International interventions - the cause of suicide terrorism?

This diploma thesis aims to explore whether international intervention can be the main cause of suicide terrorism. To determine this causal relation between suicide terrorism and international intervention, it tests Robert Pape's nationalist theory. The research sample of the cases of Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Palestine was selected based on the Suicide Terrorism Attack database. The thesis applies the empirical-analytical methodology and the method of multiple case study to confirm or refute the validity of the research hypotheses. The outcome of the thesis is that the main trigger for a suicide terrorist campaign is a significantly stronger adversary, a social climate conducive to self- sacrifice, and an individual sense of hopelessness. The presence of international intervention fulfils all these features, but the theory has its limits - an exclusive focus on foreign intervention and state centrality