Terrorism Summary (Lectures) PDF

(Counter)terrorism Security Studies (year 2) Yulia Göbel LEIDEN UNIVERSITY, CAMPUS THE HAGUE 16-12-2024 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Table of contents IMPORTANT ACTORS & GROUPS 0 TIMELINE 1 LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION 5 CONCEPTS 5 SUMMARY 6 LECTURE 2: POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND STATE-TERRORISM 10 CONCEPTS 10 SUMMARY 11 LECTURE 3: FROM ANARCHISTS TO JIHADISTS: THE FOUR WAVES 17 CONCEPTS 17 SUMMARY 18 LECTURE 4: CASE STUDY: THE PROVISIONAL IRA 24 CONCEPTS 24 SUMMARY 28 PART 1: IRELAND HISTORY 28 PART 2: THE TROUBLE 30 PART 3: THE EMERGENCE AND EVOLUTION OF THE PROVISIONAL IRA 32 PART 4: THE PIRA’S EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT 33 LECTURE 5: THE EVOLUTION OF CRITICAL TERRORISM STUDIES 39 CONCEPTS 39 SUMMARY 39 LECTURE 6: KEY CONCEPTS AND STATE OF THE ART IN RESEARCH 45 CONCEPTS 45 SUMMARY 46 LECTURE 7: PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON RADICALISATION 50 CONCEPTS 50 SUMMARY 51 LECTURE 8: UNDERSTANDING INVOLVEMENT IN TERRORISM 57 Page 1 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) CONCEPTS 57 SUMMARY 58 LECTURE 9: LONE-ACTOR 65 CONCEPTS 65 SUMMARY 65 LECTURE 10: TERRORIST TACTICS AND THEIR EVOLUTION 70 CONCEPTS 70 SUMMARY 71 LECTURE 11: CT: APPROACHES & EFFECTIVENESS 74 CONCEPTS 74 SUMMARY 74 LECTURE 12: COUNTERTERRORISM IN PRACTICE (GUEST LECTURE) 79 CONCEPTS 79 SUMMARY 80 LECTURE 13: NARRATIVES & COUNTERNARRATIVES 82 CONCEPTS 82 SUMMARY 83 PART I: LET’S THEORIES 83 PART II: THE NARRATIVE 85 PART III: THE COUNTERNARRATIVE 86 PART IV: THE ROLE OF COGNITION 87 WOOCLAP & RECAPS 89 WEEK 1: DEFINITION OF TERRORISM 89 TERRORISM CONCEPT 89 POLITICAL VIOLENCE 89 WEEK 2: HISTORY OF TERRORISM 90 WAVES OF TERRORIST 90 CASE STUDY: IRA 91 WEEK 3: RESEARCH ON TERRORISM 93 GUEST LECTURE 93 KEY CONCEPTS 93 WEEK 4: MENTAL HEALTH 94 PSYCHOLOGY 94 INVOLVEMENT OF TERRORISM 95 WEEK 5: LONE ACTORS 95 LONE ACTORS 95 Page 2 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) GUEST LECTURE 96 COUNTERTERRORISM APPROACHES 96 WEEK 6: NARRATIVES 97 GUEST LECTURE AIVD 97 NARRATIVES AND COUNTERNARRATIVES 97 EXAM TIPS 98 Page 3 of 102 Important actors & groups Some titles of this list consist of cross-references Al-Qaeda Osama Bin Laden > founder (1980s) & former leader of AL-Qaeda, as well as responsible for the 9/11 attacks; Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi > Founder of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. o Became Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI); o Which later evolved into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Ayman AL-Zawahiri > Bin Laden’s deputy and successor as the leader of Al- Qaeda after 2011. Aum Shinrikyo (aka Aleph) Japanese doomsday cult founded in 1984 by Shoko Asahara. Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) ‘Basque Homeland and Freedom’ in Basque (separatist group in Spain). Became a paramilitary organisation in the 1960s. Front de Libérationdu Québec (FLQ) 1960s-early 1970s > militant Quebec separatist group between in Canada. Islamic State Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi > leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and self-proclaimed "caliph" of the Islamic State. Irish Revolutionary Army (IRA) p.24 1920: Black & Tans; The Squad (> precursor to SAS) commanded to take out the Cairo Gang; o Organised by Micheal Collins during the War of Independence. 1922: Irish Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC); 1960s: Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA); 1969: the split of the IRA > The official IRA (OIRA) & Provisional IRA (PIRA); 1998: Sinn Feìn > peace process leading to the The Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement; o Gerry Adams > still attains that he was never part of the IRA; o Martin McGuinness > new strategy to not get caught or interned; Led to a huge reduction in arrests; Led also to notable attacks (> North Red Army Faction (RAF) Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) A far-left militant group in West Germany, active from 1970 to 1998. Influenced by Marxist-Leninist ideology and supported by other militant groups like the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). Red Brigades or Brigade Rosse (BR) They were a far-left militant group of Marxist-Leninist militants in Italy from the 1970s-1980s. Timeline 1263-1328: Ibn Taymiyya. 