International Terrorism: International Terrorism
Baris Kesgin
March 13, 2007
Defining Terrorism: Defining Terrorism State sponsors and rogue groups blur defined terrorist acts
Potentially politically loaded term
One person's “terrorist” is another's “freedom fighter”
Shimko: ‘how we define terrorism shape policy prescriptions to fight terrorism’
Implications for international cooperation
Can be difficult to define ultimately, but we have particular components common to most definitions
On the Internet: On the Internet
Terrorism: Official Definitions: Terrorism: Official Definitions Title 22, United States Code, Section 2656f(d)
Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
Official Definitions (cont'd): Official Definitions (cont'd) U.S. Department of Defense
The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological.
United Nations
Any action intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such an act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to carry out or to abstain from any act, cannot be justified on any grounds and constitutes an act of terrorism.”
Source: The Economist 10 September 2005, pg. 32.
Terrorism: A Working Definition: Terrorism: A Working Definition use of lethal violence or threat of violence
political motivation (not necessarily exclusively political)
individuals targeted are not directly connected to the political objective—violence is somewhat random
perpetrators are not officially connected to the state
* See the discussion in Shimko, pp. 294-295
Psychology of Terrorism: Psychology of Terrorism “What is frightening is not the abnormality of those who carry out the suicide attacks but their sheer normality.”
“[O]ne of the most common motivations for joining a terrorist organization is the desire for revenge or retribution for a perceived injustice.”
“Terrorists are exceptional demographically: usually males between 15 and 30 years of age.”
“large-scale military responses to terrorism tend to be ineffective or temporarily to increase terrorist activity” [italics in original]
Source: Scott L. Plous and Philip G. Zimbardo (2004, Sept). “How Social Science Can Reduce Terrorism” Chronicle of Higher Educations.
Psychology of Terrorism (cont'd): Psychology of Terrorism (cont'd) Motives/ Objectives
Causing fear within a targeted audience
Disrupting normal life
Damaging infrastructure
Undermining confidence in government
Recognition
Coercion
Provocation
Terrorist Tactics: Terrorist Tactics Bombings
Attacks on infrastructure
Assassinations
Hostage-taking
Hijacking
Arson
Biological/chemical attacks
Advantages of Terrorism: Advantages of Terrorism Inexpensive compared to the efforts required to suppress it
Requires little training or equipment
Appeals to the heroic model of conflict; recruiting is relatively easy in distressed communities
Sometimes generates good media coverage
Makes conventional political movements look moderate in comparison
Disadvantages of Terrorism: Disadvantages of Terrorism Almost never works by itself because the targets do not have political power;
Changing governmental policies requires either mass mobilization or elite influence; violence alone is not sufficient
Tends to alienate the local population through
Random attacks
Government and international retaliation
Violates assorted norms of international law and therefore alienates the international community
Easily degenerates into conventional criminal activity
Individual ideological terrorist movements typically last only about ten to fifteen years; cycles of terrorism last about twenty
Terrorism: A typology: Terrorism: A typology State
Collective punishment
Suppression of dissidents
Some do not use terrorism to describe it, but rather prefer ‘repression’
State-sponsored use of terrorists, e.g. death squads
State Sponsors of Terrorism (US Dept of State): State Sponsors of Terrorism (US Dept of State) Country Designation Date
Cuba March 1, 1982
Iran January 19, 1984
North Korea January 20, 1988
Sudan August 12, 1993
Syria December 29, 1979
Terrorism: A typology (cont'd): Terrorism: A typology (cont'd) Nationalist
Focused upon a certain state/country
Purpose is to acquire independence
Examples: ETA, IRA, PLO, PKK
Criminal
Drug cartel, mafia(s)
Terrorism: A typology (cont'd): Terrorism: A typology (cont'd) Ideological
Anarchist: attempt to overthrow established gov'ts
Leftist: aiming to establish socialist/ communist govt
Rightist: neo-Nazi or neo-Fascist groups
“Religious”
'divinely commanded purposes'?
