Terrorism Expertise Portal

Welcome to the Terrorism Expertise Portal on Powerbase

Terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann appearing as presenter in his 'Video Cybercast' Welcome to the Terrorism Expertise Portal on Powerbase. It links to a wide range of organisations, think-tanks, academic research institutes, front groups and individual experts which shape the views of the public, policy makers and elites on 'terrorism' and political violence. An A-Z list of articles on both individuals and institutions is here. The editor of the Terrorexpertise Portal is Tom Mills tom.mills AT Powerbase.info. Powerbase has a policy of strict referencing and is overseen by an Managing editor and a Sysop and several Associate Portal editors. What is a Terrorism Expert? As the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities puts it: Academic terrorism 'experts' - or terrorologists - are deeply embedded in the elite power structure. They conveniently blur distinctions between political dissent, resistance to oppressive regimes, and violent threats to populations. These experts advise governments on counter-terrorism, thus sanitising Western state terror as legitimate techniques for self-defence. Where did these terrorologists come from? How do they gain influence and credibility? How can they be countered?' The Jewish American historian Joel Beinin comments that: A new field of "terrorology" emerged, with its own journals, conferences, and research institutes. This popular and scholarly literature informed the discourse of the first American "war on terrorism" during the mid-1980s.Middle East Studies Association members, to our everlasting shame according to some pundits, did not participate much in the scholarly field of terrorology. In my view, there was great wisdom in this abstention. The terrorologists have not accomplished a great deal of practical or intellectual significance. Their studies have not noticeably decreased the incidence of acts of violence against civilians throughout the world. Nor have they enhanced our understanding of the causes of such acts. What they have done is to focus attention on tactics and symptoms, thereby impeding investigation into historical and social causes. This is an ostensibly pragmatic, but fundamentally misguided, approach to understanding terrorism. If the term is to be understood in any useful rather than propagandistic way, terrorism must be regarded as a social and historical phenomenon, not a moral or political epithet.. What is a terrorist, and what is a terrorologist? See an introduction to the topic here. Research Methodology Terrorexpertise:Methodology Compilation Lists Terrorexpertise:Experts from the Social Science Citations Index Terrorexpertise:Experts from Google Terrorexpertise:Experts from Google Books Terrorexpertise:Experts from Elite Conferences Terrorexpertise:Experts from The 'Terrorism' Industry Terrorexpertise:Experts from Major World Publications Terrorexpertise:Experts from Television Terrorexpertise:Bulk List Expert's Influence Lists Terrorexpertise:Internet List Terrorexpertise:UK Television List Terrorexpertise:UK Television List Analysis Terrorexpertise:Major World Newspapers List Terrorexpertise:Major World Newspapers - Affiliations Analysis Terrorexpertise:Major World Newspapers - Orientation Analysis Institution's Influence Lists Terrorexpertise:Terrorism Industry and the US Government List Terrorexpertise:Terrorism Industry and the UK Government List Terrorexpertise:Terrorism Industry and Major World Newspapers Recent Articles on SpinWatch An Irish lesson for the Middle East? MI5 said Iraq “exacerbated the threat from international terrorism” Policy Exchange, SANE and the 'vital importance of controlling the Arabs' Nick Clegg on Policy Exchange Fortress Britain The 'enfant terrible' of British neoconservatism Evan Kohlmann; 'the Doogie Howser of terrorism'? The Blair Legacy: Hundreds of Thousands Dead, Britain Less Safe Dame Eliza keeps quiet about Blair's wars 'Terrorism studies' and the war on dissent The al-Qaida threat to Britain Passenger Profiling is the Wrong Answer Categories All pages associated with the Terrorism Expertise Portal are listed here. There are also a number of distinct sub-categories listed below. You can click on any of these links to display an A-Z list of all pages in that category. Terrorologist - Individual 'terrorism experts' or 'terrorologists' Terrorism Industry - all organisations involved in terrorism research including think-tanks, academic research institutes, front groups Terrorism conferences and seminars Terrorism government advisory bodies Terrorism Journal The "Terrorism" Industry - Extracts from the book of the same name There are also a number of pages on Powerbase which specifically examine the terrorism research activities of particular institutions which are also involved in other research areas. The name of these pages is preceded by the phrase 'terrorexpertise:'. For example, there is a page on Powerbase on the U.S. think-tank the RAND Corporation, and a related page terrorexpertise:RAND Corporation examining RAND's terrorism related research. New pages on Powerbase <DynamicArticleList> title=Newest Pages type=new count=10 </DynamicArticleList> <DynamicArticleList> title=Recently Updated Articles type=update count=10 </DynamicArticleList> References and Resources Edward Herman and Gerry O'Sullivan The "Terrorism" Industry: The Private Sector, Institutes, Think Tanks and Lobbying Organisations, New York: Pantheon, 1989. Reproduced with permission of Ed Herman. Edward Herman and Gerry O'Sullivan The "Terrorism" Industry: The Experts, New York: Pantheon, 1989. Reproduced with permission of Ed Herman. External links on Terrorology Abraham, Nabeel, The Running Dogs Of Terrorology, Lies Of Our Times, May 1993, pp. 6-8. Jonny Burnett and Dave Whyte 'Embedded Expertise and the New Terrorism' Journal for Crime, conflict and Media culture, 2004 [1] Chomsky, N. 'International Terrorism: Image and Reality' In Alexander George (ed.), Western State Terrorism, Polity, 1991. http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199112--02.htm Herman, Edward S. The Real Terror Network, excerpted from the book, published in 1982 by South End Press. McClintock, Michael Instruments of Statecraft: US Guerilla Warfare, Counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism, 1940-1990, New York: Pantheon Books. Toolis, K. 'Rise of the terrorist professors', New Statesman, 14 June 2004. James Petras, The Anatomy of "Terror Experts", Counterpunch, 7 August 2004. Edward Herman and David Peterson, There Is No "War on Terror", ZNet, 18 January 2008. Getting Started Looking for somewhere to start? To learn how you can edit any article right now, visit Powerbase:About, Welcome, newcomers, our Help page, Frequently Asked Questions, A quick guide to editing or experiment in the sandbox. Or contribute a new article: go to Quick Guide to Getting Started. Research and Writing Tips How to research front groups | Resources for studying propaganda | Research using the web Can you help? Powerbase can be made more effective if more people join the project. If you have research or writing skills or just spare time, you can help. If you are unsure where to start, you could expand some of the recently created but currently very brief articles. (If you look at the recent changes page you will see some noted as being 'stubs' - articles that may just be a line or two and needing to be fleshed out). So if you would like to add to some of those you would be most welcome. There is an automatically updated page which includes the pages which have been signalled by Powerbase users as most wanted. In addition there is a page which includes a list of Things you can do to help. Or if you would like some other suggestions closer to your interests you could drop Powerbase editor, David Miller an email. 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