The Economics of Terrorism: A Perspective on Terrorist Brutality

What is it about?

Brutality is the defining characteristic of terrorism. It is despairing to learn that this brutality is the outcome of purposeful, rational, human behaviour. In this purposefulness, however, there lies the key to the interpretation, explanation and understanding of terrorist behaviour. Ultimately, it is in this purposefulness that we shall also find the key to overcoming terrorism. Economic analysis highlights this purposefulness, this rationality, and in doing so provides a different perspective from which to approach the threat of terrorism and the task of pre-empting and pursuing its perpetrators. This book develops this economic perspective within a series of important contexts, each characterised by particular types of terrorist behaviour, choices and strategies. In "The Economics of Terrorism" I have tried to develop new insights regarding how to deal with such challenges as the terrorist group’s choice of attack method and target location, terrorist financing and ‘copycat’ behaviour. Each of these is placed within an overarching theoretical framework which is used, in the penultimate chapter, to explain the importance of brutality to a terrorist's survival as a terrorist and the ways in which decisions regarding the deployment of brutal attack methods are consistent with cycles in brutality.

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Why is it important?

Unfortunately, although brutality is a defining characteristic of terrorism and is the rational operational objective each time a terrorist or terrorist group sets out to perpetrate an act of terrorism, the implications of 'rational brutality' have not been explored. In this book, I place the brutality of terrorism, the operational objective to inflict injuries and fatalities, into a theoretical framework and use that framework to develop insights that may be used by law enforcement and security agencies. This continues our development of 'investigative economics'.

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