Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Geographic Research Questions and Agendas

By Colin Flint

The Professional Geographer. Forthcoming, 2003.

The analysis of contemporary terrorism and related policy prescriptions both suffer from a lack of geographical understanding. This short essay engages terrorist studies by outlining: 1) the importance of geohistorical context in understanding the causes of contemporary terrorism, especially the role of the United States as hegemonic power; 2) the spatiality of terrorist newtworks; and 3) the potentially negative efficacy of existing counter-terrorist policies given the interaction of terrorist networks and state sovereignty. Finally, a call is made for comparative studies of terrorism and greater interaction between political geography and peace and conflict studies.

Keywords: Terrorism, counter-terrorism, political geography.