Abstract for: Where do terrorists come from? Deterrence-related insights from modeling the spread of fanatic behavior

The population dynamics underlying the diffusion of ideas and behaviors can be conceptualized similarly to those involved in the spread of infections. Here we use two simple models of epidemics to identify differences in how fanatic behavior leading to terrorism can be modeled and understood. We use a simple variant between the two models identifying different ways to think about state changes in the population and its effects. The use of models of epidemic contagion is not necessarily straight forward when thinking about the spread of ideas and behaviors.