Jebsen Center Research Topics

Nichole Argo

Situational, Contextual, and Behavioral Predictors of Intention to Commit Terrorist Acts

Abstract
Identifying factors that contribute to the growth, sustainability, and spread of terrorist activity will be key in allowing counter-terrorism officials to predict, prevent, and perhaps even preempt terrorist attacks. The best way to do this is to better understand the process of radicalization in would-be terrorists, and the role that ideology plays in the moral justification and maintenance of terror activities.

The individual radicalization that drives today?s terror requires a multi-level analysis at the structural, social and psychological levels. But terror is not the sum of these parts, as evinced by useless efforts to predict terror within states where these things coexist. Terror emerges when these factors interact in certain ways. Some such interactions are bound by known patterns and heuristics within social psychology, social neuroscience, and the behavioral sciences in general. A review of findings in these fields will prove very helpful to inquiries on the motivations of terror.

With the "Situational, Contextual, and Behavioral Predictors of Intention to Commit Terrorist Acts" project, the Jebsen Center will address the following questions:

* What is a good working definition of radicalization?

Based on the data available to us, how did terrorists radicalize across cases? In particular:

* There are cases where activists have forsaken terror. What factors help to explain this reverse radicalization?

* How do terrorists? interests and values change over time? How do they change in response to personal life events? How do they change, if at all, in response to specific political or military events?

* What can these findings tell us about preparing for and predicting terror in the future?

We will address these questions by: 1.) compiling a people-based database collecting longitudinal data on the life paths of individual terrorists; 2.) performing a content analysis of letters, wills, and interviews; and 3.) literature review on a new generation of social psychological approaches to terrorism.

Biography
Nicole Argo is a doctoral student in Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research focuses on the role of emotion in resistance and rebellion. She spent 2003-2005 in Israel and the Palestinian Territories as a researcher for the Preventive Defense Project at Stanford, interviewing would-be suicide bombers and their communities. From 2004-2006, she was funded by the United States Institute for Peace to explore how social networks and relationships influence militant mobilization. She is currently directing a project a the Jebsen Center that models radicalization according to findings from social neuroscience, and tests it against a longitudinal database of militant lives. Long-interested in ethnic mobilization and violence, Nichole previously lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Rwanda. She holds a masters degree in international policy studies (conflict and security emphasis) from Stanford Univeristy, and a certificate in peace research from the University of Olso.
Publications
Nichole.Argo@tufts.edu

Emma Belcher

Biography

Emma Belcher is a PhD Candidate at the Fletcher School and a research fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Ms Belcher holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the school’s journal of international affairs – The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. She also holds a BA (Hons) in political science and a Diploma in Modern Languages (Arabic) from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

In 2005 and 2006, Ms Belcher served as a policy advisor on national security and international affairs in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has also served as an intern at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, and in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch in the Department of Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations. Between 2000 and 2002, she was a public affairs officer at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC.

Benedetta Berti Alberti

The Political Activism of Terrorist Groups: Exploring The Triumph of Radical Parties and Illiberal Democracies in the Middle East

Abstract
 Radical Islamic armed groups are currently playing a new role across the Middle East, not only as socio-religious movements, but also as organized political parties. The electoral triumph of Hamas in the Palestinian Territories represents an important example of this recent trend, which can be read both as an encouraging development toward gradual democratization or as a destabilizing and threatening factor, particularly in the case of weak states or emerging democracies. The main objective of the study is hence to assess the impact of this phenomenon and to predict future local and regional developments related to the political success of armed radical factions. The research project will evaluate the implications on the existing security environment and of the potential consequences for US national security. Potential threats related to the rise of illiberal democracies are numerous and they include: the spread of rogues states and potential “sanctuaries,” the creation of uncontrolled areas for smuggling of weapons, including WMD, and the rise of internal ethno-sectarian and religious societal divisions, increasing the potential for internal turmoil and violence within Middle Eastern countries. The paper will also consider the security and political implications of this trend for the US and its current foreign policy toward the Middle East. The second part of the study will take a pro-active approach to the problem presenting viable policy options vis-à-vis the rise of extremist regimes, and discussing under what conditions and context can these radical and terrorist groups be integrated into the political process, and how can their radical ideology be mitigated. Finally, the study will analyze the role that the US can play to guarantee stability in the region and strengthen liberal democracies, as part of its long-term counter-terrorism strategy. Project’s significance and specific policy relevance has to do with the growing influence of radical Islamic armed factions in the political systems of Middle Eastern countries which is likely to impact both such countries’ foreign policies as well as their relations with the US.

