More Freedom, Less Terror?

Liberalization and Political Violence in the Arab World

Dalia Dassa Kaye, Frederic Wehrey, Audra K. Grant, Dale Stahl

ResearchPublished Sep 9, 2008

In the wake of September 11 through the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a key tenet of U.S. foreign policy has been that promoting democracy in the Arab world is an important strategy in reducing terrorism; at the same time, some policymakers and analysts have held that democracy has nothing to do with terrorism — or even that the growth of democracy in the Middle East may exacerbate political violence. However, scant empirical evidence links democracy to terrorism, positively or negatively. This study examines whether such links exist by exploring the effects of liberalization processes on political violence in Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco from 1991 to 2006. Drawing on data on the incidence of terrorist violence, extensive fieldwork and interviews in each of the six countries, and primary and secondary literature from and about each country, Kaye et al. find that political reforms have, in some instances, helped to marginalize and undercut extremist actors, but that these effects tend to be short-lived if reforms fail to produce tangible results. Moreover, when regimes backtrack on even limited openings, the risks of instability and violence increase.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2008
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 226
  • Paperback Price: $39.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 978-0-8330-4508-9
  • Document Number: MG-772-RC

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RAND Style Manual
Kaye, Dalia Dassa, Frederic Wehrey, Audra K. Grant, and Dale Stahl, More Freedom, Less Terror? Liberalization and Political Violence in the Arab World, RAND Corporation, MG-772-RC, 2008. As of September 17, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG772.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Kaye, Dalia Dassa, Frederic Wehrey, Audra K. Grant, and Dale Stahl, More Freedom, Less Terror? Liberalization and Political Violence in the Arab World. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2008. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG772.html. Also available in print form.
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