Why Islamist Opposition Groups Change Their Tactical Outlooks

2020 ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Ioana Emy Matesan
Keyword(s):  
Violent Behavior ◽  
The State ◽  
Perceived Need ◽  
Existential Crisis ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Nonviolent Resistance ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Internal Pressures ◽  
Public Opposition

This chapter develops a theory of principled and pragmatic adjustment to explain tactical shifts in Islamist organizations. It argues that Islamist groups shift between nonviolent and violent tactics depending on the perceived need for activism, the cost of violent resistance or nonviolent resistance, and the internal and external pressures they face. Groups legitimize violence when their grievances are escalating and violent norms of resistance are prevalent. External pressures from the state or internal pressures arising from competition for authority trigger the shift from violent rhetoric to violent behavior. Once groups engage in violence, their decisions on tactical shifts are no longer about relative grievances, but about organizational imperatives and the cost of violence. Organizational weakness and public opposition to violence raise the cost of aggressive tactics and drive groups to put armed campaigns on hold, or to focus on rebuilding capacity. However, for a group to permanently move away from violence, the organization must be faced with an existential crisis and with public condemnation.

The Violence Pendulum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana Emy Matesan
Keyword(s):  
Turning Points ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
Perceived Need ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Nonviolent Resistance ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Cost

What drives Islamist groups to shift between nonviolent and violent tactics? When do groups move away from armed action, and why do some organizations renounce violence permanently, while others only place it on hold temporarily? The Violence Pendulum answers these questions and offers a theory of tactical change that explains both escalation and de-escalation. The analysis traces the historical evolution of four key Islamist groups: the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya in Egypt, and Darul Islam and Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia. Drawing on a wide variety of archival materials, interviews, and reports, each chapter narrows in on critical turning points in each organization, and shows the factors that best explain whether the group legitimizes and resorts to violence and develops an armed wing. The book’s main contention is that Islamist groups alter their tactics in response to changes in the perceived need for activism, shifts in the cost of violent versus nonviolent resistance, and internal or external pressures on the organization. However, escalation and de-escalation are not simply mirror images of each other. Groups turn toward violence when their grievances escalate, when violent resistance is feasible and publicly tolerated, and when there are internal or external pressures to act. Organizations may renounce armed action when violence becomes too costly for the group, disillusionment eclipses the perceived need for continued activism, and leaders are willing to rethink the group’s the tactics and strategies.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 176-202
Author(s):  
Ioana Emy Matesan
Keyword(s):  
Violent Behavior ◽  
Organizational Dynamics ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Armed Resistance ◽  
The Government ◽  
Internal Pressures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Exit Options

This chapter summarizes the findings of the book and discusses their implications for our understanding of violence and nonviolence. Despite their differences, all four Islamist groups started legitimizing armed resistance when their grievances were high and violence was widespread. The groups turned to violent behavior once they began facing internal pressures from organizational fragmentation or external pressures from the state. Disengagement from violence does not occur when grievances cease to exist or groups no longer face pressures. Groups renounce violence when armed resistance becomes unsustainable, pressures turn to disillusionment, and leaders are willing to rethink tactics and strategies. The case studies examined in the book shed light on the contradictory findings on the effects of repression, by showing that that the impact of repression is filtered through organizational dynamics and social context. An effective long-term approach to terrorism should strive to design exit options from violence, resolve conflicts, and promote trust in the government.

PREREQUISITES FOR THE FORMATION OF A MECHANISM FOR STATE REGULATION OF SOCIAL GUARANTEES IN THE REGION

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vitaly Lobas ◽  
◽  
Elena Petryaeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Periodic Review ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
State Management ◽  
The Cost