1658: “Not what they want but what is good for them” remark by Oliver Cromwell. 1703-‘91: Ibn Abd al-Wahhab > founding father of Saudi Arabia. 1798: The Battle of Ballinamuck. 1860-1914s: Anarchism wave 1881: assassination of Tsar Alexander II. 1882-1952: British Rule in Egypt. 1890s: Golden Age of Assassination. Late 1890s: Suffragette (revolutionary) movement. Jan. 24, 1878: Vera Zasulich wounded a Russian police commander who abused political prisoners > “I am a terrorist, not a killer”. 1901: assassination of President McKinley. 1914-1918: 1st World War. 1914: IPP in Ireland was looking for home rule, but Ulster blocked. Cumann na mBan (the female auxiliary paramilitary force in the PIRA). 1916: Easter Rising > a “watershed” moment for Irish Republicanism. 1918-1960s: Anti-Colonialism wave 1919-1921: the War of Independence > emergence of the IRA. 1919: The Squad (> precursor to SAS) commanded to take out the Cairo Gang; March 1922-May 1923: the Irish Civil War. 1920: Black & Tans; Jul.-Dec. 6th, 1921: negotiation & signing of the The Angelo Irish Treaty. 1922: Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Proportional Representation (PR) was abolished. March> the anti-Treaty IRA held a meeting pledging its opposition to the new government. Jan 7 : acceptance of the Angelo Irish Treaty in Dáil. th May 1923: by the end of the Civil War many leaders in the Irish Republican Page 1 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) movement was dead, including Michael Collins (31); 1928: Hassan al-Banna & Muslim Brotherhood. 1940-1945: 2nd World War. 1942: official end of the Ottoman Empire. 1946: King David Hotel bombing. 1949: official the Republic of Ireland with 26 counties. Late 1950s: research on social movements began to emerge. 1960s-1989: New Left wave 1960s-‘70s: Terrorism research emerged as a discipline. psychopathology lens > people lack remorse, manipulative, and they’re doing things without any guilt; 1960s: Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA); Front de Libérationdu Québec (FLQ) Late 1960s: Big March in Washington. 1963: Westmount bombing; Oct. 5th ,1968: Civil Rights March in Derry. Nov. 22nd: Terence O'Neill announced a package of reform measures. 1969-’76: Phase 1 > PIRA structured themselves like an Army. 1969: Piazza Fontana bombing in Mila; Battle of the Bogside in Derry; Derry Riots > not an armed campaign; Split of the IRA > The Official IRA (OIRA) & Provisional IRA (PIRA). Oct > the British Army arrived in Northern Ireland. 1970-‘98: Red Army Faction. 1970s-‘80s: Red Brigades or Brigade Rosse (BR). Jul. 3rd – 5th,1970s: The British response to Phase 1 1970: Troop patrol; 1971: The British response to Phase 1 1972: The British response to Phase 1 1973: Sunningdale Agreement; Marian and Delours Price took part in coordinated bombings in London and went on hunger strike in prison. Jan. 5 , 1973: US was the first to instal th airport metal detectors 1975: BR became more indiscriminately violent. 1977-1980: Phase 2 > a cellular approach for the PIRA. Gerry Adams and Page 2 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Martin McGuinness became the Chiefs. 1976: the British government withdrew the Special Category Status for all paramilitary prisoners; 1978: Armed PIRA members openly display weapons at a Bloody Sunday demonstration in Derry; This Special Category Status withdrawal escalated > ‘no wash’ protest; 1979-present: religious wave 1979-’89: Soviet invasion Afghanistan Early 1980s: BR became isolated from public support & torn apart by internal dissent. 1980s: psychoanalysis lens > what happened to you, what was your childhood, did someone hurt you etc. Successive comparative studies failed to support the link between mental pathology and terrorism. 1980: Cossiga laws proved very effective against Brigate Rosse; Nell McCafferty’s poignant essay brought the world’s attention to the women’s side of the ‘dirty protest’. 1981-1989: Phase 3: growing politicization of the Republican movement. 1981: 2nd hunger strike by prisoners led by a PIRA volunteer > Bobby Sands. 1989-’83: Penitence laws proved very effective against Brigate Rosse. 1982: 1st confirmed suicide attack; Hama Massacre. 1993: Rabin & Arafat. 1984: Aum Shinrikyo (aka Aleph) founded by Shoko Asahara. 1985-1989: freedom fighters in Afghanistan standing up for their faith & country, fighting the Soviet Union invaders. 