Secessionism and Terrorism

Bombs, Blood and Independence in Europe and Eurasia

Glen Duerr

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9780429948305
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book examines secessionist terrorism in a comparative context across Europe and Eurasia.

The volume seeks to uncover comparative linkages between terrorism and secessionism; specifically examining terrorist organizations that also have a political goal of independence. It examines a wide range of case studies, including the IRA in Northern Ireland, ETA in the Basque Country, FLNC in Corsica and ARD in Brittany, KLA in Kosovo, PKK and TAK in Turkish Kurdistan, and IK in Chechnya. In doing so, the book shows the linkages in terrorist tactics and demands, as well as when and how ceasefires come into place. Ultimately, none of the terrorist organizations studied here has obtained their maximalist goal of gaining independence, but each has caused significant bloodshed, and has contributed to the debate on the future of governance in Europe and Eurasia. The major strength of this format is to glean wider lessons on ethno-nationalism, as well as the causes and outcomes of terrorist actions. Each case study also updates the literature on the individual cases to provide the most recent account of events in these countries.

This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, ethnic conflict, nationalism, European politics and International Relations in general.

1 Introduction: secessionism and terrorism

Glen M.E. Duerr

On February 7, 1991, three mortar bombs were launched by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) at the rear of 10 Downing Street, the Official Residence of the British Prime Minister. The target of the attack was John Major, the new Conservative Party Prime Minister who had recently taken over from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. At the time of the attack, Major was in 10 Downing Street meeting with his cabinet to discuss the Gulf War. There were no fatalities, but three people were injured as a consequence of this attack.

My father, Michael Duerr, was working in his office at Teleglobe in central London (Stag Place by Victoria Station), just a few hundred yards away from 10 Downing Street at the time of the attack, and heard the mortars detonate. Both my mother (Jane Duerr) and father, who, at times, worked in central London from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s, faced numerous situations when their trains were delayed and their workplaces closed because of bombings or bomb threats. For example, very soon after the 10 Downing Street attack, there were PIRA attacks launched at the Victoria and Paddington Stations, just 11 days after the attempt on John Major. The Victoria Station attack resulted in the death of one person, 38 injuries, thousands of pounds sterling of damage, and major delays for commuters in the City of London. In terms of fatalities and injuries, the Victoria Station attack was the worst bombing on London since the 1983 Harrods attack. Throughout the year 1991, the PIRA initiated numerous attacks, especially around Greater London. All of these terrorist attacks occurred within a period known as the Time of Troubles, which began in 1968, and ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. These attacks, and the discussions at the dinner table, resulted in a lifelong quest to consider what happened, and to gain greater insight into the root causes of terrorism.

This volume investigates secessionist terrorism across major cases in Europe and Eurasia. A common element in all of these cases is (in some cases, was) that there is an asymmetric power struggle between the supporters of independence or, at the least, of greater autonomy, who represent a subnational unit and the central government. Sometimes the rebels, or people representing a subnational unit, engage in armed conflict, which can lead to protracted conflicts (Hironaka 2005). However, in many areas, the rebels do not have the ability to fight against the central government, and thus opt for terrorist tactics as a means of agitating for independence. Secession is the “formal withdrawal from a central authority by a member unit” (Wood 1981, 110), which also includes a component of international recognition (Bartkus 1999). Secession is a rare event in world politics, especially in mature democratic countries (Dion 1996). Moreover, secessionist movements do not typically garner much sympathy among the international community, especially when terrorism is used. In the end, secession is only viewed as a legitimate force in hindsight (Buchheit 1978).

Another point of commonality, political violence erupted in each of the cases at some point over contestation within the society, sometimes cultural (Ross 2007). Terrorism often arises given the asymmetric nature of each conflict, wherein one side is much more powerful than the other; in most examples, the government is the strong “legitimate” holder of power, although others may consider this power to be illegitimate and resort to violence as a means of reacting against state power. Thus, terrorism may seem to be a natural outcome— perceived repression on the part of separatists leads to a violent response, but not through military means because of the gulf in power capabilities. Yet, as the chapters in this volume will highlight, terrorist action looks very different across lots of cases. And, in some cases, terrorism is viewed as repulsive even among groups who have a deep desire for sovereignty and recognition in the international community.

