Prisoners and Politics: Western Hostage Taking by Militant Groups
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Authors
Loertscher, Seth
Milton, Daniel
Issue Date
2017
Type
journal-article
Language
Keywords
Hostage Taking , Militant Groups , Negotiation Policy
Alternative Title
Abstract
Hostage taking of Westerners by militant groups has increased since 9/11. Despite this rising problem, there has been little academic research on how a hostage’s individual characteristics influence the outcome of the incident. Using a newly collected dataset of over 1,000 individuals taken hostage in incidents involving terrorist groups since 2001, this article evaluates how individual, national, and group characteristics influence the likelihood that hostage incidents end with the release or execution of the hostage. The findings show that a hostage’s nationality and occupation are significant individual-level drivers of outcomes, while the nature of the militant group itself also matters.
Description
Citation
Seth Loertscher & Daniel Milton (2018) Prisoners and Politics: Western Hostage Taking by Militant Groups, Democracy and Security, 14:1, 1-23, DOI: 10.1080/17419166.2017.1380523
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
ISSN
1741-9166
1555-5860
1555-5860