Foreign and defense policy is typically affected by complex issues that can benefit from advanced social science methodologies. In this paper we identify a salient set of issues and the contribution—current and potential—that the main analytical approaches and methods from computational social science might bring to bear on such issues. The issues consist of terrorism, WMD proliferation, state ...

Small Island Tourism Economies (SITEs) differ significantly in their size, location, political systems, historical experience, economic prospects, ecological fragility, and vulnerability to ethnic conflicts, crime, and the threat of global terrorism. Given these differences, a careful analysis of country risk and its components for the SITEs is of great interest to private tourism operators and...

The literature makes clear that foreign policy affects voting, but it does not lead to clear expectations as to how a war will affect voting. Will views about the advisability of the war predominate? Or will the indirect effect through the incumbent’s image be more important? Will a war crowd out other potential issues, particularly domestic ones? This paper addresses these questions through a ...

In the contemporary political climate, terrorism and insurgency are often exploited to an alarming degree by political figures keen to take advantage of a practice that has become ever increasingly equated with innate evil. If we are to believe this common depiction of terrorism, then terrorism is always wrong, and is committed for no other reason than to do harm for harm's sake. However, it is...

Trade in livestock and livestock products makes up approximately one sixth of global agriculture trade. This trade is demand driven, primarily by growing human populations, changing economies, and consumer preferences in developing countries. Different rates of population growth, economic growth, urbanisation, environmental sustainability, and technology transfer will determine which countries ...

This paper finds that political freedom has a significant and non-linear effect on domestic terrorism, but this effect is not significant in the case of transnational terrorism. Some of our other novel findings are that while geography and fractionalization may limit a county’s ability to curb terrorism, the presence of strong legal institutions deters it. JEL classification codes: D74, H56

This paper indicates how economic analysis can be applied for enlightened policy making with respect to transnational terrorism. Both theoretical tools (e.g., game theory and utilitymaximizing models) and empirical techniques (e.g., time series and spectral analysis) are used to put modern-day terrorism into perspective and to suggest policy responses. From hostage negotiations to the installat...

The post-9/11 war against terrorism has increased international attention to illicit drug business as a source of terrorist financing. For politicians and the media, the contentious term narcoterrorism has become fashionable. While the term implies a full merger between terrorism and drug business, the interrelationship between them is more accurately described in terms of linkages. As terroris...

In this work we attempt to develop a game theoretic model that can indicate the nuances of strategic investments in the face of possible cyber terrorist attacks. First, we briefly review the literature on terrorism. Second, we identify the „cyber‟ factors in terrorism, and how this new mode of attack alters the general scenario. Then, beginning with a naïve counter terrorism model, we increment...