Daniel Rothbart
Biographic Data
| ID | 1185352 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Daniel Rothbart |
| GIVEN NAMES | Daniel |
| FAMILY NAME | Rothbart |
| SIGNATURE | ROTHBART D |
| AFFILIATIONS | George Mason University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5495-7279 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 184 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1984 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Sudan at War With Itself
A civil war is raging in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) along with militia groups. Beginning on April 15, 2023, and continuing at least to this writing (October 15, 2025), civilian noncombatants have been subjected to bombings, beatings, torture, shootings, rape, and murder on a large scale. Since the war began, 61,000 war‐related deaths (including preventable starvation and disease) in Khartoum Stat…
Resilience Practices and Post‐Traumatic Growth Among Sudanese IDPs
In this paper we examine the resilience of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan who have endured various forms of suffering resulting from being targeted or trapped by militants involved in large‐scale violence. Upon escaping the conflict zones, the civilians exhibit strength, adaptability, and wisdom in the face of various threats to their wellbeing and survival. For this case study of Sudanese IDPs, we rely on the Four Loop Model of Res…
Political narcissism of right-wing extremists
Living through war
Civilians in Sudan have been devastated by wars for decades, including civil wars that occurred from 1956 to 1972 and from 1983 to 2005, and wars continuing to this day in certain regions. With this article, we offer the findings of an oral history project that showcases the testimony of 116 Sudanese from the following three regions: Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile state. We focused on their experiences of war and their vision of a j…
Production of the meaning of justice in the aftermath of war in Sudan
The proud boys raging righteously at the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021
Compassion for enemy militants
In stark contrast to detailed studies of negative emotions, peacebuilding scholar‐practitioners pay scant attention to the social psychology of positive emotions that are critical for the long‐term transformation of relations among conflict actors. I offer results from one case study of compassion, the first of its kind, of a group of 23 young people from conflict‐ridden countries who were enrolled in a 2‐year peace education program called Rondi…
Righteous rage as political power
The Paradox of Power in Conflict Dynamics
In recent decades the political state has been implicated in genocide, mass violence, political oppression, and targeted deprivations. Yet, in the field of conflict analysis, the meaning of state “power over” in conflict settings is under-theorized. In this article I probe the conceptual depths of state power to show that such power is neither singular nor simple. It’s neither ahistorical nor asocial. Beneath the surface of the state’s wide-rangi…
Introduction to the Special Issue
This Special Issue of Peace and Conflict Studies focuses on the power dynamics that drive participants of protracted violent conflicts. Such dynamics undergird every act of brute force by militants of such conflicts, every state policy that diminishes the lives and life prospects of marginalized people, and every public speech by a political leader that degrades a segment of the population as inferior, dangerous or impure. Despite the ubiquity of…
Systemic Humiliation in America
Hutus Aiding Tutsis during the Rwandan Genocide
During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Hutu extremists who launched a propaganda campaign to demonize Rwandan Tutsis, accusing them of planning to exterminate Hutus. Embracing the propaganda, gangs of Hutus went on a killing rampage, rooming the streets and ravaging Tutsis who fell prey to their assaults. Yet, the framing of Hutus as perpetrators cannot capture the work of those Hutus who actively offered assistance to Tutsis. These Hutus provided …
Civilians and Modern War
1. The Place and Plight of Civilians in Modern War Daniel Rothbart, Karina Korostelina, and Mohammed D. Cherkaoui Part I: Targeting Civilians 2. The Role of Civilians in American War Ideology Richard Rubenstein 3. Devastating Civilians at Home: The Plight of Crimean Tatars and Californians of Asian Decent during World War II Karina Korostelina 4. Military Culture and Civilian Victimization: The Case of American Strategic Bombing in World War II A…
Civilians and modern war
This text explores the issue of civilian devastation in modern warfare, focusing on the complex processes that effectively establish civilians' identity in times of war. The place and plight of civilians in modern war / Daniel Rothbart, Karina Korostelina, and Mohammed D. Cherkaoui -- Targeting civilians -- The role of civilians in American war ideology / Richard Rubenstein -- Devastating civilians at home: the plight of Crimean Tatars and Califo…
Why They Die
Why do civilians suffer most during times of violent conflict? Why are civilian fatalities as much as eight times higher, calculated globally for current conflicts, than military fatalities? In Why They Die, Daniel Rothbart and Karina V. Korostelina address these questions through a systematic study of civilian devastation in violent conflicts. Pushing aside the simplistic definition of war as a guns-and-blood battle between two militant groups, …
Striking civilian targets during the Lebanon war—A social psychological analysis of Israeli decision makers
