Argumentative Essay On Counter Terrorism

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Research Question If a state uses deterrence by means of threat they will have an increased success in their counter terrorism strategies. This may be seen more affective as well in smaller organizations that do not have a lot of resources. Argument I believe that if a state threatens a terrorist organization, the terrorist organization will be less inclined to complete their desired attack on the state if they are a smaller organization that does not have many resources and also it the state uses the correct cost benefit analysis when creating the threat so make sure that the threat is affective. Theory or Mechanism Smaller organizations with less resources do not have the man power or the financial backing to properly combat an attack …show more content…

Deterrence by punishment relies on threatening to harm something an adversary values. For example,“During the Cold War, Washington threatened to attack Moscow, and Moscow, Washington. Both were deterred because of the costs associated with initiating an attack.” ( Wilner) While the means of creating an affecting deterrence strategy may be a complicated matter as it involves the calculus of punishment of the potential costs of inaction on the part of the challenger. “While pursuing an unwanted action may result in punishment, acquiescing to a deterrent might also carry a cost. In order to be effective, then, a punishment must carry more weight than the cost of inaction in the challenger’s calculus” …show more content…

As there have been researchers that express their disbelief that any forms of deterrence are affective towards any size or capability of a terrorist organization. “Generally skeptics think that terrorist organizations are not rational decision makers. There is a fundamentalist religiosity that negates rational decision making so therefore deterrence strategies wouldn’t work. There is also a thought that there is no way to truly deter terrorist organizations as they lack a returning address and they are willing to die for their cause. There is the idea that “fanaticism creates diverging contextualization’s and a penchant for risk-accepting, maximalist, and resolute behavior; an individual who actualizes a splendid life after death fears neither retaliation nor punishment”

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