Our aims:

To promote research on the causes of terrorism and violent extremism and how to understand and counter these occurences;

To develop links and partnerships with experts, nationally and internationally, including research institutions, Non Government Organisations (NGOs), intergovernmental organisations and policy makers;

To generate research on policy, law and practice;

To inform teaching and learning on counter terrorism and violent extremism at undergraduate and postgraduate levels; and

To encourage and support combined research funding on terrorism and violent extremism projects.

News

Partnerships and Collaborations

Located in Amsterdam, EFSAS is an EU accredited leading independent, non-profit think tank and policy research institution. EFSAS strives to elucidate events in South Asia and formulate strategies that shape public discourse concerning the region in order to promote peace, security, and sustainable development.

EFSAS provides strategic in-depth analysis, research, statistical data, policy advice and forecasts related to developments in the fields of politics, international relations, conflict management, human rights, security, diplomacy, strategic affairs and conflict resolution in South Asia.

Their core specialization is in the fields of Terrorism, Indo-Pak relations and the Jammu & Kashmir conflict and their greatest strength lies in the application of comparative regional analysis and research. EFSAS keeps furnishing high-quality policy analysis and recommendations regarding South Asia to decision-making institutions, opinion-makers, civil society and academics. 

Publications and Outputs

Author

Dr John Jupp 

Article

‘From Spiral to Stasis? United Kingdom Counter-Terrorism Legislation and Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism’ 

Published Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 

Date

14 September 2022 

Abstract

This article critically evaluates the impact of existing terrorism offences in countering extreme right-wing terrorism (ERWT) in the United Kingdom (UK) in order to examine why this developing threat to security has yet to elicit any legislative counter measures. Informed by evidence from a comprehensive dataset of ERWT convictions between 2007 and 2022 it finds that terrorist offences have bee sufficiently adaptive as to have had a significant impact in countering ERWT, negating any need for reform. Concerns, however, are identified in the application of existing measures and suggestions are made as to how they should be addressed to enhance their impact.

Read the article here 

 

Author

Dr Matthew Garrod

Article 

The Emergence of “Universal Jurisdiction” in Response to Somali Piracy: An Empirically Informed Critique of International Law’s “Paradigmatic” Universal Jurisdiction Crime

Published

Chinese Journal of International Law

Date

14th November 2019

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the idea that piracy is the “original” and “paradigmatic” universal jurisdiction crime in customary international law has been increasingly supported by weighty scholarship. In the wake of the unprecedented surge in Somali piracy, this view is gaining ground among various powerful actors in international law. Yet, remarkably little empirically grounded scholarship exists in support of universal jurisdiction.

This Article provides the first comprehensive empirical analysis of state practice in response to Somali piracy in a ten-year period since 2006. Additionally, the data on Somali piracy are compared with the empirical findings of state practice regarding international crimes, which are more “heinous” than piracy, since the end of World War II to 2016. In so doing, this Article brings new insight and the first thorough critique of what most scholars, governments, the UN and even the International Court of Justice have said on universal jurisdiction, its purpose and the basis for it in international law.

In view of inter-state tensions and conflict caused by universal jurisdiction and a move towards law codification, there is now a pressing need for a paradigm shift in the concept of universal jurisdiction for both piracy and international crimes, a step away from conventional scholarly accounts, and the grand narratives from which they proceed, to a position that has a solid basis in the actual practice of states.

Empirically and historically informed, it is proposed that “universal jurisdiction” for both categories of crime provides a basis in international law permitting the exercise of national criminal jurisdiction over offences involving foreign nationals abroad that have a close nexus between the case over which jurisdiction is asserted and the state asserting jurisdiction. Common and traditionally held assumptions that universal jurisdiction is based solely on the grave nature of crimes and is applied by states absent any nexus to offences and in the interest of the international community are unfounded.

To read the article: Click here

 

Author(s)

Dr John Jupp and Dr Matthew Garrod

Article

Legacies of the Troubles: Links Between Organsied Crime and Terrorism in Northern Ireland 

Published

Journal Studies in Conflict and Terrorism

Date

04 November 2019

Abstract

One of the most important legacies of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland and the ensuing 20 years post-peace-process era, heralded by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, is the rise of complex and diverse Republican and Loyalist paramilitary groups engaging in acts of terrorism and a wide range of organized criminal and cross-border activities.

