Aid, Allies, Framing: Coevolution of International Ties and Terrorism Rhetoric

• In Event: Collaboration Networks in International Politics

Abstract

Existing scholarship accepts that states frame terrorism in ways which are compatible with their national interest. However, the extent to which this conditioned by international networks is underexamined. This article argues that states' terrorism rhetoric and international networks co-evolve; that is, developments in international networks affect how states frame terrorism, and vice versa. To evaluate these claims, I use à la carte word embedding techniques to derive 2,181 state-year measurements of terrorism rhetoric from 3,537 speeches delivered between 1994 and 2012 by representatives of 185 states to the United Nations General Assembly. The application of a longitudinal network and behaviour co-evolution model to an original dataset composed of these measurements joined with contemporaneous data on international aid and alliance networks finds support for the article's argument. The results indicate, firstly, that states align their rhetoric on terrorism with that of their allies and foreign aid benefactors. Secondly, dyadic differences in terrorism rhetoric partially inform whether aid or alliances ties are formed or maintained between states.

Author

• Charlie Alexander Carter