An Empirical Analysis of Maritime Terrorism Using the Global Terrorism Database

Despite the fact that maritime terrorism has gained increasing attention from academics and policymakers alike in recent years, little is known about worldwide risk patterns for maritime terrorist attacks. This chapter addresses this gap by empirically determining the extent to which maritime terrorism is concentrated at the terrorist organization and country level over time. Using the Global Terrorism Database, I examine 183 attacks perpetuated by 63 unique terrorist organizations in 44 countries and territories from 1971 to 2013. The descriptive analysis based on the results of the group-based trajectory analysis suggests that maritime terrorist attacks are highly concentrated across specific terrorist organizations and countries. Specifically, about 5% of all terrorist organizations generate almost all of the observed volatility and they are responsible for about a third of all attacks.