Impact of 9/11 attack and the death of Osama bin Laden towards Jihadist terrorism in Western countries

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine whether the major incidents like 9/11 attack and the death of bin Laden has affected the frequency and severity of Jihadist terrorist attacks in western countries. The data of Jihadist terrorist attacks around the world between 1994 and 2017 from Global Terrorism Database (GTD) are retrieved, with difference-in-differences analysis being performed. Results of the analyses shows that both 9/11 attack and the death of bin Laden has a significantly negative effect on the frequency of Jihadist attacks in western countries. However, there is not enough evidences that these two major events has a significant effect on the average number of fatalities and injuries.