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21. The Pursuit of Extremes: Three Models to Understand Radicalization / En busca de los extremos: tres modelos para comprender la radicalización

Author:
Roberto Muelas Lobato
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on International Security Studies (RESI)
Institution:
International Security Studies Group (GESI) at the University of Granada
Abstract:
The recent proliferation of cases of radicalization around the world has placed this issue on the agenda of the nations. Nowadays, the radicalization, understood as a process by which a growing commitment to an extremist political or religious ideology is reached, represents a challenge that we must deal with in order to improve our societies in terms of security. However, much of the academic procedures used to understand this phenomenon lack the empirical validity that allows us to rely on the knowledge they provide. This practice has led to the existence of a large amount of material related to radicalization, especially after 9/11, but not to the consolidation and validation of the knowledge we possess. Because of this, in this review we propose to explain three of the theoretical models that focus on violent radicalization. These three models mostly come from social psychology and have empirical baggage that supports its validity. These are: the 3N model (also known as the significant quest theory), the devoted actors model and the approach of the two pyramids. These three models focus, respectively, on the theories of motivation, on identity and values, and on the difference between cognitions and actions. Likewise, each one proposes different explanatory and triggering factors, as well as different dependent variables that explain these factors from violent behavior to sacrifice. In them we find differences and similarities that validate and complement some of the processes they propose. Therefore, knowing and understanding them will provide us with a deeper knowledge when it comes to understanding radicalization, studying it and making decisions for its prevention and/or reduction.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Radicalization, and Violence
Political Geography:
Global Focus

22. Imperfect Proxies: The Pros and Perils of Partnering with Non-State Actors for CT

Author:
Brian Katz
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
The Islamic State’s march across Syria and Iraq in 2014 and ensuing expansion via global affiliates posed a vexing challenge for the United States and key allies. The Islamic State sought not only to seize, govern, and defend territory as part of its so-called caliphate, but also to leverage these safe havens to build transnational terrorist networks. Countering the Islamic State would thus require large-scale ground operations to conquer the Islamic State proto-states and defeat its military forces, but the need to do so urgently and expeditiously to prevent external terrorist attacks. But who would conduct such a ground campaign? The Islamic State ’s expansion coincided with a shift in U.S. and allied military strategy: the adoption of the “by, with, and through” model for major counterterrorism (CT) operations. Rather than committing large numbers of ground forces, Western strategy would center on training, advising, and assisting host-nation militaries to serve as the main combat element. With small numbers of special operations forces (SOF) and key enablers such as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and close air support, Western powers could bolster the battlefield effectiveness of local forces while limiting their own troop commitments. A national army like the Iraqi Security Forces was a natural host-nation partner. But what if there is no state with whom to partner? This paper will examine the recent history of partnering with non-state actors for CT operations where the United States and allies were unable or unwilling to work “by, with, and through” the host-nation.
Topic:
Terrorism, Military Strategy, Non State Actors, Counter-terrorism, and Islamic State
Political Geography:
Global Focus

23. Armed Non-Satate Actors Need to be Included in Pragmatic Peacebuilding

Author:
Lise Philipsen
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Armed non-state actors (ANSAs) often act as important security-providers in conflict environments but are typically excluded from long-term strategies for peace. To succeed, pragmatic routes to peace should consider how to incorporate ANSAs into longer term frameworks for peace. RECOMMENDATIONS International peace operations should: ■ Build diplomatic skills to interact with ANSAs who provide security locally and consider what role they can play in building peace. ■ Establish dialogue with local actors on all levels using track 1, 2 and 3 diplomacy. ■ Expand the ‘local agreements strategy’ that has been used successfully in MINUSCA, the UN’s stabilization mission in the CAR.
Topic:
Democratization, Diplomacy, International Organization, Non State Actors, Fragile States, Conflict, and Peace
Political Geography:
Global Focus

