Global Terrorism

Brenda Lutz, James Lutz, Brenda J. Lutz

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780815357322
• eBook ISBN: 9781351124669
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Global Terrorism, 4th edition continues to provide students with the most comprehensive introduction to terrorism as a global phenomenon. It introduces students to history, politics, ideologies, and strategies of both contemporary and earlier terrorist groups. Written in a clear and accessible style, each chapter explains a distinctive aspect of terrorism and discusses a wide variety of detailed case studies from around the world. Although the focus is on the contemporary, the book also includes discussion of preceding terrorist groups. Building on the strengths of the first three editions, this edition includes new material on:

• Attacks by ISIS in Europe

• Unrest in Afghanistan and Pakistan

• Russia and Chechnya

• Violence in Iraq

• Decades of terrorism in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and the Basque region of Spain

• Right wing terrorism in the United States

The unique combination of a genuinely historical focus and truly global coverage makes this an ideal introductory textbook for anyone interested in the study of terrorism.

Chapter 1

Terrorism in the World Today and Yesterday

A new wave of terrorism hit the world in 2016 and 2017 with an outbreak of attacks by operatives from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or those who have identified with the violent group. Cities such as Paris, Brussels, London, Manchester, Barcelona, New York, Munich, Berlin, Nice, and Stockholm have suffered from attacks. Any thoughts that terrorism as a global phenomenon was on the decline were put to rest with these attacks and continuing terrorist actions by a great variety of groups around the world. While the attacks of 9/11 on the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon remain the most deadly single attack (or actually four coordinated attacks), total fatalities from terrorist attacks in many of the following years have been higher than the 2001 total notwithstanding the casualties inflicted on that day. There is little doubt that terrorism will continue to be a threat in many parts of the world for years to come.

Terrorism is an ever-changing phenomenon. The threat from Al Qaeda as a more centralized organization was transformed into a loosely connected “global jihad” whose goal was to bring about major changes in the Middle East and in the world at large. The appearance of ISIS as a consequence of the Syrian civil war provided an additional deadly aspect of the global jihad. There have been increasing incidents of actions by individuals who identify with broader political currents ranging from Anders Brevik’s (2011) rampage in Norway to the Tsarnaev brothers at the (2013) Boston Marathon among many others. There remains a fear that some terrorist group will gain access to a weapon of mass destruction and use it to create a heavy death toll. Further, the potential for the radicalization of different groups and their recruitment into terrorist groups has been a cause for increasing concern. There have also been increasing concerns about the alienation of migrant and minority communities in many parts of the world and even dissatisfaction among portions of a majority population who feel disadvantaged in the modern world.

The attacks on 9/11 demonstrated how terrorism can have significant indirect effects. They directly led the United States to launch the Global War on Terrorism, which more realistically was a war against terrorists who threatened the United States and its interests. The invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and the overthrow of the Taliban were direct consequences of the attacks. This invasion led to instability and continuing problems with terrorist groups in Afghanistan, neighboring Pakistan, and the potential difficulties for other countries in the region. The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies was linked to the Global War on Terrorism given concerns about terrorism and even about the danger of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction falling into terrorist hands. Even though these fears were exaggerated, the attempted use of such weapons by terrorists in the past has made these fears more credible. The invasion provided new opportunities for terrorist organizations in the region.

Terrorism in the final analysis is a technique that is available to many groups dissatisfied with the boundaries of a state, the nature of the government in power, or its policies. Terrorism has been, in fact, a tool used with great regularity by many organizations. Assaults on targets in many countries have occurred and continue to occur with depressing regularity, and groups have been willing to adopt new weapons and new tactics in their attacks. There was a time when there was a concern that terrorists would use chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons to cause mass casualties. Yet the latest deadly weapon has been less exotic. The use of automobiles and trucks as weapons is one of the latest examples. Major terrorist groups have been defeated or reached political accommodations with their adversaries. A long terrorist campaign and civil war in Sri Lanka has ended. The Irish Republican Army negotiated a peace settlement with the British government that has remained in place. Basque nationalists in Spain have ended their long struggle. Other areas that have experienced major terrorist violence for long periods of time, however, are still dealing with continuing violence. India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, Colombia, and Israel/Palestine have not seen an end to terrorism. The United States has continued to deal with threats from Islamic terrorists, terrorists from the extreme right, and even occasional leftist attacks. There have been major increases in the levels of terrorism in Nigeria, Libya, Yemen, and Syria. Deadly terrorist attacks in Europe have increased. The political violence, terrorism, and atrocities in some cases have claimed thousands and tens of thousands of lives over time. Although some countries have avoided being the scenes of any acts of terrorism, it is quite possible that any country could experience such acts in the future.

Terrorism is sometimes portrayed as a modern phenomenon, but it has been present in the world for many, many centuries (J. Lutz and B. Lutz 2005). Dissident groups in Greek and then Roman Judea used terrorism against those in power, and there was also political violence and terrorism that plagued the Roman Republic. The Assassins in parts of the Middle East raised terrorism to the stage of an active foreign policy measure. Terrorism was present in the prelude to the American Revolution and during the French Revolution. Those involved in the Boxer Rebellion in China at the end of the nineteenth century included terrorist activities. In the twentieth century terrorism became more prevalent. Terrorism has been associated with nationalist or ethnic organizations, religious groups, right-wing extremists, and those willing to use violence for left-wing causes. Terrorism, both in the past and the present, has not been restricted to any one time period, any one region of the world, or any one type of cause. It has been widely found across time and space as part of efforts to achieve widely divergent goals.

