In recent years, there has been a burgeoning of studies related to international terrorism, many related to and resulting from current events and occurrences. However, the enterprise of terrorism scholarship within the framework of political science and international relations poses some interesting dilemmas for the discipline. While other topics in the field have received increasingly rigorous examination, the study of terrorism, comparatively, remains in a nascent stage. Though many of the tools of analysis from other areas of international relations scholarship can be re-applied tfi the study of terrorism, it appears that some must be modified and others discarded altogether. Instead of seeking to fit terrorists, and, indeed, other state actors, into the common rubric of international relations scholarship, I argue here that it is important to reconceptualize international interaction in light of the problems that such actors pose to traditional research. Thus, in the following thesis, I will explore the challenges the study of terrorism poses to researchers in the fields of international relations and political science. After discussing the theoretical foundations and quandaries of the study of international terrorism in political science, I will utilize these remarks as a groundwork for developing a game-theoretic model that incorporates some of these challenges and an econometric model to test some of its implications.

Disinformation poses a clear security threat to institutions and society as a whole, as it has been shown to increase insecurity, radicalization and polarization. Currently, there are many different understandings of this phenomenon which creates barriers to finding solutions. The initial objective of this thesis is to provide an overview of the different conceptions in order to formulate an inclusive understanding of disinformation. This will then be used to test three hypotheses: that disinformation is not a new phenomenon, that it is not only state sponsored, and that technology has allowed for the recent inundation in campaigns. Through a case study analysis this thesis concluded that not only were all of these hypotheses verifiable, but that based on the discussion, it can be expected that disinformation will become increasingly prevalent. The finding suggest that it will be possible for even non-securitized actors to start campaigns, making them harder to identify. Additionally, technology will allow narratives to be increasingly targeted. These narratives are amplified by the systemic problems with social media that benefit outrage and shocking content. The thesis concluded that it may be possible to address disinformation proactively.

This dissertation examines the sources and consequences of non-state actor influence in international environmental policymaking. I argue that non-state variables inside of a country, such as the strength of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), public attitudes towards the environment, and the level of interpersonal trust between citizens, can act as important determinants of state actions in the international environmental policymaking realm. The empirical analyses of these propositions provide the main bulk of this project. My first empirical chapter tests the hypothesis that the strength of domestic nongovernmental organizations can affect the likelihood of a country participating in international environmental agreements, and finds that countries with more ENGOs are party to more international environmental agreements than countries with fewer ENGOs. My second empirical chapter examines the impact of public opinion on the treaty ratification behavior of a country, and finds that the greater the level of public support for the use of international environmental agreements to address environmental problems, the faster a country ratifies the Kyoto Protocol. My final empirical chapter demonstrates how levels of inter-personal trust between citizens can impact the extent to which a state complies with its environmental treaty obligations, and shows that higher levels of trust are linked to higher rates of compliance with environmental treaties, but that this effect is mediated by the degree of ethnic diversity within a country. Given the significance of my findings, I conclude with the argument that nonstate actors are able to influence the participation, ratification and compliance behavior of states in international environmental policymaking arena.

in English The most potent threat to the security and stability of the state in some geographical regions after the cold war has been the proliferation of VNSA due largely to the declining capacities of states especially in the developing world. For a myriad of reasons, the modern nation-state seems incapable of performing its functions and fulfilling the obligations of the state to its citizens. Moreover, the state appears to have lost its monopoly on the use of force within its territory, a situation which has led to the prevalence of swathes of ungoverned territory with marginalized and aggrieved communities whose resentment against central authority find resonance with Non-State Armed Groups whose violent contestation of state authority has further contributed to state fragility and increased insecurity. The Sahel region is one that represents this dynamic in all of its dimensions.

