Questions and Answers Following the Lectures

This chapter outlines several questions as well as the author's answers following the lectures covered in the previous chapters. The topics are based on the lectures themselves, from the micro-level characteristics of individuals who participate in terrorism, to the ways terrorism emerges within society, and finally to the impacts of terrorism upon target countries. The chapter expands on the topics listed in the previous chapters. These question and answer segments also address some issues not directly tackled in the lectures, such as the coverage of terrorism from a more Middle Eastern perspective. The chapter also references some studies and materials for further clarification.

What Does Terrorism Accomplish? Economic, Psychological, and Political Consequences of Terrorism

This chapter considers the consequences of terrorism. This is the area where with the least research. The chapter offers the author's interpretation of the literature, referring along the way to some of the work that has been done. It focuses first on the economic consequences of terrorist attacks. Then the chapter turns to their psychological consequences, followed by some comments about the role of the media. It also puts the threat of terrorism into perspective by comparing it with other risks that we as a nation have faced and placing it in historical context. Finally, the chapter discusses the political impact of terrorism on the target country.

Introduction

This introductory chapter looks at the state of discourse on terrorism following the September 11 attacks. Although there is a certain surface appeal to blaming economic circumstances and lack of education for terrorist acts, the evidence is nearly unanimous in rejecting either material deprivation or inadequate education as an important cause of support for terrorism or of participation in terrorist activities. The popular explanations for terrorism—poverty, lack of education, or the catchall “they hate our way of life and freedom”—simply have no systematic empirical basis. These explanations have been embraced almost entirely on faith, not scientific evidence. The chapter presents a case which argues against the popular explanations.

Who Becomes a Terrorist? Characteristics of Individual Participants in Terrorism

This chapter asks why individuals participate in terrorism. It looks at their characteristics and considers whether or not we can infer something about their motivation, the causes behind their participation, from their characteristics and family backgrounds. The chapter argues that poor economic conditions do not seem to motivate people to participate in terrorist activities. This holds true in cases from both the societal and the individual level, the latter of which is this chapter's focus. This chapter describes research conducted at the country level, discussing the characteristics of countries that are either havens for terrorists or targets of terrorists.

Afterword

This concluding chapter returns to the major themes presented in this book. It also addresses some recent studies and analyses on terrorism. In addition to these, the chapter reflects on the question of “what makes a homegrown terrorist.” Next, it considers reviews of this work as a whole and takes a look at the public discourse on terrorism, which it states to be mixed. Despite this, however, the chapter notes that American officials continue to exploit the public's fear of terrorists. It argues that public officials should not raise the specter of terrorist acts occurring within specified time periods unless they have an empirical basis for doing so.

Where Does Terror Emerge? Economic and Political Conditions and Terrorism

This chapter considers the macro evidence on terrorism, at the society or country level. It begins by discussing the data that the U.S. government collects on international terrorism. In the course of the chapter's research, it was quickly discovered that there is a burning need for better data on the frequency and lethality of terrorist activity, underscored by the entertaining but ultimately sad anecdote included here. This anecdote recounts how the government bungled the assembly of its most authoritative data on terrorism. The chapter nevertheless analyzes the imperfect data that are available and concludes with a summary of some new evidence on foreign insurgents in Iraq.