Yet, little scholarship has been dedicated for examining the nexus between terrorism and organized crime in Northern Ireland or for accurately understanding the role that paramilitaries play in organized crime and their dynamic interactions with organized criminal groups. Informed by empirical evidence and qualitative interviews with government agencies in Northern Ireland, it is this important gap in scholarship that this article aims to fill. It does so by developing a new terrorism-organized crime model which reveals a range of different types of crime-terror interactions in Northern Ireland.

The article concludes that national terrorism-organized crime models, and the Northern Ireland model in particular, albeit with variations to its constituent components to accommodate local situations, are most appropriate for capturing intricate and dynamic interactions between these two phenomena across diverse environments rather than existing models designed for universal application.

To read the article: Click Here

 Past Events:

UNODC Regional Workshop on the Linkages Between Terrorism and Organized Crime in West and Central Africa (Abidjan, 202-21 November 2023)

Dr John Jupp was invited as an expert participant at a Regional Workshop on The Linkages Between Terrorism and Organized Crime in West and Central Africa, held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on 20-21 November 2023. Dr. Jupp gave a presentation highlighting new relevant research findings, which was entitled ‘Analysing Interactions Between Crime, Terrorism and the Illicit Trade in Drugs’.

Manual on the Prevention of, and Responses to, Terrorist Attacks on the Basis of Xenophobia, Racism and other forms of Intolerance, or in the Name of Religion or Belief

Dr John Jupp

Launch of the Manual on the Prevention of, and Responses to, Terrorist Attacks on the Basis of Xenophobia, Racism and other forms of Intolerance, or in the Name of Religion or Belief, 19 July 2022

Vienna International Centre, Vienna

As co-author of the Manual, John gave a presentation at this launch event to introduce its aims, objectives, methodology and structural composition

For information on this project see Terrorist Attacks on the Basis of Xenophobia, Racism and other form of Intolerance, or in the Name of Religion or Belief (XRIRB) (unodc.org)

Global Counter Terrorism Forum: Expert Meeting, Crimial Justice Responses to the Linkages between Terrorism, the Financing of Terrorism, Corruption and other Financial Crimes, 29-30 October 2019

Dr John Jupp 

Whitehall, London

For further information: Click Here

42nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, "Terrorism Financing in South Asia"

Speakers:

• Dr Dorothée Vandamme - Research Assistant and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Louvain, Centre for the Study of Crises and International Conflicts, the Genesys Network and EFSAS Research Fellow.
• Dr Paul Stott - Research Fellow in the Centre for the Response to Radicalisation and Terrorism at the Henry Jackson Society, Tutor in the Centre for International Studies & Diplomacy at SOAS and EFSAS Research Fellow.
• Mr Malaiz Daud - Former Chief of Staff of Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani, Research Fellow at the Barcelona Center for International Affairs and a Scholar at the Berghof Foundation.
• Dr Matthew Garrod - Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex and Co-Director of the Sussex Terrorism and Extremism Research Network (STERN).
• Moderator: Mr Junaid Qureshi - Director of the European Foundation for South Asian Studies.

Location: Room VIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

Date/Time: Tuesday 24th September 2019, 10:00-11:00

Strengthening Protections and Support for Victims of Terrorism in Criminal Proceedings in Afghanistan

Dr John Jupp

Conference: Work on Supporting Victims of Terrorism in Afghanistan, 26-27 June 2019

Abu Dhabi 

Paper: Strengthening Protections and Support for Victims of Terrorism in Criminal Proceedings in Afghanistan

Together with UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch and supported by funding from both the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the International Development Challenge Fund (IDCF) I convened and chaired a conference which took place in Abu Dhabi on 26-27 June 2019 and brought together expert officials from Afghanistan. I am currently drafting a report for dissemination to relevant justice ministries in Afghanistan with recommendations for strengthening existing criminal proceedings. 