The article deals with modern mechanisms for managing social protection of the population by the state and the private sector. From the point of view of forms of state regulation of the sphere of social protection, system indicators usually include the state and dynamics of growth in the standard of living of the population, material goods, services and social guarantees for the poorly provided segments of the population. The main indicator among the above is the state of the consumer market, as one of the main factors in the development of the state. Priority areas of public administration with the use of various forms of social security have been identified. It should be emphasized that, despite the legislative conflicts that exist today in Ukraine, mandatory indexation of the cost of living is established, which is associated with inflation. Various scientists note that although the definition of the cost of living index has a well-established methodology, there are quite a lot of regional features in the structure of consumption. All this is due to restrictions that are included in the consumer basket of goods and different levels of socio-economic development of regions. The analysis of the establishment and periodic review of the minimum consumer budgets of the subsistence minimum and wages of the working population and the need to form state insurance funds for unforeseen circumstances is carried out. Considering in this context the levers of state management of social guarantees of the population, we drew attention to the crisis periods that are associated with the market transformation of the regional economy. In these conditions, there is a need to develop and implement new mechanisms and clusters in the system of socio-economic relations. The components of the mechanisms ofstate regulation ofsocial guarantees of the population are proposed. The deepening of market relations in the process of reforming the system of social protection of the population should be aimed at social well-being.

The Self-Undermining State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Chowdhury
Keyword(s):  
State Formation ◽  
Final Section ◽  
The State ◽  
The Self ◽  
Central Authority ◽  
Interstate War ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Willingness To Sacrifice ◽  
The Cost

This chapter provides an informal rationalist model of state formation as an exchange between a central authority and a population. In the model, the central authority protects the population against external threats and the population disarms and pays taxes. The model specifies the conditions under which the exchange is self-enforcing, meaning that the parties prefer the exchange to alternative courses of action. These conditions—costly but winnable interstate war—are historically rare, and the cost of such wars can rise beyond the population’s willingness to sacrifice. At this point, the population prefers to avoid war rather than fight it and may prefer an alternative institution to the state if that institution can prevent war and reduce the level of extraction. Thus the modern centralized state is self-undermining rather than self-enforcing. A final section addresses alternative explanations for state formation.

Constructing Images of Deviance: A Look at State Intervention into the Problem of Wife-Battery

1983 ◽  
Vol 31 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 60-76
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Social Problem ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Structural Position ◽  
Wife Battering ◽  
The Social ◽  
Class Context ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Cost

Patricia Morgan's paper describes what happens when the state intervenes in the social problem of wife-battering. Her analysis refers to the United States, but there are clear implications for other countries, including Britain. The author argues that the state, through its social problem apparatus, manages the image of the problem by a process of bureaucratization, professionalization and individualization. This serves to narrow the definition of the problem, and to depoliticize it by removing it from its class context and viewing it in terms of individual pathology rather than structure. Thus refuges were initially run by small feminist collectives which had a dual objective of providing a service and promoting among the women an understanding of their structural position in society. The need for funds forced the groups to turn to the state for financial aid. This was given, but at the cost to the refuges of losing their political aims. Many refuges became larger, much more service-orientated and more diversified in providing therapy for the batterers and dealing with other problems such as alcoholism and drug abuse. This transformed not only the refuges but also the image of the problem of wife-battering.

The impact of labor freedom on geographic cost of living differentials

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-395
Author(s):  
Richard Cebula ◽  
James E. Payne ◽  
Donnie Horner ◽  
Robert Boylan
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Cost Of Living ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of labor market freedom on state-level cost of living differentials in the USA using cross-sectional data for 2016 after allowing for the impacts of economic and quality of life factors. Design/methodology/approach The study uses two-stage least squares estimation controlling for factors contributing to cost of living differences across states. Findings The results reveal that an increase in labor market freedom reduces the overall cost of living. Research limitations/implications The study can be extended using panel data and alternative measures of labor market freedom. Practical implications In general, the finding that less intrusive government and greater labor freedom are associated with a reduced cost of living should not be surprising. This is because less government intrusion and greater labor freedom both inherently allow markets to be more efficient in the rationalization of and interplay with forces of supply and demand. Social implications The findings of this and future related studies could prove very useful to policy makers and entrepreneurs, as well as small business owners and public corporations of all sizes – particularly those considering either location in, relocation to, or expansion into other markets within the USA. Furthermore, the potential benefits of the National Right-to-Work Law currently under consideration in Congress could add cost of living reductions to the debate. Originality/value The authors extend the literature on cost of living differentials by investigating whether higher amounts of state-level labor market freedom act to reduce the states’ cost of living using the most recent annual data available (2016). That labor freedom has a systemic efficiency impact on the state-level cost of living is a significant finding. In our opinion, it is likely that labor market freedom is increasing the efficiency of labor market transactions in the production and distribution of goods and services, and acts to reduce the cost of living in states. In addition, unlike previous related studies, the authors investigate the impact of not only overall labor market freedom on the state-level cost of living, but also how the three sub-indices of labor market freedom, as identified and measured by Stansel et al. (2014, 2015), impact the cost of living state by state.

