Government Actions in Terror Environments: Moving Beyond Deterrence Laura Dugan, University of Maryland Erica Chenoweth, University of Denver September 18, 2014 This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate s Office of University Programs and Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division (HFD) through START. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations presented here are solely the authors and are not representative of DHS or the United States Government.
Punishment and Rewards Specific Punishment Repressive Actions Discriminate repression directed toward the guilty (direct deterrence) Rewards Conciliatory Actions Discriminate conciliation directed toward the guilty (direct benefits of abstention) General Indiscriminate repression directed toward relevant civilians in general (indirect deterrence) Indiscriminate conciliation directed toward relevant civilians in general (indirect benefits of abstention)
ACTION National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism What Governments Do Matters Discriminate TARGET Repressive Conciliatory ACTOR TYPE Indiscriminate Justice Police Politician Military Material Nonmaterial
Conciliatory-Repressive Scale 1. Accommodation 2. Conciliatory action 3. Conciliatory statement or intention 4. Neutral or ambiguous 5. Verbal conflict 6. Physical conflict 7. Extreme repression (intent to kill)
3- Tiered Data Collection Strategy 1. Literature Search 2. Textual Analysis by Augmented Replacement Instructions (TABARI) Searches lead sentences of news sources based on complex dictionary that specifies subject, verb, and object (actor-action-target), using CAMEO codes Filters observations into a database Keeps all action by state actors against sub-state actors Auto code in SAS according to assigned action 3. Human review of auto coding
Actions Captured by TABARI Accommodation/Full Concessions Withdrew from town Signed peace accord Handed town to Palestinians Conciliatory Action Met to discuss Released Lifted curfew Pulled out Investigate abuse Conciliatory Statement or Intensions Expressed optimism Agreed to hold talks Praised Palestinians Expressed desire to cooperate Admitted mistake Neutral or Ambiguous Infighting over Failed to reach agreement Host a visit Appealed for third party assistance Investigating Verbal Conflict Make pessimistic comment Dismissed Blame for attack Deny responsibility Threaten military force Physical Conflict Demolished Barred Sealed off Imposed Curfew Arrested Extreme Repression (deaths) Shot dead Fired missiles Clashed with Raided Helicopter attack
Total Actions by Governments 1988-2004 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 6,063 GATE Actions 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 1,856 624 680 307 Israel Egypt Algeria Turkey Lebanon
Government Actions and Terrorism Over Time by Type Israel Egypt Algeria Turkey Lebanon
Conclusions From Analysis of GATE-Israel (Dugan & Chenoweth 2012) Repression/punishment more likely to be related to increases in terrorism Conciliation/rewards more likely to be related to decreases in terrorism Effects are most pronounced when actions affect constituency Tactical regime matters Do these findings hold in other Middle Eastern Countries?
Hazard Ratio Hazard Ratio National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism Conciliatory & Repressive Significant Hazard Ratios Conciliatory Actions Repressive Actions 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Number of Conciliatory Actions Last Month Turkey 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Egypt Israel Turkey 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 Number of Repressive Government Actions Last Month
Conclusions Dynamics differ across countries Egypt and Algeria differ The benefits of conciliatory acts seem to be cumulative. Repressive acts are positively associated with terrorism (backlash) Indiscriminate actions appear to have a stronger impact CONSTITUENCIES MATTER
MAKING GATE-USA National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism
Primary Characteristic of Most GATE Countries One overarching domestic terrorist threat with identifiable constituency Israel: Palestinians Turkey: Kurds Egypt & Algeria: Islamists Lebanon: Hezbollah (Shia Moslems) Sri Lanka: Tamils The United States does not have that
Complication for GATE-USA Multiple Threats Local Jihadi cells Right Wing Extremists Environmental Anti-Abortion Attacks Against US Interests Overseas Unidentifiable Constituency The Saliency of Issues Change with Presidential Administration Bush Sr. was pro-immigration reform Today, immigration is a right-wing extremists trigger point Strategy: Focus on policy issues and actions by key federal institutions that are relevant to constituencies of these terrorist threats.
Key Federal Institutions The White House Congress US Department of State Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Justice Department of Defense Central Intelligence Agency Department of Homeland Security Transportation Safety Administration National Counterterrorism Center National Security Agency
A Very Large Number of Actions, June 1987 - December 2012 1,980,197 total Reuters News stories 892,332 TABARI selected stories 56,961 filtered in SAS to be hand coded Reagan 1,333 Bush Sr. 6,192 Clinton 23,835 Bush Jr. 21,158 Obama 4,443
Actions Captured by TABARI in GATE- Conciliatory Action Donated Ended operation Intercepted vessel Conciliatory Statement or Intensions Hosted summit Met with Palestinians Approved ceasefire Neutral or Ambiguous Advised Investigated Telephoned USA Verbal Conflict Condemned shootings Rejected appeal Consider national gun licensing system Discourage separatists Physical Conflict Found guilty Arrested Filed charges against Extreme Repression (deaths) Killed
Example Clinton Actions The United States Wednesday protested PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat's call for a "jihad" to liberate Jerusalem but later said it was satisfied with his explanation of his controversial remarks. Repressive toward Jihadi threat In an effort to "shut the door on illegal immigration," U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno announced a six-point initiative Saturday she hopes will stem the tide. Conciliatory toward rightwing threat
Number of Actions National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism Types of US Government Actions, December 1993 September 1994 140 126 120 100 94 80 60 40 42 20 12 11 0 Conciliatory Action Conciliatory Statement or Intentions Neutral or Ambiguous Verbal Conflict Physical Conflict Extreme Repression (deaths) 1
Number of Actions National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism Actions Relevant to Terrorist Threats, December 1993 September 1994 180 168 160 140 120 100 88 80 60 40 20 0 11 4 15 Anti-Abortion Environmental General Jihadi Right-Wing Extremism
Number of Actions National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism Number of Actions Over Time, December 1993 September 1994 30 25 conciliatory repressive 20 15 10 5 0 Dec-93 Jan-94 Feb-94 Mar-94 Apr-94 May-94 Jun-94 Jul-94 Aug-94 Sep-94 Month
Number of Actions National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism Actions Relevant to Threats, December 1993 September 1994 40 35 30 Anti-Abortion Environmental General Jihadi Right-Wing Extremism 25 20 15 10 5 0 Dec-93 Jan-94 Feb-94 Mar-94 Apr-94 May-94 Jun-94 Jul-94 Aug-94 Sep-94 Month
Number of Actions National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism Actions Relevant to Right-Wing and Jihadi Threats, December 1993 September 1994 25 20 Jihadi-concilatory Jihadi-repressive Right-wing concilatory Right-wing repressive 15 10 5 0 Dec-93 Jan-94 Feb-94 Mar-94 Apr-94 May-94 Jun-94 Jul-94 Aug-94 Sep-94 Month
Contact Dr. Laura Dugan ldugan@umd.edu www.start.umd.edu