A Backlash against the West? Assessing the Relationship between the Collective Strain of Globalization and International Terrorism

• In Event: Roundtable: Domestic and International Terrorism

Abstract

The globalization of neoliberal economic policies leads to unequal global development by declining democracy in periphery nations, creating flexible labor, increasing the commodification of people, and increasing environmental degradation with extraction of raw materials. Additionally, the global spread of a homogeneous capitalist culture promotes consumerism, competition, and disrupts local cultural systems. The aim of this paper is to address the relationship between globalization and terrorism within Agnew’s general strain theory. Viewing globalization as a collective strain, we assess how Western cultural and economic influence affects international terrorist attacks targeting the United States and interests of the United States. With the disruption of culture and the destruction of economic sovereignty, international terrorist organizations use attacks as a reactionary mechanism against globalization and as a backlash against the west. In order to address our research questions, we use globalization indicators from the KOF globalization index, the group grievance indicator from the fragile state index, and the Political Violence against America report from The Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since terrorist attacks targeting the Unites States are rare, this study uses Poisson regression. Additionally, we use qualitative comparative analysis on a sample of the countries to draw further descriptive inferences regarding this relationship.

Authors

• Kelly Glenn Godwin, North Carolina State University

• Nicholas J. Membrez-Weiler, North Carolina State University

• Jennifer R. Lutz, North Carolina State University