1985: fail of the Annual Irish Agreement. 1986: PIRA officially adopted a dual political and paramilitary campaign. 1987-1993: 1st intifada. 1988: emergence of Al-Qaeda, founded by Osama Bin Laden. 1989: Fall of the Soviet Union. Late ‘80s: return to the PIRA bombing. 1990-1994: phase 4: negotiations and pathways toward ceasefires. 1990-’91: 1st Gulf War. 1990s: human proxy bombs by the PIRA. Emergence of ‘leaderless resistance’. 1992-’93: US intervention Somalia. 1992: Ruby Ridge, Idaho. 1993: Waco, Texas. Page 3 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) April 19, 1995: Case study: Oklahoma City bombing 1998: Sinn Feìn > peace process leading to the The Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement; 21st century: terrorism is becoming more plausibly explained through a multitude of interacting, psychosocial processes & strong emphasis on ideological ‘radicalisation’. 2001: international Jihadist terrorist threat. Sept. 11th: Twin Tower attacks in the US by Al-Qaeda. 2002: twenty years after ‘Bloody Friday’, the PIRA issued an apology. 2003: U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. 2004-’07: Rise of ‘homegrown ’jihadist terrorism. 2004: Madrid Bombings; Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Nov. 2004: attack on Theo van Gogh. 2005: freedom fighters in Afghanistan are considered terrorists due to the West & US forces being the invaders (to remove Osama Bin Laden). July 7 : London bombings. th 2006: al-Zarqawi killed; ISI (in Iraq) declared in Sunni areas; Critical Studies on Terrorism Working Group emerged. 2007-08: ‘Surge’ > many ISI/AQI staff were killed or imprisoned. 2008: Launch of Critical Studies on Terrorism journal. 2009: Camp Chapman attack (guerrilla warfare) & Queens Day attack. 2011: Occupy Wall Street, NY; May 2nd: death of Osama Bin Laden; New leader > Ayman AL-Zawahiri. Jul. 27 : suicide bombing in Taza Khurmatu, Iraq. th 2019: Christchurch attack & Halle attack. 2021: US Capital Riot (> political violence). January 6th : Insurrection, Washington. 2022: Just Stop Oil in London. 2023: Hamas attack on Israel. Page 4 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Lecture 1: introduction Concepts Guerilla or Insurgents Sizable organisations with weaponised soldiers, people who take care of logistics, lots of finance and jurisdictional cooperation: who governs? 1) Get them on your side and entice them to support or tolerate you; 2) You can force them to do so > First, attack police stations, withdraw the officers, and rob their armoury. Second, build their own forces and attack until they’re powerful enough to take out the state's central forces to become the state eventually; Get 24/7 state control. Failure of imagination= inability to conceive an attack, like the 9/11 attack. Radicalisation= the process of adopting extremist viewpoints, which are those that legitimise the encouragement of the use of political violence for socio-political change. Resistance fighter= attacker attacking armed personnel of foreign invasion forces. Strategic bombardment A euphemism for the use of aerial bombarding and warfare against civilians. Developed during the interbellum. These bombardments will always pass through air defences, and the mass fires make their way to cities. Main Idea Trans-warfare lasted years and years, and no one wants a repetition of that. Many sides thought their opponents' real weakness lay in their civilian population. If they could reflect enough herds and enough harm on the civilians behind the front lines, at some point, creating breaks, they would force their own governments to shoot for peace and abandon the war. Terrorism On the one hand to a doctrine about the presumed effectiveness of a special form or tactic of fear-generating, coercive political violence and, on the other hand, to a conspiratorial practice of calculated, demonstrative, direct violent action without legal or moral restraints, targeting mainly civilians and non- combatants, performed for its propagandistic and psychological effects on various audience and conflict parties. War crime= intentionally targets civilians to cause as many deaths and destruction as possible in order to get them to do something about the political war. Page 5 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Summary What is terrorism? No commonly accepted definition exists; o Negative connotations; o Subjective > freedom