Obviously, there is a centuries-long historical backdrop to the Time of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the terrorist actions of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), but as I later learned, my experience in my childhood home in the southeast of England was not an isolated one. As in the United Kingdom (UK), people living in similar situations in Spain and France had been impacted by the terrorist violence committed by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), an ethno-nationalist¹ terrorist organization in the Basque Country. Elsewhere in France, terrorist organizations had waged similar campaigns in Corsica and Brittany. The province of Kosovo in the old Yugoslavia faced a prolonged period of violent conflict related to terrorist activities. Parts of Turkey were frequent targets of the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK), known in English as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and the Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan (TAK), Kurdistan Freedom Hawks. Finally, in Russia, Chechen terrorists have likewise committed acts of terror. The situations across each of these cases are clearly different, and judgments should be reserved until learning of the idiosyncrasies and issues within each one. Nevertheless, the comparison raises two important, academic questions: What are the connections and linkages between secessionism and terrorism? How can governments best employ counterterrorism measures through policing and military measures, but also through policy changes?

Because of these similar situations across a broad range of cases in Europe and Eurasia, this volume assesses a range of different cases. Chapter 2 focuses on the IRA in Northern Ireland (UK) and is written by John Sutcliffe and Geoffrey Alchin. Britt Cartrite authors Chapter 3 on ETA in the Basque Country within Spain and, to a lesser extent, France. The dual cases of Front de Libération Nationale Corse (FLNC), the National Liberation Front of Corsica, in Corsica and Armée Révolutionnaire Bretonne (ARB), the Breton Revolutionary Army in Brittany (France) written by Liam Anderson is the subject of Chapter 4. In Chapter 5, Elena Pokalova describes the case of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo within the wider Yugoslav conflict. In the context of Turkish Kurdistan, the PKK and TAK are the central groups examined by Vaughn Shannon in Chapter 6. Liam Anderson discusses Имарат Кавказ Imarat Kavkaz (IK) in Chechnya (Russia) in Chapter 7. The chapters are ordered as such to reflect geography—moving from west to east across Europe in a reasonably fluid motion, albeit like that of a wave cresting and moving across the continent. Finally, the volume concludes with my own chapter on why terrorism emerged as a norm in some separatist regions, but not in others. The chapter specifically examines the cases of the Front du Libération du Québec (FLQ) in Quebec, Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA) in Scotland, and Terra Lluire (TL) in Catalonia.

In many ways, the linkages between secessionism and terrorism become apparent in these chapters. Terrorism is possible in any place where a power asymmetry exists between distinct groups. It is important to note that many supporters of independence also try to work within existing democratic structures where possible to obtain their maximalist goal: secession.

The substantive case study chapters contained in this book are all directed by the following format: (1) present a general overview of the case, (2) provide a history of political grievances in the specific region as to why a secessionist movement exists including theoretical dimensions to the discussion, (3) present a rebuttal from the viewpoint of the government; again, including theoretical dimensions, (4) provide an overview of major terrorist attacks carried out by the terrorist organization being studied, (5) explain how the government responded to these terrorist attacks, (6) describe any changes that have occurred with regards to the structure of the state, or any government agencies, as a means of undercutting support for secessionism or the terrorist organization, and (7) conclusions relevant to each of the cases.