24. Can Non-State Actors Help to Overcome Barriers to State Cooperation? The Case of Global Climate Governance

Author:
Poorti Sapatnekar
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM)
Abstract:
While nation-states remain primary protagonists in global governance processes, it is increasingly recognized that non-state actors (NSAs) are key players in areas ranging from human rights and civil conflict to infectious disease and nuclear non-proliferation. The area of climate change is an illustrative example. NSAs have been active participants in the margins of the Conference of Parties (COP), the annual meeting of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), since its inception in 1995 by holding side-events and protests, raising awareness, lobbying, etc. NSAs have also contributed to the development of a “regime complex” in climate governance at the same time. Yet, the determinants and effects of that participation are not well understood. The COP offers a unique opportunity to examine one piece of this puzzle; namely, the factors that enable and motivate NSAs to participate in the design and implementation of international agreements. We use an original dataset of NSA participants at the COP from 1995 to 2016, to examine whether NSAs are well positioned to help states overcome key barriers to cooperation. As NSAs ramp up their participation in climate governance and elsewhere, this study offers insight into their motivations and potential impact on governance outcomes.
Topic:
Climate Change, United Nations, Non State Actors, and Governance
Political Geography:
Global Focus

25. Competitive Jihadism: Understanding the Survival Strategies of Jihadist De Facto States

Author:
Burak Bilgehan Özpek
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Institution:
Center for Foreign Policy and Peace Research
Abstract:
The debates dealing with ISIS address the questions of how ISIS is conceptualized, what its aim is, and how it has successfully retained a core sovereignty zone. This study attempts to answer these questions by proposing that ISIS is a de facto state and uses jihadism as a survival strategy. The term ‘competitive jihadism’ is used to argue that ISIS competes with its metropole states, Syria and Iraq, on the basis of jihadism. This is a deliberate strategy, which aims to attract Muslims inclined to radicalization as well as to recruit foreign fighters by showing the jihadist deficits of the metropole states. As the research shows, ISIS is successful at this game and has become a magnet for foreign fighters. Thus, it is able to increase its military capabilities and continue to survive.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Violent Extremism, Islamic State, State, Jihad, and Foreign Fighters
Political Geography:
Middle East and Global Focus

26. Vulnerable Non-State Actors in Transnational Regulation DecisionMaking

Author:
N. Aguilar Delgado and P. Perez-Aleman
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
Abstract:
Recommendations stemming from different meeting spaces have different potentials for being transformed into inclusive decisions. The involvement practices vary across the different spaces, which in turn affect the interaction between governments and non-state actors. The creation of institutional mechanisms and programs that promote non-state actors’ attendance were effective for increasing participation. Non-state actors must be strategic in identifying spaces and developing skills to be more included.
Topic:
Development, Non State Actors, Regulation, and Transnational Actors
Political Geography:
Global Focus

27. New Entrants and Small Business Graduation in the Market for Federal Contracts

Author:
Gregory Sanders and Andrew Philip Hunter
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
This report tracks businesses new to the federal contracting arena from 2001-2016, otherwise known as new entrants, using publicly available contracting data from the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). Firm-level information on these vendors is collected over this time period and used to evaluate entrances, exits, and status changes among federal vendors with the purpose of comparing challenges faced by small businesses with those of larger ones. The final results compare the survival rates between small and non-small new entrants contracting with the federal government and calculate the graduation rates for those small new entrants who grew in size during the observation period and survived after ten years.
Topic:
Privatization, Non State Actors, Business, and Contracts
Political Geography:
Global Focus

