This article presents an in-depth evaluation of a specialized reintegration initiative within the Dutch Probation Service focused on individuals convicted or suspected of involvement in terrorism.... Show moreThis article presents an in-depth evaluation of a specialized reintegration initiative within the Dutch Probation Service focused on individuals convicted or suspected of involvement in terrorism. Using 72 interviews with program staff as well as several of their clients, the authors assess the initiative’s program theory, its day-to-day implementation and provide a qualified assessment of its overall effectiveness in the 2016 to 2018 period. The results suggest that the initiative is based on a sound understanding of how and why individuals may deradicalize or disengage from terrorism behaviorally, but that it continues to face serious challenges in terms of accurately defining success and systematically gathering objective indicators of its attainment. As terrorism remains a key challenge for societies across the globe, the relevance of these findings extends beyond the Netherlands to all academics, policymakers and practitioners working to design, implement and assess terrorist reintegration programs. Show less
The threat posed by lone actors ranks high on the list of terrorism-related security concerns. In recent years especially, discussions about these perpetrators have focused primarily on those... Show moreThe threat posed by lone actors ranks high on the list of terrorism-related security concerns. In recent years especially, discussions about these perpetrators have focused primarily on those associated with, or inspired by, Islamic State and other jihadist entities. However, a significant portion of lone actors actually hail from right-wing extremist milieus. This article serves to draw attention to this subcategory of lone-actor terrorists, with a particular focus on their backgrounds and pre-attack behaviours. To that end, two datasets are presented that allow a comparison to be made between right-wing extremist lone actors and other ideologically-motivated lone actors. While several differences are noted, perhaps the most surprising finding is the degree of similarity between right-wing extremist lone actors and those adhering to different ideological currents. The results contribute to a knowledge-base that can inform discussion about whether risk assessment tools and protocols should differentiate between ideological categories of lone actor terrorists. Show less
Kuipers, S.L.; Grieken, B.J. van; Asselt, M.B.A. van 2018
This review article maps the shifts and trends in the risk literature regarding particular risk types across the past 30þ years. Not only does it address which hazards and risks receive scholarly... Show moreThis review article maps the shifts and trends in the risk literature regarding particular risk types across the past 30þ years. Not only does it address which hazards and risks receive scholarly attention, but also from which perspective. A similar review on crisis literature (Kuipers & Welsh, 2017) reported that on average only 14 percent of the articles in three crisis and disaster journals pertained explicitly to risk research. Does risk research perhaps pay more attention to crises than the other way around? Our multivariate regression analysis of the different types and themes reveals how some risk types are researched and discussed almost exclusively from a particular angle. Also, the large majority of articles from some perspectives only take a limited variety of risks into account. Mapping risk research indicates not only which topics and themes have received increasing or structural attention but also which ones, or which combination of risk types and perspectives, perhaps deserve more study than they currently receive. Show less
Lone attackers have attracted considerable attention from the media, policymakers and academics. This is partly due to the terrorist attacks Europefaced in the last couple of years executed by... Show moreLone attackers have attracted considerable attention from the media, policymakers and academics. This is partly due to the terrorist attacks Europefaced in the last couple of years executed by—seemingly—lone attackers.Academic research has explored topics like the demarcation between loneattackers and terrorist cells or networks, typologies of lone attackers, themotivation of lone attackers, and—lately—the attack patterns of lone actors.This chapter will analyse the changed understanding of lone actorviolence and discuss possible preventive approaches. Show less
There is an increasing amount of attention on EU and its Member States contributions to implementation of two landmark agreements: the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Agenda 2030 with... Show moreThere is an increasing amount of attention on EU and its Member States contributions to implementation of two landmark agreements: the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Agenda 2030 with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Absent from the current literature is an analysis of the political effect of legal competences on coordination between EU and Member State actors. Legal competences will become increasingly important for transformative sustainability policies. By using different case studies focusing on alternative fuel policies, ‘Team EU’ in climate negotiations and SDG implementation, this dissertation attempts to explore the potential of including legal competences as independent variables explaining coordination of EU and Member State actors. The findings nuance some of the theories in which the role of EU Treaties is often neglected. The dissertation also shows, however, that the legal competences are sometimes not used habitually unless clear examples of behaviours ‘contrary to the Treaty-logic’ or ‘contrary to sustainable development objectives’. The dissertation not only serves academic integrative purposes. There is increased societal attention for legal avenues to influence political decision-making. As an example, the Dutch ‘Urgenda’ case demonstrate that Courts can be responsive to the argument that Member States’ policies are ‘unlawful’ to avoid dangerous climate change. Show less
Social media offer unprecedented opportunities to terrorist groups to spread their message and target specific audiences for indoctrination and recruitment. In 2013 and 2014, social media, in... Show moreSocial media offer unprecedented opportunities to terrorist groups to spread their message and target specific audiences for indoctrination and recruitment. In 2013 and 2014, social media, in particular Twitter, overtook Internet forums as preferred space for jihadist propaganda. This article looks into Arabic statements by Jabhat al-Nusra, Islamic State and jihadist forum administrators and online activists to argue that, beside the easier use of social media and disruption and infiltration of the forums, the conflict between the jihadist groups accelerated the migration to social media and the building of a presence on Twitter that provided relative resilience to suspensions. Show less
I present an account of mass atrocity prevention based on just war theory precepts. This account entails comparisons among policy options and requires selecting the politically feasible option that... Show moreI present an account of mass atrocity prevention based on just war theory precepts. This account entails comparisons among policy options and requires selecting the politically feasible option that has the greatest chance of avoiding atrocities. Adopting such an account of atrocity prevention highlights problems in influential mass atrocity prevention policy reports in that they fail to seriously consider nonviolent civil resistance as a mass atrocity prevention tool. Given that sometimes actors may be unwilling to live under the status quo, and agitate for reform by violent or nonviolent means, nonviolence is generally the preferable policy option. This is because under realistic scenarios, the empirical evidence generally indicates that nonviolent means are more likely to achieve positive outcomes across a range of indicators than violent ones. I illustrate my argument by applying it to strategies for democratisation, and rebut objections. Yet, nonviolent civil resistance is risky, and so revolutionary leaders and their supporters should weigh carefully the chances of success and the trade-offs of nonviolent resistance. Show less
Criminal offenses with the most different modi operandi and levels of complexity can generate digital evidence, whether or not the actual crime is committed by using information and communication... Show moreCriminal offenses with the most different modi operandi and levels of complexity can generate digital evidence, whether or not the actual crime is committed by using information and communication technology (ICT). The digital data that could be used as evidence in a later criminal prosecution is mostly in the hands of private companies who provide services on the Internet. These companies often store their customers’ data on cloud servers that are not necessarily located in the same jurisdiction as the company. Law enforcement and prosecution authorities then need to take two steps that are not exclusive for evidence of a digital nature. First, they need to discover where the data is located—with which company and in which jurisdiction. Second, they need to obtain the data. In considering digital evidence, the last step, however, is complicated by new issues that form the focus of this paper. The first concern is the practice by companies to dynamically distribute data over globally spread data centers in the blink of an eye. This is a practical concern as well as a legal concern. The second issue is the slowness of the currently applicable international legal framework that has not yet been updated to a fast-paced society where increasingly more evidence is of a digital nature. The slowness of traditional mutual legal assistance may be no news. The lack of a suitable legal framework for competent authorities that need to obtain digital evidence in a cross-border manner, nonetheless, creates a landscape of diverse initiatives by individual states that try to remedy this situation. A third issue is the position that companies are put in by the new EU proposal to build a legal framework governing production orders for digital evidence. With companies in the driver’s seat of a cross-border evidence gathering operation, guarantees of the traditional mutual legal assistance framework seem to be dropped. A fourth issue is the position of data protection safeguards. US based companies make for significant data suppliers for criminal investigations conducted by EU based authorities. Conflicting legal regimes affect the efficiency of data transfers as well as the protection of personal data to citizens. Show less
Much of the recent debate on immigration to Europe has focused on how many refugees should be allowed to enter and how refugees should be distributed among EU member states, but there has been less... Show moreMuch of the recent debate on immigration to Europe has focused on how many refugees should be allowed to enter and how refugees should be distributed among EU member states, but there has been less academic focus on under what conditions, if any, human smuggling is morally permissible. How should we morally assess those who make a business out of helping migrants reach their desired destination and those who pay smugglers to reach their destination? We argue that human smuggling is morally permissible under some conditions even if it is illegal. Human trafficking, by contrast, is immoral and should be illegal. The moral conditions for permissible human smuggling are sometimes being met on the route from Africa to Europe (but are all too often grossly violated). We consider and rebut objections based on the arguments that a legal prohibition on human smuggling must translate into a moral one, and that human smuggling violates the rights of individuals to freedom of association in receiving countries. We conclude with policy implications. Show less
How to prepare for unknown risks, or detect anomalies in complex organizations that may turn into negative surprises: unanticipated crises for the organization(s) at hand? This editorial introduces... Show moreHow to prepare for unknown risks, or detect anomalies in complex organizations that may turn into negative surprises: unanticipated crises for the organization(s) at hand? This editorial introduces the articles of issue 9.3 of RHCPP. Todd La Porte addresses the question on preparing for anomalies head on, followed by contributions on emergency preparedness of public health facilities (Myers and Bearss), mental health care after disaster (Clay et al), the role of trust in managing refugee crises (Demiroz and Unlu) and coping with new earthquake hazards (Murphy et al). Show less
