Terrorism in armed conflict: new data attributing terrorism to rebel organizations

The Terrorism in Armed Conflict project integrates the Uppsala Conflict Data Project sample of rebel organizations with START’s Global Terrorism Database, covering 409 organizations for 1970–2013. For many Global Terrorism Database incidents, perpetrator information is missing, or ambiguous. Because the accuracy of perpetrator information likely varies systematically, simply dropping these incidents from analyses may bias results. Terrorism in Armed Conflict provides possible attribution to specific rebel groups with coding for uncertainty, enabling researchers to (1) address “description bias” in media-based terrorism data, (2) model uncertainty regarding perpetrator attribution and (3) vary the way terrorism is counted. The Terrorism in Armed Conflict dataset further provides a measure of deliberately indiscriminate terrorism that allows for more nuanced testing of arguments about the strategic logic of terrorism.

Formulating Service-Oriented Strategies for Servitization of Manufacturing Companies

Servitization requires the acquisition and development of service-oriented capabilities. Research has contributed considerably to the investigation of the necessary capabilities for successful servitization and the introduction of numerous service-based capabilities. However, previous studies typically focus on proposing a general set of capabilities or processes for servitization. There is limited knowledge of how a manufacturing company can identify the necessary capabilities and plan the corresponding development actions following its servitization context. Through two phases of a case study, this research proposes a service-oriented strategy formulation method. The method supports the analysis of manufacturing companies’ servitization contexts that lead to appropriate identification of the necessary capabilities for successful servitization. This method further guides the formulation of service-oriented strategies as the strategic logic in how manufacturing companies implement servitization, including the corresponding actions to develop the required capabilities. Finally, the application in a Japanese office machinery manufacturer illustrates the applicability and usability of the proposed method in facilitating the formulation of service-oriented strategies for the servitization of manufacturing companies.

Enlightenment Ideals of Limited Warfare

Chapter 4 looks at the doctrines of ius in bello and ius post bellum in the Enlightenment theory of regular war. It argues that the laws of regular war and its conclusion embody maxims of sound policy in the public administration of a war’s destruction. The laws of war are underwritten by the assumption that states share an interest in setting reciprocal limitations on their use of force. But while the rules of regular war can be upheld in self-enforcing equilibria, these are always fragile and unstable. The chapter proceeds by looking at several specific areas in the practice of regular warfare and identifying the strategic logic behind the law and its possible breakdowns. The task of the Enlightenment jurists, as they understood it, was to help rulers and military men better see that it was in their best long-term interests to sustain and comply with the laws of war.

Beatings, Burnings, and Bombings: Disaggregating Ethnic Violence in Egypt, 2013-2018

What are the drivers of ethnic violence? Existing research posits an array of explanations: from economic strain to political mobilization and state capacity. This diversity of accounts is attributable to scholars’ tendency to lump together different forms of ethnic violence. Analyzing anti-Christian violence in Egypt, we identify three types of event – beatings, burnings, and bombings. This typology distinguishes between the target of the attack and the level of violence. Beatings (unarmed attacks targeting individuals) are more likely where Christians are numerous, during economic downturns, and are patterned by religious calendars. Burnings (unarmed attacks targeting property) follow a political logic, occurring where Islamists are mobilizing, and following crackdowns. Beatings and burnings are more prevalent where the state’s coercive capacity is diminished. Bombings (armed attacks) follow a strategic logic and are patterned by previous violence and Muslim religious holidays. Disaggregation, we suggest, can reconcile competing findings in the ethnic violence literature.

Conclusion

Over fifteen chapters, The ISIS Reader has featured milestone texts, video transcripts and speeches from the Islamic State movement, drawn from its tumultuous multi-decade history. In doing so, it has told the ‘inside story’ of the Islamic State’s struggle, from a wandering band of jihadis in Afghanistan to the Islamic State in Iraq, from near decimation in 2010 to its triumphant declaration of a caliphate in 2014, and, finally, from its global expansion across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East to its return to beleaguered insurgency in 2018–19. Presenting this trajectory in the Islamic State’s ‘own words’ offers essential insights into the complicated mixure of personalities, strategic logic, opportunism, success, and failure that shaped its fortunes. Several recurring trends emerge from this study that are pertinent for scholars wishing to understand the movement and strategic-policy architects seeking to devise strategies to confront it....