The Dog that Doesn't Bark

Abstract:

Pointing out "the explosion of research on terrorism and non-state political violence in the decade following the September 11 attacks" has become almost a mandatory acknowledgement in articles about terrorism and civil war. Even if it is a tired truism, it at least has the virtue of being true. Sparked by a dominant policy interest, personal motivation and funding that was not available previously, many researchers, including the author of this piece, were spurred and enabled to ask old questions with new resources about the how's, the why's, and the why not's of violence.