The U.s. Foreign Terrorist Organization List as a Counterterrorism Mechanism
Open Access
- Author:
- Shupp, Laura Beth
- Area of Honors:
- Political Science
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Peter Kent Forster, Thesis Supervisor
James A Piazza, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Terrorism
Counterterrorism
Middle East
attacks
ideology
sanctions
operations - Abstract:
- This study applies an intervention model of both regression analyses and historical case evidence for a period of five years before selected Middle East-based terrorist organizations are added to the Department of State’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list up to the 2011 or the year it was delisted. It identifies ideological, financial, and operational transference of terrorist events in reaction to its designation to the FTO. My time-series model investigates the changing pattern of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations’ goals for all recorded incidents occurring at a local, state, and global level. While I find statistically significant evidence of increased aggression post-FTO designation for religiously-based organizations, I find that it has little effect on politically motivated organizations. Furthermore, I find increased significance for both religious and secular organizations when I consider financial sanctions and historical events that take place simultaneously. Terrorist organizations with the primary motive of becoming a political actor will generally decrease attacks and soften ideological doctrines once the FTO designation is applied. Nevertheless, it is uncertain to what magnitude this occurs. Last, I find that financial sanctions have little effect on terrorist organizations with diverse financial sources. The FTO list alone is not an efficient tool in countering terrorism; however, it may be considered an effective part of a comprehensive counterterrorism policy.