In June 2018 Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, was killed in a drone strike. This attack can be seen as part of a decapitation strategy, which is frequently used by... Show moreIn June 2018 Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, was killed in a drone strike. This attack can be seen as part of a decapitation strategy, which is frequently used by states. Often being perceived as a symbol of their organisation, jihadist terrorist leaders take important positions in their groups and beyond. It is therefore not surprising that counter-terrorism strategies often target the leadership of terrorist organisations. However, open source data provide only limited information on these leaders and what sets them apart from other members of their organisation. This Research Note brings together the fragmented information on 66 jihadist terrorist leaders in a new dataset, suggesting the existence of a set of common characteristics of jihadist terrorist leaders. Furthermore, when comparing leaders and followers, this study argues that, on the one hand they differ from them when it comes to religious background and criminal records. On the other hand, they are quite similar when it comes to characteristics such as education and socio-economic backgrounds. The most important finding, however, is that leaders tend to have substantial battlefield experience. Many of them have fought in Afghanistan. This suggests that Syria may become (or perhaps already has become) the breeding ground for a new generation of jihadist terrorist leaders. Show less
Dimitrova, A.; Toshkov, D.; Mazepus, H.; Maniokas, K.; Boroda, M.; Chulitskaya, T.; ... ; Wolczuk, K. 2018
This article proposes that to understand backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe, we need a broad “Tillyian perspective” emphasising elite–citizen interactions and the role of the state. The... Show moreThis article proposes that to understand backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe, we need a broad “Tillyian perspective” emphasising elite–citizen interactions and the role of the state. The article views backsliding as the outcome of processes of state capture by rent-seeking elites united in party ideological or network configurations. Simultaneously, citizen protests provide an indication of (Tillyian) struggles for the growth of democracies with a broader societal basis. As different societal interests emerge, some engage in a struggle against elite coalitions, while others embrace conservative values. Based on this analysis, sustainable democracy will depend on broad societal mobilisation to defend democratic principles. Show less
Why do some public organizations survive for many decades, whereas others are terminated within a few years? This question of organizational survival has long intrigued public administration... Show moreWhy do some public organizations survive for many decades, whereas others are terminated within a few years? This question of organizational survival has long intrigued public administration scholars. To explain longevity, public administration research has focused on organizational design features and adaptive capacities. The results have been inconclusive. This article explores an additional explanation for survival and demise: the density dependence theory as formulated in the field of organizational ecology. The underlying premise of this theory is that certain environments can only sustain a certain number of similar‐type organizations. A rising number of organizations fuels competition for scarce resources, which inevitably leads to the demise of organizations. Density theory has often been tested in the business literature, but has been rarely applied to public sector organizations. In this article, we test whether this theory can help explain organizational survival in a population of US federal independent public agencies (n = 142). Our results show that density matters. This is good news for public administration research: the inclusion of density boosts the explanatory power of traditional variables such as design and adaptation. Show less
Intelligence agencies routinely use surveillance technology to perform surveillance on digital data. This practice raises many questions that feed a societal debate, including whether the... Show moreIntelligence agencies routinely use surveillance technology to perform surveillance on digital data. This practice raises many questions that feed a societal debate, including whether the surveillance technology is effective in achieving the given security goal, whether it is cost-efficient, and whether it is proportionate. Oversight bodies are important actors in this debate, overseeing budgets, legal and privacy matters, and the performance of intelligence agencies. This paper examines how oversight bodies evaluate the questions above, using documents produced by American and British oversight mechanisms. Show less
This article offers a novel approach to the difficulties experienced by victims in relation to their social surroundings in general, and to justice processes in particular, by expanding on an... Show moreThis article offers a novel approach to the difficulties experienced by victims in relation to their social surroundings in general, and to justice processes in particular, by expanding on an emerging paradigm of narrative victimology. For victims, ownership of their narrative is a key element of their experience, but this ownership is contested. The article brings together a body of victimological literature drawn from social and personality psychology, criminology and sociology to illuminate mechanisms underlying possible tensions between victims’ narratives and other perspectives on their ordeal. These tensions are relevant to understanding secondary victimisation in the criminal justice processes, as well as to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of restorative justice as a possible avenue for meeting victims’ needs. Show less
