TRI National/Regional TRI Networks (Partial) Inventory of Ph.D. Theses in the Making
by Alex P. Schmid (Network Coordinator)
The Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI) seeks to stimulate research in various ways, one being the annual competition for the best Ph.D. thesis in the field of terrorism and counter-terrorism. Another effort involves the organization of national or (sub-) regional networks of researchers engaged in writing a doctoral dissertation on (counter-) terrorism or a closely-related subject at a recognized academic institution. There are a dozen TRI Theses Writers Networks in existence, some functioning better than others. Below, the reader will find a list of two dozen doctoral theses in the making. In each case the (working) title of a thesis is given, followed by the name of the Ph.D. researcher and the one of the university where the thesis is being written. The expected date of completion is given at the end. In addition to the networks listed below, there are also (proto-) networks in existence in Australia, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands (incl. Flanders in Belgium), Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Graduate students who wish to join a network should contact the network coordinator at < [email protected] >.
Austrian-German-Swiss Network (Coordinator: Johannes Saal)
1. Les Femmes Musulmanes Occidentales dans le Jihad Contemporain: Une Armée de Roses entre Soutien Visible et Invisible à l’Utopie Jihadiste dans une Conception Féminine du Fard Al Ayn [Western Muslim Women in the Contemporary Jihad: An Army of Roses between Visible and Invisible Support for the Jihadist Utopia in a Feminine Conception of Fard Al Ayn]
Géraldine Casutt
University of Fribourg (CH) and EHESS-Paris
Expected date of completion: 2017.
2. Switzerland and the Origins of International Counterterrorism: Crisis Management, Multilateral Diplomacy, and Intelligence Cooperation (1969-1977)
Aviva Guttmann
University of Bern and Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), University St. Andrews
Expected date of completion: February 2016.
3. Policies of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan toward Afghanistan: Common Structures, Varying Outcomes
Azamjon Isabaev
Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg
Expected date of completion: September 2016.
4. The Dark Social Capital of Religious Terrorists: Analyzing Radicalization, Recruitment and Dynamics of Jihadist Networks in Europe
Johannes Saal
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (GSL),
University of Lucerne
Expected date of completion: Summer 2018.
5. Ermittlungen gegen Organisierte Kriminalität: Ein Vergleich des deutschen und kolumbianischen Rechts [Investigations on Organized Crime: A Comparison between German and Colombian Law]
Angélica Romero Sánchez
University of Freiburg (D) and International Max Planck Research School for Comparative Criminal Law (IMPRS-CC)
Expected date of completion: December 2016.
6. The Military Organization of State Repression
Adam Scharpf
Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Mannheim
Expected date of completion: Summer 2016.
7. The Illicit Business of Terrorism: Assessing the Resourcing of Terrorist Campaigns
Julia Sammelbeck
Graduate School of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Mannheim
Expected date of completion: Summer 2017.
8. Preemptive Self-Defense Aspect of the Laws of War: U.S. Drone Strikes Inside Pakistan
Imdad Ullah
Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt.
Expected date of completion: not determined.
9. Filling the Gaps: Hamas and Hezbollah between Inclusion and Exclusion: A Multi-Dimensional Framework based on Sociological Systems Theory
Dennis Walkenhorst
Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology, University of Bielefeld
Expected date of completion: Summer 2016.
South(ern) Africa Network (Coordinator: Petra Harvest)
10.The New Insurgencies and Mass Uprisings in Africa and International Involvement: Selected Case Studies.
Samuel Adotey Anum (Ghana).
University of Pretoria
Expected completion date is 2017.
11. Counter-terrorism and Civil Society in Nigeria
Emeka Thaddues Njoku
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Expected completion date: 2016.
12. The Westphalian Model and Trans-Border Ethnic Identity: The Case of the Chewa Kingdom of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
Happy Kayuni (Malawia)
University of the Western Cape
Expected completion: early 2016.
13. Nuclear Proliferation.
[Name cannot be released as author is government official]
University of Pretoria
Expected completion date: 2016.
Norwegian Network (Coordinator: Cato Hemmingby)
14. The Terrorist Target Selection Process: Influencing Factors with regard to Terrorists’ Choice of Targets.
Cato Hemmingby
Norwegian Police University College
Expected date of completion: 2016.
15. Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Major Incidents: Patterns of Use and Influence on Outcome
Anne Siri Johnsen
University of Stavanger
Expected date of completion: 2019.
16. Far-Right Violence in Europe 1990-2012: Patterns and Processes.
Jacob Aasland Ravndal
Norwegian Defence Research Institute, Terrorism Research Group
Expected date of completion: 2016.
17. From the Extreme to the Mainstream: the Politics of Anti-Islamic Movements and their Rhetoric
Lars Erik Berntzen
Department of Political and Social Science, European University Institute Florence
Expected date of completion: Spring 2017.
United States Network (Coordinator: Matthew Sweeney)
18. Net-Nazis: Framing Hegemonic Ideologies of the White Power Movement through Racist Humor
Steven Windisch
University of Nebraska – Omaha
Expected date of completion: 2019.
19. Political Crimes and Responses to Them:Terrorism, Expectations of Interactions, and Trust
Erin Kearns
American University, Washington D.C.
Expected date of completion: 2017.
Brazilian Network (Coordinator: Prof. Jorge Lasmar)
20. The Pedagogy of Martyrdom in Shia Narratives
Patricia Prado
PUC Minas
Expected date of completion: December 2017.
21. Terrorism Risk Analysis: A Comparison of Different Risk Models
Suzane Vasconcelos
PUC Minas
Expected date of completion: December 2018.
22. Gender Issues and the Role of Women in Terrorism
Luisa Novaes Tolledo
PUC Minas
Expected date of completion: December 2016.
23. The Interplay Between Macro-, Meso- and Micro-Factors in the Decision of Becoming a Foreign Fighter: The Case of Syria
Guilherme Damasceno Fonseca
PUC Minas
Expected date of completion: 2015.
24. Cosmopolitan Uncivil Societies and the Problem of Terrorism
Adriana Neves Gomes de Azevedo
PUC Minas
Expected date of completion: August 2017.
