The intelligence requirement of Psychological operations in counterterrorism
Download
Author
Dortbudak, Mehmet Fevzi
Date
2008-12Advisor
Rothstein, Hy
Second Reader
O'Connell, Robert
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Terrorism is not a new phenomenon to the world, yet it remains difficult to define and to counter. Countering terrorism requires several measures that must be taken at the same time. Counterterrorism strategies of most countries depend on military measures. However, those strategies should also focus on nonlethal measures, such as economic, political, and social measures. The psychological dimensions of terrorism must be understood, evaluated, and used in countering terrorism. This study suggests that psychological operations, as nonlethal military operations, can be used to influence individuals not to join terrorist organizations and to facilitate defections from terrorist organizations. However, in order to implement effective psychological operations, one has to have appropriate intelligence about terrorist organizations. Examining terrorist organizations helps us to identify their vulnerabilities and obtain this intelligence. This thesis concludes that terrorists' motivations, terrorist organizations' radicalization, recruitment, and conversion processes, ideology, goals, strategies, and general structure form the intelligence requirement for psychological operations in counterterrorism. This study also examines the terrorist organization, al-Qaeda, to show its vulnerabilities.
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Homeland Security Affairs Journal, Volume II - 2006: Issue 2, July
Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate SchoolCenter for Homeland Defense and Security, 2006-07);July 2006. The July 2006 issue of Homeland Security Affairs offers articles about risk perception, domestic right wing extremist groups, social network analysis, and the impact of foreign policy on homeland security. It ... -
Examining changing American perceptions of the terrorist threat: from the Oklahoma City bombing to Al Qaeda
Persons, Eli U.S. (Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2017-12);The American public's fear of becoming a victim of terrorism significantly increased after 9/11 and remained elevated much longer than one might expect. This thesis explains how and why Americans' perception of the terrorist ... -
Terrorism as a psychological operation : a comparative analysis of the Zionist and the Palestinian terrorist campaigns
Boyd, Curtis D. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 1994-03);Terrorism is a quintessential psychological operation involving the use of violence to convey a message to multiple audiences. As a psychological operation, terrorism produces two effects; one propaganda and the other ...