Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium

The Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium (TRAC) is a digital intelligence repository of research and analysis covering terrorism and political violence. It provides editorially reviewed contributions from its consortium members, research associates, and embedded sources to assist decision-makers and researchers from a variety of disciplines. TRAC cross-references incoming, real-time contributions against its entire database of regional and group profiles, spanning every ideology, target, and tactic. The website also offers a clipping service called Chatter Control to bring primary resource material from social media and news from beyond the scope of Western media outlets to its clients' attention.[1]

According to a May 2013 NPR interview, TRAC's founder Veryan Khan partnered with the Beacham Group LLC as "editorial director of tracterrorism.org and an associate publisher," preparing research for nearly a decade before launching the site.[2] Shortly after going live in 2012, TRAC had over 6,000 pages and a "master index and profiles of 3,800 identified terrorist groups and groups known to aid and abet terrorist organizations."[1]

History

TRAC was officially launched in Fall 2011 by the Beacham Group LLC, an academic and reference publisher founded in 1985. Originally Beacham Publishing Corp., the Beacham Group specializes in comprehensive reference works in subject areas such as endangered species, environmental issues, young adult literature, popular fiction, and European and American biography.[3]

Initial research for the TRAC database began in the late 1990s, as global awareness of terrorism was rising due to activities of groups like FARC, the IRA, and Pakistani groups associated with the Taliban. The PLO profile was the first profile developed and impetus for the articles on terrorism in nationalist and separatist movements. TRAC's coverage of Islamist terrorism expanded as the demand for research on terrorism responded to the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

Initially, consortium members were largely academics drawn from universities around the world. One of the first research partners, Arabinda Acharya, joined in 2009. The scope of professions represented by the consortium's 2,800 initial members widely varied from that point up to the online launch in 2012.

Components

Group profiles

TRAC currently maintains profiles on 4,500+ groups that have been known to participate in political violence or aid and abet terrorist organizations, including anarchist, nationalist, and separatist movements; racist/hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan); lone wolves (such as Timothy McVeigh); and extremist religious sects such as al Qaeda franchises, ISIS, Boko Haram, Westboro Baptist Church, and Bodu Bala Sena.[4] Each profile includes (when available) the group's tactics, targets, ideology, associated groups, leaders, theater of operation, and events associated with the group.[1][5]

TRAC's profile on the Islamic State received by far the most international attention to-date since the summer of 2014. Unique page-views per month range from 10,000-20,000. Other profiles of particular interest in 2015 include Boko Haram in Nigeria. In September 2014, TRAC was the first terrorism research body to cover the Khorasan Group / The Wolf Unit (WU).

Analysis

TRAC provides original and commissioned analyses (or "articles") on terrorism topics ranging from gender and terrorism, Quranic understandings of violent Jihad, vulnerable cities, and urban terrorism.[6] Each is categorized and searchable by ideology, targets, tactics, and region. Rather than a continuous page of text, every article is broken into chapters with an outline provided adjacent to the text. Associated news stories and primary resource material archived by TRAC is also available below the outline and updated on an hourly, or as-available basis.

TRAC's articles also include analytical tools such as data models, matrices, and infographs. In 2014, TRAC provided CNN with visuals from its work to identifying every member of the Islamic State administration and an analysis of the IS video "Although the Disbelievers Dislike It."[7]

Chatter control

TRAC continuously monitors global developments through foreign language news outlets, social media, and embedded sources, posting analysis and feeds to the source as events unfold. Sources include well-known international news organizations, regional newspapers, blogs, think tank releases, terrorist group communiqués and under the radar commentary. TRAC has archived over 15,000 sources that are searchable.

Publishing center

TRAC's editorial board provides an opportunity for scholars and journalists to publish their research, which is cross-linked to relevant articles and profiles within TRAC's database. TRAC also lists 2,200+ resource centers (universities, think tanks, government agencies) with links to their websites.[8]

Media coverage

TRAC sources have been cited by Vice News,[5] The Philippine Star,[9] The Herald Scotland,[10] Gulf News,[11] and Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC).[12] TRAC's editorial director, Veryan Khan, has often been interviewed on critical developments and breaking news on terrorism for news outlets, including NPR,[2] FRI (Radio France Internationale),[13] and Al Jazeera.[14]

Reviews and awards
  • In 2012, TRAC received a citation for Best Reference by Library Journal.[15]
  • Cheryl LaGuardia, senior research librarian at Harvard, published the first major review in February 2012, referring to TRAC as a "remarkable file".[1]
  • The 2013 edition of CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries cited TRAC as "an excellent, easy-to-use, interdisciplinary resource for novice or experienced researchers."

References
  1. LaGuardia, Cheryl (27 February 2012). "Beacham Group Releases TRAC: Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium". Library Journal. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  2. Wen, Shawn (9 May 2013). "Researcher Creates A Database Of Global Terrorist Groups". WUNC - NPR. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  3. Washington, Coll (12 April 2013). "Beacham Scholarship Supports Terrorism Studies". Washington College Magazine. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  4. "Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) | Terrorist Groups | TRAC".
  5. Hay, Mark (30 June 2014). "Meet the Violent Buddhists Starting Riots in Sri Lanka". Vice News.
  6. Zimmerman, Malia (9 February 2014). "Mysterious woman from Canada's rapid rise in ISIS puzzles intel analysts". Fox. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  7. Thompson, Nick; Schubert, Atika (9 September 2014). "The anatomy of ISIS: How the 'Islamic State' is run, from oil to beheadings - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  8. "About TRAC | TRAC". www.trackingterrorism.org. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  9. "Local militants undergo extensive training before they arrive in Syria". The Star Online. 24 June 2014.
  10. Pratt, David (15 June 2014). "Is This the End of Iraq?". The Herald Scotland.
  11. Al Maeena, Tariq A. (17 May 2014). "Terrorists have no religious affiliation". Gulf News.
  12. Davidson, Janet (15 January 2014). "Sochi security: The mystery group behind Russia's Islamist insurgency". CBC News.
  13. "Abuja attack in response to Boko Haram leader video: Expert". Radio France International. 14 April 2014.
  14. Regencia, Ted (19 July 2014). "Islamic State's support spreads into Asia". Al Jazeera.
  15. Swogger, Bonnie (2 May 2012). "eReviews: Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium-May 1, 2012". Library Journal.
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