ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the findings on both ethnopolitical violence and terrorism that this new research project has generated. It focuses specifically on terrorism, outlining four major theories that explain why organizations choose terrorism as a strategy. The chapter provides a preliminary test of these theories by examining the relationships between terrorism and all organizations representing Kurds in the Middle East. The systematic collection of information on the internal affairs of states and the characteristics of societal conflict is a relatively recent endeavor, made possible by gains in information and communication technologies. A potentially more hopeful element has been the rapid rise in organizations that support democracy, with an increase from 17 in 1980 to 62 in 2004.
