Thesis (M.A. in International Security and Civil-Military Relations)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Donald Abenheim, Maria Rasmussen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-60). Also available online.

By discussing and comparing three transnational terrorist events - 9/11, 11-M, and July 7 - similarities and differences emerge among them, which are the focus of this study. By comparing the causes of and responses to these attacks, and postulating underlying ideologies revealed by those comparisons, findings can be applied to potential future situations involving terrorist acts or groups. Learning by self-examination is an important step in every nation's improvement of global policy, and determining possible causes of terrorism could be useful in actually preventing terrorism. I suggest causes of 9/11, 11-M, and July 7, and demonstrate that the three attacks may have actually had similar causes, regardless of apparent differences in time, place, and global climate. The conclusions from these comparisons offer potential courses of action to prevent terrorism in the future. Examining responses to terrorist actions serves to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of particular responses, thereby offering guidance as to the best courses of action to take in the instance of a new attack. The evaluation of American, Spanish, and British reactions to terrorism, both within governments and populations, shows that America had the most aggressive response in terms of military action. The response of the Spanish population was an example of the power of public wrath, in ousting the incumbent Conservative party in favor of the Socialist party. The response of the British people and government, a stoic and unwavering determination to retain normalcy, was admirable and ought to be emulated by Western nations unfortunate enough to be attacked in the future. The underlying ideologies contributing to the responses are rich in value though difficult to change. By recognizing these differences among one another, countries such as the United States, Spain, and Great Britain may be able to better cooperate in international matters in the future. After comparing the individualist nature of America to the more communal nature of Western European nations such as Spain and Great Britain, a discussion of secular theocracy follows, applying the topics discussed earlier to political figures in the War on Terror. In all of these comparisons, a framework is laid for what political behaviors should be lauded in the event of terrorism, and what behaviors should be avoided, both on the national and transnational level. Through the exploration and analysis of these three large-scale terrorist events, a broader understanding of terrorism can be gained, as well as a more cohesive view of the supposed "differences" among cultures of the West and cultures of the Middle East.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-230).

The aim of this dissertation is to examine the process of securitization of terrorism, to develop the role of the audience (public) at the individual level and subsequently to provide recommendations on an alternative way of fighting terrorism. In order to achieve this goal, the author uses socially constructivist securitization theory, critical terrorism studies and political psychology, namely cognitive and social psychology. Throughout the chapters, the securitization process of terrorism is explored; terrorism as a (to a certain extent) objective problem, further, from the point of view of critical terrorism studies, the security measures are assessed and public opinion is examined through public opinion polls. The author comes to the conclusion that public opinion is one of the key factors in implementing extensive security measures. Therefore, she further examines the factors that affect public opinion; the narrative, the role of the media, and ultimately the psychological processes influencing the perception of reality. It turns out that the narrative about terrorism and the media have their share in the public reaction to terrorism, but the role of the audience in the securitization process of terrorism is not fully explained and there are the psychological processes that illuminate it. Therefore, by running an experiment, the author examines the effect of three narratives about terrorism, based on psychological theories. It concludes that there is a potential for reducing the public's fears and thus the alternative fight against terrorism.

1 Criminal law regulation of protection against terrorism in the Czech Republic Abstract This diploma thesis deals with the criminal law regulation of protection against terrorism in the Czech Republic. Its aim is to characterize this criminal law regulation, including selected related topics. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The author first introduces the reader to the issue of terrorism through a short historical excursion, then focuses on various definitions of the term terrorism and describes its characteristic features, principles, types, forms and presents it in the context of organized crime and extremism. The second chapter deals with instruments of protection against terrorism. An essential term in this context is anti-terrorism or counter-terrorism, which is a set of measures and activities aimed at preventing, suppressing and eliminating the consequences of terrorist acts and implemented through so-called "anti-terrorism policy". First of all, in this chapter, the analysis of individual terrorist threats and their relevance for the Czech Republic positively answers the question of the need for instruments of protection against terrorism, accented also by a sub-chapter dealing with phenomenon of lone wolfs and foreign terrorist fighters. Finally, two basic concepts of anti-terrorism...

This thesis deals with the topic of terrorism prevention and counter-radicalization in the European Union. The aim of this thesis is to assess the effectiveness of the 'prevent' pillar of The EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Due to the lack of agreement on why people engage in terrorism, (the process of) radicalization, and measuring and conceptualizing effectiveness, a unique research framework was designed. In the absence of a 'recipe' for effective terrorism prevention, the focus is on the EU's approach, i.e. what the EU has set out for itself in the 'prevent' pillar. This research design consists of two criteria - 'progress' and 'EU involvement.' In order to assess the effectiveness of the 'prevent' pillar, each of the pillar's seven key priorities was exposed to these criteria. The findings indicate that the 'prevent' pillar is relatively effective as the progress was made in each priority area and the EU was involved considerably. As this research does not make any causality claims, these findings do not translate into the reduction of the terrorist threat. This effectiveness might as well be a result of careful wording of the pillar's priorities and their tailoring to the EU context. The main responsibility to tackle radicalization and recruitment still remains at local and national level.

Although there has been a wealth of academic literature which has examined counter-terrorism, both in the general sense and in case study focused approaches, there has seldom been an engagement in terrorism studies literature on the nature of the state itself and how this impacts upon the particular response to terrorism. Existing literature has a tendency to either examine one branch of the state or to treat (explicitly or implicitly) the state as a unitary actor. This thesis challenges the view of the state as a unitary actor, looking beneath the surface of the state, investigating intra-state dynamics and the consequences for counter-terrorism. I highlight that the state by its nature is ‘peopled', demonstrating through comparative analysis of case studies from Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, how the individual identities and dispositions of state personnel at all levels from elites to entry level positions determine the nature and characteristics of particular states. I show that if we accept that the state is peopled, we must pay attention to a series of traits that I argue all states exhibit to understand why campaigns of counter-terrorism take the shape and form that they do. I posit that we must understand the role that emotional and visceral action by state personnel in response to terrorism plays, how the character of particular state organisations can impact upon the trajectory of conflicts, and how issues of intra-state competition and coordination can frustrate even the best laid counter-terrorism strategies. Furthermore, I show how the propensity for sub- state political violence to ‘terrorise' populations makes the response to terrorism a powerful political tool, and how it has been deployed in the past for political gain rather than purely as an instrument to improve security. I conclude that future academic analyses of counter-terrorism must take this into consideration, and likewise, state personnel must be mindful of the nature and character of their state should they wish to effectively prevent terrorism and protect human rights and the rule of law.

The definition of terrorism in international law The subject of this graduation thesis is to explore problem of defining terrorism in international law. Although it is very broad topic, the thesis has attempted to explore most of the questions this issue has offered. First of all, it examines reasones why define terrorism in international law. Further this study provides information about perception of the term terrorism in the past depending on the political and social conditions and about how the terrorist attacks influenced the effort to find the definition of terrorism. The thesis pays big attention to regional treaty in which terrorism is defined and uses it as a comparison basis for finding the elements of the definition, since regional international treaty law has achieved the biggest success in this area. However, in the last two decades successes have achieved on universal level, especially by the adoption of the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism, which is the first universal agreement binding defines terrorism. This study also introduces the latest development of efforts to create a Comprehensive Convention on the Suppression of International Terrorism, which is, unfortunately, no more than small. Given the decades-long efforts to define terrorism, the...

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): Kalev I. Sepp. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-96). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Cover title. "June 2002." AD-A405 990. Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-80). Also available via the World Wide Web.