Global terrorism actually declined steadily from its 1987-88 peak until 2004
Evidence
Despite the 2004 uptick, the overall trend before 2004 ran downward. The total reached a high point in 1988, and generally declined thereafter. Contrary to widespread views of mounting terrorism across the world, the line zigzags downward. Attacks reached their peak in 1987, with 666 incidents in the State Department catalog. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 858
Categorization
- CANDY: Terror attacks worldwide peaked in 1987 and fell steadily for over a decade — a conversation-stoping counterintuitive datum.
- XREF: connects to: Small-arms proliferation and mercenaries enlarged African civil war feasibility after 1990; US terrorist attacks declined sharply from 1970 to 2011 — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 49; Terrorism declined while mass shootings rose, yet only Muslims faced surveillance (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- US terrorist attacks declined sharply from 1970 to 2011
#corroborates(0.75) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 49 - Terrorism declined while mass shootings rose, yet only Muslims faced surveillance
#corroborates(0.70) - US refusal to examine its own Mideast policies enabled future terrorism
#responds-to(0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 267 - Terrorism explanations via Muslim fundamentalism erase the political roots of militancy
#responds-to(0.70) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 896