What is it about?
Lone wolf terrorists make choices about where to attack, when to attack and which attack method to use. The lone wolf's opportunities can be delineated and the choices that he might make from the opportunity set can be identified. The same theoretical framework that allows us to accomplish this also provides some indications about how the lone wolf might behave over time. As his successes or failures accumulate, he will change his engagement in terrorism, sometimes engaging in more frequent attacks, sometimes disengaging for a considerable period of time.
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Why is it important?
Terrorism and lone wolf terrorism represent significant law enforcement challenges. Clear theoretical frameworks can be built on a foundation of economic theory. These frameworks can be used by law enforcement to better understand the actions that terrorists take and how those actions may change over time. Economic analysis can contribute directly to the investigative process.
Perspectives
This represents some tentative steps towards the development an 'investigative economics' capable of application by law enforcement within the investigative process, especially within the terrorism context. The paper has some close parallels with the investigative psychology or profiling techniques from criminology but at the time of writing I did not have this work in mind. The ideas developed quickly, however, and with my co-author, we were able to write "Economic Profiling of the Lone Wolf Terrorist" the following year. The ideas explored in both of these papers are more fully developed in my 2013 book, "In Pursuit of the Lone Wolf Terrorist."
Dr Peter J Phillips
University of Southern Queensland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Lone Wolf Terrorism, Peace Economics Peace Science and Public Policy, January 2011, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.2202/1554-8597.1207.
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