http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/authors/1686/t-m Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:34:44 -0400 Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:34:44 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/916/social-movement-theory-and-terrorism-explaining-the-development-of-al-qaeda By T M - Since the attacks of September 11th, the Western world has labeled al-Qaeda and its leadership as suicidal and irrational terrorists hating the Western 'way of life'[2]. This justified the American "War on Terror" and led Margaret Thatcher to declare Islam the new Communism.[3] However, as is often pointed out, what is 'terrorism' in the view of one may be mere 'warfare' in the view of another. It is therefore important to avoid these terms and answer the question of cost-benefit rationality. Social movement theory provides a useful framework for interpreting al-Qaeda. Can social movement theory... Sun, 21 Sep 2014 12:10 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/916/social-movement-theory-and-terrorism-explaining-the-development-of-al-qaeda http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/906/the-arab-leagues-role-in-the-syrian-civil-war By T M - In March 2011 peaceful protests over the arrest and torture of young Syrians, themselves having drawn slogans refering to the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia on walls in Syria’s Daraa, led to the killing of six civilians by Syrian police. The protests quickly spread, while the government response grew increasingly cruel. More than three years later, the death toll from Syria’s Civil War has reached over 150,000[2] and 6.5 - 7.6 million have become internally displaced (IDPs) according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).[3] Together with... Sun, 13 Jul 2014 04:33 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/906/the-arab-leagues-role-in-the-syrian-civil-war http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/903/comparing-israels-2009-and-2013-elections-impacts-of-the-spiral-of-silence By T M - Section 2 introduces this theory, which was previously applied to German election campaigning in the 1970s[3] and U.S. presidential competition between Reagan and Carter[4] in 1980, among others. In order to provide the reader with an idea of the complex Israeli political sphere, section 3 introduces the main political actors and parties, and places them in the broader context of Israeli domestic and foreign politics. In section 4, the ‘spiral of silence’ theory is applied to evaluate whether this theory can explain key differences between the 2009 and 2013 Israeli elections, and the... Fri, 13 Jun 2014 09:50 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/903/comparing-israels-2009-and-2013-elections-impacts-of-the-spiral-of-silence http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/886/talking-to-terrorists-facilitating-dialogue-with-the-afghan-taliban By T M - Section 2 analyses the current state of the conflict and places the conflict and its parties in the broader historical context. It explains Afghanistan’s lack of strong central government, and why areas beyond Kabul have traditionally been under the authority of local strongmen or tribes, who fought each other unless external threats existed.[3] We seek to evaluate whether the Taliban can be constructively involved instead of applying the ‘terrorist’ label.[4] Labeling this prominent insurgency group as such pre-emptively excludes such actors rather than seeing them as potential... Wed, 09 Apr 2014 01:44 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/886/talking-to-terrorists-facilitating-dialogue-with-the-afghan-taliban http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/785/caught-between-deradicalization-and-disengagement-clarifying-terms-in-the-discourse-of-terrorism By T M - Observations from the media and from public discourse on Islamist radicalization reveal that terms such as 'Islamist extremism,' 'terrorism,' and 'Islamism' are often used without a clear or common definition. The same can be said for the use of these terms in academic literature. As pointedly stated by various actors, including al-Qaeda's deceased ideologue and leader Osama bin Laden[1], “one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter,”[2] and whereas suicide bombers are seen as the epitome of so called 'Islamist extremism', various commentators have suggested recognizing them... Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:57 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/785/caught-between-deradicalization-and-disengagement-clarifying-terms-in-the-discourse-of-terrorism