Thesis advisor: Gerald Easter / Thesis advisor: Timothy Crawford / Currently there are millions of people trapped within the confines of a failed state, where each day they are met with extreme risk in order to acquire the basic human needs. While these situations are easily classified as humanitarian emergencies, more often than not, the billions of dollars sent in aid harms the very communities they are charged to help. Through the case study of the world's most failed state, Somalia, this thesis defines and deconstructs state failure, explains life on-the-ground in Somalia, while suggesting solutions for the future. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

The thesis investigates how the historical analogy to mercantile companies, privateers, and pirates between the 16th and 19th century can elucidate the relationship between non-state actors and states in cyber(in-)security, and how such an application changes our understanding of cyber(in-)security. It contributes to a better integration of non-state actors into the study of cyber(in-)security and international security by clarifying the political challenges raised by the interaction between these players and states. Drawing on the literature of non-state armed actors, the thesis defines a spectrum of state proximity to develop an analytical framework categorizing actors as state, semi-state, and non-state. The historical investigation utilizes primary and secondary sources to explore three periods in British naval history: the late 16th, late 17th, and mid-19th centuries. A comparison of the two security domains - the sea and cyberspace - identifies the pre-18th century periods as the most useful analogues for cyber(in-)security. The thesis evaluates the analogy by conducting empirical case studies. First, the case of the attacks against Estonia (2007) and three criminal court cases against Russian hackers (2014/2017) examine the analogy to pirates and privateers. Second, the analogy to mercantile companies focuses on the attacks against Google (2009), the attacks against Sony Pictures Entertainment (2014), and the collaboration between large technology companies and Five-Eyes signals intelligence agencies. The thesis makes three main claims: first, the analogy to piracy and privateering provides a new understanding of how state proximity is used politically by attackers and defenders, and offers lessons for understanding attribution in cyberspace. Second, the longevity of historical privateering sheds light on the long-term risks and rewards of state collaboration with cyber criminals, and offers insight into the political constitution of cyber(in-)security. Third, the mercantile company lens improves our understanding of how cooperative and conflictive relations between large technology companies and states influence cyber(in-)security.

This dissertation examines the concept of Other Diplomacies and argues for a human-centric approach to studying diplomacies. / The academic field of Diplomatic Studies has long been insulated from critical interventions in the broader discipline of International Relations. While critical discussions surrounding gender, race, and class have been in ascendance in International Relations, Diplomatic Studies has managed to police its traditional disciplinary boundaries by centring scholarship around states and their accredited agents. The state-centric focus of the field has resulted in scholarship privileging the interests of states, which are abstract entities, over those of actual living communities; therefore, engage with issues primarily important to masculine, Eurocentric, and elite actors. This dissertation intervenes in the academic field of Diplomatic Studies to decentre the state and reorient the field’s focus towards human-centric issues. It argues that societal non-state actors engage in Other Diplomacies as they interact with each other across boundaries of perceived differences. Thereby the dissertation contributes to the literature on Other Diplomacies by showing how Sri Lankan migrant workers engage in Other Diplomacies as they interact with their interlocutors in South Korea. It shows how Sri Lankan migrant workers utilise diplomatic skills to understand and navigate their gendered, racialised, and classist identities. This dissertation also contributes to the literature on consular affairs by arguing that it constitutes a part of Diplomatic Studies rather than a separate field of study. I sustain the human-centric focus of Other Diplomacies and shows that societal non-state actors provide and receive consular assistance from each other due to inadequate levels of assistance from their state. I propose that Other Diplomacies scholarship sustain a human-centric focus to uncover the gendered, racialised, and classist power hierarchies that societal actors must negotiate across as they interact with other actors, both state and non-state. Thereby this dissertation contributes to the critically inclined scholarship of Diplomatic Studies in particular and International Relations in general. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The academic study of diplomacy has focused on states and their accredited agents. This has resulted in scholarly work that mostly limits itself to issues, interests, and solutions relevant to states and their leaders. While these concerns are important and relevant, the scholarship has neglected to take the concerns of ordinary people and communities into account. The implications of this have been the excluding of issues related to race, class, and gender, among other distinctions from the scholarship. This dissertation argues that scholars studying diplomacy should also place humans at the centre of concern, rather than only states. It does so by examining how Sri Lankan migrant workers in South Korea engage in diplomacy through the functions of representation, communication, and negotiation. Therefore, the dissertation contributes by centring ordinary people and communities in the study of diplomacy and international relations and showing how they matter.

