Recent Terrorist Attacks Research Articles

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2): a review of its use in homemade explosives

This article presents an overview of hydrogen peroxide and its use in the illicit production of homemade explosives. Hydrogen peroxide is used extensively around the world in many industries, including aerospace. It is also used as the main ingredient in some household cleaning products. However, it has been illicitly used to create both primary and secondary homemade explosives in recent numerous terrorist attacks across Europe. In this article, we describe the historical background and the characteristics of the substance, the aspects concerning its manufacture and present-day use as a main explosive component or direct chemical precursor of homemade explosives, and the options for detection.

Explaining Intelligence Failure: Rethinking the Recent Terrorist Attacks in Europe

Between 2015 and May 2018 there were fifty-two “jihadist” attacks in eight European Union countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. These resulte...

Can Terrorism Abroad Influence Migration Attitudes at Home?

AbstractThis article demonstrates that public opinion on migration “at home” is systematically driven by terrorism in other countries. Although there is little substantive evidence linking refugees or migrants to most recent terror attacks in Europe, news about terrorist attacks can trigger more negative views of immigrants. However, the spatial dynamics of this process are neglected in existing research. We argue that feelings of imminent danger and a more salient perception of migration threats do not stop at national borders. The empirical results based on spatial econometrics and data on all terrorist attacks in Europe for the post‐9/11 period support these claims. The effect of terrorism on migration concern is strongly present within a country but also diffuses across states in Europe. This finding improves our understanding of public opinion on migration, as well as the spillover effects of terrorism, and it highlights crucial lessons for scholars interested in the security implications of population movements.

Je viens d’Alep, itinéraire d’un réfugié ordinaire

Je viens d’Alep, itinéraire d’un réfugié ordinaire

Theoretical study on the toxicity of 'Novichok' agent candidates.

The identities and properties of ‘Novichok’ (Russian for ‘newcomer’ or ‘novice’) agents allegedly used in the recent terrorist attack in the UK have not been well documented. Although several people previously involved in the synthesis of these materials claimed Novichok agents to be five to eight times more potent than VX, a deadly nerve agent, no open data on these species are currently available. To bridge this gap, we herein performed a theoretical study on several Novichok agent candidates and conducted natural population charge analysis to evaluate the possible mechanisms of their toxicity, suggesting that these agents might promote the ageing and deformation of acetylcholinesterase. Moreover, the reaction of Novichok agents with acetylcholinesterase serine was calculated to be most thermodynamically favoured for Novichok candidate A234. Thus, this work is believed to provide a basis for finding Novichok antidotes and should inspire further detoxification studies to prepare for possible terrorist attacks in the future.

Attitudes Towards Outgroups Before and After Terror Attacks

ABSTRACT In light of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, the aim of the current set of studies was to examine if attitudes towards terrorists and—by extension—uninvolved outgroups (i.e., Muslims, refugees, and immigrants) changed before vs. after these attacks. In a Belgian student sample (Study 1a), we investigated the impact of the Paris attacks on various facets of outgroup attitudes: feelings towards terrorists, Muslims, and refugees, immigrant trust, immigrant threat, and immigrant prejudice. The impact of the Brussels attacks was studied in a Belgian convenience sample (Study 1b), specifically focusing on feelings towards refugees, refugee trust, refugee threat, and avoidance of contact with refugees. Results from frequentist and Bayesian analyses in both samples revealed no significant short- and long-term longitudinal changes in outgroup attitudes after both the Paris (Study 1a) and Brussels (Study 1b) attacks. We discuss these findings and connect them to the alleged refugee crisis; another recent event that polarized European societies.