Biography

Benedetta is pursuing a PhD in security studies at the Fletcher School, where her fields of studies are international security studies, public international law, and Middle East politics. She graduated summa cum laude in 2005 from the University of Bologna, Italy with a B.A in Middle Eastern Studies, and she has studied international law at the University of Oxford. Benedetta's working experience includes working as researcher and analyst in the field of conflict analysis in Mexico, and as an academic researcher in Italy. Recently, Benedetta was the Recipient of American Jewish Committee’s Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations (2007) to serve as Legislative Fellow in the office of Congressman Adam B. Schiff. She is co-author of several publications in the fields of human rights, conflict analysis, and international security studies. Benedetta has been collaborating with the Jebsen Center since 2006, where she works as graduate research assistant.

Benedetta.berti_alberti@tufts.edu

 
Publications
Benedetta.berti_alberti@tufts.edu

Benedetta Berti-Alberti

Iranian Foreign Policy: The Latin-American Connection

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyze and assess the current foreign policy strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran vis-à-vis Latin America, focusing on its overt and covert aspects and its impact on global politics.

On the one hand, Iran has the objective to create a coalition of political and economic allies, both among its neighbors and globally—and in this context the country is actively seeking support from the Latin American continent. The paper hence aims at describing and analyzing the outreach efforts and strategic communication of Iran in this region of the world, documenting practical political and economic gains.

The paper will then consider the political, diplomatic, and security impact of Iranian support for terrorism in Latin America, analyzing the risks connected with the creation of a terrorist hub in the region, from the possibility of spreading radical Islam and extremism, to the eventuality of renewed terrorist operations. Moreover, the impact of Iranian diplomatic efforts and the rise of a Latin American coalition will also be evaluated from a US regional and global security perspective, looking at the impact of the rise of Anti-American feelings, and at the creation of new economic and political partnerships.

Finally, the last section of the study will make concrete policy recommendations on how to support regional counter-terrorism efforts and to curb Iranian diplomatic efforts to mobilize an Anti-US coalition.

David Ethan Corbin

Returned Fighters – A Regional and Global Dilemma

Abstract

Since its inception in 2003, Syria has been a significant contributor of foreign, Salafi-inspired fighters to the Iraqi insurgency. Essentially two types of fighters, native-Syrian and foreign, were funneled through complex networks from Damascus to the border regions. Five-years into the fight, Syria is now faced with the challenge of these battle-hardened insurgents returning home or passing through the country on their way back to their native countries as far away as the Maghreb or Europe. What is the current status of these returned fighters? What is the threat that they pose not only to the Ba’thist state of Syria, but to regional stability as well? Is there a legitimate threat at the global-level as these experienced fighters reintegrate into their communities abroad?

Bio

Ethan is currently a Ph.D. student in Security Studies, with a proposed dissertation topic of power transition in authoritarian states in the Middle East. Prior to coming to The Fletcher School Ethan received a Master’s in Middle Eastern history from the Sorbonne in Paris and a B.A. in European history from Bowdoin College. For several years he worked in emerging market finance at an investment bank, a career that took him to Europe and the Middle East extensively.

Since coming to The Fletcher School, he has continued his work on the Middle East that he began as a Master’s student.

Ethan wrote his MALD (Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) thesis on the transition of power from Hafez to Bashar Asad in Syria. He has published two articles on the subject, as well as completed a recent book project on the U.S. role in global peace operations with Fletcher School Professor, Ian Johnstone, for which he wrote the introduction. Ethan is also the engaged in a research study for the Maritime Studies department with a national security focus. In addition, he is the current Earhart Fellow in The Fletcher School’s International Security Studies Program.

Laurie Gagnon

The Effects of Continued Exclusion and a Weak State on Organized Crime Networks in Guatemala

Abstract

Together, equitable economic development, public security and the rule of law are necessary to address the problems of corruption and organized crime in Guatemala. The strength of organized crime has increased in Guatemala’s environment of corruption, impunity, and weakly institutionalized political parties. The power of the state has traditionally been in the hands of the economic elites, but increasingly the money of organized crime is being seen in politics while the interests of the majority of the population are not fully represented. Though there is little terrorist threat within Guatemala, the networks and structures needed to traffick drugs, human beings and contraband could potentially be adapted to for this purpose and the outgoing Berger administration established an office to coordinate counterterrorism cooperation.

