| Counterterrorism efforts in the short term are comprised of military and law enforcement activity (not least those focused on capturing or killing malicious actors). However, in the long term, such activity may not be sufficient to reduce the creation of the next generation of terrorists, and efforts must be made to prevent individuals from turning to terrorism in the first place. Previous analyses and discussions of this subject have suggested that individuals turn to terrorism because of factors such as impediments to democratic institutions or poor economic conditions. This paper analyzes the country of origin of terrorists to test the hypothesis that rule of law contributes to the development of terrorist proclivities and finds that weak rule of law is a contributing factor in generating terrorists. This paper also discusses the implications for resource allocation in a post-conflict reconstruction environment, where rule of law conditions are more malleable and counterterrorism represents a salient interest. |