Terrorism and Newspapers: Representation of ISIL and PKK Terror Attacks in Turkish Newspapers

This study deals with the news coverage of some of the recent terror attacks in Turkey. It uses a part of the data set compiled for a project on impacts of journalism on countering violent extremism in Turkey (henceforth the CVE Project). The data is analysed using an eclectic version of critical discourse analysis. The analysis starts with an explanation of the data and the context of the terrorist attacks in question. Then, the argumentation strategies used by newspapers are examined through pragma-dialectical argumentation approach. Metaphors are also analysed through the lenses of conceptual metaphor thesis. The findings show that arguments against terrorist attacks taking place in Turkey are highly marked by Turkey’s experience withthe PKK terror and political stances. Metaphors used in news articles also reveal ideological and political treatment of the issue at stake. All in all, the study points out that there is a close relationship between the ways terror attacks are handled in Turkish newspapers and their ideological political positions. The implications of this finding for the relationship between media and terrorism is discussed at the end of the study.

From live-tweets to archives of the future: Mixed media temporalities and the recent French terrorist attacks

From live-tweets to archives of the future : Mixed media temporalities and the recent French terrorist attacks

Collective sense-making in times of crisis: Connecting terror management theory with Twitter user reactions to the Berlin terrorist attack

Recent terrorist attacks have increased the need to examine the public's response to such threats. This study focuses on the content of Twitter messages related to the 2016 terrorist attack on the Berlin Christmas market. We complement the collective sense-making perspective with the terror management theory (TMT) perspective to understand why people used Twitter in the aftermath of the attack. We use structural topic modeling to analyze our dataset of 51,000 tweets. Our results indicate that people used Twitter to make sense of the events and as part of typical reactions in TMT, that is, to validate their own worldviews and maintain their self-esteem. In accordance with TMT, we found that people used Twitter to search for meaning and value, show sympathy for victims and their families, or call for tolerance, but also to express nationalistic sentiment and greater hostility toward values and views other than their own. We further show that topics varied over the course of the attack and in the days that followed. Whereas in the first two days there were many emotion-related tweets and operational updates, subsequent days saw more opinion-related tweets. Our findings contribute to the literature on collective behavior in the aftermath of terrorist attacks.

Challenges and Opportunities for Interprofessional Collaboration within the Post-disaster Psychosocial Support Network in a Terrorism Scenario in the Netherlands: A Network Analysis

Introduction:Post-disaster psychosocial support (PSS) is an indispensable element of disaster management. A variety of studies contributed to the development of guidelines, information about guideline implementation, and evidence-based practice, as well as the status of local PSS planning and delivery systems in different European regions. However, the multi-disciplinary nature of the organization of post-disaster PSS requires interprofessional and inter-organizational collaboration, but is presently insufficient institutionalized on individual, organizational, and governmental levels, locally, within the region, and nationally.Aim:Objective of this research is to map the existing post-disaster PSS network in the Netherlands in the context of a terrorism scenario, and to identify probable collaboration problems rooted in weak ties and lack of alignment between actors at different levels.Methods:Focus groups were organized in Belgium, France, Norway, and the United Kingdom to learn from the inter-agency response to recent terrorist attacks. Next, social network analysis methods were used to analyze the structure of the collaborative network for post-disaster PSS in the Netherlands. A scenario-based questionnaire was distributed amongst relevant stakeholders through snowballing methods. Respondents were asked to identify organizations they collaborate with on different PSS activities during the preparedness, acute, and recovery phase.Results:The international focus groups resulted in valuable lessons for the Dutch PSS network. Data collection for social network analysis is currently in progress. Based on previous research we expect limited ties between disciplines during the preparedness phase and during the “registration of affected persons” in the acute phase. Most of the interactions between agencies will be linked to one-stop-shop service delivery, and less to commemorations and health monitoring.Discussion:Lessons from the focus groups, verification of whether or not the expectations are supported by the social network data, and reflections on opportunities for improvement will be presented at the conference in Brisbane.