fighter’s vs terrorists; o Too infrequent to generalise. The Netherlands, fortunately, doesn’t face terrorist attacks as much. Results o Condemnation rather than description; o Terrorism as a definitional or rhetorical weapon; Prescribes and rules out policy responses? Normatively influences research agenda? o Difficulties in building upon others’ research. Second order effect; o Terrorism is a violent form of communication to broadly reach various organisations. o Spread fear, intimidate, inspire etc. The focus of this course > non-state terrorism (national associations underground, like IS and Al-Qaeda); o States have been and remain among the full, most immediate alter. Highly politicised debate > everyone can be a terrorist; it’s hard to stay objective. o Subjectivity in how we view terrorists based on behaviour towards us. More than an academic debate > affects entire populations. What is considered as terrorism Most terrorist don’t know their specific targets, but they attack due to their beliefs and the group they represent. 1) A clear motive > targeting civilians (who are unable to fight back) or high- public figures to spread fear and justify the necessity for social/political change that terrorists want; 2) Difference between the immediate victims and the group they represent; Targeting a community, police system, or societal climate civilians represent that terrorists consider as hateful and evil; 3) Attacks may have different outcomes (more or less victims) but create a similar spread of fear and outrage throughout society. What could not be considered as terrorism? Targets are military-based and weaponised in a warzone. 3 key criteria to meet a proper definition of terrorism. 1) Descriptive Clear language on what societal phenomenon is being observed. Page 6 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) 2) Demarcating > clear boundaries. What is the essence and core nature of terrorism? 3) Must be as objective & natural as possible. Different views on terrorism Legal & criminal codes > terrorist defences; o Lack of objectivity in getting a prosecution. Governmental agencies > CIA, AIVD, NCTV etc. o Too subjective > focused only on non-state violence. Academics. This list by Schmid & Jongman (1988) doesn’t demarcate/separate terrorism with other forms of political violence and warfare. Therefore, use comparisons: Terrorism > tactics to intimidate mostly by non-state organisations; o Terrorists have different relationships with the population. They need people to tolerate their presents to not form against them and tell the authorities about their location etc. Install fear or inspire a new nation. o Social political change. Insurgency or guerilla > gain 24/7 control of territory and the people in it. o Slowly and steadily sup plump the state. Organised crime > focused on making money. o Need money to support their activities. Ridouan Taghi Terror > state activity. War > application of force and strategic gain. What is IS? An insurgent organisation created a caliphate by using violence & terrorism; It’s difficult to get from a terrorist level to an insurgent level, then the other way around. o As an insurgent organisation you engage both warfare and terrorism. 2011: Schmid’s definition of terrorism 1) Terrorism is “a conspiratorial practice of calculated, demonstrative, direct violent action without legal or moral restraint”; It’s often civic in nature (without legal or moral restraint); o It doesn’t just target civilians and non-combatants (> people who can’t fight back and don’t expect violence to come their way, but it does so in particularly vicious fashion). Sadism is often a key ingredient to get (theoretical) attention. Page 7 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) 2) Terrorism is “performed for its propagandistic and psychological effects on various audiences”. It’s essential about second-order effects; o Their ultimate expectations will never occur in reality due to their attacks (mass shootings, bombings etc), but they’re in it for what their attacks allow them to do > gain attention. Terrorists want to create either fear, inspire admiration, or intimidate. o Wants governments to do or stop something, like supporting the war against ISIS; Terrorism is about a violent form of communication > allow them to have newspaper and tv-broadcasts. Communicate their grievances to a worldwide audience. Different kinds of terrorism