The Politics of Suicide Terrorism

There is ongoing controversy about how to understand Islamist terrorism against the West. In Dying to Win, Robert Pape argues that Islamic terrorists target the United States and other Western countries in response to Western policies toward Islamic countries, especially stationing Western troops in Islamic countries. His critics, such as Olivier Roy, believe that Islamic terrorists are fundamentalists at war with modernity, globalization, and Western culture. In brief, Pape says they hate us for what we do; his critics say they hate us for what we are.