D J Milton
Biographic Data
| ID | 4431691 |
|---|---|
| NAME | D J Milton |
| GIVEN NAMES | D J |
| FAMILY NAME | Milton |
| SIGNATURE | MILTON D J |
| AFFILIATIONS | United States Military Academy |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3102-5975 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 343 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Risk and Reward
Violent non-state actors often maintain diverse economic portfolios to fund their operations and endure. While some tactics yield limited funds, such as opportunistic robberies or kidnappings, other activities such as smuggling and drug trafficking can produce consistently high returns, but require complex planning, coordination and execution. This study delves into the nexus between the economic environments in which militant groups operate and …
Helping or hurting? The impact of foreign fighters on militant group behavior
How do foreign fighters affect militant group behavior? Recent studies have examined the impact of foreign fighters on broader conflict outcomes, but we explore their specific impact on group behavior. Using foreign fighter data, we find that the presence of foreign fighters is positively related to group longevity, use of suicide operations, and the geographic spread of its operations. We elaborate on these findings in a case study of foreign fi…
Targeting Quality or Quantity? The Divergent Effects of Targeting Upper Verses Lower-Tier Leaders of Militant Organizations
Research on the efficacy of leadership decapitation has focused primarily on targeting the topmost leaders of groups. Yet, most organizations rely on multiple leaders with specific functional or geographical responsibilities, rather than a single symbolic leader. In this context, we pose the following question: how are the effects of leadership decapitation on a group’s short-term operational capacity conditioned by the type or rank of targeted l…
Needs or Symbols? The Logic of United Nations Counterterrorism Treaty Ratification
Why do states commit to UN counterterrorism treaties? This article posits that state accession to UN counterterrorism treaties is likely informed by the nature of the terrorist threats a state faces, and consequently, the pressures that such threats generate from domestic and international audiences on the state to address (or appear to address) them. As such, we hypothesize that states ratify UN CT treaties for either material, needs-based reaso…
Effect of sport education on students’ perceived physical literacy, motivation, and physical activity levels in university required physical education
Examining the Outcome of Investigations and Prosecutions of Extremism in the United States
While the criminology literature indicates that investigative and judicial outcomes can be influenced by several factors, a smaller number of scholars have examined how similar factors operate in terrorism investigations and prosecutions. We use the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) and American Terror Study (ATS) datasets to examine the factors that influence outcomes in such cases from 1947 to 2017. We find that…
Truth and lies in the Caliphate
Deception has a long history in information warfare. Recent technological advances have increased the ability of militants to utilize deception in propaganda, but this subject has not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This study remedies this shortcoming by conducting a case study of the Islamic State’s use of deception in propaganda, and identifies three types of deception: substantive, source, and spread. Additionally, this article di…
Choosing to Fight, Choosing to Die
Understanding why and how individuals participate in militant organizations has been the focus of an increasing amount of scholarship. Traditionally, these studies focus at either the individual or organizational level of explanation. This article advances the discussion on individual participation in militant organizations by combining primary and secondary sources at both levels to explain how the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attracte…
Too central to fail? Terror networks and leadership decapitation
Leadership decapitation, as a means of hindering the operations and hastening the demise of terrorist organizations, has been the subject of a growing body of research. However, these studies have not examined how an organization’s position in a broader network impacts its ability to weather decapitation. We argue that highly networked organizations possess characteristics that make decapitation less effective. To test this argument, we combine d…
Simply Small Men? Examining Differences Between Females and Males Radicalized in the United States
From Leila Khaled to women who joined the Islamic State, it seems clear that radical ideologies know no gender bounds. Despite this history of women’s involvement in terrorist movements and a growing amount of research on women and political violence, there have been few attempts to contrast radicalized females from their male counterparts, either in terms of broad demographic characteristics or more specifically according to ideological orientat…
Strength from the Shadows? How Shadow Economies Affect Terrorist Activities
Despite scholarly interest in the existence and consequences of the crime-terror nexus, little research has been done to examine how the presence of an illegal economic area, known as a shadow economy, impacts terrorist activity in a country. We propose a theory which argues that terrorists are able to rely on the partnerships and resources available in the shadow economy to increase their organizational capacity. Using data on terrorist activity…
Choose Your Weapon
