Strategic Terrorism
From a rationalist perspective, why is terrorism puzzling?
Terrorism is costly and risky, actors have incentives to locate mutually preferred negotiated solutions
What are some reasons that terrorists use suicide terrorism as a tactic?
Simple, low-cost, guarantees mass casualties, no fear of detention, immense impact on public and media
Describe the collective action problem of perpetrating terrorism.
Terrorism is individually costly (e.g. you could die), but successful terrorism benefits everyone (e.g. your whole ethnic group gets a new state)
What potential effect does availability bias have on public fear in the context of terrorism?
Can lead to overestimation of risk
How does the availability bias affect public perceptions of terrorism?
Individuals may think of more examples of Muslim terrorists
What can we learn about terrorism from the Prisoner’s Dilemma?
Talk is cheap!
What considerations does a state face when dealing with suicide terrorism?
Sensitive to citizen casualties, constrained ability to retaliate, face reality of consequential, if weak otherwise, violent group
How do terrorist groups solve the collective action problem?
Coercion: developing group norms and new moral framework
Describe the effect of anger as a moral emotion.
Willing to risk backlash to satisfy punitive preferences
What is the tradeoff between civil liberties and counterterrorism?
Policies that may be deemed useful to counterterrorism (racial profiling) have value tradeoffs (immoral and effective).
Because it is hard for weak actors to make credible threats, they are forced to display publicly just how far they are willing to go to obtain their desired results. What is this a form of?
Costly signaling
What are the downsides to using suicide terrorism as a tactic?
Name three pathways to radicalization.
Personal victimization, political grievance, slippery slope, power of love, extremity shift in like-minded groups, extreme cohesion under isolation/threat, competition for same base of support, competition with state power, within group competition, jujitsu politics, hate, martyrdom
What is the relationship between fear and the attrition logic of terrorism?
Publics in fear want to prevent/avoid terrorism and thus may prefer to cede policy goals to prevent future terrorism
What types of terrorist attacks receive more media attention than others?
Perpetrator Muslim, attack on a government target, perpetrator arrests, more lethal
Describe terrorism as a tool.
Terrorism represents a strategic instrument that any party in a conflict with another may use
What is a potential way to reduce suicide bombing?
It is difficult to do, but target the broader organization
What attribute do most paths to radicalization share?
10 out of 12 of the paths are reactive. They perceive their motives to be reactions to an action by an adversary
What is the relationship between anger and the provocation logic of terrorism?
Angry publics will have moral outrage and push for vengeance, encourage leaders to retaliate
What are some potential reasons that Muslim terrorist receive more media attention?
Their connection with a larger group, experts questioning whether other attacks count as terrorism, whether the attack is claimed
If we consider terrorism to be a tool, what might a potential solution be?
Focusing on broader strategic incentives (defending civilian sites, creating norms to punish terrorists)
What is one potential consequence of targeting an organization to reduce suicide terrorism?
Provocation. Could lead to more terrorism/
What is the pyramid model of radicalization?
Base of pyramid is supporters, followed by supporters, with terrorists at the apex. (McCauley)
What dilemma might political leaders face when the public is angry?
While terrorism could be evidence of militant weakness for politicians, voters are outraged and demand retribution
What is the difference between statistical and taste-based discrimination?
Statistical: individuals’ tendencies to stereotype based on differential base likelihoods of groups engaging in a given activity.
Taste-based: individuals have an intrinsic animus against individuals of other racial backgrounds that structures their behavior towards these groups, regardless of the base likelihood the outgroup member is a threat.