Understanding the Irregularities of Global Terrorism Incidents
Abstract
This study seeks to explain underlying causes of the persistence of terrorism incidents worldwide. A dataset (1970-2013) from the Global Terrorism Database of the University of Maryland was used through new methodologies embedded in a fractal analysis. Fractal analysis enables one to discover essential differences between the most frequently occurring values and the least occurring values, in effect, describing the emergent ruggedness of the data. Such ruggedness is summarized in terms of a quantity called fractal dimension. The fractality of the terrorist incidents was determined for the decades 1970-1979, 19801989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009 and 2010-2013. When the datasets of countries with the most significant events were compared per decade, a pattern showed that the common cause for the occurrence of the terrorist incident can be attributed to the marginalization of people/groups and economic discrimination. Further analysis also showed that other causes are associated with the marginalization issues that may be a result of interweaving factors relating to or encompassing economic, political, religious, cultural/historical, and ideological causes. Also, terrorism incidents can be explained utilizing the concept of detente as an alternative to the concept of balance of power.
Keywords:
Fractal analysis, détente, balance of power, terrorism, marginalization
References
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Cain, G. (1984). The economics of discrimination. Focus, 7 (2). Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Crenshaw, M. (1981). The causes of terrorism. Comparative Politics, 13 (4), 379-399.
Enders, W., & T. Sandler. (2012). The political economy of terrorism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gassebner, M., & Lucchinger, S. (2011). Lock, stock, and barrel: A comprehensive assessment of the determinants of terror. Public Choice. 149 (3-4). 1459-1510.
Gunn, J.T. (2002). The complexity of religion in determining refugee status. Emory University, USA.
Hobbes, T. (1651). Leviathan. C.B. Macpherson, (Ed).
Hoffman, B. (2006). Inside terrorism. Revised ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
Krueger, A. & Maleckova, J. (2003). Education, poverty, and terrorism: Is there a casual connection? J Econ Perspect, 17(4), 119-144.
LaFree, G., & L. Dugan. (2007). Introducing the global terrorism database. Terrorism and Political Violence, 19 (2), 181-204.
Leonard, P. (1984). Personality and ideology: Towards a materialist understanding of the individual. London: Macmillan.
Macduff, I., 2004. Terrorism and conflict resolution: Working paper 18/04. Center for Strategic Studies. Victoria University of Wellington. RAND. (2012).
RAND database of worldwide terrorism incidents. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org./nsrd/projects/terrorism-incidents.html
Sandler, T. (2014). The analytical study of terrorism: Taking stock. J Peace Res. 51 (2), 257-271.
Waldmann, P. (2001). Terrorismus: Provokation der macht. Munchen: Gerling Akademie Verlag.
Wilkinson, P. (1986). Terrorism and the liberal state. Revised edition. London: Frank Cass.
White, B., (1981). The concept of détente. Rev. Int. Stud, 7, 165-171.
Published
2017-05-25
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2017 Asia Pacific Journal of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Copyright holder is the Bukidnon State University.
