Lecture 1 Flashcards
terrorism- how does it problematize our notion of who is the offender and who is the victim?
who is the offender/who is the victim?
what is meant by the label terrorism?
why do people commit terrorism?
what causes terrorism?
Nelson Mandela
ANC party leader viewed as a terrorist organisation 190’s
jailed for trying to overthrow the apartheid regime
now viewed as a freedom fighter
Background to terrorism
Fear-national and personal security
Sensitivity- increased political, media and public sensitivity
not a new phenomena but a new era of terrorism can be seen
Effects of terrorism on security
Bag searches
shoe scanning- shoe bomber- Richard Reid 2001
Liquid limit– 2006 transatlantic plot
Old terrorism vs. New terrorism
Old groups- red brigade, Farc, IRA, ETA, Chechan Rebels
New groups- Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Tamil Tigers
old terrorism often warnings of attacks IRA warrington bomb attack 1993 -innocent people not the agenda
new terrorism - targets anyone in that country- use of suicide bombers
Defining terrorism?
no universally agreed definition
list of themes
-perpetration threat of violence
-political dimension
UK operational legal definition
-actual or threatened acts of violence against people or property, designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public to advance a political, ideological, racial or religious cause
terrorism is a concept
Terrorism VS Violence
Distinctions:-
always premeditated
retains a symbolic element
usually considered EXTRA normal
used to influence political behavior (wilkinson 2006)
-lingering feeling 9/11
targets symbols- american troops, IRA police officers, Pentagon
Alternative definitions of terrorism
One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter..
all about perspective
What constitutes terrorism (different types)
State Sponsored
State Sponsored
Internal - Internal state terrorism involves the use of violence and intimidation by state officials and institutions against the citizens of the state to gain their submission to authoritarian rule.
examples: Sadam Hussein gassing the Kurds, General Pinochet Chile 1974 torturing and killing opponents and outspeakers
External- External state sponsored terrorism refers to the state sponsoring terrorism abroad..
examples: US providing arms and assistance to Al Qaeda against the Russians, similarly Russians providing assistance to the Vietcong during the Vietnam war
Ethno-Nationalists
want unity/ independence from opponents, fighting for freedom IRA, ETA basque region, Chechen Rebels
Ideological terrorism
Targeting elite who oppress their people
- shining path Maoist 1980’s
- Red Brigade - super left marxists
Religio-Political
fighting for their religion - goals centre around it
examples: hamas in palestine hezbollah in lebanon boko haram in nigeria
Single Issue
one issue trend
animal liberation front
New Terrorism
differs in motives and means of perpetration/use of violence and ultimate outcomes
Walter Laquer “radical transformation”
New Terrorism - continued the changing threat
IRA did not want large numbers of civilians deaths- gave warnings
New terrorists - quality and quantity
Brian Jenkins “old terrorists wanted a lot of people watching and a lot of people listening but not a lot of people dead”
Post 9/11 and 7/7
types of weapons - planes, suicide bombers
mass casualties
suicide relatively new
The threat in reality
international and home bred terrorism- Lee Rigby
heightened fear of chemical biological radiation and nuclear attacks - dirty bomb panic
hostile attacks on UK cyber space
UK threat status
currently under substantial threat - home office
targeting state and country
UK response terrorist policy
Terrorism Act 2000- knee jerk reaction
-incredibly punitive and draconian
Anti Terrorism crime and security Act 2001
Draconian - financing of terrorism
Counter terrorism Act 2008
- extended periods of detention without charge
- longer sentences
Terrorism Prevention and investigation measures Act 2011
-Cameron 100 year sentence- Punitive
UK responses to Terrorism
Stop and Search - controversial Black x6 Asian x2
2009- stop and search numbers dropped
control orders- Home Secretary executive orders to limit freedom (Abu Hamza)
Detention without trial
Causes of Terrorism
- Individual personal traits
- Group members and social identity theory
“Cocktail of disaffected individual an enabling community and a legitimizing ideology” and a conductive surrounding (Richardson 2000)