Each of the contributors was given freedom within this structure to make arguments suitable to their own substantive areas of interest. For example, different authors prefer slightly distinctions in terminology such as secessionist terrorism, nationalist terrorism, or ethno-nationalism. Where it makes sense, uniformity is imposed. A second example is the extent to which each scholar interacted with the academic literature. In some cases, their argument fit a particular strain of thought within a wider debate; others chose to limit the theoretical discussion to increase the details of the case. The Breton and Corsican cases cover a range of different theoretical possibilities; Northern Ireland is perhaps most strongly tied to the notion of consociationalism, which is why the authors focused on the topic of institutional structure based in tandem with religious affiliation. Some of the cases are also highly contested, so the authors often chose a more moderate approach by discussing a range of different theoretical perspectives, or focusing on one specific aspect of the case. Again, where the situation makes sense, a level of uniformity is otherwise imposed. Interestingly, this project has many similarities to the cases that all revolve around ethno-nationalist terrorism, even though there are divergent authors writing in a volume that is centrally orchestrated.

For this major reason, there is diversity in the theoretical and methodological approaches to these chapters. However, this broad approach best helps the reader understand the myriad different views on terrorism, and how terrorist groups can be defeated, while simultaneously also seeking to treat the people in these regions well so that they are better governed. Each chapter is relatively uniform stretching between 8,000 and 12,000 words. The exception here is Chapter 4 on Corsican and Breton nationalism. The reason for this chapter—in excess of 13,500 words—is that it effectively covers two cases within one state.

Each of the contributors is considered an expert in his or her area of specialty. Four of the six contributors were born—and raised—in Europe or Russia; the other two have spent copious amounts of time in their regions of interest, including dissertation research and other fieldwork. All of the contributors now live in North America, a purposeful point in the selection process to more objectively and dispassionately view the events of terrorism in Europe and Eurasia from some distance.

Some of the cases such as the IRA or ETA are well-known, and a vast literature exists on these groups. Other groups, especially in Brittany, Corsica, and Kosovo are typically less well-known. Some groups still operate in the present and are relevant to ongoing policy discussions such as the PKK in Turkey; others have recently disbanded such as ETA in the Basque Country of Spain. The key component in this volume is to find common linkages across these different cases, so that lessons may be learned as a means of more competent counterterrorism and for better governing people.

Ethno-nationalist/secessionist terrorism in the academic literature

The academic literature on terrorism is vast. Since 9/11, renewed interest in the field has led to the publication of thousands of works related to terrorism. The field has a significant history that encompasses dozens of cases across the world (Laqueur and Alexander 1978; Laqueur 1987). Some works on terrorism specifically examine groups with an in-depth discussion of cultural and political elements, which is particularly useful in assessing different cases (Crenshaw 1981; Pape 2005). Literature on ethno-nationalist, or secessionist terrorism is also extensive but usually revolves around single cases, like those discussed within this volume, or cases like the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka and the Uighurs in China, among others (Tambiah 1997; Wayland 2004). Some scholars have examined the overlap between nationalism and terrorism broadly (Volkan 1998). In both fields, terrorism and nationalism, there are myriad different working definitions and viewpoints on how to best understand these subjects. Lack of consensus on the definitions of terrorism and nationalism make defining a particular viewpoint challenging.

The political scientist, David Rapoport’s, four “waves” thesis is long-standing as a framework on terrorist time periods (Rapoport 2013). The first wave, Anarchist, started in the 1880s through the 1920s. For example, terrorist acts on Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand—a catalyst for World War I—in 1914. The second wave, Anticolonial terrorism, started in the 1920s and lasted through the 1960s. The overarching goal was to liberate colonial societies and gain de jure statehood, replete with entrance into major international organizations such as the United Nations. The third wave, The New Left Wing, began in the 1960s and ended in the 1990s. Conflicts like Vietnam and the Palestinian/Israel struggle fit into this category. The fourth wave, The Religious Wave, started in the 1990s and runs through the present. Religious terrorism is predominantly Islamist in nature given the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Rapoport 2013).

