Negotiating with terrorists in the shadow of American power

textNegotiation with terrorists is a controversial policy issue that effects both domestic actors and the international community. Current literature only focuses on the domestic characteristics of this phenomenon though. This paper presents a theory of international pressure's influence on the domestic bargaining process between governments and terrorist groups, arguing that governments are more likely to align their domestic terrorism policy with the United States in the aftermath of a terror attack on the US. I find statistical support for this theory using data on concessions to terrorists in Africa from 1989-2010 as concessions are significantly less likely in in the 6 months following an attack on the USGovernmen