Building analytical frameworks for understanding the complex challenges faced by a country trying to recover from decades of conflict has value for comparative research in addressing the root causes of terrorism. The multiple processes of building peace, reconstructing a country after armed conflict, and democratization develop inconsistently and unevenly. The case of Guatemala gives insight into the challenges faced a decade after the vision in the comprehensive peace agreement has stagnated. This project seeks to contribute to our understanding of the strategies and skills national civil society actors need to reopen these processes and push further toward goals that will increase stability in the country and region and preempt continued backsliding to violence and the growth of illicit economies.This project also aims to contribute to our understanding of openings to better align the private interests of elites with the national interest in order to promote the necessary changes to make Guatemala’s formally democratic institutions into functionally democratic transparent institutions. Socioeconomic change is needed to cultivate citizens who can access the benefits of economic development and whose participation can strengthen the state’s ability to ensure public security and the rule of law.

Biography

Laurie Gagnon is a second year MALD student studying human security and economic development with a focus on the synergies between development, human rights and state reform in post-conflict settings. She spent last summer in Guatemala studying Spanish and interning at Community Enterprise Solutions where she researched the needs of small businesses and organizations that support them. Her thesis is about the impediments to organized civil society having influence on national level socioeconomic development policy in Guatemala a decade after the signing of the Peace Accords. She grew up in northern New Hampshire and studied sociology, anthropology, and Japanese at Middlebury College in Vermont. She then spent two years in Fukui, Japan teaching English on the JET Programme. Upon returning to New England, she worked on the staff of the U.S.-Japan Program at Harvard before finding her way back to the classroom where she spent five years teaching world and U.S. history to high school students.

Jan Havránek

International Framework of Private-Public Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism

Abstract

Both private and public sector currently share the same threat of contemporary terrorism. The vision differs, the need to bring the two entities together. For one group to understand the other it is important to grasp their basic approaches to the subject. For this project I will review of the state of the field. I will conduct other research exploring similar topics including the project’s unique approach, significance, and specific policy relevance. My research objective will be to acquire understanding how international organizations cooperate with corporations in the field of critical infrastructure and vice-versa. I will map how private and public institutions envision this cooperation and will identify gaps between these two premises and propose potential improvements to the current frameworks.

Biography

Jan Havránek is currently pursuing a master's degree at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Prior to coming to the Fletcher School Jan served as a program coordinator at the Prague Security Studies Institute in the Czech Republic. In 2006 he co-founded the Prague Student Summit and presided over its first Czech Model NATO. Over the past six years, he has participated in and organized numerous projects in the nongovernmental sector in Central Europe and transatlantic community. Jan holds an undergraduate degree from Charles University in Prague. His fields of study at Fletcher include international security studies and international business relations.

Stephen Heitkamp

Development of Effective Counter-Terrorism Policy

Abstract
This summer I will spend time in Morocco and Europe conducting research and studying Arabic intensively. Through this research, I will attempt develop a framework for understanding how globalization processes are influencing antagonism between groups in Europe and North Africa and within Europe and North Africa. Looking specifically at the Mediterranean Region, concentration will be placed on micro and macro processes: the interaction between individuals and groups with local versus transnational identities on the micro side and the interaction between states on the national and transnational levels on the macro side. The approach will be cross-disciplinary, using sources from security studies, political science, sociology, social psychology and history.

There are two primary objectives to the proposed project: first, to focus on the question of how globalization has influenced the way people identify themselves into groups, focusing on the identity formation process of Muslims within Southern Europe and North Africa; second, to question the extent in which national and international counter-terrorism policies are influenced not by ‘best solutions’ to problems but by local, national and international factors which are sometimes only peripherally related to the problem at hand.

Secondary objectives I have are to begin to understand the way in which globalization processes and counter-terrorism policies influence business practices in the Mediterranean Region and, related to this, to try and identify possible creative (governmental or non-governmental) solutions to some of the structural causes of terrorist activity in the Mediterranean Region. It is my thought going into this research that although security specific counter-terrorism policies are essential for counter-terrorism efforts, in the long term terrorism will be most effectively countered through non-military solutions that address basic inequalities within societies.