Rapoport also denoted three types of “traditional terrorism”: left, right, and ethno-separatist. In this volume, the focus is on ethno-separatist terrorism, but this type may be interconnected with leftist or rightist terrorism depending on the case. Additionally, the focus of all of the chapters is the democratic state in the west. Paul Wilkinson’s (1986) book entitled, Terrorism and the Liberal State, presents an overview of the impacts of terrorism on liberal states in the world. Many of the cases of ethno-nationalist terrorism described in this volume occur in liberal states, especially the cases within the UK, France, and Spain. The challenges of maintaining a mature, robust democracy in the face of terrorist violence are myriad. Yet, the occurrence of terrorism within these states speaks to contestation, abhorrent as it may be, to the contestation framework of the state. It is argued that some form of autonomy or federal structure may well work, it is argued, as a mechanism to offset violence. However, the academic literature is split in terms of an outcome, and shows that granting autonomy in some cases leads to a reduction in violence, and in other cases to independence for the group, thus exacerbating similar claims for more power (Bird et al. 2010).

This volume concentrates largely on secessionist terrorism, also known as ethno-nationalist terrorism. However, given the array of different actors and terrorist groups operating throughout Europe and Eurasia, there is crossover with other forms of terrorism. Some groups, for example, have Marxist or broadly leftist leanings. The Breton Revolutionary Army/Breton Liberation Front (ARB/FLB) in Brittany was strongly tied to a Marxist ideology (see Chapter 4). Some level of Marxist connection is evident in several of the cases, especially when an economic grievance is present. However, this depends on elites in the society as this connection is not true in all subnational units, even when economic deprivation is a central factor in the grievances of the group.

Separatism is defined by one of the contributors to this volume, Elena Pokalova (2010, 430), as “a self-determination movement on the basis of an ethno-nationalist identity that encompasses claims ranging from increased cultural and political rights to struggles for territorial independence.” In tandem with this definition, secession is defined as “the formal withdrawal from a central authority by a member unit” (Dion 1996). Other scholars add an important element to a definition of secession—international recognition. Thus, a definition of secession includes the “formal withdrawal from an established, internationally recognized state by a constituent unit to create a new, sovereign state” (Bartkus 1999, 3), or “a demand for formal withdrawal from a central political authority by a member unit or units on the basis of a claim to independent sovereign status” (Wood 1981, 110). All of the chapters contained herein grapple with terrorism starting with this baseline definition surrounding ethno-nationalist/separatist terrorism.

In general, secession is a rare event in world politics. Secession is even more rare in well-established democratic states (Dion 1996). In fact, the last case of secession in the West was the Republic of Ireland from the UK in 1921, and even then, the Irish Free State, as it was known, remained a dominion of the British Empire until severing ties through a constitution in 1937, and decoupling from the monarchy in 1948. Secession is typically viewed as illegitimate and anathema to existing state structures; secession is only really viewed as legitimate in hindsight (Buchheit 1978).

None of the terrorist organizations in this book has proven successful in achieving their political goals. However, many of the governments have devolved powers to more local levels as a means of pacifying overt demands for independence. Northern Ireland is still part of the UK, but now enjoys some devolved powers in a representative assembly. The Basque Country is still an autonomous community in Spain (some of t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Lists of illustrations
• Notes on contributors
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction: secessionism and terrorism
• 2 Terrorism from the Troubles to Good Friday: the IRA in Northern Ireland and the British Isles
• 3 Contingent violence: Arana, Franco, and ETA’s terrorist actions in the Basque Country
• 4 Surviving the Jacobin state: separatist terrorism in Brittany’s ARB and Corsica’s FLNC
• 5 From separatism to terrorism and back: the case of Kosovo and the KLA
• 6 Terrorism and counterterrorism on Europe’s edge: Turkey, the PKK, and the TAK
• 7 Russia’s response to IK and Chechen separatist terrorism: the surprising success of “Ramzanization”
• 8 Legitimate political discourse versus terrorism: the counter cases of Quebec’s FLQ, Scotland’s SNLA, and Catalonia’s TL
• 9 Conclusion: bombs, blood, and independence in Europe and Eurasia
• Index