Comparative Analysis of Counter-Terrorism Efforts of NATO and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

As Islamic extremist threats have grown to be a common issue of focus and a major cooperation area between China and Central Asian states since the 1990s, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) provides China with an important regional and even international counter-terrorism platform. Highlighting sustainable security cooperation and countering terrorism in a peaceful way under the “Shanghai Spirit,” the SCO helps stabilize China’s internal security environment while enhancing the country’s economic and cultural cooperation with its Central Asian neighbors. This article reviews the Islamic extremist and terrorist challenges to China and the counter-terrorism cooperation between China and Central Asian states under the framework of the SCO, with a focus on how to tackle the weaknesses of such cooperation. It is concluded that SCO member states must be prudent in taking further steps in counter-terrorism cooperation, especially with regard to whether the organization should be transformed into a quasi-military and political alliance.

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Compliance among weak states: Africa and the counter-terrorism regime

Review of International Studies ◽

10.1017/s0260210510000641 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 639-662 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

BETH ELISE WHITAKER

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Weak States ◽

Democratic Institutions ◽

Terrorist Threat ◽

Political Factors ◽

Counter Terrorism ◽

Transitional Democracies

AbstractThis article examines levels of compliance with the counter-terrorism regime in Africa, where weak states might have been expected to conform. Instead, even under American pressure, some governments have seized the anti-terrorism rhetoric while others have been more reluctant. A comparative analysis of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda demonstrates that domestic political factors largely explain this variation; compliance is highest in countries with the least democratic institutions and minimal mobilisation of domestic constituencies. Aid dependence and the perception of a terrorist threat also play a role. To the extent that popular pressures in transitional democracies reduce compliance, the article raises questions about the legitimacy and effectiveness of the counter-terrorism regime.

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Evaluating Platform Accountability: Terrorist Content on YouTube

American Behavioral Scientist ◽

10.1177/0002764221989774 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 000276422198977

Author(s):

Dhiraj Murthy

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Large Scale ◽

Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽

Historical Review ◽

Video Content ◽

Unique Point ◽

Counter Terrorism ◽

Internet Forum ◽

Content Sharing ◽

Recommender Algorithm

YouTube has traditionally been singled out as particularly influential in the spreading of ISIS content. However, the platform along with Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft jointly created the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism in 2017 as one mode to be more accountable and take measures toward combating extremist content online. Though extreme content on YouTube has been found to have decreased substantially due to this and other efforts (human and machine-based), it is valuable to historically review what role YouTube previously had in order to better understand the evolution of contemporary moves toward platform accountability in terms of extremist video content sharing. Therefore, this study explores what role YouTube’s recommender algorithm had in directing users to ISIS-related content prior to large-scale pressure by citizens and governments to more aggressively moderate extremist content. To investigate this, a YouTube video network from 2016 consisting of 15,021 videos (nodes) and 190,087 recommendations between them (edges) was studied. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this study evaluates 11 video attributes (such as genre, language, and radical keywords) and identifies sets of attributes that were found to potentially be involved in the outcomes of YouTube recommending extreme content. This historical review of YouTube at a unique point in platform accountability ultimately raises questions of how platforms might be able to be more proactive rather than reactive regarding filtering and moderating extremist content.

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