The impact of terrorism on Indian securities market

The paper aims to examine the relationship between stock returns and terrorist attacks for the Indian securities market in last 30 years. The stock market returns have been modelled using conditional volatility framework, and there are good enough shreds of evidence to confirm that terrorist activity and cross-border tension has disrupted the investors’ sentiment. The market response to the terrorist attack holds different facets like Target, Location, Number-of-perpetrators, and Property-value has produced a significant impact on the financial market. At the outset, attack day hold an adverse effect on the market and remains unstable till next few days followed by the recent terrorist attack. The results also imply that market participant considers the nature of terrorist attack in their portfolio selection and long-term investment strategy. The practical implications of the study are threefold: (i) investors do regard the terrorist attack in their investment proposal (ii) investors take the short position due to terrorist attack that result into the rise of general stock market volatility and (iii) the financial planning within short-horizon gets postponed followed by the recent terrorist attack.

Research on M‐Paul Dynamic Constitutive Relation of Q235B Steel

In recent years, terrorist attacks and regional conflicts have increased and research on the resistance of building structures has been more highlighted. Q235B is a commonly used steel type in building structures, and there is an urgent need for research on its dynamic material properties. In this paper, Paul constitutive model was calibrated based on the material properties of Q235B steel. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the original model was not able to take into account temperature‐softening effect. Therefore, a temperature‐softening parameter was added into the temperature term of the original Paul model, and the modified M‐Paul constitutive model was developed. Then, numerical prediction results obtained from Q235B steel penetration experiments using J‐C (Johnson–Cook) and M‐Paul constitutive models were compared. It was observed that J‐C constitutive model significantly overestimated ballistic limit while estimations obtained from M‐Paul constitutive model were closer to experimental results. This observation verified the correctness and effectiveness of M‐Paul model and established a solid foundation for relevant research works on the impact resistance of building structures.

Quantification of the maritime security problem onboard passenger ship

Given the large number of recent terror attacks worldwide, there is a growing concern over the security issue in the maritime world. Aim of this paper is to address a scenario pertinent to the maritime security problem using the evacuation simulation software tool EVI. The vessel chosen for this case study is a 13-deck cruise ship. The scenario investigated deals with the evacuation of a large density populated area within the vessel, where an explosive device has been placed and assesses the potential loss of life, according to the distance of the agents relative to the explosion blast. Three different positions of the explosive device are examined in this study and for each position six different cases are examined, in which the effect of prior warning to the explosion is taken into consideration. In the first case, the explosion takes place at the beginning of the simulation (t=0) in order to replicate such a scenario in which those agents within the restaurant are un-alerted to the presence of the explosive device. In the rest of the cases the explosion takes place after warning times of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 minutes respectively in order to assess the sensitivity of the fatality rate and evacuation to prior warning time.

Prescient, inconsistent, and ignorant: Commentary on the Dispensation of dynamite.

Comments on the article The Dispensation of Dynamite (1883, March 16) (see record 2018-63621-005). The Dispensation of Dynamite (1883, March 16) is equal parts prescient, inconsistent, ignorant, and devoid of true context. The authors try to contextualize aspects of Dispensation’s reporting, add some correctives to erroneous aspects, and draw upon contemporary debates within terrorism studies, as well as recent terrorist attacks. Dispensation reports the day after coordinated.

The effects of recent terrorist attacks on risk and return in commodity markets

The event study methodology of Brown and Warner (1985) is adopted and augmented to evaluate the effect of the recent terrorist attacks on risk and returns in commodity markets. The methodology is supplemented with various techniques, such as the non-parametric ranking test and kernel regression, to find out if 20 terrorist attacks (including in Paris, Nice, Brussels, Stockholm, Manchester, Jakarta, London and Melbourne) generated abnormal returns. Asset pricing models are fitted with interaction variables while GARCH, TARCH, EGARCH and PARCH models are used to determine changes in systematic risk. Our results show abnormal returns and delayed reactions of up to 120 days in the commodity markets—evidence which defies the efficient market hypothesis. In addition, we identify sector and commodity effects in risk analysis.

