Perceptions of Threat in the 21st Century

The goal of this work is to explain the US’s continued disregard for the threat of low-tech attacks like those of 9/11. This work shows that misperceptions of threat within the US have led to an inability to adapt to the changing nature of warfare in the 21st century. This is done by examining data found in the Global Terrorism Database as well as defense spending, which supports the hypothesis that the US places more emphasis on high-tech threats even though low-tech threats are more deadly in terrorist attacks. This work shows that existing perceptions of threat and security within the US are outdated and ineffective, and that new norms of threat perception are needed.