To read the paper published in the Journal Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Click here

Legacies of the Troubles. The Links Between Organised Crime and Terrorism in Northern Ireland

Dr John Jupp

Conference: Exploring the Crime-Terror Nexus, 15-16 March 2019

Shanghai, China

Paper: Legacies of the Troubles. The Links Between Organised Crime and Terrorism in Northern Ireland

"I was invited to participate in an Expert Working Group entitled Terrorism and National Security which took place in Shanghai on 15-16 March 2019. The aim of the meeting was to share with policy-oriented audiences (e.g., government representatives, policy makers and researchers) the latest ideas, innovative strategies and field research findings from scholars around the world. 

I gave a talk entitled 'Legacies of the Troubles: The Links Between Organised Crime and Terrorism in Northern Ireland' based on an article by myself and Matthew Garrod that has been accepted for publication by Studies in Conflict and Terrorism."

Online Hate: From the Far-Right to the Alt-Right, and from the Margins to the Mainstream

Speaker: Dr Aaron Winter | Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice | University of East London

Title: “Online Hate: From the Far-Right to the Alt-Right, and from the Margins to the Mainstream”

Abstract: “In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was much discussion of both the democratizing and anti-democratic implications of the internet, in the absence of clear controls or regulations and boundaries. In relation to the former thesis were progressive social movements, and in the latter, the far-right using the internet to spread their racist hate, network and recruit both domestically and globally. Despite early fears and claims that the Americans were at the forefront of the far-right internet revolution, they did not harness or exploit this new technology quickly, effectively or widely. Many were still using printing presses and scanning material onto the web pages or ‘cut and paste brochures’. Since the late 2000s, there has been an increased use of the internet by the far-right, which has led to greater attention paid to it by the media, monitoring organisations and researchers, the latter of which look at the far-right online in relation to everything from particular forms of hate and identity/community formation to monitoring, detection, radicalisation and CVE. This interest and attention have increased in the Trump era in response to the so-called 'Alt-Right' and proliferation of far-right and white identity and misogynistic movements and subcultures, as well as more general racism and misogyny, online. This paper will examine the history of the American far-right’s use of the internet with respect to: 1. How this history developed in response to political changes and emerging technologies; 2. How it reflected and changed the status of such movements and their brand of hate; and 3. The relationship between online activity and traditional forms and methods of communication and activism. It will also look at how the online far-right and wider hate is being addressed by government, monitoring organisations, the private sector and anti-racist and anti-fascist activists, and the issues and tensions this produces.”

Location: Ashdown AH-103 | University of Sussex

Date/Time: Wednesday 12th December 2018 | 13.00-14.30

Organised Crime / Terror Nexus Workshop

The organised crime/terror nexus manifests at various levels. Organised crime groups and terrorists may converge, permanently or opportunistically. For instance, terrorist groups such as the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) are known to tax and extort drugs traffickers operating within the territory they control; and the Neapolitan Camorra were found to be supplying heavy weapons to ETA in return for shipments of drugs.

Furthermore, the use of criminal tactics by terrorists to further their activities financially and operationally is a recurrent phenomenon, ranging from the IRA’s involvement in racketeering to drug dealing by members of European terror cells. These examples prompt reflection on the nature of the linkages between organised crime and terror.

As a result, the organised crime/terror nexus remains a subject of sustained concern for policy-makers and law enforcement agencies. However, the development of evidence-based policies is complicated by the challenges of researching the activities of criminal and terrorist networks. This is particularly so in a technology-driven age, with the opportunities that cyber space offers to terrorists and criminals.

This workshop is jointly organised by the Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research (SHOC) at RUSI and the newly created Sussex Terrorism and Extremism Research Network (STERN) at the University of Sussex. It brings together representatives from government, law enforcement agencies and academia to take stock of the current state of knowledge on the terrorism/organised crime nexus and discuss its implications for law enforcement in Europe.

Speakers:

• Matt Garrod, Lecturer in Law, University of Sussex, Director of Sussex Terrorism and Extremism Research Network (STERN)
• John Jupp, Lecturer in Law, University of Sussex, Director of Sussex Terrorism and Extremism Research Network (STERN)
• Dr Tamara Makarenko, Managing Director, West Sands Advisory
• Tuesday Reitano, Deputy Director, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime
• Detective Constable Stephen Ward, Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI)
• Colonel Claudio Petrozziello, Guardia di Finanza

 Our projects: