lecture 15.docx

Causes of Civil Wars grievances and identity differences are in large supply Feasibilities rely on where you have abundant supplies of things. Rebels can flourish in weak states When the state is unable to distinguish a rebel army Geography, places to hid, escape attacks Ability to buy weapons to make war has become much easier of the past years Due to the fall of the soviet union Lecture 15: Terrorism October 29, 2009 Introduction Definitions of terrorism Slippery, contested concept Definitions of terrorism (UN Definiton) targets of violence are usually never the victim. You attack people, but your target audience are not the people you attack. Systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective Use of violence not to win a battle, take territory or to control of physical space, but it is to create a general climate of fear in a population. Usually has a political purpose or a political objective Louise Richardson?s Seven Attributes Terrorism activity is not against random targets, and has symbolic significance Bruce Hoffman Definition Terrorism as a tactic Terrorism as asymmetric violence Terrorism vs insurgency, criminal activity Taliban are the inbetween of the 2 Terrorists in general are not usually involved in civil war fighting (2 people fighting for control of a state) Civilians as victims in terrorism violence Criminal activity is usually not a political objective Types of terrorism Temporal vs transformational goals Negotiable and non-negotiable demands History of thinking about terrorism French Revolution as ?terror? Anti-colonial resistance in Europe Islamic Radicalism, especially al-Qaeda Brief discussion of history of Al-Qaeda: Sayeed Qutb, Aman Al-Zawihiri, Osama Bin-Laden Egyptian philosopher Terrorism as Local or Global Causes of Terrorism Richardson?s 3 R?s Revenge, renown, reaction Prevoke a reaction that leads to extensive forces Trigger a reaction to weaken opponent Individual level causes Social level cuases International level causes Robert pape?s study Suicide terrorism as ?strategic? Purpose is to Change policy, mobilize recuits Responses to Terrorism, ie. Counterterrorism Is it a ?war?? Terrorist groups want to see themselves in a global fight against big governments Should it be more of a police operation? Richardson?s six rules