Problems in applying counterterrorism to prevent terrorism: Two decades of violence in Northern Ireland reconsidered

The terrorism of 9/11 elicited a range of different reactions from around the world, including the sentiment that 9/11 was just deserts for America's presence abroad as an unwelcome, overweening world policeman. To help determine the prevalence of this perspective, the authors surveyed a sample of 335 well-educated, English speaking Sri Lankans. Most respondents (73%) thought that the United States brought the 9/11 attack on itself. Reasons for this view included the United States's unilateralism as the only superpower, its involvement in other countries' affairs for its own benefit, and its support for Jews in Israel at the expense of Muslims. Yet the sample's overwhelming sympathy for the U.S. after 9/11 (83%) and to a lesser extent, its anger (52%), as well as agreement regarding the need to punish those who planned and carried out the attack (91%) indicate ambivalence towards the U.S. Implications for how the U.S. should address anti-American attitudes are discussed.‐