CURRENT RATIONALE ISSUES LABOR COSTS IN THE COST OF MILITARY PRODUCTS AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE LIFE CYCLE

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
D. V. ZVEREV ◽  
◽  
I. I. SAVELEV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
The State ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Labor Intensity ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Special Equipment ◽  
Frame Work ◽  
The Cost

Based on the experience of checking the validity of prices for military products supplied within the frame-work of the state defence order, problematic issues of rationing of labor costs have been identified. The im-perfection of the current regulatory framework in the field of substantiating the labor intensity of work is shown. Proposals for the standardization of labor at various stages of the life cycle of weapons, military and special equipment are reasoned.

scholarly journals The End of Responsible Relative Liability

1987 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C. Weber
Keyword(s):  
Life Skills ◽  
Developmentally Disabled ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
The State ◽  
Recent Case ◽  
Disabled Children ◽  
Residential Placement ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
The Cost

Responsible relative liability laws exist to shift some of the cost of care of residentially placed handicapped children from the state to the children's parents. Because residential placement of handicapped children, particularly developmentally disabled children, would not be undertaken but for the need to teach these children life skills, the Education for the Handicapped Act would dictate that these placements be free of cost to parents. Recently, the courts have resolved the tension between the preexisting state-responsible relative laws and the Education for the Handicapped Act. Ruling in favor of the parents, they have invalidated the responsible relative charges. This article describes the conflict, its resolution in the recent case Parks v. Pavkovic, and some of the implications of that decision.

scholarly journals Filtering and predicting the cost of hidden perished items in an inventory model

2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-245
Author(s):  
Lakhdar Aggoun ◽  
Lakdere Benkherouf
Keyword(s):  
Joint Distribution ◽  
Inventory Model ◽  
The State ◽  
Inventory Level ◽  
Discrete State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Accumulated Losses ◽  
The Cost ◽  
State Of The Environment ◽  
Recursive Estimators

This paper is concerned with a discrete time, discrete state inventory model for items of changing quality. Items are assumed to be in one of a finite number, M, of quality classes that are ordered in such a way that Class 1 contains the best quality and the last class contains the pre-perishable quality. The changes of items' quality are dependent on the state of the ambient environment. Furthermore, at each epoch time, items of different classes may be sold or moved to a lower quality class or stay in the same class. These items are priced according to their quality, and costs are incurred as items lose quality. Based on observing the history of the inventory level and prices, we propose recursive estimators as well as predictors for the joint distribution of the accumulated losses and the state of the environment.

scholarly journals Solving Delete Free Planning with Relaxed Decision Diagram Based Heuristics

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 607-651
Author(s):  
Margarita Paz Castro ◽  
Chiara Piacentini ◽  
Andre Augusto Cire ◽  
J. Christopher Beck
Keyword(s):  
Linear Programming ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Decision Diagrams ◽  
Binary Decision ◽  
Admissible Heuristics ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Construction Algorithms ◽  
Diagram Representation

We investigate the use of relaxed decision diagrams (DDs) for computing admissible heuristics for the cost-optimal delete-free planning (DFP) problem. Our main contributions are the introduction of two novel DD encodings for a DFP task: a multivalued decision diagram that includes the sequencing aspect of the problem and a binary decision diagram representation of its sequential relaxation. We present construction algorithms for each DD that leverage these different perspectives of the DFP task and provide theoretical and empirical analyses of the associated heuristics. We further show that relaxed DDs can be used beyond heuristic computation to extract delete-free plans, find action landmarks, and identify redundant actions. Our empirical analysis shows that while DD-based heuristics trail the state of the art, even small relaxed DDs are competitive with the linear programming heuristic for the DFP task, thus, revealing novel ways of designing admissible heuristics.

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