April 28, 2022

Exploring the Social-Ecological Factors that Mobilize Children into Violence

This article applies the social-ecological model to children’s mobilization into two violent groups—Central American gangs and terrorist organizations. While these two groups clearly differ in important ways, there are contextual similarities that frame a child’s involvement in each. For example, both flourish in low-resource settings where governmental structures may have been weakened or disrupted.

Nov. 5, 2020

Terrorism in time of the pandemic: exploiting mayhem

Arie Kruglanski, a Minerva-funded researcher and colleagues’ international study was recently published in the peer-reviewed Global Security: Health, Science, and Policy. This article illustrates and discuss terrorism trends that have manifest during the COVID-19 pandemic and consider the threat these trends pose to the world’s security.

May 4, 2020

Mia Bloom's new article "From Pawn to Knights: The Changing Role of Women's Agency in Terrorism?"

Minerva-funded researcher, Mia Bloom's new article "Mia Bloom's new article "From Pawn to Knights: The Changing Role of Women's Agency in Terrorism?". As terrorist groups became more technologically advanced with their media campaigns, the global audience began to see pictures of women in black burkas pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and posing with guns. Although there is a backlash against such change that we see reflected in the ideologies of violent extremism; the shifts in gender relations within these groups are significant to examine.

March 11, 2020

Scott Atran's new article, "Measures of Devotion to ISIS and other Fighting and Radicalized Groups"

Minerva-funded research Scott Atran's new article, "Measures of Devotion to ISIS and other Fighting and Radicalized Groups" has been published in "Current Opinion in Psychology". Read more

Dec. 20, 2019

Minerva researchers' new article on "Exploring the Social-Ecological Factors that Mobilize Children into Violence"

This article applies the social-ecological model to children’s mobilization into two violent groups—Central American gangs and terrorist organizations. While these two groups clearly differ in important ways, there are contextual similarities that frame a child’s involvement in each. For example, both flourish in low-resource settings where governmental structures may have been weakened or disrupted. Does it follow, therefore, that similar processes are at play in relation to children engaging in violent groups?

Dec. 5, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on "Beneath the "Crime-Terror Nexus": Local Power Struggles, Competition over Resources, and Corrupt State"

Minerva-funded researchers Mariya Omelicheva and Lawrence Markowitz's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on "Beneath the "Crime-Terror Nexus": Local Power Struggles, Competition over Resources, and Corrupt State". The post-Cold War era has been marked by policy and academic debates about the cooperative links between criminal and terrorist actors. According to the prevailing view, the dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in...

June 4, 2019

Weaponizing the Weak: The Role of Children in Terrorist Groups

Bloom, Mia. 2019. Weaponizing the Weak: The Role of Children in Terrorist Groups. In Research Handbook on Child Soldiers, edited by Mark Drumbl and Jastine Barrett. Rochester: Edward Elgar Publishing.

May 29, 2019

Owl in the Olive Tree post on "Telegram and Online Addiction to Terrorist Propaganda"

Minerva-funded researcher Mia Bloom's Owl in the Olive Tree blog post on "Telegram and Online Addiction to Terrorist Propaganda."The online media platforms of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) blend graphic audiovisual content with ideological religious writings to sanction and justify violent terrorist tactics throughout the world. ISIS