Class Year

2025

Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date of Creation

Spring 2025

Department 1

Political Science

Abstract

Precision warfare is intended to reduce the human costs for allied combatants in conflict. However, as this new form of fighting becomes increasingly central to modern military campaigns, its impact on terrorist activity warrants close examination. This paper explores the psychological effects of trauma on terrorist behavior, engages with scholarly debates on the outcomes of precision tactics, and presents statistical analysis to argue that the United States’ use of precision warfare, from 2000 through 2019, contributed to increased amounts of terrorist activity. Empirical findings in Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan support this claim. Precision tactics have been known to save American lives during battles. However, this research supports the theory that America’s utilization of precision warfare, during the Global War on Terrorism, possibly contributed to lengthening the timeline of this 21st century war by inadvertently increasing terrorist activity.

Comments

Written for POL 403: Capstone International Relations

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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