2. What is terrorism?
• Terrorism is a controversial term
• All definitions agree that terrorism involves acts of
violence
• Terrorism differs from criminal violence because it
aims to achieve political change
• Terrorists claim to fight for a just cause, but opponents
of that cause regard them as ordinary criminals
• Whether we describe something as terrorism depends
on our view of the legitimacy of the cause
3. Who is a terrorist?
• States reserve for themselves
the power to define who is a
terrorist
• In the 1980s, the USA regarded
the Afghan Mujahideen as
‘freedom fighters’ when they
resisted the Soviet invasion
• Two decades later, the USA
accused a new generation of
Afghans of being terrorists for
resisting western invasion
4. State violence:
the first terrorists
• The first use of the term
came after the French
Revolution, when the new
government used terror
against its own citizens
• Thousands of real and
imagined enemies of the
Revolution were executed
• The terror backfired, and
the leaders followed their
victims to the guillotine
5. Is state violence terrorism?
• State violence is not normally regarded as
terrorism now
• In Realist IR theory, states have a monopoly
on the use of force
• Thus only sub-state groups are regarded as
terrorists
• These groups and their supporters would not
accept that distinction
6. State-sponsored terrorism
• One factor not covered
by the Realist concept of
state force is state
support for terrorist
groups in other countries
• Libya under Gaddafi
sponsored several
groups carrying out what
he called ‘revolutionary
violence’
7. Terrorism in International Relations
• Terrorist groups are
not regarded as a
legitimate actor in IR,
as they operate
outside the law
• Even so, it is clear
that terrorist groups
have been able to
exert influence on
international and
domestic politics
8. Terrorism as a struggle
• Terrorism is the weakest form of armed struggle
• Terrorist groups lack the means to engage in
direct confrontation with governments
• Terrorists therefore pick soft or limited targets
• Most terrorist groups enjoy limited popular support
– they are too radical
• Terrorists usually seek to provoke a
disproportionate response from governments
• This strategy can be counterproductive, as
terrorists can lose support
9. Types of terrorism
• In terms of political aims, terrorist groups can
be conveniently divided into four types:
• a) left-wing
• b) right-wing
• c) ethno-nationalist or separatist
• d) religious or ‘sacred’
• These distinctions can overlap – some ethno-
nationalist groups could be Marxist or inspired
by Marxist ideas
10. Left-wing terrorism
• Left-wing groups generally wish to
achieve overthrow capitalist
governments and establish
societies run according to Marxist
or quasi-Marxist principles
• Most of these groups were formed
in the 1960s
• They were inspired by the actions
of earlier anarchist groups
11. Early left-wing groups
• Long before the creation of
the Soviet Union and modern
communism, several early
terrorist groups pursued
broadly left-wing ideals
• One notable group was
Russia’s Narodnaya Volya
(the People’s Will), members
of which assassinated Tsar
Alexander II in 1881
12. Right-wing terrorism
• Right-wing terrorism is a
relatively recent development
• These are mostly small groups
inspired by neo-Fascist and
neo-Nazi ideas
• Their actions often target
government buildings,
foreigners or real or perceived
political opponents
13. Ethno-nationalists
• Ethno-nationalists are probably the
best-known type of terrorists
• Ethno-nationalists generally seek
independence (or greater autonomy)
for a region, and target what they
see as an oppressive occupying or
imperial governments
• Ethno-nationalists regard themselves
as national liberation movements
14. Early ethno-nationalist groups
• An early example of ethno-
nationalist terrorism was the
Fenian group, which fought
to gain Irish independence
from Britain
• In 1867 they planted a
bomb outside Clerkenwell
Prison in London, trying to
rescue two of their members
15. Later ethno-nationalist groups
• Ethno-nationalist groups
became common during
decolonisation
• Many leaders of such
groups became rulers after
independence or changes
of regime
• Ethno-nationalist terrorism
continues in many parts of
the world
16. Religious or ‘sacred’ terrorism
• Many groups have claimed to
be inspired by Christian or
Jewish faith, including the
Lord’s Resistance Army in
Uganda
• However, religious terrorism is
usually associated with Islamist
groups, notably Al Qaeda
17. Terrorism after 1968
• Terrorism has long been an important factor in
the domestic politics of many countries
• Since 1968, terrorism has played a far more
prominent role in international politics and
international relations
• This was partly a factor of better transport,
particularly air travel
• The development of the media – TV news –
gave unprecedented publicity to terrorist events
• Several groups of diverse origin began to
collaborate
18. New methods
• In 1968 the Popular Front
for the Liberation of
Palestine – a Marxist
group that later became
part of the PLO – hijacked
an El Al jet
• In 1970 the same group
attempted to hijack five
planes
• Three of the planes were
blown up in the eyes of
the world’s press
19. International cooperation
• The 1970s saw
cooperation between
terrorist groups with very
different aims – Germany’s
left-wing RAF, Northern
Ireland’s IRA, Palestine’s
Fatah and the Japanese
Red Army
• States like Libya, East
Germany and even the
Soviet Union gave help to
some groups
20. Terrorism and globalisation
• The changes associated with globalisation – the
growing interconnectedness of the world – have
created new opportunities for terrorist groups
• Better transport means increased mobility
• The Internet and mobile phone technologies
allow better communication, organisation and
publicity
• They also make it possible to coordinate attacks
from anywhere in the world
21. The rise of Al Qaeda
• What is new about Al Qaeda?
• It represents the newest form of terrorism, the
so-called ‘sacred’ terrorism
• Motivated by its own interpretation of Islam, it
promises its operatives rewards in the afterlife
• It works as a brand, rather than as a tightly
structured organisation
22. Origins of Al Qaeda
• The war against the Soviet
Union in Afghanistan in the
1980s created a space for
radical Islam
• Many who had fought with
the Afghan Mujahideen
went on to found Al Qaeda
and similar organisations
• These wished to become
involved in Islamist
struggles elsewhere in the
world
23. Evolution of Al Qaeda
• Al Qaeda adopted an
anti-American and anti-
Western stance,
particularly after the
stationing of US forces
in Saudi Arabia
• Notable actions
included the suicide
attack on the USS Cole
in 2000
24. The 2001 attacks
• The multiple attacks on
the US mainland in
September 2001 were the
most spectacular actions
of Al Qaeda
• The attacks targeted
important symbols of
capitalism and American
military power
• The attacks were also
designed to gain
maximum publicity
25. What has terrorism achieved?
• Most terrorist groups have
achieved very little
• It is very difficult to undermine
state power, unless there is strong
popular support for the cause (not
necessarily the methods)
• Some former terrorists entered the
political process and achieved all
or some of their aims, usually
national independence or
autonomy
• These groups (Sinn Féin, the
PLO) usually had concrete aims
that could be negotiated
• Most left- and right-wing groups
achieved nothing
26. Terrorism and IR: the balance
• However, the aftermath of
the 2001 saw US President
Bush launch his ‘War on
Terror’
• Soon this led to the invasion
of Afghanistan and
ultimately to the invasion of
Iraq
• Thus a terrorist organisation
had dramatic influence on
subsequent events
• Terrorists can therefore be
significant actors in IR in
certain circumstances
