Researching Internet Resources
Useful Handouts
Counterterrorism Resources
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Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC)The Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) is the first center in the United States devoted to understanding the links between terrorism, transnational crime and corruption, and to teach, research, train and help formulate policy on these critical issues. TraCCC is a research center within the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. (source: website)
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Terrorism Watch and WarningTerrorism Watch and Warning is operated by OODA to provide intelligence, research, analysis, watch, and warning on international terrorism and domestic terrorism related issues. The Terrorism Watch and Warning database contains: more than 100,000 OSINT (open-source intelligence) excerpts from 1999 to present on terrorism and security related issues, attack database of more than 10,000 attacks, original terrorism analysis, terrorism document repository, terrorism and Homeland Security fact sheets, and more than 500 terrorist/threat group profiles. (source: OODA website)
New York Times Terrorism Room for Debate
Take a look at the New York Times Room for Debate on Terrorism, where outside contributors to discuss news events and other timely issues.
Global Terrorism Database
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world from 1970 through 2013 (with annual updates planned for the future). Unlike many other event databases, the GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well as international terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period and now includes more than 125,000 cases.
Global Terrorism Index
The Global Terrorism Index measures the impact of terrorism in 162 countries. To account for the lasting effects of terrorism, each country is given a score that represents a five year weighted average.
RAND's National Security and Terrorism Resources
RAND conducts terrorism research for the U.S. Department of Defense and allied ministries of defense. Explore their National Security and Terrorism resource page searching by format or subtopics.
Terrorism Resource Centers
Suicide Attack Network Database
The Suicide Attack Network Database (SAND) is the most extensive database of its kind, documenting all known suicide attacks from October 1980 to January 2017 (6,224 in total). Like competing databases, SAND lists date of attack, sponsoring organization/s, location and target of attack, and number of innocents killed and wounded. In addition, the database categorizes suicide attacks by target type (combatant, political, and/or civilian), target location (foreign, domestic, or mixed), organization location (foreign, domestic, or mixed), specific conflict and conflict type
Terrorist Organizations
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Proscribed Terrorist OrganisationsFrom the UK government's Home Office, a list of proscribed terrorist organisations banned under UK law and details of proscription criteria.
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List of Designated Terrorist GroupsFrom Wikipedia, a list of designated terrorist groups by national governments, former governments, and inter-governmental organizations, where the proscription has a significant effect on the group's activities.
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Foreign Terrorist OrganizationsFrom the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism
Articles about Terrorism
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Benghazi Time Line: The Long Road from "Spontaneous Protest" to Premeditated Terrorist Attack2012 article by Eugene Kiely, posted on FactCheck.org (updated June 29, 2016)
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Report of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Review of the Terrorist Attacks on U.S. Facilities in Benghazi, Libya, September 11–12, 2012 together with Additional ViewsIn the Senate version of the Benghazi investigation, the committee focused primarily on the analysis by and the actions of the intelligence community leading up to, during, and immediately following the attacks. The committee conducted hearings, briefings, and meetings with representatives from multiple agencies, reviewed thousands of intelligence reports and internal documents, and viewed surveillance videos. The results were 14 findings of fact, with corresponding recommendations. Majority and minority members of the committee each presented their own analysis. Most of the criticism by both groups focused on the “talking points” provided by the CIA and the failure to bring the perpetrators to justice.
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U.S. House of Representatives: The Select Committee on BenghaziTimeline of progress regarding the Report of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. Includes a link to the Final Report published with the Government Printing Office in December 2016.
Website Evaluation
While conducting research on the web, it is imperative to evaluate the website in question for authority, documentation, currency, and bias. Doing so will ensure that you are using the most credible information possible to support your thesis.
Authority and Accuracy
Who produced the site? Are they a credible source? What is the purpose of the site? Why was it created? Is the person, organization, or group qualified to write this content? What is the domain of the URL?
- .com or.biz - a business or commercial website
- .edu - an educational institution
- .gov or .mil - a U.S. military or government website
- .net - a personal website
- .org - a website for a not-for-profit organization
Documentation
Is there adequate documentation for factual statements? Is the documentation reliable, verifiable from a second source? Is there enough information to cite this information in a paper (author, title, source, date)?
Currency
Is the information up to date? When was it created, or last edited? Are the links up to date or dead? Is the author using outdated statistics?
Objectivity and Bias
Is the document biased or slanted? Are there few or no logical errors such as appeal to authority or circular reasoning? If you found this information a printed source, would you trust it?