social science

Irregular Warfare Podcast: War Entrepreneurs: Economic Drivers of Insurgency, Terrorism, and Crime

Riley.C.Murray — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 14:04:52 +0000

Irregular Warfare Podcast: War Entrepreneurs: Economic Drivers of Insurgency, Terrorism, and Crime

https://mwi.usma.edu/war-entrepreneurs-economic-drivers-of-insurgency-terrorism-and-crime/

Our two guests argue that social science provides tools to understand why illicit violence occurs. By focusing on individual incentive structures, rather than group identity labels, states can develop targeted sanctions and military strategies that disassemble and disrupt violent nonstate groups. This approach has implications for how policymakers and practitioners can counter violent actors from the strategic to the tactical level. Our guests provide several examples from the Treasury Department’s counter–threat finance efforts during the post-9/11 era.

Juan Zarate served as the deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism from 2005 to 2009, responsible for developing and implementing the US government’s counterterrorism strategy and policies related to transnational security threats. Mr. Zarate was the first ever assistant secretary of the treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes, where he led domestic and international efforts to attack terrorist financing, the innovative use of the Treasury Department’s national security–related powers, and the global hunt for Saddam Hussein’s assets. He is the author of the book Treasury’s War: The Unleashing of a New Era of Financial Warfare, in which he discusses America’s fight against the illicit financial networks of state and nonstate actors.

Dr. Gary Shiffman is a professor at Georgetown University, founder and CEO of the software company Giant Oak, and author of the book The Economics of Violence: How Behavior Science Can Transform Our View of Crime, Insurgency, and Terrorism. The arguments of the book provide the basis for this episode’s conversation. Dr. Shiffman has also served as the chief of staff for US Customs and Border Protection, as a national security advisor at the United States Senate, and as a US Navy surface warfare officer.

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The Study of Human Behaviour in Post-9/11 War: Why Psychologists Co-operate with the U.S. Military and Anthropologists Fight Back

SWJED — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 06:20:25 +0000

The Study of Human Behaviour in Post-9/11 War: Why Psychologists Co-operate with the U.S. Military and Anthropologists Fight Back SWJED Tue, 01/23/2018 - 1:20am

An understanding of society is integral to the human enterprise of armed conflict. This is why the US military has synthesized its tactics with social science research in post-9/11 operations.

Ousted Elites: Heightened Social Risk and Instability at the Top

SWJED — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 23:50:34 +0000

Ousted Elites: Heightened Social Risk and Instability at the Top

The removal of presidents, prime ministers, and top executives is the result of rapidly evolving demographics, shifting cultural attitudes, and social media

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About the Author(s)

Using RASCAL to Find Key Villages in Afghanistan

Peter J. Munson — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:57:17 +0000

Using RASCAL to Find Key Villages in Afghanistan Peter J. Munson Wed, 07/18/2012 - 5:57am

The team applied new new software, called RASCAL, to the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, and Zabul in Afghanistan and found that Zabul was over-represented among the most important villages.