Threat Perception, Non-State Actors, and U.S. Military Intervention after 9/11
| dc.contributor.author | Perez, Luis Ricardo | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Stivachtis, Yannis A. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeechair | Pourchot, Georgeta V. | en |
| dc.contributor.committeemember | Dixit, Priya | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Political Science | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-10-20T08:00:28Z | en |
| dc.date.available | 2016-10-20T08:00:28Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 2016-10-19 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | By some accounts, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) created a paradigm shift in American foreign policy whereby terrorist organizations receive a lot more attention than they did prior to 9/11, especially in terms of U.S. military intervention. Moreover, some argue that this represents a shift in international politics whereby non-state actors have more power than they did before 9/11. However, others maintain that terrorism in the post-9/11 era is indicative of continuity in international politics. They argue that despite any of the immediate consequences of using military force to respond to the 9/11 attacks, the distribution of capabilities among states in the international system has not changed from the pre-9/11 era. This thesis empirically tests the notion of continuity in international politics through a case study of U.S. military intervention and threat perception. This research analyzes how these two concepts evolve from the post-Cold War era into the post-9/11 era. To the extent that U.S. military intervention and threat perception are comparable before and after 9/11, this is indicative of continuity in international politics. Conversely, contrast across 9/11 indicates change in international politics. Though this thesis finds considerable empirical evidence supporting continuity in international politics in the post-9/11 world, it also finds empirical evidence for change which cannot be ignored. | en |
| dc.description.abstractgeneral | On September 11, 2001 (9/11), the United States was attacked on its own territory for the first time since Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. The difference on 9/11 was that the aggressors were stateless terrorists and not uniformed military members of a rival nation state. The United States is the most powerful country in the world, and it could not stop a small band of religious extremists from destroying the symbolic World Trade Center towers, causing major harm to the Pentagon, and claiming thousands of innocent American lives. As a result, the U.S. launched two of its largest military interventions in history by sending tens of thousands of troops to Afghanistan in 2001 and then to Iraq in 2003. These interventions were also two of the longest interventions in U.S. history. Does this mean that the U.S. perceives threats to its national security— especially those from non-state actors—to be greater after 9/11? And does this mean that the U.S. will use military intervention more in the post-9/11 era than it did before 9/11? This thesis empirically measures U.S. military intervention and threat perception from the end of the Cold War to the end of President Obama’s first term to determine how they compare before and after 9/11. This research then draws some conclusions from this analysis to determine to what extent the U.S.’s behavior after 9/11 indicates that non-state actors have acquired meaningful power in a way that causes nation-states to worry. This thesis finds ample support for the idea that the U.S.—and all nation states—still retain the overwhelming majority of the political power to be had by all actors, whether state or non-state. However, it also finds support for the notion that non-state actors have wielded real power as measured by the U.S.’s increased threat perception and use of military intervention after 9/11. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Arts | en |
| dc.format.medium | ETD | en |
| dc.identifier.other | vt_gsexam:9075 | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/73306 | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject | Military Intervention | en |
| dc.subject | Threat Perception | en |
| dc.subject | Non-State Actors | en |
| dc.subject | International Relations | en |
| dc.title | Threat Perception, Non-State Actors, and U.S. Military Intervention after 9/11 | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Political Science | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts | en |
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