Paediatric Major Incident Planning at a Major Trauma Centre; Learning from Simulation

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. In light of the recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester we wanted to test our Major Incident protocol for Paediatrics using simulation. A hospital wide MI Sim was completed in January but focusing on admission pathways, flow and theatre. As a follow up exercise, we wanted to test discharge pathways and our immediate bed capacity in PICU and paediatrics, allowing us to, assess immediate capacity, estimate discharge numbers, test communication pathways, staff responces and next shift planning as well as identifying issues allowing us to improve our major incident policy.

Experimenting with internationalisation in troubled times: the critical case of Turkish higher education

ABSTRACT For the last couple of years, Turkey has been experiencing difficult times resulting from the recent domestic coup attempt, refugee crisis and terrorist attacks from neighbouring countries, and the following political conflicts around these issues with the United States and Europe. This article investigates challenges and strategies of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Turkey with recent uncertainty in the free movement of students and academics in internationalisation process. Applying a qualitative critical case study, the research was carried out in four HEIs leading in internationalisation. The findings indicated that political instabilities both at the national and international levels brought several challenges for HEIs related with their internationalisation efforts in terms of security, image, and ethnic tension. Additionally, it is found that HEIs adapted to the new realities and developed several strategies to overcome these challenges such as marketisation and networking. Implications are made regarding neo-liberal influence and segmentation around class and religion.

Tourism, terrorism and political violence in Tunisia: Evidence from Markov-switching models

This study investigates the impact of terrorist attacks and political violence on the number of tourist arrivals and overnight stays in Tunisia. The dataset employed consists of monthly data that covers the period from January 2000 to September 2016, which includes several political and terrorist attacks in Tunisia and the region. Empirically, we investigate the true data generating process (DGP) of these two proxies of tourism activity by accounting for four statistical properties that characterize these series: (1) seasonality, (2) unit roots, (3) breaks, and (4) long memory behavior.Our empirical findings show strong evidence of stationarity, five breaks in the tourist arrival time series and spurious long memory behavior. By estimating a 3-state Markov switching model consisting of the mean, trend, and variance, we find that the Tunisian Jasmine revolution and two recent terrorist attacks, one at the Bardo National Museum on March 18, 2015 and the other at the tourist resort at Port El Kantaoui, Sousse on June 26, 2015, played an important role in influencing the tourism activity of the country. Our empirical findings show also that local shocks have a more important impact than international shocks in influencing tourism activity. Interestingly, we find that the effects of terrorist shocks have a long duration compared to political violence shocks. Several security, marketing, and economic policies have been proposed and discussed in the paper.

Kader Attia: Voices of Resistance

In the context of recent terrorist attacks in France, Giovanna Zapperi examines Kader Attia’s mobilisation of emotion within legacies of violence.

SOCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH SPORTS. A SHORT COMPARISON OF ITALY AND FRANCE

The recent flow of immigrants to Italy and France, two countries that are the principal destinations after crossing the Mediterranean Sea, has turned out to be a complex and multidimensional problem to manage. Both France and Italy organised a complex method for welcoming and distributing the migrants around their territory as much as possible, hosting them in structures adapted or created for this purpose.On the Italian side, two main issues might be identified and analysed: on the one hand the humanitarian emergency of the reception of the migrants, on the other hand, the difficult processes of social integration/inclusion which were put in place. On the French side, these issues are linked to the managing of the risk of radicalisation, in a context in which the memory of the recent terrorist attacks remains vivid.In dealing with the management of the process of social integration/inclusion, sport has proven to be an important (although controversial) opportunity for social inclusion of young immigrants. Micro participatory action-research has highlighted the potential given by a shared cultural framework, such as that provided by the practice of sport. On the Italian side, these practices have not yet been institutionalised, while on the French side there is a more organic strategy, based on a longer standing tradition of using sport as a means of social inclusion.Starting from this premise about the situation of the two countries, we will propose a descriptive and theoretical comparison based on some case studies that we consider significant in terms of the French and Italian approach to social inclusion through sports.