Big, Allied and Dangerous: BAAD
UAlbany Professors Karl Rethemeyer and Victor Asal will Speak on their Terrorism Database and its Implications
Tuesday, January 23 at 6:00 p.m. with a meet-the-speakers reception at 5:30 p.m.
The University Club of Albany Foundation is pleased to present an evening talk by UAlbany professors Dr. R. Karl Rethemeyer, Interim Dean of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, and Dr. Victor Asal, Chair of the Department of Public Administration.
Rethemeyer and Asal, who co-direct the Project on Violent Conflict, will speak on their Big, Allied and Dangerous (BAAD) database, which tracks detailed and nuanced information on hundreds of terrorist organizations around the globe.
Like many great ideas, this one was launched over food. Rethemeyer said, “We were both looking for a project that would help us get tenure so we went to Sovrana’s to brainstorm over pizza.”
About the Speakers:
R. Karl Rethemeyer's primary research interest is in social networks, their impact on social, political, and policy processes, and the methods used to study such networks. A graduate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Rethemeyer has presented work at numerous conferences, including the Academy of Management (AOM), American Political Science Association (ASPA), Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). Rethemeyer has work published and forthcoming in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM), Public Administration Review (PAR), the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART), the International Public Management Journal (IPMJ), the Journal of Politics (JOP), Conflict Management and Peace Science (CMPS), and the Journal of Security Education (JSE).
Additionally, through the Project on Violent Conflict, Dr. Rethemeyer is currently co-investigator for two projects. The first focuses on organizational terrorist networks and is funded by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. His work has focused on how networks affect the use of various forms of terrorism (including suicide terrorism and CBRN attacks), the lethality of terrorist organizations, the propensity of such organizations to attack soft targets, and the propensity to choose or eschew lethal violence.
Dr. Rethemeyer is also lead investigator for a second project funded by the Office of Naval Research that examines counter-insurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This project seeks to answer the question, "What organizational factors in the counterinsurgency organizations are related to “successful” or “unsuccessful” counterinsurgency efforts?
Victor Asal received his PhD from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is affiliated with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. Dr. Asal’s research focuses on the choice of violence by nonstate organizational actors as well as the causes of political discrimination by states against different groups such as sexual minorities, women, and ethnic groups. In addition, Prof. Asal has done research on the impact of nuclear proliferation and on the pedagogy of simulations. Asal has been involved in research projects funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, The Department of Homeland Security, The National Science Foundation, and The Office of Naval Research.
Prof. Asal teaches courses on world and comparative politics, political violence and oppression, negotiation and research design. He has worked as a negotiation trainer in a variety of academic, governmental and military settings, and in conjunction with the ICONS Project, created simulations on varied topics. Victor Asal is also a past Director of the Center for Policy Research.
The Event:
The presentation will take place on Tuesday, January 23, at 6:00 p.m., following a meet-the-speakers reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the National Register-listed University Club of Albany, 141 Washington Avenue at Dove Street.
This event is presented by the University Club of Albany Foundation, Inc. and one need not be a member of the University Club to attend. Attendees are welcome to stay for dinner in the University Club Grille Room following the event (pay with cash or credit card). Call the University Club at 518-463-1151 use the Register Now link below to reserve your seat at the event and for dinner if you choose to dine at the Club. Reservations for both are requested by Monday, January 22.
The University Club of Albany Foundation was formed to recognize and maintain the unique historic and architectural significance of the University Club building and property, its neighborhood and the city of Albany, where it has been located since its inception in 1901.