International Relations 101 (#75): The Frequency of Terrorism

Even if terrorists have rational preferences, critics may argue that they "irrationally" implement them by not being responsive to incentive structures. If that were the case, we would expect terrorist attacks to essentially be random. However, they are not. Terrorism is more frequent when:

-domestic social spending is low
-foreign policy platforms are more active
-local grievances are unaddressed
-peace talks are ongoing or about to begin
-domestic physical integrity rights are low
-economic discrimination is high

These all suggest that terrorists are responsive to incentives. Thus, we will investigate strategies of terrorism later in this unit.

[PunmasterSTP]

Thanks for another intriguing lecture!