Research

The Jebsen Center’s research goal is to assist counter-terrorism professionals in their efforts to proactively counter terrorist threats today and in the future. To do this, the Jebsen Center organizes its research efforts to further develop terrorist prediction, prevention and preemption techniques and understanding.

Prediction

The Jebsen Center does not necessarily seek the ability to predict specific future terrorist events before they occur, but rather the ability to provide a highly educated observation about future sources and locations of terrorist activity based on rigorous intellectual analysis, observation, experience and reason.

Current prediction projects focus on knowledge management amongst counter-terrorism professionals and organizations, stress innovation as a key counter-terrorism tool and seek to better calibrate knowledge management and counter-terrorism efforts in general with the fluid and time sensitive nature of the terrorist threat.

Prevention

The Jebsen Center research activities seek to provide for long-term preventive diplomatic, economic, psychological and or military measures that could be taken to eliminate causal factors prompting enemies to resort to terrorist activities.

One example of current prevention research includes the increasingly important role of women in both terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts and how counterterrorist efforts by women around the world can be further empowered. Another includes the increasing role of mass market communications to support the growth of extremist ideologies in general and as a medium through which terrorist organizations increasingly conduct recruiting and training initiatives.

Preemption

The Jebsen Center encourages the anticipatory use not just of force, but also of diplomacy, economic policy, and information operations to thwart terrorism. This includes a long-term commitment to education, empowerment of Muslim Women, and economic development to alleviate conditions leading to terrorist activity.

For more information about these and other Jebsen Center research activities or to propose new areas of research please review our research proposal application (pdf) or contact stacy.neal@tufts.edu

Research Awards for Master’s Degree and Ph.D. Candidates

The Jebsen Center supports the development of interdisciplinary student research projects with an applied counter-terrorism focus. Financial support is provided to Master’s Degree and Ph.D. candidates in the greater Boston area, with a particular focus on Fletcher School students. Proposed topics should be original and emphasize primary research in the form of international travel, official interviews, surveys, or other methodologically sound approaches. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and guidelines can be downloaded here.

Research and Curriculum

Natasha Bajema – Solving the Problem of Long-Term Storage of Nuclear Waste: An Issue-Linkage Between Environmental Security and Counterterrorism

Jebsen Center Internships

Jebsen Center Research Topics

Nicole Argo – Situational, Contextual, and Behavioral Predictors of Intention to Commit Terrorist Acts
Benedetta Berti Alberti – The Political Activism of Terrorist Groups: Exploring The Triumph of Radical Parties and Illiberal Democracies in the Middle East
Benedetta Berti-Alberti – Iranian Foreign Policy: The Latin-American Connection
David Ethan Corbin - Returned Fighters-A Regional and Global Dilemma
Laurie Gagnon – The Effects of Continued Exclusion and a Weak State on Organized Crime Networks in Guatemala
Jan Havranek– International Framework of Private-Public Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism
Stephen Heitkamp – Development of Effective Counter-Terrorism Policy
Kei Koga – Terrorism and East Asian Regional Governance: APEC, ASEAN +3, and ASEAN’s Roles in Countering Terrorism
Assaf Moghadam– Left-wing and jihadist revolutionaries in Germany: A comparative study of the role of ideology in the radicalization of youth to terrorism
Natalie Parke – The Relationship Between Transitional Justice and Economic Development in a Post-Conflict Setting: Case Study, Uganda
Robert Shaw – Securing the US / Mexico Border
Oleg Svet – Public Diplomacy, War by Other Means [link to pdf]
Sujata Tuladhar - Reintegration of female ex-combatants in Nepal
Matthew Van Etten – An Examination and Evaluation of NATO’s “Comprehensive Approach” in Afghanistan
Andréa Walther - Countering Terrorism in Africa

Archive of Completed Research Projects »

Published Books, Papers and Articles

See Details »