| My dissertation analyzes the assumptions that undergird what I call the Strategic Model, the dominant paradigm on terrorist behavior, motives, and counterterrorism strategy. This model holds that (1) terrorism effectively coerces government concessions; (2) groups adopt terrorism to maximize their political return; and (3) the international community can therefore combat terrorism by divesting its political utility relative to nonviolence via peace processes, democracy promotion, or a strict no concessions policy to terrorism. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, my research demonstrates that (1) terrorism is an extremely ineffective instrument of coercion; (2) terrorist groups do not even approximate so-called political utility maximizers; and (3) counterterrorism strategies that are based on reducing terrorism's political utility will therefore not work on any systematic basis. |
