Foreign Policy Essay
White Demographic Anxiety Fuels Support for Torture of Terrorism Suspects
A survey experiment shows that white Americans are more likely to support torture if they're reminded of the changing demographics of the country.
James A. Piazza is Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science at The Pennsylvania State University. Piazza’s research investigates terrorism, its causes and consequences, militant organizations, counterterrorism policy, and politics in the Islamic world.
Subscribe to this Lawfare contributor via RSS.
A survey experiment shows that white Americans are more likely to support torture if they're reminded of the changing demographics of the country.
Editor’s Note: Terrorist groups often draw on ethnic or religious brethren in other countries. These communities raise money, provide arms, offer volunteers, lobby host governments and otherwise try to advance the terrorist cause. James Piazza of The Pennsylvania State University goes deep on diasporas. He identifies the ways in which they make a terrorism problem worse and why fighting terrorism requires countering the influence of militant diasporas.
Daniel Byman
***