Thousands of individuals employed within the Russian nuclear complex - many of whom have knowledge and access to nuclear materials - receive salaries that are barely at subsistence level, raising the possibility that they might be susceptible to offers from anyone in the market to buy nuclear components" (Deutch, 1997).
5. Economic Consequences
It is generally a habit of the terrorist groups to target international powers in order to make their statement. But these international powers have extremely strong economies, and most importantly, extremely diverse. What this means, is that even if a terrorist attack would affect one economic sector, the large diversity of operations and revenues would be able to support the economic revival of the affected sector and support the country's economic growth (Sandler and Enders, 2005). However, one cannot rely on this premise as it is most applicable at a macroeconomic level. On a microeconomic level, the internal strength of the economy can be easily affected.
After an attack has occurred, certain businesses are expected to flourish while others could encounter difficulties. A sector which integrates in both categories is the insurance industry (OECD, 2002). To better explain, after the incident has occurred, many insured individuals are expected to cash in their insurance money, placing as such the company in a situation of financial difficulty. On the other hand, a large number of uninsured individuals could be frightened by the devastating effects of the attack and open life insurance policies, which would then pour a lot of money into the insurance company.
Two other major economic implications refer to the creation of a large federal debt due to investments in the military and the raising of trade barriers (OECD, 2002). In terms of international trade, the affected country could also suffer several changes. In this particular instance, the natural reaction would be to better supervise the merchandize and transports entering the country's territory. This could eventually materialize in the raising of trade barriers and the creation of a trade deficit, all for the economic detriment of the country. Then, like in the case of the U.S., the officials in the attacked country would be most likely willing to invest more in the state security and defense, placing as such large sums of money into the military, in the detriment of other sectors, and generating a record high federal debt.
6. Conclusions
Terrorism is quickly becoming a threat to the international safety and its most devastating feature is that it targets innocent civilians. However no justification for the acts can be found, the terrorist are often driven by their sense of well-doing in the...
Even if the international position in regard to terrorism is rather clear, no specific act or laws exist to prevent and punish these crimes. Foremost, however this is not the intention of the global context, it has developed certain features that increase the opportunity costs of becoming the member of a terrorist organization.
Aside from the social and political implications of terrorists acts, communities are also subjected to changes in the economic environment, which most often becomes weaker and more vulnerable. The primary aim of these attacks is to make a clear statement and to achieve the desired goals through political pressures. But since an internationally generalized response to the attacks has yet to be developed, each country reacts as they find most suitable.
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