Understanding Terrorist Organizations with a Dynamic Model

Terrorist organizations change over time because of processes such as recruitment and training as well as counter-terrorism (CT) measures, but the effects of these processes are typically studied qualitatively and in separation from each other. Seeking a more quantitative and integrated understanding, we constructed a simple dynamic model where equations describe how these processes change an organization's membership. Analysis of the model yields a number of intuitive as well as novel findings. Most importantly it becomes possible to predict whether counter-terrorism measures would be sufficient to defeat the organization. Furthermore, we can prove in general that an organization would collapse if its strength and its pool of foot soldiers decline simultaneously. In contrast, a simultaneous decline in its strength and its pool of leaders is often insufficient and short-termed. These results and other like them demonstrate the great potential of dynamic models for informing terrorism scholarship and counter-terrorism policy making.Comment: To appear as Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science v2: vectorized 4 figures, fixed two typos, more detailed bibliograph

The Pan European Ecological Network: PEEN

The pan European biological and landscape diversity strategy (PEBDLS) was developed under the auspices of the Council of Europe in order to achieve the effective implementation of the convention of biological diversity (CBD) at the European level. A key element of PEBLDS has been the development of the Pan European Ecological Network (PEEN) as a guiding vision for coherence in biodiversity conservation. PEEN has been developed in three subprojects: Central and Eastern Europe, completed in 2002; South-eastern Europe, completed in 2006; and Western Europe, also completed in 2006. The methodology of the development of the three maps has been broadly comparable but data availability, differences in national databases, technical developments and geographical differences caused variations in the detailed approach. One of the challenges was to find common denominators for the habitat data in Europe; this was solved differently for the subprojects. The project has resulted in three maps that together constitute the PEEN. They differ in terms of ecological coherence and the need for ecological corridors; for example, in Central and Western Europe corridors are essential to provide connectivity, while in Northern, Eastern and South-eastern Europe larger, coherent natural areas still exist. The future steps in developing PEEN should include the implementation of national ecological networks and, in particular, the pursuit of international coherence through the development of trans-European ecological corridors. The big challenge is to develop a common approach among the over 100 European-wide agencies that are responsible for biodiversity conservatio

The Pan European Ecological Network: PEEN

The pan European biological and landscape diversity strategy (PEBDLS) was developed under the auspices of the Council of Europe in order to achieve the effective implementation of the convention of biological diversity (CBD) at the European level. A key element of PEBLDS has been the development of the Pan European Ecological Network (PEEN) as a guiding vision for coherence in biodiversity conservation. PEEN has been developed in three subprojects: Central and Eastern Europe, completed in 2002; South-eastern Europe, completed in 2006; and Western Europe, also completed in 2006. The methodology of the development of the three maps has been broadly comparable but data availability, differences in national databases, technical developments and geographical differences caused variations in the detailed approach. One of the challenges was to find common denominators for the habitat data in Europe; this was solved differently for the subprojects. The project has resulted in three maps that together constitute the PEEN. They differ in terms of ecological coherence and the need for ecological corridors; for example, in Central and Western Europe corridors are essential to provide connectivity, while in Northern, Eastern and South-eastern Europe larger, coherent natural areas still exist. The future steps in developing PEEN should include the implementation of national ecological networks and, in particular, the pursuit of international coherence through the development of trans-European ecological corridors. The big challenge is to develop a common approach among the over 100 European-wide agencies that are responsible for biodiversity conservatio

Political terrorism 1983

Research guide to concepts, theories, databases and literature of political terrorism. Publications on political violence / author / corporate author / title / sub-title / country of publication/ city/ publisher/ date / annotation / subject category / bibliography

Political terrorism 1983

Research guide to concepts, theories, databases and literature of political terrorism. Publications on political violence / author / corporate author / title / sub-title / country of publication/ city/ publisher/ date / annotation / subject category / bibliography