiliates and other terrorist organizations have moved their online presence to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media outlets, posing challenges to counter-terrorism – …
Voices of the ‘‘Caucasus Emirate’’: Mapping and Analyzing North Caucasus Insurgency Websites
This article looks at Internet use by insurgent groups in the North Caucasus in the context of a regional diffusion of violence. (Source: Publication).
TSAS WP14-01: Researching Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism through a Network Lens
In this paper, we argue that integrating network concepts and network methods to the study of terrorism and counter-terrorism are central ingredients in bringing the field forward from theoretical, empirical, – …
The Neglected Role of Charismatic Authority in the Study of Terrorist Groups and Radicalization
Recent scholarship has called for additional research into the role of charismatic authority in terrorist groups and the process of radicalization. However, the sociological concepts of charisma and charismatic authority – …
Terrorism is a Failed Brand
Deterring Terrorism: Theory and Practice
Opportunity Costs or Costly Opportunities? The Arab Spring, Osama Bin Laden, and Al-Qaeda’s African Affiliates
There is little doubt that Al-Qaeda faces twin challenges in the “Arab Spring” sweeping North Africa and the Middle East (MENA) and in the death of Osama bin Laden in – …
Rethinking Terrorist Safe Havens: Beyond a State-Centric Approach
Over the last decade, the term safe haven has stirred controversy both in the political arena as well as in the academic literature. Several authors have emphasized the imprecise and – …
Countering Radicalization of Diaspora Communities in Canada
This study provides an initial assessment of the state of radicalization amongst immigrant groups active within Canada’s largest metropolitan areas. The authors conducted an extensive literature review and examined over – …
Terror Threat: International and Homegrown Terrorists and Their Threat to Canada
Social Science for Counterterrorism: Putting the Pieces Together
Community and Family Approaches to Combating the Radicalization and Recruitment of Somali-American Youth and Young Adults: A Psychosocial Perspective
Between late 2007 and autumn 2008, an estimated 18 or more Somali-American adolescent boys and young men living in the Minneapolis area secretly left their homes and flew to Somalia – …
Terrorism: How to Respond
2013 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada
The 2013 Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada updates Canadians on how the terrorist threat has changed in the last year. (Source: Publication).
Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice: Martyrdom, War and Politics
TSAS WP13-04: Les théories des mouvements sociaux et la dialectique des niveaux: un cadre d’analyse pour l’étude des évolutions d’Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique.
Le développement d’Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique (AQMI) dans l’espace sahélo-saharien est-il le résultat de choix stratégiques du groupe en réponse à des contraintes et opportunités environnementales ou le fruit de – …
‘Bomb-Making for Beginners’: Inside al Al-Qaeda E-Learning Course
This study explores how terrorists utilise the Internet to learn bomb-making skills. Unlike previous studies, it does not focus on assessing the quality of online bomb recipes. (Source: Publication).
Terror in the Peaceable Kingdom: Understanding and Addressing Violent Extremism in Canada
This volume examines the problem set of terrorism in Canada. It traces the history of this phenomenon, examines specific issues and identifies the tools that Canada can employ to address – …