Transnational terrorism and the US military arid to Pakistan, and the incentive to misrepresent
From Journal of Peace Research
The killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan this week has generated large suspicion regarding the country’s possible allegiance with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Is US military aid to Pakistan to disarm Al-Qaeda failing?
Shortly after the Obama Administration assumed office in 2008, the Interagency Policy Group recommended an increase in military aid to the Pakistan government to bolster its fight against militant groups. The goal of the aid was to give the government the tools it needed to disarm Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters that were responsible for continuing attacks in Afghanistan. This policy follows alarger consensus that military aid to host states from which transnational terrorists operates is a valuable tool.
This study reveals that military aid does not give host states incentive to accelerate the demise of terrorist groups, as in such a case the aid would stop. It is recognized that military aid is instead effective at preventing host states from negotiating with terrorist organizations and therefore supports the status quo to keep terrorist groups out of power.
