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Journal Article 2.1: Chasdi, R. J. (2014). A continuum of nation-state resiliency to watershed terrorist events. Armed Forces & Society, 40(1), 476-503.

Abstract: This article is a qualitative analysis of nation-state population “resiliency” to several spectacular and/or highly symbolic terrorist assaults that were watershed events. It draws heavily from qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) frameworks to isolate and identify the presence of what Goertz calls the “secondary dimensions” of a “primary concept” such as resiliency to terrorist assaults. In turn, the presence of those secondary dimensions and their strength presuppose and derive from “tertiary indicators” that are the basic metrics and concrete manifestations of those secondary dimensions. The nation-states under consideration include the London bombings of 2005, the United States for 9/11, the Madrid bombings of 2004, the first suicide bombings within pre-1967 boundaries of Israel, and the Russian Federation in the case of the 2002 terrorist assault against the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow. The results serve as the basis for the development of a “resiliency continuum” of nation-states where placement of those countries on the continuum reflect “nonresilient,” “semiresilient,” and “resilient” conditions, themselves defined by the number of secondary dimensions found in each case study. In the process, the analysis illuminates possible interconnections between “context specific” factors, such as a country’s historical experience with terrorism and population characteristics (e.g., education levels, degree of heterogeneity) to the resiliency or nonresiliency condition, and describes possible links between exogenous “systems factors” such as war and power ranking to the resiliency condition.

Journal Article 2.2: Howard, D. (2011). Why study the history of political thought? Philosophy Social Criticism, 37(5), 519-531.

Abstract: This article explains why its author has spent much of the past decade rediscovering the history of political thought (rather than enter into the fray of political philosophy as it has been practised since Rawls). The article is only an illustration; but its virtue is that it summarizes in a short space the thesis developed in my book The Primacy of the Political: A History of Political Thought from the Greeks to the American and French Revolutions. It lays out a general theory of the political, demonstrates that there exists an inherent anti-political tendency within all politics (as seen in the rise of 20^th-century totalitarianism), and tries to suggest how this difficulty can be confronted.

Journal Article 2.3: Sandler, T. (2011). New frontiers of terrorism research: An introduction. Journal of Peace Research, 48(3), 279-286.

Abstract: This article opens the special issue by identifying the main contributions to date of the empirical and theoretical literature on terrorism. Important past theoretical articles investigated the application of game theory to study interactions among adversaries (e.g. terrorists and governments) and allies (e.g. commonly targeted governments). Past empirical articles examined the effectiveness of counter-terrorism policies, the root causes of terrorism, the dynamics of terrorist attacks, and other topics. This introduction also indicates new areas of research emphasis—e.g. the study of suicide terrorism and foreign aid as a counter-terrorism tool. Next, the introduction highlights some key definitions—e.g. domestic and transnational terrorism—that are applied throughout the special issue. Each article of the special issue is then introduced and briefly discussed. These articles display a rich diversity of topics and methods; nevertheless, they enlighten the reader on the consequences of terrorism. Topics in the special issue include the social impact of interrogation methods; the consequences of aid-assisted counter-terrorism; the roots of domestic terrorism; the adverse effect of terrorism on growth; the use of experiments to study counter-terrorism; the relationship among terrorism, trust, and income; and legislative responses to transnational terrorism. The two main event datasets—International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorism Events (ITERATE) and Global Terrorism Database (GTD)—are also compared.

Journal Article 2.4: Smith, M., & Zeigler, S. M. (2017). Terrorism before and after 9/11—A more dangerous world. Research and Politics, 1-8.

Abstract: Was 9/11 the opening salvo in a new age of terrorism? Some argue that this act ushered in a more chaotic world. Others contend an increased focus on terrorism in the past 15 years is the result of conflating terrorist activity with insurgency. We shed light on these claims by analyzing data on domestic and transnational terrorist incidence from 1989 to 2014. The evidence suggests that the years since 9/11 have been different from those preceding them. Once the prevalence of conflicts is accounted for, the post-9/11 era is a significantly less terror prone period than the years before it. A country not suffering civil conflict was upwards of 60 percent more likely to experience terrorism prior to or during the year 2001 than since. However, the opposite trend holds for those countries with a higher proportion of Muslims. Prior to 2001, countries with higher Muslim populations experienced less domestic terrorism. Since 9/11, these countries have experienced significantly more terrorism—both domestic and international—than they had previously.

Additional Articles

• Bolechów, B. (2005, February). The United States of America vis-à-vis terrorism: The super power’s weaknesses and mistakes. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(6), 783-794.

• Chan, S. (2007). Fanon: The octogenarian of international revenge and the suicide bomber of today. Cooperation and Conflict, 42(2), 151-168.

• Clauset, A., Young, M., & Gleditsch, K. S. (2007, February). On the frequency of severe terrorist events. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 51(1), 58-87.

• Duff, R. A. (2005, February). Notes on punishment and terrorism. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(6), 758-763.

• Engene, J. O. (2007). Five decades of terrorism in Europe: The TWEED dataset. Journal of Peace Research, 44(1), 109-121.

• Ferrero, M. (2006, December). Martyrdom contracts. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 50(6).

• Gray, J. M., & Wilson, M. A. (2006, January). Understanding the ‘War on Terrorism’: Responses to 11 September 2001. Journal of Peace Research, 43(1), 23-36.

• Levin, B. (2001, February). History as a weapon: How extremists deny the holocaust in North America. American Behavioral Scientist, 44(6), 1001-1031.

• McLaren, P. (2003). The dialectics of terrorism: A marxist response to September 11 (Part two: Unveiling the past, evading the present). Cultural Studies ß à Critical Methodologies, 3(1), 103-132.

• Mudde, C. (2005). Racist extremism in central and Eastern Europe. East European Politics and Societies, 19(2), 161-184.

• Rocha, M. A. (2004). Undoing the blindfold of old glory: Observations on 9/11 and the war on terrorism from lockdown USA. Cultural Studies ß à Critical Methodologies, 4(2), 143-151.

• Schwartz, S. (2008, May). Security or freedom first? American Behavioral Scientist, 51(9), 1394-1399.

• Sela-Shayovitz, R. (2011, April). Neo-Nazis and moral panic: The emergence of neo-Nazi youth gangs in Israel. Journal of Crime, Media, Culture, 7(1), 67-82.

• Van Ham, P. (2003, December). War, lies, and videotape: Public diplomacy and the USA’s war on terrorism. Security Dialogue, 34(4), 427-444.

• VanderHeiden, S. (2005, September). Eco-terrorism or justified resistance? Radical environmentalism and the ‘War on Terror’. Politics & Society, 33(3), 425-447.

• Walzer, M. (2007, December). On fighting terrorism justly. International Relations, 21(4), 480-484.

• Watts, M. W. (2001, December). Aggressive youth cultures and hate crime: Skinheads and xenophobic youth in Germany. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(4), 600-615.

• Wheeler, N. J. (2002). Dying for ‘Enduring Freedom’: Accepting responsibility for civilian casualties in the war against terrorism. International Relations, 16(2), 205-225.