A consortium of researchers dedicated to improving the understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism

October News: American deaths in terrorist attacks; START to speak at international forum on defining terrorism; US-Venezuela webinar Oct. 8

FEATURED

Updated: American Deaths in Terrorist Attacks 1995-2019
START has released updated statistics on the total number of terrorist attacks that took place in the United States, the total number of deaths due to terrorist attacks in the United States, the total number of U.S. deaths due to terrorist attacks in the United States, and the total number of U.S. deaths due to terrorist attacks worldwide, from 1995 to 2019.

START will speak on systemic risks and modelling catastrophes during IFTRIP conference
START Director William Braniff will present “Systemic Risks,” and Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Program Manager Erin Miller will be present “Modelling Catastrophes” next week during the annual conference hosted by the International Forum of Terrorism Risk (Re)Insurance Pools (IFTRIP). The conference, which will be held virtually Oct. 13-15, will focus on “Defining Terrorism” and feature experts from terrorism reinsurance pools, industry experts and the wider counterterrorism community to discuss various themes in the fields of counterterrorism, security, risk and (re)insurance.

Join Us: Webinar on US-Venezuela defense relations Oct. 8  
At 2 p.m. Oct. 8, Dr. Fabiana Perera will give a virtual talk on “US-Venezuela Defense Relations.” Perera, assistant professor at the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, will discuss the key inflection points in the relationship between the two countries and the challenges to be addressed in the event of a transition to democracy.

PUBLICATIONS

Clearing the Smoke and Breaking the Mirrors: Using Attitudinal Inoculation to Challenge Online Disinformation by Extremists
Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization
Braddock, Kurt
 
Cumulative Disruptions: Interdependency and Commitment Escalation as Mechanisms of Illicit Network Failure
Global Crime
Fabiani, Michelle D. and Brandon Behlendorf
 
The Crisis Within Jihadism: The Islamic State’s Puritanism vs. al-Qa`ida’s Populism
CTC Sentinel
Hafez, Mohammed
 
Southeast Asia after the Caliphate: Identifying Spatial Trends in Terrorism and Radicalization in Malaysia
Statistics, Politics, and Policy
Henkin, Sam, and Marcus Boyd, Adam Martin
 
Advancing Crisis Communication Effectiveness: Integrating Public Relations Scholarship with Practice
Routledge
Jin, Yan, and Bryan H. Reber, Glen J. Nowak
 
Impact of Perceived Peer Attitudes and Social Network Diversity on Violent Extremist Intentions
Terrorism and Political Violence
Kaczkowski, Wojciech, and Kevin M. Swartout, Lee Branum-Martin, John G. Horgan, Anthony F. Lemieux
 
Triggered by Defeat or Victory? Assessing the Impact of Presidential Election Results on Extreme Right-Wing Mobilization Online
Deviant Behavior
Scrivens, Ryan, and George W. Burruss, Thomas J. Holt, Steven M. Chermak, Joshua D. Freilich, Richard Frank
 
Former Extremists in Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization Research
Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization
Scrivens, Ryan, and Steven Windisch, Pete Simi
 
Media Contact and Posttraumatic Stress in Employees of New York City Area Businesses after the September 11 Attacks
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Pfefferbaum, Betty, and Jayme Palka, Carol S. North
 
Risk and Resilience in Children in the Context of Mass Trauma
Psychiatric Annals
Whaley, Grace L., and Vandana Varma, Erin M. Hawks, Robyn Cowperthwaite, Lenore Arlee, Betty Pfefferbaum
 
Comparing Different Sources of Data to Examine Trends of Hate Crime in Absence of Official Registers
American Journal of Criminal Justice
Vergani, Matteo, and Carolina Navarro, Joshua D. Freilich, Steven M. Chermak
 
PROTOCOL: Cognitive and Behavioral Radicalization: A Systematic Review of the Putative Risk and Protective Factors
Campbell Systematic Reviews
Wolfowicz, Michael, and Yael Litmanovitz, David Weisburd, Badi Hasisi
 
Modeling Multi-target Defender-attacker Games with Quantal Response Attack Strategies
Reliability Engineering & System Safety
Zhang, Jing, and Yan Wang, Jun Zhuang

NEWS

WATCH: Virtual symposium on changing threats
In September, START and SIA hosted a virtual symposium highlighting how new tools and partnerships can mitigate changing threats. Watch the video now to learn more about the capability development framework tool for risk assessment, horizon scanning for future threats and the new generation of threats and countermeasures. 
 
Koven takes on role as non-resident fellow at Modern War Institute
Dr. Barnett S. Koven, START’s Training Director, Near-peer Competition Lead Researcher and Counterterrorism Lead Researcher, has been accepted as a non-resident fellow at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Upcoming talk identifies pandemic's strategic implications for risk assessment and resilience
Blending time-tested insights on catastrophic risk from the terrorism insurance field with START’s scientific approach to studying asymmetric threats, START Director William Braniff and CHC Global CEO Chris Holt will offer a talk to the Strategic Multilayer Assessment next month on the strategic implications of Covid-19 for risk assessment and resilience. The talk draws from their piece “100 Days Later,” which identified the need for honest risk assessment; the importance of building threat agnostic resilience in the face of compounding risks; and the importance of public-private partnerships.
 
