Boston Herald Terror experts say Bangladesh cafe attack likely ISIS Terrorists descended upon a restaurant in the diplomatic zone in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka yesterday, taking dozens of hostages and killing two police, in the latest attack that security experts say is likely ISIS — or an equally deadly offshoot. If indeed ISIS is responsible for the attack, it would further shroud the […]
What Newtown and Orlando have in common Law enforcement officials have described the shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando as a terrorist act. The shooter expressed solidarity with Islamic State in a 911 call. “Terrorism is often said to have a political motivation. But take the politics out and they look a lot like other mass killings in the U.S.: hate-motivated acts […]
ISIS claims responsibility for attacks in Brussels, Mass. leaders and thinkers react The Belgian capital is in lock down following a series of terrorist attacks that killed more than 30 people and injured at least 230 more. Two blasts ripped through the airport early this morning, killing 11 people. An hour later, another explosion — a bomb — struck a metro station in the heart of the […]
Nano News Boko Haram ‘burned children alive’ in Nigeria village attack Houses were torched, three female suicide bombers detonated devices, and militants opened fire near Nigeria’s largest northeastern city in Saturday’s attack. “There is a real bias against media coverage of terrorist attacks in Africa, and especially in Nigeria“, Max Abrahms, assistant professor of political science at Northeastern University in Boston, told RT. Last year, Boko […]
Then and now: France, the French language and the holy land Twenty years ago, my research into French-speakers in Israel and Palestine seemed like an obscure topic to a lot of friends and colleagues. With the current uptick in terrorist-triggered emigration from France to Israel, it is anything but. There has long been an ambivalent relationship between France and the Holy Land, between French and the […]
Tampa Bay Times Fact-checking claims about women Feminist icon Gloria Steinem said more women have been killed by their husbands or boyfriends since Sept. 11 than “all the Americans who were killed by 9/11 or in Afghanistan and Iraq.” You can argue about the significance of such a comparison, but on the numbers, she is accurate. James A. Fox, a Northeastern University […]
Mass murder on both sides of the Atlantic – politics or psychopathology? On both sides of the Atlantic, last weekend was a particularly bloody time. In Isla Vista, near the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara, six students were shot to death by Elliot Rodger, a young man who blamed everybody but himself for his inability to attract women. Hours later, a gun-toting terrorist […]
Focus on marathon resiliency, not tragedy Feeling deceived, Boston Marathon bombing survivor Adrianne Haslet-Davis stormed off the set of NBC’s Meet the Press in protest and in tears. Reportedly, she had agreed to appear on air so long as the names of the alleged bombers would not be mentioned during the broadcast, only to learn that the promise had been broken. […]
W.Va. Spill Shows Vulnerability Of Water Supply Killing or sickening large numbers of people through water contamination would not be easy. Someone would need access to a large amount of chemicals and be able to dump them in a sensitive spot, which would likely attract attention, said Stephen Flynn, director of the Center for Resilience Studies at Northeastern University. “It turns out […]
The Jerusalem Post Analysis: Does terrorism work? A new study by Max Abrahms and Matthew Gottfried titled “Does Terrorism Pay? An Empirical Analysis” argues that it does not because government compliance is usually not forthcoming. An interesting finding is that governments are more likely to deal with terrorists in hostage situations when the demands are the release of prisoners or money, as […]
For Comfort and Posterity, Digital Archives Gather Crowds The pressure-cooker bombs that exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon last April 15 shattered bodies and lives. But their impact was felt far beyond the blast radius as the shock spread and authorities set out to find the perpetrators. The ensuing manhunt put an already traumatized city on lockdown. One of the […]
Don’t give Hasan the martyrdom he wants: Column The 13 members of the jury of military officers took less than two hours — lightning speed by courtroom standards — to reach a unanimous verdict that Maj. Nidal Hasan should be executed for his 2009 rampage at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas that left 13 dead and 31 more wounded. My sense, […]