What is obvious from the above very incomplete list of places where terrorism has been occurring is that the violence has affected many other countries in the world and, in fact, it has heretofore been a much more serious problem in a number of other countries than it has been for the United States. What should also be obvious from any list of countries that have dealt with major terrorist violence in the last quarter of a century is the fact that terrorism has not just been a problem involving actors from the Middle East. Terrorist violence has occurred widely, including in places that have no connection with problems originating in the Middle East. Many different groups in many places have relied on political violence in attempts to achieve their goals. Great care must be taken to avoid stereotyping terrorists as persons from the Middle East who are determined to destroy the West. There are other problems, other causes, and other objectives that organizations have sought to resolve or achieve through the use of political violence. Osama bin Laden has been one important terrorist personality, but his death has led to few changes. There have been many other significant leaders and there will no doubt be more in the future.

The attacks on September 11 are an especially deadly example of a continuing phenomenon. These attacks were a consequence of local and global events and existing conflicts important at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Earlier examples of terrorism, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, or the Munich Olympics, or anti-colonial terrorism in Cyprus, Algeria, and Palestine, were at some level a product of their times. Today, there is greater awareness of the terrorist phenomenon because of the capabilities of modern mass communications. Violent terrorism, however, is quite ancient. Some of the most notable examples go back centuries or even a millennia or more. It is important to put the current terrorist activities in both a historical and geographical perspective. The current political culture of a country or society, which can reflect events and conflicts centuries old, influences the style of confrontation and the type of violence used. It is important to realize that terrorism is not something new under the sun, and terrorism’s long history as a political tool by various groups suggests that it will not quickly disappear in the immediate future.

Governments in the past have ignored terrorists at their own peril at times. In other cases, the governments have made the wrong decisions or played into the hands of the terrorist dissidents. Government policies have created the conditions in which terrorists have prospered and in other cases policies have weakened whatever support terrorists might have had. Thus, what governments do—and do not do—can be very important for the success or failure of terrorist movements. The knowledge of terrorism becomes important for understanding and dealing with terrorism when and where it appears. Many theories seeking to explain terrorism have been put forward over the years. Of course, there is no one cause for such a widely occurring phenomenon, and anyone who suggests that there is only one cause should be regarded with great care and considerable skepticism. If there were one simple solution to terrorism it would have been discovered by now. Governments have not yet determined the conditions that lead people to resort to violence so that they can avoid them, and appropriate security measures that will always work have not been discovered. The examples of terrorist movements that will be provided in the following chapters will supply some indications of some of the reasons why dissident political movements form and decide to use violence in their efforts to change the political circumstances in which they find themselves, their groups, or their societies. In general, some group has to think that the government is being manifestly unfair in some way. The key is the perception of unfairness. Things may actually turn out not to be better with different laws or different leaders or with different boundaries, but if groups think things can be better, demands for change will occur and if these demands are not met, the potential for violence exists. Similarly, things may be much better than the perceptions of the dissidents indicate, but again it is the perceptions that could provoke recourse to violence. Generally, it is true that terrorist groups that constitute real threats to a society cannot be created in countries where there are no major causes for complaint and no dissident groups. There have been too many attempts to establish dissident guerrilla movements or terrorist organizations that have quickly failed for such activities to be created out of thin air. A wide variety of events will generate sufficient dissatisfaction for some residents of many societies and enable potential dissidents to find ample persons to draw upon for recruits and support in attacks upon governments.

Terrorism as a topic is complex, but it is clearly important in today’s world and will continue to be important. One way to better understand the prevalence of terrorism is to compare different groups and their tactics and analyze the circumstances under which organizations willing to use terror appeared. While not all groups and circumstances are similar, there are common patterns that can be found. Most of the following chapters include case studies that provide some detail on particular terrorist groups and their activities. The case studies also provide enough detail so that the appearance of organizations willing to use terror as a means of achieving their objectives can be understood within the context of local circumstances. Some grievance, real or imagined, had to be present to trigger the violence. The case studies make clear what the grievances of the dissidents were, what kinds of actions they attempted, and how successful they were in their efforts. In some cases it will also be readily apparent how governments were able to deal with the terrorist groups or why they failed to be effective in dealing with the challenge. These case studies in some depth are essential to comparing, contrasting, and understanding what terrorism is and how it can appear within a political system. In other cases governments have resorted to or tolerated terrorism against their own citizens contributing to the problems of terrorism rather than helping to solve them.

