Terrorism Flashcards
Where did the word terrorism originate from?
French Revolution - Regime de la terreur; was a people’s movement to consolidate the government’s power; were organized, deliberate and systematic
Rappaport’s Four Periods of Terrorism
19th century with the anarchists, second wave or anti-colonial wave, third wave where radicalism was combined with nationalism, fourth or religious wave that began in the 1980s
Two types of terrorism?
Old terrorism, new terrorism
Old terrorism
didn’t use indiscriminate violence since it reduced their legitimacy and alienated supporters; secular
New Terrorism
willingness to use excessive indiscriminate violence; religious fanaticism
How to distinguish terrorism from other crimes
political in aims and motives, violent, designed to have psychological repercussions, conducted by an organization with ties to ideological aims or a terrorist movement, perpetrated by a subnational group/non-state entity
Trends in terrorism and fatalities
greater availablity of means, more attacks, more dangerous,networked terrorist organization
Jessica Stern’s analysis of AQ
composed of tiers; sleepers with knowledge; operatives involved in intelligence/bomb making, good Muslims who have long-term benefit to the organization, young men who carry out attacks
Where do most attacks occur and in increase in what location?
South Asia - South Asia and Near East = 2/3rd of high casualty attacks’ mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Iraq
Where do most attacks take place in Africa?
Somalia and Congo (LRA); Rwanda
Most common attackers of terrorism?
Sunni extremists, Taliban, Al-Shabaab, and AQ in Iraq
Most common types of attacks according to NCTC
Armed attacks, bombings and kidnappings; suicide attacks (Afghanistan, Iraq) = most attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan,Pakistan
Who were the most victims of attacks?
Muslims and most were victim to Sunni extremist attacks
Demographics of people most often killed in attacks according to NCTC
civilians, police officers, government officials/employees/conractors, press
Levels of support for terrorists
Leaders,operational cadre, active & passive supporters
Three types of terrorists
Traditional, Waning, Apocalyptic
Traditional terrorists
range of activities from political to violence, support of populace is key, represents the majority of terrorists: Al Qaeda
Waning terrorists
looking to achieve objectives through political,social,and economic means; violence contrary to objectives, support of populace is paramount = IRA
Apocalyptic terrorists
very few, high violence, no negotiation = AUm Shinrikyo
Motivations of bioterror?
ideological, strategic, tactical
Incentives and constraints with ideological terrorism
consistent with ideology, enahnces status but runs counter to group norms
Incentives and constraints with strategic terrorism
gets specific outcomes, blackmail tool, helps build the organization but can be seen as counterproductive and opposed by state sponsors
Incentives and constraints with tactical terrorism
exploits target weakness, makes use of dual-use technology, mimics previous attacks but challenges of development and use are high, unpredictable outcome, better conventional alternatives
Reasons why terrorists might be interested in BW?
large number of casualties, psychological effect, disruptive effect on economy, easy to manufacture and deploy, easy to bring into a foreign country
Tucker’s six characteristics of CBW terrorists
apocalyptic ideology, charismatic leadership, isolation from society, lack of outside constituency, loner/militant subgroup, paranoia/defensive aggression
NCTC analysis: country with the most attacks and fatalities due to terrorism
Iraq
Where did attacks in the West increase in 2009 by 27%
Colombia
