Sambuddha Ghatak, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University (SDSU). He teaches in the Criminal Justice and Homeland Security program at the SDSU Imperial Valley campus. Before taking on this role in fall 2023, he was an assistant professor at San Jose State University in their criminal justice program. Ghatak’s research focuses primarily on the structural causes of terrorism. He has published in journals such as International Interactions, Conflict Management and Peace Science and the Journal of Conflict Resolution. Ghatak’s current research focuses on the strategies and target selection of terrorist organizations and exploring the logic on civil war onset by terrorist groups.

RESEARCH INTERESTS International Security, Conflict Processes, Terrorism, Insurgency, Civil War, Interstate War, Contentious Politics and Social Movement, Intrastate and Interstate Conflict in South Asia, Politics and Govt. in India, State Weakness

TEACHING INTERESTS International Security, Terrorism, Intrastate and Interstate Conflict, Insurgency, Civil War, Contentious Politics and Social Movement, Populism and White Supremacy, Political Violence and Religious Nationalism in the South Asian Region, State Weakness, Research Methods.

EDITED VOLUME

E. Ike Udogu and Sambuddha Ghatak. (Eds.,). Human Rights Dilemmas in the Developing World: The Case of Marginalized Populations at Risk. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2017).

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

Ghatak, Sambuddha & Others (Phayal, Anup; Hongu, Jhong; and Prins, Brandon) “Attrition and Provocation: Subnational Variation in Terrorist Targeting” Perspective of Terrorism Vol. XVIII Issue 2 (2024): 57-81.

Ghatak, Sambuddha and Atreya Ghatak. “When the Messengers are Targets of Terrorism: Restricted Media, State and Anti-State Terrorism.” International Criminal Justice Review (2024): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/10575677241248396

Ghatak, Sambuddha. “Taming the Beast: Democratic Institutions and Terrorist Groups’ Involvement in Civil War.” Terrorism and Political Violence (2023): 1-21, DOI:10.1080/09546553.2023.2256399

Ghatak, Sambuddha and Suveyda Karakaya. “Terrorists as Rebels: Territorial Goals, Oil Resources and Civil War Onset in Terrorism.” Foreign Policy Analysis, Vol. 17, Issue 1 (2021), 86–105.

Ghatak, Sambuddha, Aaron Gold and Brandon C. Prins. “Domestic Terrorism in Democratic States: The Important Role Played by Grievances.” Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 63, No. 2 (2019) 439-467.

Ghatak, Sambuddha, “The Role of Political Exclusion and State Capacity in Civil Conflict in South Asia.” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 30, No. 1 (2018): 74-96.

Ghatak, Sambuddha and Aaron Gold. “Development, Discrimination, and Domestic Terrorism: Looking Beyond a Linear Relationship.” Conflict Management and Peace Science, Vol. 34 No. 6 (2017): 618–639.

Ghatak, Sambuddha and Brandon C. Prins. “Homegrown Threat: State Strength, Grievance and Domestic Terrorism.” International Interactions, Vol. 43, No. 2 (2017): 217–247.

Prins, Brandon C., Krista Wiegand, Sambuddha Ghatak and Aaron Gold. “Managing Territorial Conflict: Introduction to Special Issue.” Conflict Management and Peace Science, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2017): 121–125.

Ghatak, Sambuddha, Aaron Gold and Brandon C. Prins. “External Threat and the Limits of Democratic Pacifism.” Conflict Management and Peace Science Vol. 34, No. 2 (2017): 141–159.

Ghatak, Sambuddha. “Challenging the State: Effect of Minority Discrimination, Globalization, and Democracy on Domestic Terrorism.” International Interactions, Vol. 42, No. 1 (2016): 56–80.

Ghatak, Sambuddha, “Willingness and Opportunity: A Study of Domestic Terrorism in post-Cold War South Asia,” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 28, No. 2 (2016): 274 296.

Ghatak, Sambuddha and E. Ike Udogu, “Human Rights Issues of Minorities in Contemporary India: A Concise Analysis,” Journal of Third World Studies, Vol. XXIX, No. 1 (Spring 2012): 203-230.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Ghatak, Sambuddha. “Human Rights Violations of Minorities in South-East Asia: Indonesia and Malaysia,” in E. Ike Udogu and Sambuddha Ghatak (eds.,). Human Rights Dilemmas in the Developing World: The Case of Marginalized Populations at Risk. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2017): 91-119.

Ghatak, Sambuddha and E. Ike Udogu. “Human Rights Issues of Minorities in Contemporary India: A Concise Analysis,” in E. Ike Udogu and Sambuddha Ghatak (eds.,). Human Rights Dilemmas in the Developing World: The Case of Marginalized Populations at Risk. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2017): 31-60.

Ghatak, Sambuddha and E. Ike Udogu. “Minority Quandaries and Jihadist Terrorism in India, 1985-2013: An Overview,” in E. Ike Udogu and Sambuddha Ghatak (eds.). Human Rights Dilemmas in the Developing World: The Case of Marginalized Populations at Risk. Lanham, MD Lexington Books (2017): 121-178.

Ghatak, Sambuddha. “Gender Marginalization: A Discourse on the Status of Women in South Asia,” in E. Ike Udogu (ed.), The Developing World: Critical Issues in Politics and Society. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press/Rowman and Littlefield Group (2012): 69-93.