Historians of terrorism note that modern terrorists rely almost exclusively on two weapon types: the gun and the bomb. However, the comparative use of these weapons differs from one terrorist group to the next. We exploit this variation to examine how the tactical decisions of terrorists respond to both strategic aspirations and resource constraints. We argue that a group’s goals (a strategic consideration) and size (a resource constraint) provid…
Fighting together? understanding bilateral cooperation in the realm of counterterrorism
Since September 11, there has been marked rise in research on the transnational aspect of terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. However, there has been little focus on when and why nations sometimes cooperate in counterterrorism, while at other times they deal with the challenge of terrorism separately. Our contribution here is two-fold. First, we develop a conceptual framework that identifies the different w…
Fatal attraction
Why do different Islamic State propaganda products receive different numbers of views? This article relies on a dataset of 1700 Islamic State photo essays to examine this question. It finds that violence in Islamic State photo essays, especially retributional violence, or violence directed at the group’s enemies and wayward adherents, leads to increased viewership. Releases that highlight the group’s military operations, governance activities and…
Prisoners and Politics
Hostage taking of Westerners by militant groups has increased since 9/11. Despite this rising problem, there has been little academic research on how a hostage’s individual characteristics influence the outcome of the incident. Using a newly collected dataset of over 1,000 individuals taken hostage in incidents involving terrorist groups since 2001, this article evaluates how individual, national, and group characteristics influence the likelihoo…
Dangerous work
The goal of diplomats is to represent their countries’ interests through diplomacy, not arms. Because they are not military personnel, they may be perceived as at lower risk of being the target of terrorists. However, recent events have called this perception into question. Despite this danger, there has been little research on terrorist attacks against diplomats. Drawing on the terrorism studies literature, this article argues that diplomats are…
Is Standing for Women a Stand Against Terrorism? Exploring the Connection Between Women's Rights and Terrorism
Previous large-N studies have found that the advancement of women's rights leads to a decline in conflict, but no large-N research has explored the possibility of a similar relationship between women's rights and terrorism. Nevertheless, policymakers have long argued that the advancement of women's rights forms a key component of counterterrorism policy. Simply put, we lay out a rationale for the argument that increased women's rights reduce the …
A Policymaking Process “Tug-of-War”
There is tension between the ideal of government transparency and the need to protect vital information. What types of information do governments protect on national security grounds? What arguments do governments use to justify the protection of this information? What will influence an open government information policy as opposed to a closed information policy? Through an examination of more than 250 information security–related policies from a…
Unpacking the Connection Between Terror and Islam
Are countries with large Muslim populations more likely to experience or produce transnational terrorist attacks than countries with fewer Muslims? And if there is a difference, is it attributable to the influence of Islam, or to the economic, social, and political conditions that are common in predominantly Muslim countries? Analyzing all transnational terrorist attacks between 1973 and 2002, this study uses decomposition analysis to identify th…
Radicalism of the Hopeless
We examine whether refugee flows increase transnational terrorism in states to which refugees flee. Recent studies find that refugee flows contribute to the spread of interstate and civil war, but to a far lesser extent have studies examined how refugee flows could lead to other forms of political violence. We discuss two ways in which refugee flows can lead to transnational terrorism: how conditions in camps contribute to the radicalization of r…
Improving Tests of Theories Positing Interaction
It is well established that all interactions are symmetric: when the effect of X on Y is conditional on the value of Z, the effect of Z must be conditional on the value of X. Yet the typical practice when testing an interactive theory is to (1) view one variable, Z, as the conditioning variable, (2) offer a hypothesis about how the marginal effect of the other variable, X, is conditional on the value of Z, and (3) construct a marginal effect plot…
Improving Tests of Theories Positing Interaction
It is well established that all interactions are symmetric: when the effect of X on Y is conditional on the value of Z, the effect of Z must be conditional on the value of X. Yet the typical practice when testing an interactive theory is to (1) view one variable, Z, as the conditioning variable, (2) offer a hypothesis about how the marginal effect of the other variable, X, is conditional on the value of Z, and (3) construct a marginal effect plot…
Radicalism of the Hopeless
We examine whether refugee flows increase transnational terrorism in states to which refugees flee. Recent studies find that refugee flows contribute to the spread of interstate and civil war, but to a far lesser extent have studies examined how refugee flows could lead to other forms of political violence. We discuss two ways in which refugee flows can lead to transnational terrorism: how conditions in camps contribute to the radicalization of r…
