Effect of a Terrorist Leader's Background on Group Violence

• In Event: Terrorism

Abstract

How does a terrorist leader’s educational and military background influence their group's use of violence? Existing research on lethality looks primarily at group and state level factors, with little work looking at a group’s leader. Existing work on leadership primarily looks at leadership turnover and how a leader lost office (i.e. death, arrest, etc). We argue that just as a state leader’s background influences their conflict propensity, a terrorist leader’s background shapes their perceptions of the utility of force and how best to use it. We argue that those with military backgrounds are less likely to engage in civilian targeting and engage in less lethal violence than those with civilian backgrounds. We also theorize that their educational background shapes how they perceive the types of targets that are most strategic. We empirically examine these 2 theoretical arguments with data collected on biographical data of terrorist leaders. Empirical results on the military and education level provide support about the types of targets that are chosen and the lethality of an organization.

Authors

• Brian Lai, University of Iowa

• Stephen C. Nemeth, Oklahoma State University