Domestic Terrorism Research Articles

Vioces Against Violence: Empowering Students To Address Domestic Terrorism Through Digital Activism

ABSTRACT This research explores the impact of an innovative social media-based project on students’ digital activism and their perspectives on societal issues, particularly domestic terrorism. A mixed methods approach, combining structural equation modeling and qualitative data, revealed that higher levels of ethnocultural empathy led to increased engagement in digital activism, strengthening students’ belief in their ability to effect meaningful societal change. Results show that students’ belief in their project contribution dips initially due to unexpected challenges but later recovers and strengthens, underscoring the importance of sustained engagement. Qualitative data also highlight enhanced awareness, ethnocultural empathy, and activism skills. This research demonstrates the pedagogical potential of integrating social media with societal impact campaigns, offering a replicable framework for business educators seeking to link marketing education with social responsibility.

Macroeconomic volatility and terrorism incidents in Africa

AbstractThis article investigates the impact of macroeconomic volatility on terrorism in 38 African economies spanning the period from 1980 to 2012, using available data. It examines four categories of terrorism markers: domestic, transnational, uncertain, and total, and their correlation with the volatility of four macroeconomic indicators—inflation, output growth, domestic credit to the private sector, and government expenditures. The study employs the negative binomial regression estimator on both the conditional variance structures of the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and exponential GARCH (EGARCH) and the unconditional measure of a 3‐year interval time varying of measuring macroeconomic variables' volatilities on other regressors. I find, first, that inflation volatility is a significant predictor of all terrorism markers, except for transnational terrorism. This implies that high inflation volatility is linked to increased domestic terrorism. Second, the role of domestic credit to the private sector in mitigating transnational terrorist activities highlights the importance of stable private sector access to credit in reducing such incidents. Third, government consumption expenditure volatility has a dual effect on terrorism: it amplifies domestic terrorism but serves as a mitigating factor for total terrorism. This indicates that stable government expenditure can reduce overall terrorism, but might increase domestic terrorism. Last, other variables—such as population, ethnicity, conflicts, surface areas, and lagged terrorism values—are also found to influence the examined terrorism measures. For robustness, I employ alternative statistical techniques, including Poisson Pseudo‐maximum likelihood (PPML) estimation with multiple high‐dimensional fixed effects (HDFE). In summary, this study emphasizes the critical role of addressing inflation volatility in macroeconomic policies as a primary measure to counter terrorism. Stable economic conditions, particularly in relation to inflation, can significantly contribute to reducing terrorism in African economies.

Assessment of the impact of chemical security measures on domestic terrorism: a study of Boko Haram’s use of precursor chemicals in Nigeria

Assessment of the impact of chemical security measures on domestic terrorism: a study of Boko Haram’s use of precursor chemicals in Nigeria

Liberatory or predatory? Gendered perspectives on the role of women in the Weather Underground

ABSTRACT The Weather Underground is a group that has divided opinion for over half a century. To some, they were legitimate anti-war activists, to others they were one of America’s most notorious domestic terror groups. Much of the secondary literature describing the group has highlighted the role of women in the organisation, differentiating them from the typical male-dominated structures of radical and extremist groups. Using comparative autobiographical analysis, this project explores the extent to which this assessment of gender equality is accurate by evaluating how members of the group described their experiences in their own words. The analysis identifies gendered discrepancies in the portrayal of women in the movement. Where men were likely to have a positive recollection of the gender equality within the Weather Underground, the accounts of women tread a complex line between acknowledging both the liberatory elements and the sexism within the movement. This research helps to demonstrate the value of first-hand accounts rather than secondary literature in trying to understand the internal dynamics of a movement. It also highlights the need for nuance when discussing the role of women in extremism movements.