Is Standing for Women a Stand Against Terrorism? Exploring the Connection Between Women's Rights and Terrorism
Previous large-N studies have found that the advancement of women's rights leads to a decline in conflict, but no large-N research has explored the possibility of a similar relationship between women's rights and terrorism. Nevertheless, policymakers have long argued that the advancement of women's rights forms a key component of counterterrorism policy. Simply put, we lay out a rationale for the argument that increased women's rights reduce the …
Targeting Quality or Quantity? The Divergent Effects of Targeting Upper Verses Lower-Tier Leaders of Militant Organizations
Research on the efficacy of leadership decapitation has focused primarily on targeting the topmost leaders of groups. Yet, most organizations rely on multiple leaders with specific functional or geographical responsibilities, rather than a single symbolic leader. In this context, we pose the following question: how are the effects of leadership decapitation on a group’s short-term operational capacity conditioned by the type or rank of targeted l…
Choosing to Fight, Choosing to Die
Understanding why and how individuals participate in militant organizations has been the focus of an increasing amount of scholarship. Traditionally, these studies focus at either the individual or organizational level of explanation. This article advances the discussion on individual participation in militant organizations by combining primary and secondary sources at both levels to explain how the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attracte…
Prisoners and Politics
Hostage taking of Westerners by militant groups has increased since 9/11. Despite this rising problem, there has been little academic research on how a hostage’s individual characteristics influence the outcome of the incident. Using a newly collected dataset of over 1,000 individuals taken hostage in incidents involving terrorist groups since 2001, this article evaluates how individual, national, and group characteristics influence the likelihoo…
Needs or Symbols? The Logic of United Nations Counterterrorism Treaty Ratification
Why do states commit to UN counterterrorism treaties? This article posits that state accession to UN counterterrorism treaties is likely informed by the nature of the terrorist threats a state faces, and consequently, the pressures that such threats generate from domestic and international audiences on the state to address (or appear to address) them. As such, we hypothesize that states ratify UN CT treaties for either material, needs-based reaso…
Dangerous work
The goal of diplomats is to represent their countries’ interests through diplomacy, not arms. Because they are not military personnel, they may be perceived as at lower risk of being the target of terrorists. However, recent events have called this perception into question. Despite this danger, there has been little research on terrorist attacks against diplomats. Drawing on the terrorism studies literature, this article argues that diplomats are…
Unpacking the Connection Between Terror and Islam
Are countries with large Muslim populations more likely to experience or produce transnational terrorist attacks than countries with fewer Muslims? And if there is a difference, is it attributable to the influence of Islam, or to the economic, social, and political conditions that are common in predominantly Muslim countries? Analyzing all transnational terrorist attacks between 1973 and 2002, this study uses decomposition analysis to identify th…
Risk and Reward
Violent non-state actors often maintain diverse economic portfolios to fund their operations and endure. While some tactics yield limited funds, such as opportunistic robberies or kidnappings, other activities such as smuggling and drug trafficking can produce consistently high returns, but require complex planning, coordination and execution. This study delves into the nexus between the economic environments in which militant groups operate and …
Examining the Outcome of Investigations and Prosecutions of Extremism in the United States
While the criminology literature indicates that investigative and judicial outcomes can be influenced by several factors, a smaller number of scholars have examined how similar factors operate in terrorism investigations and prosecutions. We use the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) and American Terror Study (ATS) datasets to examine the factors that influence outcomes in such cases from 1947 to 2017. We find that…
Truth and lies in the Caliphate
Deception has a long history in information warfare. Recent technological advances have increased the ability of militants to utilize deception in propaganda, but this subject has not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This study remedies this shortcoming by conducting a case study of the Islamic State’s use of deception in propaganda, and identifies three types of deception: substantive, source, and spread. Additionally, this article di…
Too central to fail? Terror networks and leadership decapitation
Leadership decapitation, as a means of hindering the operations and hastening the demise of terrorist organizations, has been the subject of a growing body of research. However, these studies have not examined how an organization’s position in a broader network impacts its ability to weather decapitation. We argue that highly networked organizations possess characteristics that make decapitation less effective. To test this argument, we combine d…
Fighting together? understanding bilateral cooperation in the realm of counterterrorism