Targeting broad categories of foes
Al-Qaeda Terrorism: Al-Qaeda Terrorism Diffuse organization of radical “Islamic” terrorists
1980s - ‘Afghan Arabs’ v. Soviet force
1990-1 – Gulf War; Saudi decision to allow US troops
1991-6 – Sudan and Al-Qaeda
1996-2002 – Afghanistan
2002-present – Worldwide (Pakistan/Iraq/Indonesia)
Focus on the USA and “Islamic” governments closely allied with the US (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan)
Slide17: Al-Qaeda Terrorism (cont'd)
Al-Qaeda Attacks: Al-Qaeda Attacks February 26, 1993 - bombing of the WTC
October 3, 1993 - killing of US soldiers in Somalia
June 25, 1996 - truck bomb at Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
August 8, 1998 - bombing of US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
October 12, 2000 - bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden
September 11, 2001 - the WTC, and the Pentagon
April 11, 2002 - truck bomb near an ancient Jewish shrine Djerba, Tunisia
Al-Qaeda Attacks (cont'd): Al-Qaeda Attacks (cont'd) May 8, 2002 - suicide bombing outside Sheraton Hotel in Karachi, Pakistan
October 12, 2002 - nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia
November 28, 2002 - suicide bomb at the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya
May 12, 2003 - suicide bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
May 16, 2003 - explosions in Casablanca, Morocco
November 15, 2003 - car bombs at the HSBC HQ in Istanbul, Turkey
March 11, 2004 - ten bombs explode at a train station in Madrid, Spain
Al-Qaeda and 'International Society': Al-Qaeda and 'International Society' How does it threaten our international society (or ‘club of states’)?
(1) Monopoly of force
- Challenges notion of sovereign state being sole legitimate user of force
- ‘less responsible’ and ‘unaccountable’
(2) Religious caliphate v. sovereign states
- Both territorial and source of legitimacy (divine v. secular)
- State system seen as ‘immoral’ by bin-Laden (separates Muslims)
Threat to International Society (cont'd): Threat to International Society (cont'd) (3) International Orgs and International Law
- Al Qaeda rejects UN as founded upon ‘Western Norms’
- Int Law is man-made law; illegitimate source compared to God’s law
(4) Undermining public’s trust in state
- We no longer ‘feel secure’ in our nation-states
(5) Killing Civilians (bin Laden’s Feb. 1998 “Fatwah”)
‘The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies--civilians and military--is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it’
Threat to International Society (cont'd): Threat to International Society (cont'd) (5) cont'd
Two Justifications for Fatwah against civilians
American electorate democratically supports government policies
Tit-for-Tat: US military makes no distinction itself
(6) Provokes most powerful member of International Society to overreact and undermine rules
- Get hegemon to conduct un-societylike policies
ie: Detention, torture, invading another sovereign state
Why are these important?: Why are these important? Challenges notion of sovereign state being the sole legitimate user of force
International Law is man-made law; illegitimate source compared to God’s law
Undermine public’s trust in state: We no longer ‘feel secure’ in our nation-states
Get hegemon/most powerful members of Intnat’l Soc to conduct un-society like policies, to overreact and undermine rule
Combating International Terrorism -Strategies: Combating International Terrorism -Strategies (1) 'Bush Doctrine' or 'statist strategy'
make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them -President Bush, 9/20/2001
Assumptions
States only units with capabilities to support international terrorist groups
State structures can be reformed to combat conditions promoting terrorism
Traditional strategy (interstate war) for a non-traditional problem (transnational terrorism)
Strategies (cont'd): Strategies (cont'd) (1a) 'Flypaper'
Attract terrorists to one spot and 'fight them there so we don't have to fight them here'
Assumes finite amount of terrorists
Iraq 2003 to present
Problems:
May backfire by instead providing 'training ground' for terrorists (CIA analysis, May 2005)
Moral: placing the war in someone else's country (Counter argument: bringing democracy)
Strategies (cont'd): Strategies (cont'd) (2) 'Cosmopolitan approach'
Terrorism is driven by economic and social deprivation
‘the root causes’
Poor/loss of state structures
Tactics:
Nation-building (Somalia, Sudan, etc.)
Economic aid
As a result of our efforts, as a result of our helicopter pilots being seen by the citizens of Indonesia helping them, that value system of ours will be reinforces... It dries up those pools of dissatisfaction that might give rise to terrorist activity...: Clearing the Swamp: Colin Powell Remarks: 4 January 2005 As a result of our efforts, as a result of our helicopter pilots being seen by the citizens of Indonesia helping them, that value system of ours will be reinforces... It dries up those pools of dissatisfaction that might give rise to terrorist activity...
Strategies (cont'd): Strategies (cont'd) (3) Financial connections
Eliminating Al-Qaeda's financial resources
Also 'energy independence' -removing source of revenue that might eventually be used to finance terrorism
(4) Police-Clandestine
Problem with 'statist' view is that Al-Qaeda is a non-state entity (less structured, less spatially specific)
Yet, Al-Qaeda sophisticated/technologically proficient
Must match individuals w/ individuals (surveillance)
Mixing Strategies: Mixing Strategies Military action
But, indiscriminant force becomes counterproductive
Law-enforcement
But, legal processes are slow and do not quickly impede terrorist organizations
Financial restrictions
Intelligence