Medical Intelligence In Counter-Insurgency (COIN) And Counter-Terrorist (CT) Operations

Medical intelligence (MEDINT) is now regarded as critically important across a broad spectrum of security concerns. Its usual functions are either in force protection, evaluating risks to personnel at the tactical and operational levels, or, at a strategic level, in considering threats to the health and stability of nation-states. The uses of MEDINT in Counter-Terrorism (CT) and Counter-Insurgency (COIN) have received little attention except in so far as they overlap with these concerns; for example, where they involve matters of force-protection or the threat of bioterrorism. But this was not always so. In the past, information relating to health and medicine was considered crucial to the success of COIN operations, if not to domestic terrorism. By adapting some of these techniques to contemporary practice, and utilizing technologies that were not available in former times, we can use MEDINT in innovative ways to exploit the vulnerabilities of hostile groups and to isolate them from surrounding populations. This paper indicates some of the ways in which intelligence from a range of sources can be utilized to engage with communities more effectively; to anticipate the behavior of target groups/individuals; to determine their whereabouts, interactions and supply chains; and ultimately to exploit their weaknesses or dependencies. The paper is not intended as definitive but as a starting point in a conversation as to how MEDINT could or should contribute to CT and COIN operations.

Does Fiscal Decentralization Mitigate Domestic Terrorism?

Abstract Many countries have embarked on decentralization as a way to mitigate separation tendencies. Even though decentralization could satisfy some separation tendencies, the central government might be unable or unwilling to award the localities the level of decentralization they require to stay in the union. This mismatch may give rise to domestic violence and internal conflict. We propose a simple two-stage model that combines the decentralization and domestic terrorism literature in a single structural model, which can be readily tested using existing data in the disciplines. As long as the actual decentralization level meets the unobserved desired value by the localities, there will be a high likelihood of observing a zero incidence of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the incidents happen regularly with mitigating effects from decentralization. Our model also accounts for the left-censoring of the terrorism data at zero. We examine our model using 5-year interval panel data of more than 60 countries based on the information for 1970–2019. Our results indicate a strong negative and statistically significant relationship between fiscal decentralization and domestic terrorism events. One percent increase in fiscal decentralization is associated with a two to three percent decline in domestic terrorism incidents. The coefficients of the selection model and domestic terrorism model generally conform to the literature.

How Far-Right Extremism Changed American Body Politic

Abstract Aggressive rhetoric was part and parcel of the rising Tea Party and the related anti-Obama conspiracy theories. The argument here is that Donald J. Trump, as the leading public promoter of Birther rumors, first-time presidential candidate, and U.S. president, played a starring role in bringing hate speech, violent threats, and political violence into the political mainstream. As a result, political violence increased significantly and several violent far-right extremist groups, domestic terrorist entities, were newly founded after Trump announced his presidential campaign in mid-2015. As ex-president and once again presidential candidate, Trump glorified the criminally convicted participants in the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021 and honored violent far-right fringe groups that were active in the late 20th century while threatening revenge against his political enemies. To assess, whether Trump, as 47th U.S. president, would be able to have his political foes investigated and jailed upon his return to the highest office, we looked for answers in the Heritage Foundation's “Project 2025,” the most detailed blueprint for the dismantling of the “deep state” and the best-laid plan for a takeover by Trump and vetted conservative “Make America Great Again” loyalists in January 2025.1 Although the sole focus here is on the rhetoric of far-right extremism and violence in the past 15 years, there were no similarly extreme far-left hate speech patterns and violent extremism related to the Democratic Party during the same time.

The Ordinariness of January 6: Rhetorics of Participation in Antidemocratic Culture

The January 6, 2021, Capitol riot appeared as an extraordinary and shocking event to many American citizens. In fact, the various framings of the riot such as “insurrection,” “sedition,” or “domestic terrorism” seem to confirm the unprecedented nature of the day. By contrast, in this article we argue that January 6 can be understood in terms of its ordinariness, that is, as “the most ordinary thing that could happen” when viewed in the context of right-wing politics. We first argue that the reliance on a universalized dichotomy between authoritarianism and democracy in current research on right-wing politics in the United States tends to reify those terms, and thus miss the ordinary and routine dimension of antidemocratic practices. We subsequently propose the concept antidemocratic cultures to understand how right-wing political dispositions are fabricated through and mediated by rhetorical acts including speech, written texts, and embodied everyday practice. We analyze the rhetoric of participation of riot participants by reading their text messages, social media posts, and interviews with law enforcement and news media, as detailed in their arrest sheets. The rhetoric of participation of riot participants reveals how political dispositions are fabricated through ordinary language use and how these identities congeal in antidemocratic cultures. In the last section, we further discuss how a theory of antidemocratic cultures provides a novel framework to understand contemporary right-wing politics.

