What motivates counterterrorism policy: the case study of Estonian counterterrorism policy development 2005-2020

Abstract

Estonia has not experienced terrorist attacks for the last 15 years. However, Estonia has been gradually developing its counterterrorism policies. What explains the counterterrorism policy development in Estonia in 2005 to 2020? The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the existing scholarship on counterterrorism policy development, offering an insight into the behavior of a low-risk country. It is a theory-testing case study, offering counterterrorism policy development explanation through three competing theories: Rational choice theory, Constructivism, and Reference group theory. The study uses a triangulation method in collecting data and conducts a content analysis on sources. The findings indicate that the Reference group theory explains the development the best, suggesting that Estonian counterterrorism policy development is influenced by the necessity to maintain its memberships in the EU and NATO for instrumental purposes.