This article examines the socio-psychological mechanisms that guided decisions of the Israeli leadership to attack the civilian infrastructure during the Lebanon war in 2006. Based on reports by the Israeli governmental commission for the war, known as the Winograd Committee, a correlation between the de-legitimization of Hezbollah and the willingness to deploy military tactics and strategies that resulted in civilian devastation was found. Relyi…
Recent Advances in Positioning Theory
Positioning theory opens up a new dimension in the psychology of interpersonal encounters, through explicit attention to the role of rights and duties in the management of action. People are positioned or position themselves with respect to rights and duties to act within evolving story-lines, and on the basis of claims about relevant personal attributes, the discursive process of prepositioning. Some recent applications of positioning theory are…
The Epistemology of a Spectrometer
Contrary to the assumptions of empiricist philosophies of science, the theory-laden character of data will not imply the inherent failure (subjectivity, circularity, or rationalization) of instruments to expose nature's secrets. The success of instruments is credited to scientists' capacity to create artificial technological analogs to familiar physical systems. The design of absorption spectrometers illustrates the point: Progress in designing m…
The Semantics of Metaphor and the Structure of Science
The purpose of this paper is to explore the semantics of metaphoric language in scientific contexts. According to the theory of metaphor advanced below, the benchmark of a metaphoric expression is the implicit transfer of semantic features across incongruous semantic fields. This transfer results in a conceptual variation of “meaning” in the receiving semantic field. Thus, the theory of metaphor rests on semantic field theory. Existing semantic a…
Recent Advances in Positioning Theory
Positioning theory opens up a new dimension in the psychology of interpersonal encounters, through explicit attention to the role of rights and duties in the management of action. People are positioned or position themselves with respect to rights and duties to act within evolving story-lines, and on the basis of claims about relevant personal attributes, the discursive process of prepositioning. Some recent applications of positioning theory are…
Hutus Aiding Tutsis during the Rwandan Genocide
During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Hutu extremists who launched a propaganda campaign to demonize Rwandan Tutsis, accusing them of planning to exterminate Hutus. Embracing the propaganda, gangs of Hutus went on a killing rampage, rooming the streets and ravaging Tutsis who fell prey to their assaults. Yet, the framing of Hutus as perpetrators cannot capture the work of those Hutus who actively offered assistance to Tutsis. These Hutus provided …
The Epistemology of a Spectrometer
Contrary to the assumptions of empiricist philosophies of science, the theory-laden character of data will not imply the inherent failure (subjectivity, circularity, or rationalization) of instruments to expose nature's secrets. The success of instruments is credited to scientists' capacity to create artificial technological analogs to familiar physical systems. The design of absorption spectrometers illustrates the point: Progress in designing m…
The proud boys raging righteously at the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021
Striking civilian targets during the Lebanon war—A social psychological analysis of Israeli decision makers
This article examines the socio-psychological mechanisms that guided decisions of the Israeli leadership to attack the civilian infrastructure during the Lebanon war in 2006. Based on reports by the Israeli governmental commission for the war, known as the Winograd Committee, a correlation between the de-legitimization of Hezbollah and the willingness to deploy military tactics and strategies that resulted in civilian devastation was found. Relyi…
Righteous rage as political power
The Semantics of Metaphor and the Structure of Science
The purpose of this paper is to explore the semantics of metaphoric language in scientific contexts. According to the theory of metaphor advanced below, the benchmark of a metaphoric expression is the implicit transfer of semantic features across incongruous semantic fields. This transfer results in a conceptual variation of “meaning” in the receiving semantic field. Thus, the theory of metaphor rests on semantic field theory. Existing semantic a…
The Semantics of Metaphor and the Structure of Science
The purpose of this paper is to explore the semantics of metaphoric language in scientific contexts. According to the theory of metaphor advanced below, the benchmark of a metaphoric expression is the implicit transfer of semantic features across incongruous semantic fields. This transfer results in a conceptual variation of “meaning” in the receiving semantic field. Thus, the theory of metaphor rests on semantic field theory. Existing semantic a…
The Epistemology of a Spectrometer
Contrary to the assumptions of empiricist philosophies of science, the theory-laden character of data will not imply the inherent failure (subjectivity, circularity, or rationalization) of instruments to expose nature's secrets. The success of instruments is credited to scientists' capacity to create artificial technological analogs to familiar physical systems. The design of absorption spectrometers illustrates the point: Progress in designing m…
Striking civilian targets during the Lebanon war—A social psychological analysis of Israeli decision makers
This article examines the socio-psychological mechanisms that guided decisions of the Israeli leadership to attack the civilian infrastructure during the Lebanon war in 2006. Based on reports by the Israeli governmental commission for the war, known as the Winograd Committee, a correlation between the de-legitimization of Hezbollah and the willingness to deploy military tactics and strategies that resulted in civilian devastation was found. Relyi…