White supremacy and the racial logic of the global preventing and countering violent extremism agenda

This article analyses what the disavowal of abject forms of white supremacy reveals about the racial logic of the global preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) agenda. We argue that the global P/CVE agenda is built on racialised concepts such as prevention, radicalisation and community – concepts that render it incommensurate with the newly identified problem of white supremacist violent extremism or domestic terrorism. Through analysis of interviews with experts and practitioners working within the broad field of P/CVE, we discursively analyse how the enmeshment of the agenda within the development and peacebuilding space exposes the agenda’s primary intent to manage presumably ungovernable populations in or from the so-called Global South. Taking the theoretical insights culled from textual analysis of practitioner interviews, we then consider the inclusion of right-wing extremism, and specifically white supremacy, within Western states’ domestic P/CVE agendas, primarily in the US. Our argument – that the move to consider far-right extremism within domestic CVE policy reveals rather than disrupts the P/CVE agenda’s racist foundations and intentions – contributes to a growing body of research that insists on attending to race, racialisation and racism within security studies and international relations, and which includes an emphasis on whiteness as an organising principle.

Domesticating the Global War on Terrorism in West Africa: Implications for Sub-Regional Security

Objective: The objective of this study is to the recent incidences of terror attacks in the West African sub-region that have only overwhelmed national governments concerned. Using the case studies of Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Niger, the paper interrogates the recent scourge of terrorism in these countries within the context of sub-regional security. Theoretical Framework: The structural conflict theory, which argues that conflict is built into the systems and structures of society, is employed in the work. This is based on the radical transformative agenda promoted by globalization and accentuated by the violent intra-state conflicts in Africa, especially following the restructuring of the international security architecture after the end of the Cold War in 1989. Method: The methodology adopted for this research utilizes the qualitative research design using the case study approach. Secondary data is engaged for this study, alongside thematic analysis for the harmonization of data. Results and Discussion: The study discovered that the activities of domestic terror groups is hinged on the unresolved rhetoric of globalization. The study concludes that until there are institutional measures to strengthen the fragile politico-economic structures hurriedly erected after prolonged dictatorships in the countries concerned, the solution to the threat of terrorism will remain a tantalizing mirage. It canvasses for the creation of a civil-military alliance in the war on terror, and the strengthening of democratic institutions to bring about good governance which will make states better equipped to curb terrorism. Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are discussed, providing insights into how the results can be applied or influence practices in the fields of national security, strategic studies and even institutional democracy. These implications could encompass the protection of lives and property within the state, protection of the state’s territorial integrity and the consolidation of democracy by state governments. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the fragilitiy of democracy in West African states as a consequence of prolonged terrorist attacks that are yet to be adequately catered to by civilian governments. The relevance and value of this research are evidenced by it practical applicability across the fields of policy and strategic studies, and political science.

When the Messengers Are Targets of Terrorism: Restricted Media, State and Domestic Terrorism

Terrorist organizations are argued to have a symbiotic relationship with media. Despite the mutually beneficial relationship, media personnel and media outlets are frequently targeted by terrorist organizations across the world. This study explores this puzzle by arguing that the symbiotic relationship between media and terrorism is conditioned by the level of restrictions a state exercises on the media. State restrictions diminish media's utility to the terrorists who would view the restricted media as a proxy for the state, prompting the groups would attack the media targets and deliver a political message to the state. This conjecture is tested on a global cross-national dataset of domestic terrorism between 1970 and 2012, showing strong support for the hypothesized positive relation between media restrictions and terrorist attacks on media targets.

