With 38 chapters on racist, militia, and hate groups, covering history and region-by-region activity, scholar John Harrison’s article is largest ever for the new terrorism database
Dr. Harrison’s
groundbreaking work includes a region-by-region examination of present day
racist hate groups. The result is a global profile of the threat of race-based
political violence, ranging from the Aryan Nation in the U.S. to neo-Facists in Turkey
Washington, D.C (PRWEB) April 02, 2012
Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium (TRAC),
a digital research center, has added a comprehensive thesis on Racist Terrorist
Groups to its roster of in-depth analyses of key terrorism issues. In TRAC’s
largest article ever -- a rich mix of text and multimedia content, spanning 38
chapters – author John Harrison, Assistant Professor at the National Defense University, introduces
researchers to the history of racism and racist movements, profiles of likely
recruits and the techniques used to engage them, as well as emerging topics
such as the use of new technology by the groups and law enforcement. “The main difference between racist and other terrorist groups are spontaneous attacks,” says Dr. Harrison. “For hate groups the concept is clear: target anyone they hate. They are notorious for conducting attacks reflective of targets of opportunity rather than the rational planning the typical terrorist attack cycle suggests.”
The author notes that while technology is making it easier for hate groups to spread their ideas, it also enables more sophisticated tracking by law enforcement. Yet, he points out that the most effective deterrent is the community itself, “Communities organizing against hate groups, which clearly demonstrate the rejection of their message and methods, is the strongest response,” he says.
In addition to historical context, Dr. Harrison’s groundbreaking work includes a region-by-region examination of present day racist hate groups. The result is a global profile of the threat of race-based political violence, ranging from the Aryan Nation in the U.S. to neo-Facists in Turkey to Poqo in South Africa. As part of TRAC, the article is cross-referenced with dozens of other profiles and analyses, delivering a 360-degree view into a long-standing threat that has evolved to become an urgent menace to all societies worldwide.
“John’s article is a landmark summary of this important terrorism topic,” said Veryan Khan, editorial director of TRAC. “It’s incredibly thorough, meticulously documented and well-organized. It brings clarity to a topic that can be very confusing. This is the new starting point for any research on racist groups.”
Dr. Harrison’s article is seminal to the broad scope of researchers served by TRAC, including scholars, students, and defense and government professionals. TRAC was unveiled by the Beacham Group, LLC., in February after eight years in development. Immediately commended for its breadth of content – described by Library Journal as “astonishing” – TRAC provides historical context and maintains a current intelligence repository with a consortium of 2,200 specialists and a real-time news feed that reports on events as they occur.
TRAC includes a universal search function and intuitive interface that allows users to navigate content that includes:
- Profiles of 3,800 groups that have been known to aid and abet political violence or terrorist organizations; researchers can filter groups by multiple categories for specific queries
- Original, in-depth analyses of important terrorism issues, providing users with a 360 degree perspective of key topics
- Hot links that quickly navigate between concepts within articles, news feeds, and outside resources
- Profiles of vulnerable regions and cities most likely to attract terrorist activity including links to the Failed States Index
- Chatter Control to continuously monitor important news and analyses sources, posting feeds to the site as they occur which are then cataloged and archived for future study
- Consortium Network with a global representation of 2,800 terrorism scholars and specialists reporting from a range of terrorism hotspots including Russia, Poland, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, Croatia, Afghanistan, Serbia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Canada, United States and more
Follow TRAC on twitter (TRACTerrorism.org) to stay up to date on important, but often missed news on this dynamic area. To learn more about TRAC visit http://www.trackingterrorism.org.
About The Beacham Group
Founded in 1985 as Beacham Publishing, The Beacham Group, LLC, is renowned for the creation of authoritative reference works that enable comprehensive research, especially on topics of emerging interest. Its acclaimed titles span the impact of climate change with Beacham's Guide to Endangered Species and Beacham’s Guide to Environmental Issues to topical issues in literature to important societal concerns with The Encyclopedia of Social Change and its newly released TRAC (Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium).
Beacham’s unique publishing model assembles and curates the input of topic experts, connecting users with high quality, trustworthy information in a single source.
--30--