Biography
Stephen Heitkamp is a MALD student at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Originally from Washington D.C., Stephen graduated from The Colorado College in 2004 as a History major focusing on how historical ties influence the modern relationship between Europe and Turkey. Thereafter, he worked within the defense industry for the Lockheed Martin Corporation within their Business Development office. He later worked in Marseille, France for the French Ministry of Education. He is proficient in French and Italian, with a working knowledge of Spanish and Arabic. Stephen has also traveled in Europe, the Middle East, Central America and North Africa.
Stephen.Heitkamp@tufts.edu

Kei Koga

Terrorism and East Asian Regional Governance: APEC, ASEAN +3, and ASEAN’s Roles in Countering Terrorism

Abstract
In this project will examine the potential functions and validity of institutional cooperation on counter-terrorism in East Asia in preventing terrorism, namely APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), ASEAN+3 (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, China, and South Korea), and ASEAN.

In fact, there are two levels of counterterrorism frameworks in East Asia. One is bi- and tri-lateral operational frameworks. The examples are the tri-lateral intelligence cooperation among Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Counterterrorism (SEARCT), and the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC). The operational-level cooperation values practical collaboration among states; therefore, they are formed geographically and can go beyond the regional frameworks of ASEAN and ASEAN+3.

The other regional counterterrorism framework is the political multilateral institution, such as ASEAN, ASEAN+3 and APEC. Though 9/11 has fostered these institutions to further enhance the regional cooperation by such means as producing joint declarations on counter-terrorism and the establishment of SEARCCT and the Counter-Terrorism Task Force (CTTF) within APEC, they have been little studied. This may be because the non-interference principles (especially ASEAN member states and China), their different perceptions on terrorism, and the different political systems and technological gaps existing among East Asian states limit security cooperation even among them.

These operational and multilateral regional frameworks are important in the field of the security cooperation. In the traditional security arena, there has yet to be any rigid security cooperative organizations in East Asia; however, they are established as multilateral attempts to create multi-layered security frameworks in East Asia, and it is generally recognized that they are not politically and functionally mutually exclusive. However, the effectiveness of the East Asian regional cooperation has yet to be investigated.

In this context of these two layered counter-terrorism frameworks in East Asia, this study explores how the counter-terrorism cooperation of APEC, ASEAN+3, and ASEAN contribute to combating terrorism at present and the institutional limitations and potential in the future, more specifically, in terms of prediction, prevention, and preemption.

Biography
Kei Koga entered the PhD program at the Fletcher School in fall 2007, concentrating his fields of study in international security studies and political systems and theories. He graduated from Lewis and Clark College (BA) in 2000 and the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (MA) in 2002, where he studied East Asian Security. Kei's working experience including working as a researcher and project coordinator at Japan Forum on International Relations (JFIR) and Council on East Asian Community (CEAC) in Japan, where he conducted the research in political and security cooperation in East Asia in terms of both traditional and non-traditional security issues, and teaching International Relations and East Asian Security in Japanese universities including the Open University of Japan (OUJ) as a part-time lecturer. His publication include "Japan's Counterterrorism Policy" (Japanese) and "The Future of ‘ASEAN Way’: From Small-State Gathering to Diplomatic Hub in East Asia"(Japanese).

Assaf Moghadam

Left-wing and jihadist revolutionaries in Germany: A comparative study of the role of ideology in the radicalization of youth to terrorism

Abstract

Assaf Moghadam’s study compares the role that ideology played in the radicalization of German youth to left-wing terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s with the impact of Salafi-Jihadist ideology in the contemporary radicalization of youth in Germany. The study also examines whether and how the lessons of the successful fight against left-wing terrorism in Germany can be translated to the struggle against Salafi-Jihadist radicalization. Specifically, the proposed research will answer three questions: First, what are the similarities and divergences in the world view of members of the Red Army Faction (Red Army Faction) and Salafi-Jihadists in Germany? Second, what are the similarities and divergences in the recruitment and radicalization of members of the RAF and Salafi-Jihadists? And third, what conclusions and counter-terrorism implications can be drawn from the successful battle against the RAF for current strategies to counter Salafi-Jihadist extremists?