Emphasis on the historical discipline > terrorism has been around for a very long time > lack of this awareness leads to negative consequences: Tend to see everything as new; Tend to think that we always live in unique circumstances, never before seen settings; o We make the currently most prevalent form of terrorism synonymous with ‘terrorism’ overall; Tend to associate terrorism with Jihadism which we’ve seen over the past several decades; however terrorism isn’t particular to any type of ideological conviction; It isn’t solely the domain of jihadist, left-wing extremist, or nonstate actors. o Terrorism is a form of violence that can be adopted by a range of groups, movements, states, individuals etc. Left-wing o Marxist/Leninist, revolutionary; Struggle for a class-less society; o Defined terrorism (1960s-‘80s). o The ideologies motivated them and, in many ways, were inspiring; Emotions of imperialism, how current societies are exploitative, the ends of capitalism > seems to be pushed to the fringes. How a form of terrorism now for decades seems to be the main security threat in Europe – when it comes to non-state actors – has essentially disappeared overnight, such as groups like the RAF & BR. Right-wing o Has always been a part of our societies, but it is less alien to us. It is easier to overlook as a fringe phenomenon than the actual terrorist threat is. o Mistrust of government, conspiracy theories, racist, neo-fascist, highly conservative, religious. Nationalist/Separatist o Highest numbers of successful attacks; Page 8 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o Self-determination, anticolonial, strong driver insurgency; ETA, IRA etc. Criminal > FARC, Taliban, IRA, Narco-terrorism in the Netherlands (R.Taghi); o Organised criminal groups seemed to be making forays into terrorism > Their use of violence wasn’t just to make money but also to be able to intimidate anyone who stood in their way, incl. government representatives. Religious > revolutionary, millenarian, reform or destruction, (other) worldly goals. State terror; o Large-scale violence to intimidate or control populations. Numerous examples, e.g. Europe, Latin-America. Cyber > the increasing importance of the internet. Lone actor > individual who plan, prepare & execute attacks in isolation; Single issue > not focused on one particular ideology but a particular grievance; o 2009: Dutch royal family attack (> maybe a hate towards them). State terror > large-scale violence to intimidate or control populations; Data Careful not to overgeneralise, since that could hide very important differences on a country by country level. The west > terrorist attacks are declining; US > decreasing due to far-right extremists (until 2021). o Interesting, since for a long time, especially since 9/11, 2001, the overwhelming idea has been that terrorism is jihadism. Surprisingly, our worries about terrorism have been increasing. The distinction between becoming radicalised and becoming involved in terrorism is something we need to look into. o Why is it that apparently more people are becoming radicalised and adopting its worldviews, but the barriers towards these worldviews and actual terrorist attacks seem to be increasing? Types of terrorism: facts & figures Hamar: Contemporary terrorism is about more than jihadism; o To create awareness about this > take even a brief historical look. Emphasis on jihadism explained/justified by their deadliness? o Jihadist may be the primary threat to our society, but > Danger of another ‘failure of imagination’. o First term used after 9/11. o Tend to overfocus on the threat in front of us, at the risk of not seeing on time new developments; Attacking methods, rising of other forms of terrorism (like RWEX). o Need to keep a broad perspective on terrorism, those who are responsible for it, if we were to prevent this ‘failure of imagination’. Page 9 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Conclusion Terrorism as a quintessential ‘contested concept’; o Schmidt has the best definition of terrorism; Familiarity with the definitional debate as a key learning outcome; o Terrorism as a rhetorical weapon Schmid and ‘terrorism as demonstrative violence’; o Violent theatre > not for 1st order effects, but 2nd order that allows them to manipulate a variety of audience. Inspire, intimidate etc. Terrorism is not exclusively a non-state activity and takes many