Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/196815 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12318
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We study the 420 US drone strikes in Pakistan from 2006-2016, isolating causal effects on terrorism, anti-US sentiment, and radicalization via an instrumental variable strategy based on wind. Drone strikes are suggested to encourage terrorism in Pakistan, bearing responsibility for 16 percent of all attacks or 2,964 terror deaths. Exploring mechanisms, we distinguish between insiders (members of terrorist organizations) and outsiders (the Pakistani populace). Analyzing data from a leading Pakistani newspaper, anti-US protests, and Google searches, drone strikes appear to increase anti-US sentiment and radicalization: Outsiders seem to sympathize with insiders because of drone strikes.
Subjects: 
military intervention
drone strikes
terrorism
counter-terrorism
anti-US sentiment
radicalization
JEL: 
C26
D74
F51
F52
H56
O53
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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