Biography

Dr. Assaf Moghadam is a research associate of the Jebsen Center, a Senior Research Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a postdoctoral fellow with the International Security Program's Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is the author of The Roots of Terrorism (New York: Chelsea House, 2006) and the forthcoming The Globalization of Martyrdom: Al Qaeda, Salafi Jihad, and the Diffusion of Suicide Attacks (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008). Dr. Moghadam has written and lectured widely on the nature and causes of terrorism, suicide attacks, Al Qaeda and the global jihad movement, and Shia ideology. He is a member of the editorial board of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. Dr. Moghadam held pre-doctoral research fellowships at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies and the Belfer Center at Harvard. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a B.A. in political science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Natalie Parke

The Relationship Between Transitional Justice and Economic Development in a Post-Conflict Setting: Case Study, Uganda

Abstract
This research explores the relationship between transitional justice and economic development in a post-conflict setting. Often, these areas of post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation are addressed independently from one another. This research hypothesizes that there is value in looking at the two areas from an integrated approach. A transitional justice process that is guided by the goal of economic development could help to address root causes of conflict and terrorism, including economic inequity and access to resources. In doing so, it could also contribute to a more sustainable peace. This research approaches counterterrorism strategy from a preventive, human security perspective.

The conflict in northern Uganda has been the source of horrific atrocity over the past twenty years. The Terrorist Exclusion List, under Section 11 of the US Patriot Act, identifies The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) as a terrorist organization. The projected judicial response to these terrorist atrocities has been a divisive issue in the field of transitional justice. The conflict between the International Criminal Court indictments and local, traditional justice mechanisms has become a quagmire in the transitional justice field. Unfortunately, neither judicial/reconciliatory approach adequately addresses underlying economic issues. This research looks at transitional justice in northern Uganda from a new perspective, in an effort to move beyond the peace versus justice dilemma.

Between December 29, 2007 and January 21, 2008, Natalie Parke and two research assistants, Jessica Anderson and Rachel Bergenfield, will conduct qualitative research in Kampala, Gulu, and Lira, Uganda. The researchers will be interviewing members of the development community, including NGOs, INGOs, and government officials, to ascertain their perceptions of how transitional justice should proceed for the conflict in the north. These opinions are often either unsolicited or ignored. Natalie will document her findings in her MALD thesis for The Fletcher School.

Biography
Natalie Parke is a member of The Fletcher School’s Class of 2008. She is studying Law and Development, Human Rights Law and Policy, and Human Security. She grew up in Pennsylvania, where she attended the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University, majoring in social and environmental responsibility. After graduating, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer for two years in Cameroon. At The Fletcher School, she is a Student Council Representative, a Tufts Teaching Assistant, a WebWriter, and director of Fletcher’s Outdoor Club. As a summer 2007 internship, Natalie served as an Associate at the newly-established Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding.

Robert Shaw

Abstract

The guiding hypothesis for this research will be: Increased security measures on the U.S.-Mexican border are inadequate to protect the United States from the entry of terrorist related weapons and material and from the entry of people who wish to inflict harm through terrorism.

The study will examine U.S. efforts to deny terrorists and terrorist related weapons and materials entry into the United States along the U.S.-Mexican border. It will identify technologies and strategies to interdict dangerous people, weapons and terrorist related materials that attempt to balance the needs of legitimate trade and travel. The first chapter of this study will analyze current border security initiatives along the Mexican border and identify areas for improvement. The author theorizes that by leveraging technology and strategy (such as public private partnerships, including C-TPAT, BASC, and the FAST initiative) U.S. border agents can better focus their attention toward suspicious goods and persons. This study will give particular attention to safeguarding against the passage of nuclear materials through the southern border. The second chapter will argue the United States must enlist the full cooperation of Mexico in order to fully secure the shared border, and explores the challenges and opportunities facing this relationship. Currently, the author believes that the U.S. has fallen short of enlisting Mexico’s full support as a partner in safeguarding the southern border to the detriment of U.S. security. The third and final chapter will recommend that in order to best protect the U.S. southern border from terrorist and weapons transit, the author proposes that the U.S. should encourage Mexico to act as a leader in its own layered security initiative, with countries from the Caribbean basin and Central America, to increase Mexico’s participation in border and regional security issues. Such an initiative could dramatically increase the safety of the southern border and the U.S. homeland.

Biography

Robert Shaw is a Masters of Arts candidate at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He has spent over two years studying, researching and working in Mexico. In 2004, he received a research fellowship from Dickinson College to study U.S.-Mexican migration and remittances. Following a summer internship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), he co-authored a chapter on North American security for the CSIS North America in 2025 Project. Robert has been published in the CSIS Hemisphere Highlights and in Mexican Studies.

Oleg Svet

Public Diplomacy, War by Other Means

Abstract
Counterterrorist operations since 9/11 have highlighted both American military might and the shortcomings of a grand strategy almost exclusively based on hard power. On the battlefield, the United States has proven itself capable of eradicating terrorist cells, but it has failed to stop the rising tide of radical jihadism and anti-Americanism. Policymakers have broadly acknowledged that the war on terror is as much a battle of ideas as it is a military one, but an essential tool in such a struggle, public diplomacy, has not been given its due share. This research will examine extent to which the battle for the hearts and minds has played and has a potentially larger role to play in the global war on terrorism.

Biography
Oleg Svet received the 2006 Tufts' Summer Research Scholarship to study public diplomacy in the context of the global of on terrorism. Under the mentorship of General Russell Howard, Mr. Svet attended the Senior Conference at West Point, the topic of which was public diplomacy in the context of the war on terror; went to Washington, DC on a week-long trip to interview high-ranking officials at the State Department, Defense Department, Government Accountability Office, and several universities and think-tanks; and analyzed dozens of publications, congressional testimonies, and taskforce reports. He is currently working on completing and publishing a report on the subject.

Oleg was born in Ukraine (former Soviet Union) in 1986. He lived in Israel from 1990 to 1998. He is currently an undergraduate at Tufts University majoring in International relations, with a minor in Arabic. He is fluent in Russian and Hebrew. At Tufts, he is a Tisch Active Citizenship scholar and has won numerous academic, merit-based, and research awards.
Oleg.Svet@tufts.edu

Sujata Tuladhar

Reintegration of female ex-combatants in Nepal

Abstract

Photographs of young women dressed in Maoist ^[1] combat fatigues or wearing red scarves and carrying guns has become the visual symbol of the Maoist war in Nepal. Reportedly, women constituted anywhere between thirty to forty percent of the Maoist cadres: they assumed roles ranging from nurses, messengers and organizers to fully-fledged guerilla fighters.

Given the country’s traditional patriarchal structure and culture of discrimination toward women, the notion of women joining a rebel group and picking up arms is a strong statement. Constituting 50 percent of the population, women are a significant part of Nepali population and their joining the rebel movement is a very strong indicator of the level of grievances and discrimination that exists in the country.

Bio

Sujata received her undergraduate degree from Connecticut College and is currently studying International Relations at The Fletcher School. Sujata has extensive experience working as a research assistant at the Fletcher School and Connecticut College. Sujata feels that many of her classes at Fletcher have further strengthened her research and analytical skills. Some of the most relevant classes include Research Methodology in Humanitarian Settings; Gender, Culture and Conflict in Complex Emergencies; Law and Politics of Conflict Management; Conflict Resolution Theory; Advanced Seminar on Development and Conflict Resolution.

Sujata has worked as a Research Analyst for International Crisis Group in Kathmandu from May 2007 until November 2007. This experience along with her own upbringing in Nepal has provided her a strong contextual foundation as well as the required skills to conduct this research.

[1] Maoist or the Community Party of Nepal- Maoist (CPNM) started their underground guerrilla movement in 1996 demanding state restructuring including different underrepresented minority groups and abolishment of the institution of monarchy, among others. The nature of their activity has put them in the terrorist category in the US and many other countries.

Matthew Van Etten

An Examination and Evaluation of NATO’s “Comprehensive Approach” in Afghanistan

Abstract

Matthew Van Etten will be spending about two and a half months in and around Kabul, Afghanistan this summer conducting research on the interaction between security and development in long-term efforts to rebuild that country. He will be focusing specifically on the idea of the “comprehensive approach” as it has been, and continues to be, developed and implemented by governmental and military leaders, both within the country and around the international community. Matt’s working thesis for this project is based on his strong belief that measures to increase and sustain security in a war-torn country like Afghanistan must be carried out with strong concurrent efforts to rehabilitate and reform the political, economic and legal environment around the country. He will have a particular focus on the military-political dynamic: specifically, the efforts of the U.S. Military and ISAF to create a space for responsible government at both the national and community levels, and encouraging local leaders to take ownership of policy goals encouraged by the national government.

