We describe a quantitative methodology to characterize the vulnerability of U.S. urban centers to terrorist attack, using a place-based vulnerability index and a database of terrorist incidents and related human casualties. Via generalized linear statistical models, we study the relationships between vulnerability and terrorist events, and find that our place-based vulnerability metric signific...

Research on the psychology of terrorism has argued against the idea that most terrorist behavior is caused by mental illness or by a terrorist personality. This article suggests an alternative line of inquiry - an individual psychology of terrorism that explores how otherwise normal mental states and processes, built on characteristic attitudes, dispositions, inclinations, and intentions, might...

Terrorism is one of many possible tactics to which actors may resort in political conflicts; however, previous studies of the strategic substitution within terrorism have primarily focused on shifts in attack modes following government countermeasures. Yet, the decision to resort to specific violent tactics can be highly complex, and will typically also depend on number of factors other than go...

Disperse or unite? A mathematical model of coordinated attack. By Joram op den Kelder Throughout the history of the western world a constant struggle has been taking place between governments and terrorist organisations. Game theory has proven helpful in enhancing our understanding of struggles between two players with opposing interests. The September 11 attacks on the USA in 2001 marked a pro...

The Internet which has enabled global businesses to flourish has become the very same channel for mushrooming ‘terrorist news networks.’ Terrorist organizations and their sympathizers have found a cost-effective resource to advance their courses by posting high-impact Websites with short shelf-lives. Because of their evanescent nature, terrorism research communities require unrestrained access ...

I present a model of the interaction between a government, a terrorist organization, and potential terrorist volunteers in which, as a result of an endogenous choice, individuals with low ability or little education are most likely to volunteer to join the terrorist organization. However, the terrorist organization screens the volunteers for quality. Consequently, the model is consistent with t...

Experimental research has a long-established tradition in psychology and sociology, and a more recent but important history as a useful methodology in economics. In this article, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of experiments as a method for studying terrorism and other national security topics. For example, given the paucity of data on counterterror policy decisions by governments, as ...

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