The rational terrorist

The majority of the studies on terrorist behaviour use the rational choice model as their basic conceptual framework. The appropriateness of this model to describe terrorist behaviour is however increasingly been questioned. An overview of the most recent studies on the subject indicates that this literature is conceptually fragmented with different studies departing from different definitions of both rationality and terrorism. This off course hampers the formation of a common viewpoint and consensus on the topic. Putting the different studies in the same perspective by using the same definitions and interpretations of the concepts, actually leads us to conclude that consensus between scholars is not that far away and that the majority still believes in the relevance of the rational choice model. Moreover, if we do not (implicitly) assume that selfishness is a characteristic of a rational individual and we allow for altruistic and even for axiological motives, even suicidal behaviour can be explained for by rational choice models. We denominate the more sophisticated models as 'endogenizations of the environment'. By integrating the social and/or political environment into the preferences of the individual terrorist, these models adjust/augment the rational choice model with more behavioural assumptions. These models often take the standard rational choice model as their starting point but adjust the model to account for more behavioural assumptions. We argue that using 'Behavioural Economics' as the all-encompassing, integrative framework is a very promising way ahead for future research on (counter-) terrorism.