Exploring Counterterrorism in the Middle East and North Africa: A New Data Set
52 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2011 Last revised: 26 Aug 2011
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
How effective is repression relative to more conciliatory counterterrorist policies? The literature on counterterrorism identifies multiple different expectations about the relationship between repression and terrorist attacks. On the one hand, some scholars argue that repression reduces terrorism. Others argue that repressive policies exacerbate grievances that motivate people to use terrorism. Still others expect more complex effects, with certain types of selective repression achieving reductions in terrorist violence. These contradictory findings may result from several key problems with existing counterterrorism data. In this study, we discuss these problems and introduce an original data set designed to overcome them. The data set, developed using automated machine coding, identifies daily events data on a full range of counterterrorism tactics and policies in five MENA countries from 1988 through 2004. These data will allow us to assess the relative effects of the different policies on the trajectory of terrorism in these countries. Although our results are descriptive, we conclude by identifying the scholarly and policy implications of our research.
Keywords: terrorism, counterterrorism, repression, dissent, Middle East
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation