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START newsletter: Top terrorist threats in US; Free, online course; Infographic series

FEATURED RESEARCH

Sovereign citizen movement perceived as top terrorist threat
Sovereign citizen, Islamist extremist and militia/patriot groups are perceived by law enforcement agencies to pose the greatest threats to their communities, according to a new START study. Read more.
 
New brief analyzes terrorist groups in the United States
Since 1970, more than 145 organizations are known to have engaged in terrorist attacks against targets in the U.S. homeland, according to a new START research brief that summarizes findings from the Profiles of Perpetrators of Terrorism in the United States (PPT-US) dataset. Read more.

Global Terrorism Database 2013 dataset to be released next week
Next week, START will release the an update to its flagship Global Terrorism Database (GTD). The update to the database includes information on nearly 1,200 terrorist attacks that occurred worldwide in 2013, new variables and geocoding for attacks occurring since 1970 in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, among other countries. The data will be online and available for download next week on the GTD website.


 
Terrorism Research: The Record
International Interactions
Crenshaw, Martha
 
Spotting the Threat
New Scientist
Neumann, Peter
 
Civil Resistance: Reflections on an Idea Whose Time Has Come
The Global Forum
Chenoweth, Erica


Former extremist discusses attraction to, defection from white power movement
On July 2, former white power extremist Robert Orell offered a talk at START Headquarters about his personal experiences in the movement as well as his professional experiences helping others to leave the movement. Read more.
 
‘Understanding Terrorism’ with START’s free, online course
Registration is now open for START’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Understanding Terrorism and the Terrorist Threat,” which will run Jan. 12-March 9, 2015. The eight-week course, offered through the University of Maryland and Coursera, will explore questions relating to the who, what and how of terrorism studies by introducing students to cutting edge research and the experts investigating these topics. Read more or Register now.
 
Graphic design, the Navy and geospatial coding
An undergraduate degree in graphic design and a childhood dream led START Intern Milosz Reterski to the Navy, where he served as a photojournalist as he traveled the world. Read more.

START students tour the Pentagon
A group of START students recently attended a tour and counterterrorism brief at the Pentagon in an effort to better understand how different facets of studying terrorism and combatting terrorism come together in practice. Read more.
 
A journey to Japan
START GIS Analyst Intern Rhys Young’s first taste of East Asian culture came in a canister of Pinky mints, a gift from her cousin stationed in Okinawa, Japan. His stories of travels throughout the country set Young on her own journey to Japan. Read more.
 
START Cybersecurity Fellow develops simulations for classroom use
START interns recently participated in a series of cybersecurity simulations in which they played the part of different federal and state agencies reacting to the hypothetical hacking of the Maryland State Police Department’s website and networks by the hacker group Anonymous. Read more.

Sign up for START’s free online course on understanding terrorism. Apply now.
 
Colorado Technical University (CTU)’s Wounded Warrior Scholarship Program. Apply by September 1.
 
TSAS accepting proposals for research grants. Apply by September 12.

 
Albany Times Union: Children don’t pick terrorists
START investigator Victor Asal wrote this commentary piece in response to a Wall Street Journal editorial arguing that civilians who support a government should be held culpable for what their government does. Read more.
 
American Center for Democracy: WMD and the Islamist Threat
START Senior Researcher Cory Davenport highlights the shortcomings in the destruction of chemical agents and nuclear materials in the Middle East in an article released by the American Center for Democracy (ACD).  Read more.
 
Foreign Affairs: Drop Your Weapons- When and Why Civil Resistance Works
In an article written for Foreign Affairs, START Investigator Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan explain the research behind the success of nonviolent civil resistance. Read more.
 
Forbes: The Proven Superiority of Nonviolent Resistance
An article published by Forbes highlights the importance of a peaceful society, citing START Investigator’s Erica Chenoweth’s groundbreaking research on civil resistance. Read more.
 
War on the Rocks: START Infographic Series
START partnered with War on the Rocks to publish a series of infographics that depict trends in global terrorism activity based on data from the Global Terrorism Database and related START projects. In the past month, the series has covered:

This is a selection of news clips from the past month.
A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here
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SUPPORTING START

 
Help Support START Research and Education
The START Consortium is dedicated to generating knowledge of the human causes and consequences of terrorism. Applying rigorous standards to both research and education, START seeks to illuminate one of the most highly politicized and understudied phenomena in the social sciences for students, practitioners and policy-makers. Funded primarily through research grants to date, START is seeking to generate an endowment that will provide the flexibility and autonomy to ensure that it can continue to serve as an objective source of data and empirically based analysis into the future.  To donate, or for more information, please click here. Copyright © 2014 The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), All rights reserved.