Which of the following Latin American countries has the highest murder rate?

a. Nicaragua
b. Mexico
c. Venezuela
d. Jamaica



If you answered "Mexico", you made a very reasonable choice. In the past year, violence has been so rampant there that murder numbers have often exceeded 100 per week. But Mexico does not have the worst problem in the region - that distinction goes to .... Venezuela. Venezuela's rate of 48 violent deaths per 100,000 people is double that of Mexico.

Over the years, some global opinion surveys and analysts have estimated that as many as 10% of Muslims worldwide hold violent extremist religious views. A recent polling study by the Gallup organization suggests a somewhat different view, and presents data comparing the views of Muslims with those of the general public in their respective countries.

In the April 6, 2009 Edition of The Nation, Professor Michael T.

Are there common structures or patterns to violent extremist ideologies, even when the content of the beliefs is dramatically different? 

Social and political scientists have explored elements of this question for decades using a variety of different methods.  And the method does seem to matter.  Several years ago, I tried to identify such overarching ideological patterns – not as a social science theory – but just as teaching tool for state and local law enforcement personnel, to help make the point that understanding extremists is not only about knowing what  they purport think or believe (or inferring motive from such statements), but knowing how those ideologies develop and facilitate (or inhibit

Human rights abuses are commonly associated with despotic, totalitarian regimes, not with weak and failing states. But Professor Neil Englehart’s recent study of 140 nations suggests that weak states may actually put personal security rights at the greatest risk.

Englehart defined state "capacity" as "the willingness and capability of the state apparatus to carry out government policy" not by a particular government’s stability, longevity, or popularity. He used three measures of capacity: (1) expert opinion on law and order (impartial legal system and general respect for the law); (2) expert opinion on state corruption; and (3) the state’s tax (which fund state services) as a proportion of gross domestic product.

Throughout the post-industrial era, science and technology have been central  to understanding both global security threats and possible solutions. Within the US and across the globe, major scientific organizations have developed Committees and working groups to integrate science with security policy, however, those efforts have focused almost exclusively on physical/life sciences and been applied predominantly to WMD-related threats．