A team of more than 50 social scientists, armed with new federal funding, will extend its research into radicalization and the formation of terrorist groups in the United States and abroadThe researchers will also study the effectiveness of counter-terror strategies, as well as efforts to build community resilience to attacks.

"Terrorists rely on help from sympathetic social networks, so a thorough understanding of these networks can help policy-makers refine their counter-terror strategies - both in the United States and abroad," says Gary LaFree, director of the University of Maryland-based National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a three-year old collaboration of 30 research institutions

"We need to understand the tipping points that radicalize political activists and ultimately trigger the use of political violence," La Free says. "We want to learn, for example, whether the underlying dynamics of radicalization are the same in the United States and abroad."

Recent research by START researchers revealed an actual drop in the number of Middle East political organizations that turn to violence. Since 2001, 14 percent of such organizations used violence as a political tool compared to 52 percent in the mid-1980s.

Funding for the new round of research comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). START will receive nearly $12 million over three years.

"We've assembled a broad pool of research talent from several fields and dozens of institutions, and this gives us a unique opportunity to advance the understanding of terrorist and counter-terror behavior," LaFree says. "We've already begun to answer some of the questions about the counter-terror strategies that work and others that are counter-productive.This grant renewal will enable us to work with an even broader range of partners, each with unique expertise."

MONG THE PLANNED RESEARCH:

Radicalization

- Database of U.S. extremist crime (1990-2009); -Homegrown radicalization and the role of social networks in the spread of extremism;
- Tracking sympathy and support for terrorism in the United States among various communities;
- Are European converts to Islam an evolving threat?
- Is guerilla insurgency a springboard to terrorism?
- How Islamic radicalization in Europe and North America diverge.

Terrorist Operations

- Empirical analyses of IEDs (improvised explosive device);
- Terrorism and violence in Colombia;
- Measuring effectiveness of counter-terror measures;
- Police responses to terrorism;
- When bargaining with terrorists works.

Community Resilience

- Organizing for success in community preparedness for bioterrorism;
- U.S. populations at risk from chemical facilities releases.