forms. o States have been one of the foremost users of terrorism; o Terrorism takes on a variety of forms. Lecture 2: Political violence and state-terrorism Concepts Clandestine state terrorism= a state - direct participation by state agents - will use terrorist tactics on usually those who they’re bound to protect. Similar to state terrorism. Extremism Tend to see as more excessive beliefs > that the successors with survivors of their ingroup, of the people we/they hold dear, is completely inseparable from hostile actions against an act of hate or crime. Within that, you can justify political violence or terrorism, which can be exercised by both state and non- state actors. Genocide= acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious groups. Political violence= the exercise of physical force with the intention to harm the welfare and physical integrity of the victim motivated by political goals. Political repression Act of a state entity controlling citizenry by force for political reasons, to restrict or prevent their ability to take part in the political life of a society thereby reducing their standing. It is often accompanied by violence, which might be legal or illegal according to domestic laws. Reform social movements Those who wish to achieve political and social changes by improving the status quo, but without necessarily overthrowing the existing order. Revolutionary movement= act of resistance that results in the overthrowing of the status quo. Self-efficacy= your inner believe that you can do something. Page 10 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) State-sponsored terrorism Consists of state or private groups being employed to undertake terrorist actions on behalf of the sponsoring state. (More used than clandestine) State terrorism Act of violence, or threat of violence is concerned with remedying miscarriages of justice or attaining societal transformation, and are therefore, political. It is also about the strategic focus, or target, of the group (non- combatants) which earns it the definition of terrorism. However, the target of a terrorist attack isn’t exclusively those who’re harmed. It reflects an intention to exploit audience reactions to a level of extreme anxiety towards, seemingly, arbitrary violence. Ultimately, it’s a form of manipulation. Terrorism is a form of political violence practiced by non-state actors. Social movements Organised, non-institutional collectivises which are large in scope and who mobilise to implement a program for the reconstitution of social norms or values. Terrorism= the use of violence (or threat) against civilians or non-combatants. Summary Repertoires of contention; o Talking about state terrorism through a lens of political participation. Violent collective action: what is political violence? What is state terrorism? What is political repression? o Something that is almost used interchangeably with state terrorism > tries to disentangle those concepts. State-sponsored terrorism. o Slightly different but similar mechanisms. Terrorist violence is the least likely thing to happen to you if you radicalise o Instead, likely to do nothing or might become involved in extremism in other behavioural ways: propagandist, types stuff online, finance etc. 1) Repertoires of contention; Go back to the late 1950s, where research on social movements began to emerge; o Social movement research is usually not concerned with the bad side of human behaviour > primarily used to understand helpful protests & movements, etc. and to encourage people to challenge systems which suppress people and to collectively participate through collective action. Civil rights, women's rights, LGBTIQQ+ etc; Lobbying ultimately for a reform or revolution and social norms and values. Page 11 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Relative labels Reformatory Revolutionary Characteristic Acting within the paradigms of the Rip the whole system down and existing sociopolitical order; build it up in their image. Change things from the inside out (political participation, lobby institutes). Strategy Non-violent collective action Violent, non-normative techniques Issues with Many Americans viewed Martin Luther H. Rap Brown: more revo- this reform- King Jr. as a dangerous revolutionary; lutionary > called for violence; revolution These labels are unhelpful > many social movements adapt both perspective on reformatory