Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Geographic Research Questions and Agendas

Abstract

The analysis of contemporary terrorism and related policy prescriptions both suffer from a lack of geographical understanding. This short article engages terrorist studies by outlining: (1) the importance of geohistorical context in understanding the causes of contemporary terrorism, especially the role of the United States as hegemonic power; (2) the spatiality of terrorist networks; and (3) the potentially negative efficacy of existing counterterrorist policies given the interaction of terrorist networks and state sovereignty. Finally, a call is made for comparative studies of terrorism and greater interaction between political geography and peace and conflict studies.

*Thanks to Lorraine Dowler and Ian Oas for their comments and conversations, as well as Susan Cutter, Doug Richardson, Tom Wilbanks, and the rest of the participants in the AAG/NSF workshop “The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism.” Thank you, too, to the reviewers. Of course, the burden of responsibility for errors and omissions is my own.

Key Words:

• counterterrorism
• political geography
• terrorism

Notes

*Thanks to Lorraine Dowler and Ian Oas for their comments and conversations, as well as Susan Cutter, Doug Richardson, Tom Wilbanks, and the rest of the participants in the AAG/NSF workshop “The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism.” Thank you, too, to the reviewers. Of course, the burden of responsibility for errors and omissions is my own.

¹See Hoffman (1998) for the problems with such definitions.