Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, August, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Geography." Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-108).

Thesis of (Ph.D)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on October 6th, 2009). "Fall, 2009." At head of title: University of Alberta. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduates Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S. in Defense Analysis)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Gordon McCormick, Anna Simons. Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-106). Also available online.

This thesis aims to respond to the following question: How does the depiction of terrorists in popular fiction novels compare to the explanations in academia as to why individuals become terrorists and join terrorist organizations? Is this fictional depiction a reflection or distortion of reality, and what insights can we take away from this comparison? The argument of this thesis is that fiction’s depiction of terrorists is both a reflection and distortion of reality, as it presents a unique creative, emotionally resonant narrative that humanizes the terrorists. By giving a voice to their motivations and experiences, readers are able to empathize, relate to, and engage with these terrorists characters as rational, emotional human beings instead of vicious monsters or killing machines. To support this argument, this thesis (a) outlines the conventional wisdoms that pervade the current, popular narrative of terrorism discourse, (b) discusses the academic theories and explanations that challenge these conventional wisdoms, and (c) analyzes five contemporary fiction novels on terrorism, focusing on whether their characterizations of terrorists play into the conventional wisdoms or diverge from them and present a more nuanced, complex depiction.

No description available.

The central question of this thesis examines how Malaya/Malaysia and Singapore learned and adapted successful terrorist disengagement programs and policies; through their unique and non-military rehabilitation programs. The methodology is a comparative case study analysis of Malaysia and Singapore. In order to understand how the countries of Malaya/Malaysia and Singapore adapted a colonial-era counter-insurgency program to disengage Communist Terrorists into a program that now rehabilitates radicalized Islamist Terrorists, an analysis of the periods of the Malayan Emergency and the post-Cold War era of Malaya/Malaysia and Singapore is necessary. The argument presented in this thesis contends the colonial framework and policies of the Malayan Emergency had a positive impact on Malaysia and Singapore; which both countries have further developed and learned as a foundation for their successful terrorist disengagement programs and policies to counter radical Islamist groups and individuals. The hypothesis is that successful counter-insurgency operations must include disengagement programs, rather than purely military solutions or strategies to ensure countries success in counter-insurgency operations and strategies. The Malaysian counter-insurgency disengagement program and the Singapore counter-insurgency disengagement program can provide lessons for modern day counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism programs and policies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Terrorism is a global problem that has a negative effect on people’s lives all around the world. News media has a big part in how society understands terrorism and therefore it is important to examine how they report and portray terrorists. Using Sjoberg and Gentry’s Beyond Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Thinking about Women’s Violence in Global Politics this essay examines how news media portrays men and women in terrorist organisations, and if the mother-, monster-, whore narratives can be found. The method of textual analysis was adopted to analyse news articles from papers from around the world. The findings show that there is a significant difference in how female terrorists are portrayed versus male terrorists. The findings also show that writers most commonly depict female terrorists as monsters, this indicates that the monster narrative is the most common one found in news articles. This knowledge is important because it improves our understandings of why we view female terrorists the way we do.