Category Archives: Political Science

Secular Health in US Probably on the Rise, Despite Evangelical Revival

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Rayan Zehn

When we examine the US’s sociopolitical climate it is very tempting to believe reactionary evangelicalism is a growing trend. Once thought critically endangered, evangelical politics appears to be gaining support. More importantly, it appears to be a driving force. When … Continue reading →

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Donald Trump and the Terrorism Loop

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Rayan Zehn

In my most recent post I discussed several explanations of religious terrorism in international relations scholarship. The list is by no means exhaustive, but it is thorough. Bottom line: Terrorism is more common in the Muslim world for a host of … Continue reading →

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Causes of Radical Jihadist Terrorism

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Rayan Zehn

In international relations the concept of terrorism usually always boils down to Islamic radical terror. Few other categories of terrorists operate internationally; therefore, most of the literature centers on violent Islamic Jihad. So what are the causes? How can we … Continue reading →

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Expanded Probability of Falling Victim to Jihadist Terror in the US

Posted on February 10, 2017 by Rayan Zehn

My last post laid out data collection and methodology to determine the probability that an American will be injured or killed by an Islamic terrorist. The answer was, based on the most previous seven years of data, you would have … Continue reading →

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Probability of Falling Victim to Jihadist Terror in the US: A Correction and Update

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Rayan Zehn

The other day I made a blog post pointing out the extraordinary unlikelihood of a person becoming victim to a Jihadist terrorist attack in the United States. I regret to write that I got the math wrong somewhat. The intuition was … Continue reading →

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Time’s Arrow Rounded a Bend: Trump, Putin, and the Reduction of Certainty

Posted on November 12, 2016 by Rayan Zehn

Reducing uncertainty is the only thing politics strives to achieve. While legislation might be written to address precise economic, political, or social grievances, the process is an exercise in uncertainty reduction, making sense of highly complex phenomena. The more certain … Continue reading →

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The Rise of Secularism and the Fall of Christianity: Google Books N-Gram Analysis

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Rayan Zehn

Google Books’ Ngram allows users to search for the frequency of terms appearing in books in Google’s database of printed material. The results show how often those terms have appeared in print over the years. Today I was messing around … Continue reading →

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Update: Orlando Shooter Did Have an Expressed Goal

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Rayan Zehn

A couple days ago I published a post asking what the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooter’s goal was. In it I mentioned that as far as we knew he made no demands during his 911 calls to the police. As it … Continue reading →

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What Was the Goal of the Pulse Nightclub Shooting?

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Rayan Zehn

Last week’s terrorist attack against patrons of the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which claimed the lives of 49 people, has me scratching my head. Although coming to terms with such a tragedy is difficult enough, the most puzzling aspect … Continue reading →

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When Merely Mentioning ISIS is Offensive

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Rayan Zehn

About six weeks ago I gave a presentation on ontological insecurity, cognitive dissonance, and prophetic violence carried out by the Islamic State. It was an informal setting; several pizzas adorned a round table, and the audience had as much talking … Continue reading →

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