Deconstructing Fears of Terrorism: A Comparison between Fear from Domestic and International Terrorist Groups

ABSTRACT Although research on fears of terrorism has been growing, previous studies approached the topic of the fear of terrorism as a monolithic concept without considering the various political aspects of terrorism as a crime. The current research employed a novel approach to studying the fear of terrorism as a polylithic phenomenon by comparing three different types of fears of terrorism among Americans: general fears of terrorism, fears of domestic terrorist groups, and fears of international terrorist groups. Drawing on a nationally representative sample from the Chapman Survey of American Fears, Wave 5 (2018), the results of the analysis indicated that the predictors were differentially associated with the three types of fear with respect to their statistical significance and correlation directions. Thus, this study provides a significant contribution to the literature on the fear of terrorism topic by illustrating the important differences among general fears of terrorism, fears of domestic terrorist groups, and fears of international terrorist groups.

Keeping up appearances: US domestic extremist organizations and the effects of membership on domestic terrorism perpetrators

ABSTRACT Within the broader discussion of US domestic terrorism, the impact of formal extremist groups on the behaviour of perpetrators of ideologically motivated crime stands as a key albeit under examined issue. Radicalization and terrorism have long been understood as group-driven processes, yet the degree and rate of group affiliation among US extremist offenders is highly variable, especially in the context of rising instances of lone actor attacks. This raises the question of the role that group affiliation plays in relation to perpetrators of extremist violence. For while discourse surrounding domestic terrorism has largely classified these organizations as facilitators or enablers of radicalization and extremist violence, patterns in recent years suggest these groups may in fact do the opposite and dampen the violent impulses of their members to preserve their organizational interests. This paper presents an analysis of data adapted from the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) dataset as well as original data and finds that membership in formal extremist groups does appear to create a moderating effect on perpetrators of ideologically motivated crime, reducing the probability of group members in engaging in violence.

Race(ism), Power, Intimidation, & Domestic Terrorism: A Critical Content Analysis of HBCU Bomb Threats on Social Media

ABSTRACT Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were founded with the principal mission to educate Black people during an era when they were barred from most postsecondary opportunities. Today, these institutions play a vital role in the higher education landscape and help to insure the long-term viability of the U.S. economy. This research explored public discourse regarding HBCU bomb threats during 2022 and how public comments reflected on issues of race(ism), power, intimidation and domestic terrorism as a continuation of historical violence against Black Americans. The authors employed critical content analysis techniques and Critical Race Theory, while examining social media posts from X (formerly known as Twitter) as an innovative data source regarding public dialogue. The findings discuss two overarching themes within public discourse about these campus safety threats—(1) racism and White supremacy; and (2) political (in)action. These findings provide insights concerning perceptions of historical and contemporary racial oppression and terrorism experienced by Black individuals. The findings also highlight discourse concerning the ways in which racism and White supremacy were perpetuated by national political forces and (in)actions. Moreover, the findings reflect the ways in which public discourse situate racism as a norm in the U.S.

Not gone away: how domestic terrorism impacts multinationals in foreign markets

PurposeThe paper aims to understand how state and non-state domestic terrorism impacts MNEs in foreign markets. Despite the burgeoning literature on terrorism within international business (IB), most research has focused on international terrorism, or terrorism generally. Consequently, there has been limited research examining how domestic or local based terrorism impacts foreign firms.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper.FindingsDomestic terrorism is the most common form of terrorism in the world today and involves the state and non-state actors. Non-state domestic terrorism can be low intensity or high intensity. High intensity non-state-domestic terrorism typically involves regular and protracted political violence, along with inter-communal violence. This can expose MNEs to considerable operational, governance and legitimacy pressures.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the gap in IB terrorism research with regards domestic or local based terrorism. Drawing on IB theory and critical terrorism research, the paper addresses the nature and impact of domestic terrorism within IB. The authors’ paper shows the operational, governance and legitimacy pressures of both state and non-state domestic terrorism for MNEs in host markets. While most IB scholars consider the threat of non-state terrorism for international firms, this study shows how domestic state terrorism benefits and constrains foreign firms.

Socio-Economic Effects of Terrorism in Developing Countries: A Case of Kenya

Developing countries across the world have in the recent past become popular targets for terrorists and this has negatively impacted the performance of their social and economic development efforts. Based on its nature, terrorism is currently mainly categorized under international terrorism, domestic terrorism and transnational terrorism. Some of the causes of terrorism in developing countries include oppression from the ruling governments, ideological differences which include religious differences, poverty, as well as porous geographical borders which contribute to the growth of international terrorism. This paper will thus conceptualize the effects of terrorism in relation to social and economic growth in developing countries such as Nigeria, Somalia, Mali, Tanzania and Uganda, with specific reference to Kenya as the case study. Kenya has experienced sporadic terrorist attacks since the 1980s to date (January 2024) and these attacks have so far caused effects on the social and economic developments of Kenya as a developing country. This paper will highlight the types and causes of terrorism in Kenya and expound further on the effects of terrorism on social and economic developments in Kenya. This paper will be underpinned by the Henry Tajfel’s social identity theory of intergroup behaviour and discussed further under the theoretical framework.

When Socialism Meets Terrorism: A Computer-Assisted Discursive News Values Analysis of Chinese Newspapers’ Coverage of Domestic and International Terrorist Attacks

ABSTRACT Terrorist attacks, as a particular type of negative social event, are a potential threat to the establishment of a “Socialist Harmonious Society” advocated by the Chinese government. To shed light on how Chinese journalists construct reports on terrorist attacks and, more broadly, how non-Western countries report on negative social issues, we compared newspaper coverage of one domestic attack with four international incidents. Starting from Bednarek and Caple’s framework, we further developed the computer-assisted Discursive News Values Analysis (DNVA) they proposed by adapting individual definitions of news values and dividing them into 15 subcategories to suit the Chinese context, the topic of terrorism, and the automatic processing of large-scale datasets. Based on our understanding, we developed an open-source list of Chinese lexical indicators by Part of Speech tagging, sentiment, collocation, and concordance analysis, with a view to providing resources to support future quantitative DNVA. Following this approach, we found that while market factors enabled Chinese newspapers to cover domestic terrorist attacks, media adopted specific media strategies to meet political needs, which differed from those used to cover international attacks. These different media strategies can be explained by the Chinese developmentalist ideology and harmonious cultural traditions.

The Effects of Economic Growth on the Aid–Conflict Nexus

Can foreign aid reduce violence in recipient countries? Empirical studies on the aid–conflict nexus have had mixed results. This paper argues that foreign aid can alleviate political violence in the recipient country, especially when it contributes to economic growth. To test this hypothesis, I collected data on aid-receiving countries in Asia from 1980 to 2010 and empirically examined the relationships among development aid, winning coalition size, economic growth, civil wars, and domestic terrorism using a moderated mediation model. I find that the impact of foreign aid on economic growth depends on the size of the winning coalition. Countries with larger winning coalitions tend to have faster economic growth. And consequently, these countries are less susceptible to civil wars and domestic terrorist attacks.

Making Sense of Schizoposting: A Schizoanalysis of Alt-Right Internet Platforms.

Online radicalization has gained considerable attention in the media and in academia. Much attention has shifted to so-called "homegrown terrorists." Mental health concerns of those who display signs of online radicalization are identified as a potential contributing factor to this process. Although it seems both tempting to attribute mental health concerns, attempts to "make sense" of schizoposting (a bizarre and often violent form of online engagement) via conventional "clinical" analysis prove insufficient. This article offers a critical analysis of an extremely disturbing (online) phenomenon through the radical poststructuralist scholarship of late French philosophers, Deleuze and Guattari. Given that schizoposting and those individuals who engage in this behavior have yet to receive any attention in the nursing and health-related literature, it is critical that future research aims to better understand this population, such that appropriate interventions may be proposed.

Civil-Military Relations and Domestic Terrorism

Civil-military relations and terrorism are both extensively studied subjects. Their relationship has, however, yet to be examined. We maintain that public conflict between the civilian and the military leadership in a country and declining civil control over the armed forces may often precipitate a rise in domestic terror events. Civil-military conflict and reduced civilian control can lead to agency slack by the armed forces and ineffective counterterror policies. These phenomena are also associated with policies that exclude groups in society and generate grievances, leading some to turn to terror. In zero inflated negative binomial analyses of domestic terror events and two distinct indicators of civil-military tension, we find support for our contention. Terror incidents increase both when civil-military conflict rises and when civilian control decreases. Our results add to understanding of both the domestic consequences of civil-military tension and the types of influences that impact domestic terror.