Sandler and Rosendorff
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College Leads International Discussion on Terrorism
By Nicole St.Pierre
As a USC College economist, Todd Sandler studies the cyclical pattern
of terrorism. A chart in his office reveals the number of transnational
terrorism incidents—and associated deaths—that have attacked U.S.
interests since 1968. The outliers—spikes caused by particularly devastating events such as 9/11—command his attention.
“Since the end of the Cold War, the number of terrorism incidents is down, but the incidents are more lethal,” he says.
It is these patterns that fascinate—and disturb—scholars like Sandler.
Since the four hijackings on 9/11, international terrorism has been at
the forefront of the public consciousness. Why and how terrorists
strike is a question that scholars of mathematics, economics,
international relations and other disciplines are trying to answer.
For three days in April, top-scholars from around the world converged
on USC College to participate in a high-level academic conference to
discuss the political economy of international terrorism.
College economists, policy analysts and political scientists discussed
with their peers from Columbia, Yale, the Wharton School of Business,
University of Patras in Greece and other places, how resources can be
better allocated to deter terrorism, what motivates terrorists and what
nation-states can do to stop or at least ameliorate such violence.
The event was sponsored by the Center for International Studies (CIS)
at USC and is emblematic of the interdisciplinary nature of College
research. A diverse group of scholars—mathematicians, economists,
political scientists and experts of international relations—presented
papers that will be published in a special issue of Journal of Conflict
Resolution next year. Some of the papers analyzed how national security
has changed since 9/11 and whether democracy promotes transnational
terrorism. Other papers sought to explain cycles of terrorist violence
and determinants of terrorist activity by modeling attack occurrences
across space and time.
“This was the first academic conference on terrorism research in USC
College’s history,” says Peter Rosendorff, Director of CIS, who
organized the conference along with Sandler. “It shows how the
College is taking the lead on emerging issues that directly impact
society.” Rosendorff is an associate professor of international
relations and economics in the College.
Sandler, holder of the Robert R. and Katheryn A. Dockson Chair in
Economics and International Relations, has been studying the dynamics
of international terrorism for decades.
“Terrorism is a very complex topic. To make a valuable
contribution to the field, it is important to include economic modelers
and scholars who conduct empirical research,” says Sandler, who
recently received a prestigious award from the National Academy of
Sciences. The award is given once every three years for research that
advances understanding of issues relating to the risk of nuclear war.
“From hostage negotiations to the installation of technological
barriers, such as metal detectors and embassy fortification, economics
models can provide many policy insights.”
“Since 1968, forty percent of all incidents have been against the U.S.,
but very few of these occurred on U.S. soil,” says Sandler.
“Until 2001, far more Americans were killed by lightning in any year
than were killed by all forms of international terrorism.”
But it’s the outliers on his chart, like 9/11, that Sandler strives to better understand.
“Creating a high powered intellectual environment that brought
together top people in this field, put all of us a step closer to
making policy recommendations to government and other groups about how
to best deal with and deter transnational terrorism,” says Rosendorff.
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