Weak states and the incidence of fatal terrorism attacks

Counter Terrorism

Annotated Bibliography

Tikuisis, P. (2009). On the relationship between weak states and terrorism. Behavioral Sciences

of Terrorism and Political Aggression. 1(1): 66-79

The study examined the relationship between weak nation states and terrorism. The researcher engaged in this research because of the inconclusive nature of the studies in the discipline and more specifically the lack of empirical support for the relationship. The work examined two major hypotheses firstly "weak states experience a higher incidence of fatal terrorism than non-weak states, irrespective of major terrorist groups." Secondly, the "presence of major terrorist groups present a global security threat if the groups export their violence." Consequently the variables of interest to the researcher were weak states, fatal terrorism, terrorist incidents, and global security. The work identifies the odds of a state receiving an attack but it is unable to address the issue of predicting future trends or which types of states are most likely to become weak states. The author used the Failed State Index (FSI) to identify failed states this enhanced the validity or the work. Through the use of quantitative methodology aids supports the validity of the work as well as its reliability. The challenge to the works validity occurs because of the role given to violence in the FSI. The absence or presence of violence is insufficient to classify a state as failed or otherwise. The researcher found that close 50% of all failed states have terrorist attacks. This is exemplified by an odds ratio of 3:1 when compared to more stable states.