Matt will spend the majority of his time in the city of Kabul, gathering information through observation and interviews with civilians (such as employees of non-governmental organizations, governmental leaders, city residents) and military personnel. Matt will also be making somewhat regular trips to the Char Assyab region of southern Kabul province, where he will engage with a case study of the security-development relationship at the community level. These trips to Char Assyab will be facilitated by his involvement with a small non-governmental organization called Trust in Education, which has been focusing on the development of education and agriculture in that region for five years now. While working part-time for Trust in Education, Matt will be interviewing prominent members of the community around Char Assyab, asking questions related to their experiences with the general international military and civilian presence in recent years.

Matthew Van Etten is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy degree at the Fletcher School, where security studies is one of his particular fields of focus. He entered Fletcher in January of this year, after completing two sequential 3-4 month projects: interning at the UN Political Affairs office at the Department of State, and working as an adviser to the Government of the Marshall Islands at the United Nations. Prior to these experiences, Matt focused on security studies and U.S. foreign policy while studying for a year in the Masters Degree program at the University of Washington’s Jackson School for International Studies in Seattle. At the Jackson School Matt carried out his first research project in the field of security studies, concerning the strategic relationship between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev and their efforts to decrease the number of nuclear warheads of their respective nations.

In Addition to his interests in international relations, Matt has also been involved as an educator at various levels over the past ten years. After graduating from Amherst College in 2002, he spent a year on a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands teaching English and World History to sixty-five 11th-grade students, as part of Harvard University’s inaugural WorldTeach program there. Out of this experience Matt produced a research project on the cultural influence of the United States on the Marshall Islands over the past sixty years. While studying this past semester at Fletcher, Matt also worked as an assistant teacher at a nearby kindergarten, a job he hopes to continue when he returns to school in the fall.

Andréa Walther

Countering Terrorism in Africa

Abstract

Despite the increased urgency of dealing with the threats emanating from ungoverned territories, the U.S. and other members of the international community have not proven adept in developing effective responses. Andrea’s summer research specifically addresses the security problems posed by ungoverned territories in Africa. She is working to assess what is being done both by both the U.S. and by African nations to confront this threat. Much U.S. and international attention is currently being focused on the establishment of the U.S. Africa Strategic Command (AFRICOM), the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI). However, little consideration is being devoted to the perspectives of local stakeholders on the African continent regarding the idea, mission, and impact of these initiatives, let alone what these important players prioritize as local problems and potential solutions. Deconstructing this phenomenon yields important insights that have important implications for U.S. counterterrorism policy. Andrea will be conducting research this summer at both AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Center in Accra, which will provide a basis for assessing the effectiveness and relevance of existing U.S. and international policies and programs and serve as a guide to develop strategies to improve the ability of the U.S. and her allies to mitigate the effects of ungoverned territories as breeding grounds for terrorism and criminal activities.

Bio

Andrea is a first year MALD student at The Fletcher School, where her current fields of study are international security and Southwest Asia. After graduating from Tufts University in 2002 with a degree in international relations, Andrea worked for a year and a half at the United Nations in New York. Her exposure there ranged from the Legal Research Department at the United States Mission to the UN, the Liechtenstein Mission to the UN, and the Secretariat Department of Political Affairs, Security Council Affairs Division. Her post-graduate international experience was with the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels covering population, refugees, and migration issues. Andrea’s main work experience has been with the Council on Foreign Relations’ National Security Studies department. Her work focused on the issues of maritime transportation and supply-chain security, critical infrastructure protection, natural disasters, public-private partnerships, and catastrophic terrorism. In 2006, she was one of fifteen Americans selected by the German Marshall Fund to represent the U.S. in Germany, Poland, and Belgium for two weeks analyzing international security issues as a Manfred Wörner Fellow. This past year, Andrea worked for Mayor Cory Booker in the City of Newark, New Jersey, setting up an Office of Homeland Security for the city and merging the existing Office of Emergency Management there within.