Terrorism as a Foreign Policy Objective

International terrorism is the most important policy issue facing the United States because it is the most difficult to combat and has the potential to cause immense harm. 9/11 is the largest example, but even before 9/11, at least 500 American citizens died in attacks from terrorists originating from at least 37 different countries (Neumayer and Plümper 3). Terrorists attack American citizens because they are easily accessible, with American citizens being prominently represented in foreign countries (Neumayer and Plümper 3). Additionally, since terrorists desire to change the status quo in some way, they must challenge American power (Neumayer and Plümper 5). Attacking the US provides media attention and reaction, making US citizens a very attractive target (Neumayer and Plümper 8). Research suggests that terrorism is only going to grow (White 43), leading to more death and devastation. Despite the immense difficulties, terrorist groups are hard at work attempting to build or acquire a nuclear bomb (White 121). Other weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons are even easier to acquire (White 119).

The war on terrorism is more important than other foreign policy concerns not only because it has the potential to cause an immense amount of death, but also because it is unpredictable and difficult to combat. An important aspect of combating terrorism is by implementing homeland security, but the only way to effectively do that is by creating foreign partnerships that create systems of mutual support (White 418). Without a focused foreign policy, the motivations and capacity for terrorist groups will never shift away from the United States. Terrorism is varied in its methods and motives, by necessity always changing (White 414). This makes a purely domestic approach to prevention implausible. Without terrorism being the focus of our foreign policy, it is impossible to predict how damaging attacks could get.

Works Cited

Neumayer, Eric, and Thomas Plümper. "Foreign Terror on Americans." Journal of Peace Research 48.1 (2011): 3-17. Print.

White, Jonathan R. Terrorism and Homeland Security. Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.