To start with you can get cheap side certificates in the US for education in terrorism. Can you believe it? Well coming from a more secluded environment like me, No. As the man said "I don't believe it". But here is the link, but please I am not advertising and the link will offer no further links I hope. But of course, if you end up in shits from the above link, bugger me from a distance, NOT.
Now the whole scene of worldwide usage of Minerva comes from bloody ingenious imaginary contraption initiated by a demi-god from UK, who wrote the Harrry Potter books; owl called Minerva. I can bring a few links here:
Just as our military forces could not effectively operate without understanding the physical terrain and environment, detection of radical actors and regime disruptions is limited by our understanding of the cultural and political environments where those threats develop. The Minerva Research Initiative, initiated by former Secretary Gates in 2009 and now supported by Secretary Leon Panetta, seeks to build deeper understanding of the social, cultural, and political dynamics that shape regions of strategic interest around the world.
Deeper understanding of global populations and their variance as provided by Minerva-funded research will yield more effective strategic and operational policy decisions. Minerva scholars have already briefed valuable, warfighter-relevant insights to senior officials such as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, decision makers in the defense policy community, and on the ground to our combatant commands.
As the nascent program continues to grow, university-driven Minerva research will further enable critical social and cultural understanding to help decision makers effectively address today's known and tomorrow's unknown challenges. Above is from the Minerva Research Initiative.
The Minerva Steering Committee in the Office of the Secretary of Defence has selected ten proposals for 2012 award. Proposals were solicited through a 2011 Broad Agency Announcement – the second in the program’s history – was extremely competitive. The Department solicited proposals in seven topics of strategic importance and received a total of 330 white papers and 55 full proposals. The total amount of the awards is expected to be as much as $12 million over three years. Based on the proposals selected competition, more than 17 academic institutions, including two non-U.S. institutions, are expected to participate in the ten research efforts.
US gov is spending money to research into
| Harvard University | Heidi Ellis | Identifying and countering early risk factors for violent extremism among Somali refugee communities resettled in North America |
| University of Michigan | Philip Potter | Terrorist Alliances: Causes, Dynamics, and Consequences |
| Arizona State University | Mark Woodward | Finding Allies for the War of Words: Mapping the Diffusion and Influence of Counter-Radical Muslim Discourse [link] |
| Princeton University | Jacob Shapiro | Terrorism, Governance, and Development |
| Stephen Shellman (College of William and Mary), Remco Chang (University of North Carolina- Charlotte), Michael Covington (University of Georgia), Joseph Young (Southern Illinois University - Carbondale), Michael Findley (Brigham Young University) | Terror, Conflict Processes, Organisations, and Ideologies: Completing the Picture |
| Martha Crenshaw (Stanford University) | Mapping Terrorist Organisations |
| Robert Powell (University of California - Berkeley) | Fighting and Bargaining over Political Power in Weak States |
| Eli Berman (University of California - San Diego) | Workshop on the Political Economy of Terrorism and Insurgency |
Above from the Minerva Institute. So far we understand that the US leading an attack the terrorists with the aid of academics into various anthropological ways and means. But if you resad this article in a blog, you will see that using academics in similar situations in the past has not worked. In fact it has done more harm than a cure. Do not forget these so called boffins have their own agenda. Please read this.
If you like to see how much the boffins are trying to make it difficult for the likes of you and me; please go to this. After all we the people who live in our countries are supposed to be dumb. On;y the politicians whome we elected are very intelligent. They think as leaders not representatives elected by us. Damn. Where the hell did we go wrong. Did you know the German government passed an important law on the eve of the soccer match against the Italians, Same thing happens in UK. Wonder it happens in your country.
Minerva, not the owl, but a dragen raised its head in UK, but got slashed up. You have to go here to read it.
I am a selfish person. If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!
