Dilemmas in the Deterrence of Terrorists

Discussions
Student’s Name
Affiliation
Course
Professor’s Name
Due Date
Dilemmas in the Deterrence of Terrorists
The dilemma in deterring terrorism lies in finding the right balance between protecting national security and upholding individual rights and values, and in choosing the most effective and appropriate strategies for disrupting and defeating terrorists while minimizing negative consequences. It is essential to identify the challenges associated with deterring terrorists as it facilitates the development of strategies to combat terrorism.
Deterring terrorists can be a challenge for several reasons. Notably, terrorism requires minimal resources as it is cheap and effective. At outset, terrorists do not require significant investments to accomplish an attack. The damage-payback ratio of terrorist attacks is high, which makes it easy for the terrorist to mount an attack and fund it (Krepinevich, 2019). Existing money guidelines cannot effectively monitor fund transfers among terrorists as they can accomplish that through small transactions.
Notably, most of the asymmetries between terrorists and the targeted government tend to largely offer an advantage to the terrorists. To this end, terrorists often operate in small, decentralized, and loosely organized groups, making it difficult for traditional deterrence methods, which rely on the threat of punishment or retaliation to deter aggression, to be effective (Krepinevich, 2019). The effectiveness of their operation is enhanced by terrorists' ability to easily cooperate. Compared to legitimate governments that place a high value on their security autonomy, terrorist groups easily exchange intelligence and resources. The successful collective action among terrorists enhances their ability to identify and target softer targets as well as send the best-equipped cell to target the weakness.
In addition, other asymmetries benefit the terrorist. While governments provide a target-rich environment for terrorists, organized terrorists can easily blend in with the general population making it hard for the government to target the terrorists. Governments are at a disadvantage, as they have to protect every critical infrastructure, while terrorist can defend only their vulnerable targets (Krepinevich, 2019). In addition, governments generally adhere to rules of engagement and the laws of war, while terrorist organizations often use tactics that are considered to be indiscriminate and targeted at civilians.
Notably, several other challenges make it hard for the government to deter terrorism. Terrorists may not be motivated by the same considerations as states or other traditional actors, such as the desire to preserve their security or achieve certain policy objectives. Instead, they may be motivated by ideology, religion, or a desire to create chaos and disruption. This can make it difficult to predict their actions or to use traditional deterrence methods to influence their behavior. In addition, terrorists may be willing to accept high levels of risk and may not be deterred by the prospect of death or capture (Elbahy, 2019). This can make it difficult to use the threat of punishment to deter their actions.
It is difficult to determine definitiv...