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Comparative Politics : Terrorism Edition

Decent Essays

Comparative Politics: Terrorism Edition
Over the last couple of decades, terrorism has risen from near-obscurity to become a commonly held fear among members of society. Up until the late 90’s, incidents of terrorism never rose past 500. The numbers spiked the years following, reaching over 6,500 in 2006. (Mohamed, Roser) No longer can we dismiss acts of terrorism as irrelevant or isolated incidents. At first glance, terrorism seems irrational with motives too diverse to narrow down. For the sake of our lives and the safety of future generations, we must find ways to explain terrorism and discover ways we can stop its reign of terror in modern society. Answering these questions call for an examination and application of rationalist, culturalist, and structuralist approaches, as well as thorough investigation into a mixed design case study regarding the issue.
A rational approach method can explain terrorism by identifying responsiveness to incentives, narrow self-interest, and rational expectations underlying the motivations of terrorists as individuals. We know that Mohammed, for instance, promises paradise to all who fall in “a holy war”. (Caplan) Once we identify what these cultures value and believe, we can begin to understand the rational thought process behind these acts of terror. The independent variable would be ‘the general degree of radicalism’ and the dependent would be ‘terrorism incidents’.
Most terrorism attacks in the past decade have taken place in the

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