and revolutionary tactic or strategies and trying to under- collective stand the types of collective action that vogues engage in, splitting action groups in one or the other doesn’t help. What do social movements believe? Groups that do well in collective action and make things move have a strong sense of self-efficacy; Charles Tilly speaks about collective action through cycles of protest and draws from Tarrow’s ‘Repertoire of Contention’ to describe what people in social movements do when they make a claim. Claim-Makers Objective of Claim (Perpetrator of political violence) (Target of violence) Organised, un-institutionalised State actors collectively who mobilise for change Those with decision-making powers (They feel the injustice) over the claim > government Social movements, like the non- Authorities or objects of claims don’t state actor > Suffragette always have to be government > i.e. (revolutionary) movement religious leaders. throughout the late 1890s. They are making a claim to the object Government, like the surpreme of the claim. court; Public opinion. Once the claim-makers and object of the claim are established, what follows can be a diverse repertoire of collective actions. Charles Tilly > collective action can be traced back to a general repertoire that is available to the population as a whole; Not only about what people do when they make a claim, it is what they know how to do and what society has come to expect from them to choose from within a culturally sanctioned and empirically limited set of options; o Tricky > if you’re a group and try to make a claim against an object and society expects you to be peaceful, if you go against that, it is often not as convincing. Page 12 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Understanding tactics better: what is culturally allowed within a limited set of options; o Techniques of contention: Peaceful > collective action through petitions or marches; Violent disruptive barricades & public execution etc.; Hamas > peaceful marches to separate them from Israel, international lobbying (talking to other world leaders about their situation), Quassam Rocket Attacks, and suicide bombings. Contained > builds on routines that people already know and understand. Elites will have to accept/facilitate; o 2011: Occupy Wall Street, NY (taking up public space, no disruptiveness intended in the first place). Disruptive > break with routine, startle bystander, and leave elites disoriented, unstable and easily turns into violence or becomes ‘contained’. o 2022: Just stop Oil, London. Violent > most dramatic and easiest to initiate. Under normal circumstances, limited to small groups with few resources who are willing to risk repression (> statistically infrequent). o Organising a protest is much more difficult than organising violence. Violence is rooted in emotion (> anger). o January 6, 2021: Insurrection, Washington. 2) Violent collective action; what is political violence? State vs non-state terrorism Terrorist organisations are mostly non-state; Political violence > non-state terrorism and if the state participates in terrorism. o Can be exercised by both state and non-state actors; o Isn’t always about communication opposed to terrorism. Social movements primarily help to understand helpful protests > civil rights, LGBTQ2+ etc. Perpetrator of political violence State Non-state Interstate War (1 & 2 ) st nd Civil War (IRA) Coup Target of violence Rebellion Revolt State Revolution Terrorism The Arab Spring Page 13 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Genocide; Non-state conflict Political repression; State-terrorism. 2 terrorist organisations. Non-state Target of violence Sinking of the Rainbow Civilians tend to be Warrior. encapsulated with nonstate; Control of Mogadishu (1991) What is state terrorism? Terrorism is a strategy of violence to achieve political aims; States, by definition, cannot engage in terrorism because they have legitimate right to use violence; The state is the central political institution that exerts a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. 