Democracy vs. Terrorism: A Reality Check

Study shows democratic reforms not a panacea in stopping terrorism.

As the world’s foremost secular progressive society the United States has great faith in the power of democracy to mitigate if not cure most of the world’s ills, terrorism among them. Though short-term tactics for counterterrorism include a mix of law enforcement, military, intelligence, and diplomacy, the long-term goal of eliminating terrorism ultimately comes down strategically, most of us implicitly seem to believe, to draining the “swamp” of failed, dictatorial states from which terrorist networks grow.

A new study by the Rand Corporation entitled More Freedom, Less Terror? Liberalization and Political Violence in the Arab World attempts to examine that philosophical premise empirically, addressing the question of precisely what impact the establishment of democratic forms of governance has had on terrorist activity in six Arab states- Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco. Click here to see full report. ....