NCJ Number
218402
Journal
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume: 30 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2007 Pages: 429-443
Date Published
May 2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article offers a theoretical examination of the notions of deterrence and risk taking in relation to the state’s response to terrorist actors who engage in martyr-style operations, such as suicide bombing.
Abstract
Deterrence approaches that fall within the category of deterrence by denial seem to be most effective, although the authors concede that the complexities of martyr-style terrorist operations requires far more research in terms of the discovery of effective deterrence strategies. The main argument is that there is no one best policy regarding state action toward the deterrence of martyr-style terrorist attacks. The analysis lends support to the position that the focus of debate, discussion, and policy should be on how to contain or reduce terrorist actions through passive defenses and the denial of access to potential targets (deterrence by denial). In making this argument, the authors first offer a brief review of the rational choice approach to criminal deterrence and illustrate how the approach can be adapted to the deterrence of terrorist actions. However, the effectiveness of approaching terrorist deterrence in this manner rests on the components of deterrence theory that are used and how they are adapted to terrorist actions. Several types of deterrence approaches are described, including deterrence by punishment, deterrence by reward, deterrence by denial, and deterrence by diversion. Table, notes, references