28. Perils of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems Proliferation: Preventing Non-State Acquisition

Author:
Philip Chartoff
Publication Date:
10-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
Throughout the late 90s, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda allegedly made numerous attempts to acquire nuclear material from illicit actors. Starting in 2004, Hezbollah has been deploying Iranian-made, military-grade drones for surveillance and engagement. Terrorist groups, illicit organisations, and other non-state actors have a long fascination with advanced weapons technologies. In the early 90s, the Japanese death cult Aum Shinrikyo pursued multiple avenues to develop chemical, nuclear and biological weapons, eventually succeeding in the creation and deployment of Sarin gas. Throughout the late 90s, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda allegedly made numerous attempts to acquire nuclear material from illicit actors. Starting in 2004, Hezbollah has been deploying Iranian-made, military-grade drones for surveillance and engagement. Despite the relative success of less sophisticated weapons, and the substantial expense and difficulty of acquisition for more advanced systems, non-state actors continue to pursue advanced weapons for two significant reasons. For less funded, less powerful non-state actors, advanced weapons substantially increase the scale of the force they can wield against enemies—they promise to “level the playing field”. Advanced weapon systems also offer a significant reputational and symbolic benefit to non-state actors, as the ownership of such weapons confer a status limited to only a handful of powerful nations. States have long recognized these risks, and established numerous arms and export controls to restrict and regulate the transfer of massively destructive weapons. However, international efforts to restrict proliferation of such weapons are currently lagging behind the emergence of new, possibly as-destructive, technologies. In particular, the last few years have marked the rapid development of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Considering their potential to escalate conflicts and inflict massive collateral damage, the international community has long been debating necessary restrictions on the implementation of autonomy in weapons systems, even considering a ban on fully-autonomous systems. However, such conversations have largely been limited to state use. The international community has been painfully slow to address the possible acquisition and use of LAWS by non-state actors.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Weapons, and Nonproliferation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. Contemporary Questions on Eco-Terrorism: A Conversation with Dr. Michael Loadenthal

Author:
Michael Loadenthal and Fletcher Security Review Staff
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Fletcher Security Review
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
Dr. Michael Loadenthal, a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology & Social Justice Studies at Miami University of Oxford, discussed with FSR his extensive work on eco-terrorism. His research looks to provide nuance to the way eco-terrorism has been studied and written about, and how it is understood by government entities. He uses this perspective to assess the threat, or lack of threat, eco-terrorism poses today.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Non State Actors, Social Movement, and Eco-terrorism
Political Geography:
Global Focus and United States of America

30. Understanding Nonstate Actor Behavior: The Determinants of Mass Atrocities

Author:
Cyanne E. Loyle
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Abstract:
In 2014, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) began a pattern of systematically targeting the Yezidi population in northern Iraq.1 That aggression involved violent attacks on civilians, forced relocation, starvation, and large-scale massacres. In its 2016 report on this topic, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum argued that this behavior by the IS is genocide (Kikoler 2016). What explains the IS’s tactical decision to engage in such behavior? How representative is this action across other rebel groups and violent nonstate actors? The recent surge in violence by groups such as IS and Boko Haram, along with their deliberate targeting of civilians, has intensified the need to understand the conditions under which nonstate groups choose to deliberately and systematically target civilians for extermination. To date, most of our research into genocide and mass atrocities has focused on those actions perpetrated by state actors. Yet current events have increased the need to understand this behavior across nonstate groups as well. Furthermore, although a well-developed academic literature exists on the civilian targeting behavior of rebel groups, that work has not addressed the tactical variation of groups that choose to systematically target civilians for extermination through large-scale, repeated attacks. In other words, although we have considered the strategy and rationale for civilian targeting, we have yet to systematically investigate the conditions that lead nonstate actors to commit mass atrocities. This paper sets out to address the question of the conditions under which nonstate actor (NSA) groups commit mass atrocities. That is, when do NSAs choose to deliberately, and on a large scale, target civilians? Understanding the use of this tactic across NSA groups has important implications for how we understand NSA behavior, as well as how we design and implement policy to prevent that behavior. This paper provides an overview of the data collection, research design, and data analysis completed for the 2016–17 Leonard and Sophie Davis Fellowship at the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. This project aims to address the structural conditions, conflict, and group characteristics that make mass atrocity behavior by nonstate actors more likely with the intention of developing policy prescriptions to reduce or halt this behavior in the future.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Islamic State, Atrocities, and Boko Haram
Political Geography:
Global Focus