The case studies have been intentionally drawn from a wide variety of times and places. A conscious effort has been made to include some historical examples that indicate that terrorism as a form of political violence has been around for a long time. More importantly, the most historical of the case studies provide some examples of very successful uses of terrorism, successful at least in the sense of achieving or coming close to achieving the goals of the group responsible for the political violence. Of course, less successful terrorist undertakings from the past are not as well known. Any quick failures of dissidents willing to use terrorism usually do not make it into the history books, especially when the victors write history. Notwithstanding the importance of cases from the past, the focus in the choice of the case studies was on more recent events. In addition to selecting examples from across time, a very conscious effort has also been made to discuss terrorists and dissident organizations that have operated in many parts of the world. Europe, North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, and the rest of Asia have all been the scenes of important terrorist movements and bloody terrorist attacks. It is important to realize that terrorism has its roots in many societies around the world and the first step in understanding its prevalence is to realize its extent. The following chapters will thus provide a rather comprehensive introduction into the phenomenon of terrorism. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 will deal with some necessary definitions, broad concepts, and ways of categorizing particular dissident organizations. The basic groundwork in these chapters will be used in Chapters 5 through 11 that deal with specific types of terrorist groups. These chapters will all include detailed case studies of particular terrorist groups that have operated in the world, including organizations that have been condoned by governments in power. Chapter 12 deals with the different counterterrorist strategies that have been proposed or adopted. Chapter 13 contains some conclusions and a summary of what governments can do and why terrorism persists. The world changes, political activities change, weapons change, and so does terrorism. An understanding of terrorism in the past, and especially in the recent past, will help us all to better understand terrorism when it occurs in the future.

A list of terms and some suggested further reading will be presented at the end of each chapter. The key terms will be provided as a means of reinforcing the information contained in each of the chapters. Terms will also be contained in the glossary at the end of the book for easy reference. The list of materials for further reading will provide a starting point to acquire more in-depth information relevant for the case studies that are included in the chapters. Some of the books, articles, and chapters will also provide additional information on the general topics covered in each of the chapters. The additional readings listed at the end of this chapter, for example, provide useful general introductions to the topic of terrorism or even compilations of valuable material. All of these materials will be useful supplements for what is discussed in the chapters. Occasionally films are listed as well if they are particularly good demonstrations of key points. While such films are few in number, they are worth viewing if they can be found. These suggested readings, of course, are only a starting point. The references used in each of the chapters and the bibliography at the end of the book provide a great many more sources from which to start to gather additional information. Further, there will be additional materials coming out in the future, so a search of the tables of contents for journals and library catalogs will be essential as well.

TERMS

• Boston Marathon Bombing
• Global War on Terrorism
• Munich Olympics (1972)
• September 11 attacks (9/11)

FURTHER READING

Crenshaw, M. (2011) Explaining Terrorism: Causes, Processes, and Consequences, London: Routledge.

Hoffman, B. (2006) Inside Terrorism, revised and expanded edition, New York: Columbia University Press.

Lutz, J. M. and Lutz, B. J. (2011) Terrorism: The Basics, London: Routledge.

Martin, G. (ed.) (2011) Encyclopedia of Terrorism, 2nd edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Chapter 2

What is Terrorism? Definition, Classification, and Causes

“One person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist.”

The above statement has been widely used in a variety of forms suggesting that terrorism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Having a useable definition of terrorism is essential for any valid consideration of its prevalence in the world. How do you distinguish terrorist groups from non-terrorist groups—even violent ones? What kinds of terrorism have existed and continue to exist in the world? How prevalent is terrorism—has it been increasing or has it been on the decline? What are some of the underlying causes of terrorism? The current chapter will consider these very contentious issues.

DEFINING TERRORISM

Terrorism as a word in its usual usage today has a connotation of evil, indiscriminate violence, or brutality. Someone has been terrorized! Thus, to label a group or action as terrorist is to seek to imply that the actors or the violence is immoral, wrong, or a violation of basic ethical principles that any reasonable human being might hold. To use different labels for the violence that may occur such as freedom fighters, revolutionaries, rebels, resistance fighters, members of the democratic opposition, or national liberation soldiers, however, implies that the group undertaking the violence is motivated by some greater good or higher moral principle. The choice of terms to describe persons undertaking political violence often contains underlying assumptions about the goals of the group. To call the members of a violent group freedom fighters or resistance soldiers suggests a positive evaluation of the goals of the organization. The victims of the violence are usually considered supporters of an evil political system. There may, of course, be innocent bystanders—collateral damage in the new parlance of violence. In the final analysis, however, the losses among innocents are ultimately the fault of the repressive government that refuses to grant people their rights. In fact, it is possible to argue that a truly repressive government kills o...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Preface to the fourth edition
• 1 Terrorism in the World Today and Yesterday
• 2 What is Terrorism? Definition, Classification, and Causes
• 3 Strategy, Tactics, Weapons, and Targets
• 4 State Sponsors and Supporters of Terrorism
• 5 Religious Justification for Terrorism
• 6 Ethnic and National Bases of Terrorism
• 7 Terrorism and Ideologies of the Left
• 8 Terrorism and Ideologies of the Right
• 9 Terrorism and Multiple Motivations
• 10 State Use of Domestic Terrorism Instead of Repression
• 11 Countries with Multiple Crises of Terrorism
• 12 Counterterrorism
• 13 Terrorism: A Continuing Phenomenon
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index