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Terrorist Kidnappings For Ransom: Explaining Hostage Outcomes, Stephanie Mullen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of the death of her son, James Foley, Diane Foley stated, "I pray that our government will be willing to learn from the mistakes that were made and to acknowledge that there are better ways for American citizens to be treated" (Cumming and Vinograd 2015). The recent American deaths at the hands of terrorist groups have brought kidnapping and ransom policy to the forefront of the American psyche. In an effort to understand why hostages are released or killed in situations where a ransom is asked, we attempt to isolate and test key variables using a binary …