UMD researchers receive NOAA grant to improve crisis communication
Despite the development of largely effective warning systems, people routinely die from severe weather like tornadoes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) recently awarded Drs. Anita Atwell Seate, Brooke Fisher Liu, and Ji Youn Kim a $368,675 grant to improve how forecasters communicate severe weather threats.

EVENTS

START Webinar: US-Venezuela Defense Relations
2 p.m. ET Oct. 8, Online
William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies Assistant Professor Dr. Fabiana Perera will provide a virtual talk on “US-Venezuela Defense Relations.”
 
Virtual Information Session: Global Terrorism Studies Minor Program
6 p.m. ET Oct. 8, Online
This information session will be led by START’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Thomas Guarrieri and START's Experiential Education Specialist, Eva Coll, who will discuss how the Global Terrorism Studies Minor Program currently works, what students have to gain from their experience in the program, application requirements, and any other questions attendees may have.
 
Virtual Information Sessions: Internship Program
1 p.m. ET Oct. 13 and 2 p.m. ET Oct. 29, Online
START’s Experiential Education Specialist Eva Coll will discuss how the internship program currently works, what students or recent graduates have to gain from their experience in the program, application requirements, and the projects offered within the center that interns will be working on.
 
Virtual Information Sessions: Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis
6 p.m. ET Oct. 14 and Dec. 10, Online
START's Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis provides participants with advanced education on the causes, dynamics, and impacts of international and domestic terrorism. Participants also develop the methodological skills necessary to pursue advanced research on and analysis of terrorism. RSVP to education-start@umd.edu for login information.
 
IFTRIP LIVESTREAM 2020: Defining Terrorism
October 13, 14 and 15, Online
The International Forum of Terrorism Risk (Re)Insurance Pools (IFTRIP) will host its annual conference online this year, with the focus being on “Defining Terrorism.” Across three days, IFTRIP LIVESTREAM will bring panels and presentations to life on a virtual stage with an impressive array of high profile figures discussing six pivotal themes in in the field of counter terrorism, security, risk and (re)insurance. This is not a START event.
 
Understanding the Rise and Resilience of Islamic State Khorasan in Afghanistan
1 p.m. ET Nov. 12, Online
West Point Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) Assistant Professor Dr. Amira Jadoon will provide a virtual talk on “Understanding the Rise and Resilience of Islamic State Khorasan in Afghanistan.”
 
Homegrown: ISIS in America
12 p.m. ET Nov. 17, Online
George Washington University Program on Extremism Deputy Director Seamus Hughes and Program on Extremism Research Fellow Bennett Clifford will provide a virtual talk on their new book “Homegrown: ISIS in America.”
 
Historical Appropriation Among Far-Right Extremists
2 p.m. ET Dec. 10, Online
In this virtual panel event, START Senior Researcher Dr. Elizabeth Yates, Brandeis University Assistant Professor of English Dr. Dorothy Kim and Eidolon Editor-in-Chief Dr. Donna Zuckerberg will discuss “Historical Appropriation Among Far-Right Extremists.”

OPPORTUNITIES

Job Opportunity: US Election Worker
 
Department of Homeland Security Hiring Events
 
Job Opportunity: University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Counterterrorism and National Security Studies Cluster Hire
 
Job Opportunity: Facebook Legal Investigator
 
Job Opportunity: World Bank Investigator

Further information on other job opportunities, fellowship programs, conferences and more can be found on our website’s Other Opportunities page.

START provides ample online education and training opportunities
Whether you are a full-time student or working professional, START has many options for you to further your education and build applicable skills, all from the comfort of your own home. Online offerings include:

START IN THE NEWS

USA Today: How QAnon and other dark forces are radicalizing Americans as the COVID-19 pandemic rages and election looms
START researcher Michael Jensen is quoted in this article about the rise of QAnon during COVID-19.
 
Voice of America: Antifa protester suspected in killing of Trump supporter in Oregon
Former START Director Gary LaFree is quoted in this Voice of America article about the killing of a Trump supporter in Portland, Oregon.
 
The Wall Street Journal: Cities were filled with mass protests in the summer of 2020. They are different now.
START Director William Braniff is quoted in this article about extremist violence during protests in the United States.
 
ISC News: Horizon scanning for future threats: An emerging technique for security
START researcher Steve Sin is quoted in this article about horizon scanning.
 
The Conversation: 19 years after 9/11, Americans continue to fear foreign extremists and underplay the dangers of domestic terrorism
START affiliates Jeff Gruenewald, Joshua Freilich, Steven Chermak, and William Parkin wrote this article about foreign versus domestic terrorist threats.
 
PolitiFact: Fact-checking Trump health aide's unproven 'hit squads' claim from controversial Facebook video
START researcher Michael Jensen is quoted in this article fact-checking a Facebook video claim about hit squads.
 
Washington Times: White supremacists pose 'most persistent and lethal threat'
This article about the dangers of extremism in the United States uses data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD).
 
USA Today: Save the Children? Extremist conspiracy movement QAnon fabricates pedophile claims against Biden as election looms
START researcher Michael Jensen is quoted in this article about fabricated QAnon rumors against Joe Biden.

This is a selection of news clips from the past month.

A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here.

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 © 2019 The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is: 

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)

PO Box Number 266

5245 Greenbelt Rd

College Park, MD 20740