The Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies Announces Two Grant Awards
The Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at The Fletcher School, Tufts University is pleased to announce the receipt of two project-specific grants to carry out research on aspects of terrorist mobilization. Through the support of both the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the U.S. Department of Defense Personnel Security Research Center, the Jebsen Center will conduct in-depth research and analysis that will further its mission of predicting, preventing, and preempting terrorist acts around the world.
In September 2006, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation awarded $60,000 to the Jebsen Center in support of its “Female Muslim Suicide Bombers: Implications for the Jihad and Counter-Terrorism” research project. The project will provide a comprehensive view into the motivations, methods, and future roles of female terrorist agents in extremist movements—particularly in al Qaeda—and what their presence may signify for U.S. and global intelligence and security communities. Special attention will also be paid to the potential roles for Muslim women as counter-terrorists. Jebsen Center Director Brigadier General (ret.) Russell D. Howard and Jebsen Center Graduate Assistant Jennie Dow will lead the research effort, assisted by a team of Fletcher School student researchers, throughout the one-year grant period.
In October 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Personnel Security Research Center (PERSEREC), through its academic grant award program, approved and committed nearly $30,000 to a Jebsen Center research proposal focusing on “Situational, Contextual, and Behavioral Predictors of Intention to Commit Terrorist Acts.” Through a multi-level analysis, Jebsen center researchers will go beyond the identification of factors at the structural, social, and psychological levels to identify how those factors interact in ways that help to explain motivations of terror. The project will be supervised by both General Howard and by MIT Ph.D. candidate Nichole Argo, who is the author of several publications on the contextual and psychological motivations of terrorist activity. Jebsen Center researcher Benedetta Berti Alberti and several Fletcher students will assist in project research and implementation.
Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation is devoted to strengthening American democratic capitalism and the institutions, principles, and values that sustain and nurture it. Its programs support limited, competent government; a dynamic marketplace for economic, cultural activity; and a vigorous defense, at home and abroad, of American ideas and institutions.
PERSEREC's mission is to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness of DoD personnel and industrial security systems. To achieve this mission, researchers at PERSEREC engage in research and development to produce needed intelligence, policy, and procedures to mitigate risks of espionage, terrorism, and other insider threats to federally controlled facilities, materials, and information. PERSEREC conducts long-term programmatic research for the security and intelligence communities, provides quick-response studies and analyses in support of policy formulation and systems operation, disseminates research information to security policymakers and practitioners, and develops innovative tools and job aids for security professionals.
The Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies was established at The Fletcher School in September 2005. Our mission is to increase the understanding and competency of counter-terrorism professionals. To accomplish this mission, the Jebsen Center funds a robust research and analysis program, hosts conferences and a visiting fellows program, and conducts outreach activities. The Center’s important early research focuses on predicting, preventing and preempting terrorist activity. The Center will be soliciting student and alumni feedback for future research topics and will continue to pursue foundation, government, and corporate funding for project administration.
Stacy Neal, MALD 2007