The Legend of the Lone Wolf: Categorizing Singular and Small Group Terrorism
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THE LEGEND OF THE LONE WOLF: CATEGORIZING SINGULAR AND SMALL GROUP TERRORISM by Keith W. Ludwick A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Biodefense Committee: _______________________________________ A. Trevor Thrall, Chair _______________________________________ Gregory Koblentz _______________________________________ Colin Dueck _______________________________________ Gregory Koblentz, Program Director _______________________________________ Mark J. Rozell, Dean Date: __________________________________ Fall Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA The Legend of the Lone Wolf: Categorizing Singular and Small Group Terrorism A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University By Keith Ludwick Masters of Arts Naval Postgraduate School, 2008 Bachelor of Science California State University, Sacramento, 1990 Director: A. Trevor Thrall Department of Biodefense Fall Semester 2016 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright 2016 Keith W. Ludwick All Rights Reserved DEDICATION Dedicated to Mom and Dad. Thanks for helping me understand “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” - William Butler Yeats iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To my wife, I offer my sincere gratitude for letting me pursue my goals. Your tolerance of my aspirations always amazes me. Thank you for making me fix the ceiling before getting started otherwise the hole would still be there to this day. To Sarah and Sean, I apologize this project interfered so much in our daily lives, but I hope you will come to understand the benefits of setting and achieving goals. May your future be void of having to deal with the issues raised in this research. To Dr. Thrall, not much more to say at this point than ‘Thank You.’ You have been a great mentor in this process, and not just for academic nuances. Time for a nice Quad I think. Dr. Koblentz and Dr. Dueck, your comments were invaluable. Finally, to the men and women of the FBI. Thank you for all you do every day. Your unwavering, and often unnoticed, tenacity for upholding the Constitution is unlike anything in any other organization. Despite public perception, media hype, and significant misunderstandings, you continue to do your jobs every day keeping us free and secure. Stay safe. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.......................................................................................................................... IX ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 2 CHAPTER TWO – SINGULAR AND SMALL GROUP TERRORISM IN CONTEXT ............................................ 10 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 10 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................................................................. 10 MUDDLED MEANING, CONNECTEDNESS, AND THE PSYCHE..................................................................................... 13 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PROBLEM ...................................................................................................................... 31 REDEFINING LONE WOLF TERRORISM: TOWARD A NEW FRAMEWORK ..................................................................... 35 KEY VARIABLES TO CATEGORIZATION: GROUP ASSOCIATION AND MENTAL ILLNESS .................................................... 46 THREE CATEGORIES OF SSGT ........................................................................................................................... 59 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER THREE – QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ........................................................... 66 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 66 CASE STUDIES ............................................................................................................................................... 67 DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW DATABASE................................................................................................................. 81 ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................................................... 96 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................... 109 CHAPTER FOUR – POLICY, PROBLEMS, AND THE IMPACT OF SSGT ....................................................... 111 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 111 LEGAL HISTORY OF TERRORISM LAWS .............................................................................................................. 112 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................... 135 CHAPTER FIVE – POLICY AND FUTURE RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................. 137 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 137 FIVE STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION .................................................................................................................. 137 FUTURE RESEARCH ....................................................................................................................................... 155 v CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................... 159 APPENDIX I – CODEBOOK ..................................................................................................................... 163 APPENDIX II – DATA DICTIONARY......................................................................................................... 165 APPENDIX III – SSGT DATABASE ........................................................................................................... 171 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 176 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page TABLE 1 - CATEGORIZATION MATRIX ........................................................................................................................ 5 TABLE 2 - COMPARISONS OF KACZYNSKI, HASAN, AND RUDOLPH ................................................................................ 33 TABLE 3 – BREAKDOWN OF ELEMENTS DISCUSSED IN THE LITERATURE AND THEIR COUNT ................................................ 48 TABLE 4 – SAMPLE OF DIFFERENT DATASETS OF SSGT .............................................................................................. 82 TABLE 5 - SUMMARY OF TERRORISM LAWS ADDRESSING "LONE WOLF TERRORISM." ................................................... 121 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page FIGURE 1 - HISTORY OF THE UTILIZATION OF THE TERM "LONE WOLF" AND "TERRORISM." .............................................. 12 FIGURE 2 - STRUCTURE OF A HIERARCHICAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATION ........................................................................ 38 FIGURE 3 - LAYOUT OF AN ENTREPRENEURIAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATION ..................................................................... 40 FIGURE 4 - NUMBER OF ATTACKS COMPARED TO GROUP SIZE .................................................................................... 42 FIGURE 5 - FLOWCHART OF THE CODING MECHANISM FOR SSGT CATEGORIES………………………………………………………….64 FIGURE 6 - TOTAL COUNT OF SSGT FROM DATABASE ............................................................................................... 87 FIGURE 7 - BREAKDOWN BY GENDER WITHIN SSGT ................................................................................................. 88 FIGURE 8 - BREAKDOWN BY IDEOLOGY WITHIN SSGT ............................................................................................... 89 FIGURE 9 - BREAKDOWN OF FATALITIES BY SSGT CATEGORY ...................................................................................... 98 FIGURE 10 - BREAKDOWN OF INJURIES BY SSGT CATEGORY ....................................................................................... 99 FIGURE 11 - BREAKDOWN OF SSGT BY IDEOLOGY .................................................................................................