Since September 11, there has been marked rise in research on the transnational aspect of terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. However, there has been little focus on when and why nations sometimes cooperate in counterterrorism, while at other times they deal with the challenge of terrorism separately. Our contribution here is two-fold. First, we develop a conceptual framework that identifies the different w…
A Policymaking Process “Tug-of-War”
There is tension between the ideal of government transparency and the need to protect vital information. What types of information do governments protect on national security grounds? What arguments do governments use to justify the protection of this information? What will influence an open government information policy as opposed to a closed information policy? Through an examination of more than 250 information security–related policies from a…
Improving Tests of Theories Positing Interaction
It is well established that all interactions are symmetric: when the effect of X on Y is conditional on the value of Z, the effect of Z must be conditional on the value of X. Yet the typical practice when testing an interactive theory is to (1) view one variable, Z, as the conditioning variable, (2) offer a hypothesis about how the marginal effect of the other variable, X, is conditional on the value of Z, and (3) construct a marginal effect plot…
A Policymaking Process “Tug-of-War”
There is tension between the ideal of government transparency and the need to protect vital information. What types of information do governments protect on national security grounds? What arguments do governments use to justify the protection of this information? What will influence an open government information policy as opposed to a closed information policy? Through an examination of more than 250 information security–related policies from a…
Unpacking the Connection Between Terror and Islam
Are countries with large Muslim populations more likely to experience or produce transnational terrorist attacks than countries with fewer Muslims? And if there is a difference, is it attributable to the influence of Islam, or to the economic, social, and political conditions that are common in predominantly Muslim countries? Analyzing all transnational terrorist attacks between 1973 and 2002, this study uses decomposition analysis to identify th…
Radicalism of the Hopeless
We examine whether refugee flows increase transnational terrorism in states to which refugees flee. Recent studies find that refugee flows contribute to the spread of interstate and civil war, but to a far lesser extent have studies examined how refugee flows could lead to other forms of political violence. We discuss two ways in which refugee flows can lead to transnational terrorism: how conditions in camps contribute to the radicalization of r…
Is Standing for Women a Stand Against Terrorism? Exploring the Connection Between Women's Rights and Terrorism
Previous large-N studies have found that the advancement of women's rights leads to a decline in conflict, but no large-N research has explored the possibility of a similar relationship between women's rights and terrorism. Nevertheless, policymakers have long argued that the advancement of women's rights forms a key component of counterterrorism policy. Simply put, we lay out a rationale for the argument that increased women's rights reduce the …
Prisoners and Politics
Hostage taking of Westerners by militant groups has increased since 9/11. Despite this rising problem, there has been little academic research on how a hostage’s individual characteristics influence the outcome of the incident. Using a newly collected dataset of over 1,000 individuals taken hostage in incidents involving terrorist groups since 2001, this article evaluates how individual, national, and group characteristics influence the likelihoo…
Dangerous work
The goal of diplomats is to represent their countries’ interests through diplomacy, not arms. Because they are not military personnel, they may be perceived as at lower risk of being the target of terrorists. However, recent events have called this perception into question. Despite this danger, there has been little research on terrorist attacks against diplomats. Drawing on the terrorism studies literature, this article argues that diplomats are…
Fighting together? understanding bilateral cooperation in the realm of counterterrorism
Since September 11, there has been marked rise in research on the transnational aspect of terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. However, there has been little focus on when and why nations sometimes cooperate in counterterrorism, while at other times they deal with the challenge of terrorism separately. Our contribution here is two-fold. First, we develop a conceptual framework that identifies the different w…
Fatal attraction
Why do different Islamic State propaganda products receive different numbers of views? This article relies on a dataset of 1700 Islamic State photo essays to examine this question. It finds that violence in Islamic State photo essays, especially retributional violence, or violence directed at the group’s enemies and wayward adherents, leads to increased viewership. Releases that highlight the group’s military operations, governance activities and…
Simply Small Men? Examining Differences Between Females and Males Radicalized in the United States
From Leila Khaled to women who joined the Islamic State, it seems clear that radical ideologies know no gender bounds. Despite this history of women’s involvement in terrorist movements and a growing amount of research on women and political violence, there have been few attempts to contrast radicalized females from their male counterparts, either in terms of broad demographic characteristics or more specifically according to ideological orientat…
Strength from the Shadows? How Shadow Economies Affect Terrorist Activities
Despite scholarly interest in the existence and consequences of the crime-terror nexus, little research has been done to examine how the presence of an illegal economic area, known as a shadow economy, impacts terrorist activity in a country. We propose a theory which argues that terrorists are able to rely on the partnerships and resources available in the shadow economy to increase their organizational capacity. Using data on terrorist activity…
Choose Your Weapon
Historians of terrorism note that modern terrorists rely almost exclusively on two weapon types: the gun and the bomb. However, the comparative use of these weapons differs from one terrorist group to the next. We exploit this variation to examine how the tactical decisions of terrorists respond to both strategic aspirations and resource constraints. We argue that a group’s goals (a strategic consideration) and size (a resource constraint) provid…
Truth and lies in the Caliphate
Deception has a long history in information warfare. Recent technological advances have increased the ability of militants to utilize deception in propaganda, but this subject has not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This study remedies this shortcoming by conducting a case study of the Islamic State’s use of deception in propaganda, and identifies three types of deception: substantive, source, and spread. Additionally, this article di…
Choosing to Fight, Choosing to Die
Understanding why and how individuals participate in militant organizations has been the focus of an increasing amount of scholarship. Traditionally, these studies focus at either the individual or organizational level of explanation. This article advances the discussion on individual participation in militant organizations by combining primary and secondary sources at both levels to explain how the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attracte…
Too central to fail? Terror networks and leadership decapitation
Leadership decapitation, as a means of hindering the operations and hastening the demise of terrorist organizations, has been the subject of a growing body of research. However, these studies have not examined how an organization’s position in a broader network impacts its ability to weather decapitation. We argue that highly networked organizations possess characteristics that make decapitation less effective. To test this argument, we combine d…
Effect of sport education on students’ perceived physical literacy, motivation, and physical activity levels in university required physical education
Examining the Outcome of Investigations and Prosecutions of Extremism in the United States
While the criminology literature indicates that investigative and judicial outcomes can be influenced by several factors, a smaller number of scholars have examined how similar factors operate in terrorism investigations and prosecutions. We use the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) and American Terror Study (ATS) datasets to examine the factors that influence outcomes in such cases from 1947 to 2017. We find that…
Needs or Symbols? The Logic of United Nations Counterterrorism Treaty Ratification
Why do states commit to UN counterterrorism treaties? This article posits that state accession to UN counterterrorism treaties is likely informed by the nature of the terrorist threats a state faces, and consequently, the pressures that such threats generate from domestic and international audiences on the state to address (or appear to address) them. As such, we hypothesize that states ratify UN CT treaties for either material, needs-based reaso…
Helping or hurting? The impact of foreign fighters on militant group behavior
How do foreign fighters affect militant group behavior? Recent studies have examined the impact of foreign fighters on broader conflict outcomes, but we explore their specific impact on group behavior. Using foreign fighter data, we find that the presence of foreign fighters is positively related to group longevity, use of suicide operations, and the geographic spread of its operations. We elaborate on these findings in a case study of foreign fi…
Targeting Quality or Quantity? The Divergent Effects of Targeting Upper Verses Lower-Tier Leaders of Militant Organizations
Research on the efficacy of leadership decapitation has focused primarily on targeting the topmost leaders of groups. Yet, most organizations rely on multiple leaders with specific functional or geographical responsibilities, rather than a single symbolic leader. In this context, we pose the following question: how are the effects of leadership decapitation on a group’s short-term operational capacity conditioned by the type or rank of targeted l…
Risk and Reward
Violent non-state actors often maintain diverse economic portfolios to fund their operations and endure. While some tactics yield limited funds, such as opportunistic robberies or kidnappings, other activities such as smuggling and drug trafficking can produce consistently high returns, but require complex planning, coordination and execution. This study delves into the nexus between the economic environments in which militant groups operate and …
Political science (18 works) · Law (16 works) · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence (16 works) · Law (14 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (12 works) · Politics (12 works) · Terrorism (12 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Criminology (8 works)