In the spring of 2007, the Women’s Foundation of California and the California Endowment created what would become the Elder Women’s Initiative, (EWI) which focuses on building a social movement for elder women and their allies with specific attention to healthcare and economic security. This study is largely descriptive and focuses on how state and non-state actors participated in the Elder Women’s Initiative. I looked at ways in which their unique roles can shape the scope of the movement and in what capacity the notion of advocacy is defined. I used feminist and social movements theory to frame my study. The data collection was multi-phased: the first was interviews with state leaders at the policy and community-based level, and the second was “Speak-Outs” or community listening sessions in three geographic areas in California. During the Speak-Outs, which recruited elder women and their allies from low-income communities in California, the women were able to testify about their experiences with the aging process. They also spoke with policymakers about how to collaborate in building the movement. While the Elder Women’s Initiative raised more questions than it answered, participants identified several concrete recommendations were identified about how to build the movement. The current political landscape in California is fraught with tension over the recent budget crises. It is important for future researchers to examine the ways in which the EWI fits into the policy process and how women across California can experience dignified and healthy aging. / text

The United Nations, states and regional organisations have spent invaluable time and resources to maintain international peace and security in a largely anarchical international system, owing to armed conflicts between states and non-state actors (NSAs). This state of affairs is exacerbated by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, transnational terrorist networks, failed states and a disregard for international norms by powerful states. This is in spite of the normative and policy frameworks that have been established to constrain the use of force by states in the territories of one another. Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the use of force by states in their relations, unless they rely on the exceptions in articles 51 and 42 and the customary law doctrine of ?consent?. In addition, it was the requirement of international law that a state may use force against NSAs, only if it attributes the conduct of the NSAs to a state. This thesis examines the extraterritorial use of force by states against terrorist non-state actors, and the focus is to answer the question ?whether the law of self-defence has been transformed?. The investigation has been conducted with particular attention to whether the post 9/11 practice of states, the Security Council resolutions 1368 and 1373, the use of pre-emptive self-defence by the United States, Israel and a few other states, the disregard for attribution of the conduct of NSAs to states and the overwhelming international support for contemporary incidents of the use of force by states against NSAs, such as Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Al-Shaabab, the Khorasan Group and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have caused a change in the law of self-defence. Firstly, the study finds that pre-emptive self-defence which does not require imminence has not been accepted as part of international law and it argues that its unlawful use could not cause a change in the law. Secondly, as far as the use of self-defence against non-state actors is concerned, it finds that the actions of the United States against Al Qaeda following resolutions 1368 and 1373 of the Security Council, the lowering of the attribution standard and the toleration by the international community of the use of force against terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Ecuador, Somalia and Mali without attributing their conduct to states, could be interpreted as amounting to a transformation of the law of self-defence. Accordingly, this study recommends the acceptance of the lowered threshold in the attribution requirement, but it also recommends a corresponding disregard of ?pre-emptive self-defence? as not forming part of the corpus of international law. It is also recommended that the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court be enlarged to try transnational terrorism as one of the egregious crimes against mankind. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Centre for Human Rights / LLD / Unrestricted

TACtical Intelligence: Disrupting the Terrorist Attack Cycle by Analysing Terrorists' Intelligence Operations Keywords: terrorism, intelligence, confidence, intelligence competition, violent non-state actors Abstract: Commensurate with prevailing Realist influence in military and security studies,the majority of academic literature on topics of intelligence are from state-centric perspectives, failing to sufficiently address other actors who are taking on greater and more salient roles on the international security stage. In particular, the use of intelligence by violent non-state actors is a premature subject matter in the academic discourse, as literature at the intersection of the two disciplines tends to evaluate the ways in which state intelligence succeeds or fails with regards to, or acts upon violent non-state actors. Rarely are violent non-state actors perceived of as intelligence actors of their own respect. Nevertheless, an intelligence competition persists between the rivals. The intelligence competition between terrorist organisations, seeking to instigate attacks, and state agencies, seeking to thwart them, is underdeveloped in both terrorism and intelligence studies. This study finds terrorist organisations engage in an intelligence competition with their state adversaries-a pursuit to...