Recent Advances in Positioning Theory
Positioning theory opens up a new dimension in the psychology of interpersonal encounters, through explicit attention to the role of rights and duties in the management of action. People are positioned or position themselves with respect to rights and duties to act within evolving story-lines, and on the basis of claims about relevant personal attributes, the discursive process of prepositioning. Some recent applications of positioning theory are…
Why They Die
Why do civilians suffer most during times of violent conflict? Why are civilian fatalities as much as eight times higher, calculated globally for current conflicts, than military fatalities? In Why They Die, Daniel Rothbart and Karina V. Korostelina address these questions through a systematic study of civilian devastation in violent conflicts. Pushing aside the simplistic definition of war as a guns-and-blood battle between two militant groups, …
Civilians and Modern War
1. The Place and Plight of Civilians in Modern War Daniel Rothbart, Karina Korostelina, and Mohammed D. Cherkaoui Part I: Targeting Civilians 2. The Role of Civilians in American War Ideology Richard Rubenstein 3. Devastating Civilians at Home: The Plight of Crimean Tatars and Californians of Asian Decent during World War II Karina Korostelina 4. Military Culture and Civilian Victimization: The Case of American Strategic Bombing in World War II A…
Civilians and modern war
This text explores the issue of civilian devastation in modern warfare, focusing on the complex processes that effectively establish civilians' identity in times of war. The place and plight of civilians in modern war / Daniel Rothbart, Karina Korostelina, and Mohammed D. Cherkaoui -- Targeting civilians -- The role of civilians in American war ideology / Richard Rubenstein -- Devastating civilians at home: the plight of Crimean Tatars and Califo…
Hutus Aiding Tutsis during the Rwandan Genocide
During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Hutu extremists who launched a propaganda campaign to demonize Rwandan Tutsis, accusing them of planning to exterminate Hutus. Embracing the propaganda, gangs of Hutus went on a killing rampage, rooming the streets and ravaging Tutsis who fell prey to their assaults. Yet, the framing of Hutus as perpetrators cannot capture the work of those Hutus who actively offered assistance to Tutsis. These Hutus provided …
Systemic Humiliation in America
The Paradox of Power in Conflict Dynamics
In recent decades the political state has been implicated in genocide, mass violence, political oppression, and targeted deprivations. Yet, in the field of conflict analysis, the meaning of state “power over” in conflict settings is under-theorized. In this article I probe the conceptual depths of state power to show that such power is neither singular nor simple. It’s neither ahistorical nor asocial. Beneath the surface of the state’s wide-rangi…
Introduction to the Special Issue
This Special Issue of Peace and Conflict Studies focuses on the power dynamics that drive participants of protracted violent conflicts. Such dynamics undergird every act of brute force by militants of such conflicts, every state policy that diminishes the lives and life prospects of marginalized people, and every public speech by a political leader that degrades a segment of the population as inferior, dangerous or impure. Despite the ubiquity of…
Compassion for enemy militants
In stark contrast to detailed studies of negative emotions, peacebuilding scholar‐practitioners pay scant attention to the social psychology of positive emotions that are critical for the long‐term transformation of relations among conflict actors. I offer results from one case study of compassion, the first of its kind, of a group of 23 young people from conflict‐ridden countries who were enrolled in a 2‐year peace education program called Rondi…
Righteous rage as political power
The proud boys raging righteously at the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021
Living through war
Civilians in Sudan have been devastated by wars for decades, including civil wars that occurred from 1956 to 1972 and from 1983 to 2005, and wars continuing to this day in certain regions. With this article, we offer the findings of an oral history project that showcases the testimony of 116 Sudanese from the following three regions: Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile state. We focused on their experiences of war and their vision of a j…
Production of the meaning of justice in the aftermath of war in Sudan
Political narcissism of right-wing extremists
Sudan at War With Itself
A civil war is raging in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) along with militia groups. Beginning on April 15, 2023, and continuing at least to this writing (October 15, 2025), civilian noncombatants have been subjected to bombings, beatings, torture, shootings, rape, and murder on a large scale. Since the war began, 61,000 war‐related deaths (including preventable starvation and disease) in Khartoum Stat…
Resilience Practices and Post‐Traumatic Growth Among Sudanese IDPs
In this paper we examine the resilience of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan who have endured various forms of suffering resulting from being targeted or trapped by militants involved in large‐scale violence. Upon escaping the conflict zones, the civilians exhibit strength, adaptability, and wisdom in the face of various threats to their wellbeing and survival. For this case study of Sudanese IDPs, we rely on the Four Loop Model of Res…
Political science (12 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Criminology (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Politics (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works)