CSTPV Occasional Paper Series
Our 25th anniversary seems a highly suitable occasion to take stock of the sheer range and depth of innovative research into terrorism that CSTPV has produced. Here it is important to recognize that much of the best research has come from our own students in the forms of in-house dissertations or projects that were never published more widely.
The CSTPV Occasional Papers Series is intended to serve as a public showcase for this treasure trove of unpublished research: or, at least, a sample of it. We shall therefore publish here outstanding examples of work that has appeared at the Centre in recent years that we believe are especially valuable, original or unusual in helping us understand terrorism.
For a full quarter of a century the Centre has served as a powerhouse for both teaching and research into terrorism. Students have always stood at the centre of that project. We are honoured to honour their contributions in this series. And we are delighted that in so doing we can bring some truly excellent and unknown research on terrorism into the light of both day and debate. CSTPV Occasional Papers are academic contributions to the study of terrorism that fully deserve a wide readership.
Author: Lotta Rahlf
Publication Date: 24 August 2022
Abstract: While the increasing possibilities for end-to-end encrypted communication constitute a technical advance for general data protection, new challenges arise for law enforcement and intelligence agencies in monitoring terrorist communications. To work around the problem of terrorists ‘going dark’ and evading authorities’ surveillance, German authorities have come to employ controversial methods of communications interception through equipment interference using state spyware. In this paper, I reflect on the proportionality of such measures in light of their implications for fundamental rights by discussing theoretical and practical problems. I thereby constructively explore a current Gordian knot in counterterrorism in the digital age.
Author: Grace Vaule
Published: 1 September 2021
Abstract: Recent research on terrorism and political violence has sought to better conceptualise the far-right. Specifically, various studies have contributed hypotheses regarding the White nationalist movement within the United States. This paper will provide further insight into the American White nationalist movement by determining how White nationalist groups differentially frame ideas to mobilise recruits. The project concludes that White nationalist groups supply divergent frames to radicalise recruits.
Author: Madalen Beth Reid
Published 1 July 2021
Abstract: Consociational democracy has become a dominant model for post-conflict democratisation, making an understanding of its dynamics and outcomes important for practitioners and scholars of peacebuilding. This paper explores the quality of consociational governance in the long term in societies transitioning from conflict, and asks whether this imperfect system is viable in the long term despite the absence of adequate transition mechanisms to a more efficient and normatively adequate system.
Author: Juraj Nosal
Publication Date: 19 August 2020
Abstract: This paper examined framing of online news reporting on terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom. The sample consisted of the articles published on three British news websites about six major terrorist attacks that took place in Europe between 2015 and 2017…
Download HereAuthor: James Hopkins
Publication Date: 20 March 2020
Abstract: In his influential work Torture and Democracy, Darius Rejali argues that when democracies use torture, they tend to resort to the use of stealthy torture techniques in order to avoid detection. Using primary archival sources, this paper examines Rejali’s hypothesis by looking at torture in the British Mandate in Palestine up to 1945…
Download HereAuthor: D. Chen
Publication Date: 11 October 2019
Abstract: Counter-terrorism (CT) has since 9/11 become a leading component of intelligence work, alongside mainstays like political analysis and counterintelligence. The emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and new dimensions like extreme right wing (XRW) threats are placing heavy demands on intelligence…
Author: Gregor McIntyre
Publication Date: 11th January 2024
On October 12 1984, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also referred to as the ‘Provisionals’, staged ‘the most audacious attack on a British government since the Gunpowder Plot’, attempting to kill the British Prime Minister (PM), Margaret Thatcher, and all of her cabinet ministers (Hughes, D. 2009; Carroll, R. 2023). The attack, known as the Brighton Bombing, occurred at the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party Conference and was part of the IRA’s ‘key war’ in England against ‘high-prestige’ targets; a campaign which sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland by weakening the British’ resolve to remain (English, R. 2003. 248; Oppenheimer, A.R. 2009. 32-33; McGladdery, G. 2006. 8).