Terrorism, key assets, and critical infrastructures: to protect or to rebuild? That is the question

Abstract

Both the choice between “stick” and “carrot” and the tension between “control” and “preservation of civil liberties” characterize the policy debate over counterterrorism. Arguing for the “carrot and preservation of civil liberties” viewpoint, Frey and Rohner (Def. Peace Econ. 18(3):245–252, 2007) propose strategic reconstruction as an alternative to protection. Our paper provides a comparative analysis of these two policies. First, we study the rationality of the public’s expectations, and we show that credible strategic reconstruction may deter terrorist attacks. Next, we derive conditions under which strategic reconstruction is more efficient than protection. Finally, we show that strategic reconstruction may reinforce the efficiency of protection.