1) The contradictions can be dismissed on several grounds > it’s inconsistent > terrorism is a strategy of violence to achieve political aims. To suggest that when a state engages in the very same strategies as non-state actors, it ceases to be terrorism, we abandon our scholarly research principles. In other words, we are observing behaviour; 2) It’s relative > the suggestion that states have a legitimate right to use violence and non-state actors do not. State-sponsored genocide isn’t seen as legitimate; o 2nd word war, Syria, US involvements in other countries foreign affairs. Western states and international organisations have a long history of recognising (and even supporting) violent non-state groups in particular contexts (e.g., the resistance to the Nazi occupation). Instrumentality distinguishes state terrorism from other forms of state repression; o It involves the illegal targeting of individuals that the state has normally an obligation to protect in order to instil fear in a target audience beyond the direct victims. Non-state terrorism > the victims or targets of the violence are usually not those who the nonstate organisation is supposed to protect; State terrorism > the targets tend to be those who are the state is supposed to protect. Page 14 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) State-sponsored terrorism. State terrorism > a red herring used by the terrorists themselves, arguing that there is no difference between their activities and those by governments and states. It has also been employed by some sympathisers and rests on the deliberate obfuscation between all kinds of violence. o Those who say this are wrong, but it’s a mechanism in itself > a way of justifying other violent things: “it is OK what I do, because what they did was worse” (propaganda technique). Clandestine state terrorism > these terrorist tactics aren’t supported by the public. State-sponsored terrorism > many examples: alliances with Hamas & Iran. The ways of states sponsoring terrorism (will come on exam!) 1) Sanctuary; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Iran) and Ansar Al-Islam/AI-Sunnah. Sudan and Al Quada. 2) Supplies; Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Iran) and Hezbollah; Saudi Arabia and the Afghanistan Taliban, Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Al-Nusra Front; Soviet Union/KGB and Official IRA. 3) Services. India’s Research and Analysis and LTTE What is political repression? It’s a broader conceptualisation than state terrorism. ❑ Exile; ❑ Involuntary settlement; ❑ Extermination; ❑ Murder; ❑ Extortion; ❑ Police brutality; ❑ Extrajudicial killing; ❑ Stripping of citizen's rights; ❑ Extraordinary rendition; ❑ Summary execution; ❑ Forced disappearance; ❑ Surveillance abuse; ❑ Human rights violations, ❑ Torture. ❑ Imprisonment; Page 15 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Message strength > intimidate and to demonstrate the willingness to use violence to ensure compliance. o By repressing a small cohort of society, the rest of society should follow into step. Obedience > either of the population at large or within the ruling party. o Change their behaviour to stop doing what they’re doing. Elimination of enemies > killing of opposition and threatening of external forces; o Israel ATM. State-dissident nexus > provoking of indiscriminate reactions or repression to expose the ‘true nature’ of the opponent. o We might think that members of our state, citizenry, are aligned with some sort of nonstate-organisation or anti-government organisation > provoke them into violence > rest of the tactics can follow through (obedience or elimination of enemies). Genocide “… any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: A. Killing members of the group; B. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; C. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; D. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; E. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group” Ideological Retributive Following a war or revolution, a new One party, usually the government, elite has a vision of a purified society. will systematically destroy its It can be religious in nature, but it is opponent’s support base. very much based upon building an idea. (e.g. Cambodia, Nazi Germany). (e.g., South Vietnam, Guatemala, Angola and Sri Lanka). The distinction between state terrorism and genocide may be simply a question of scale; focus on the debate rather than the definitions > We have political repression within state terrorism within genocide; The key debate of terrorism and state-terrorism > whether the state has a legitimate right to use of violence. o That is the point of contention. Genocide and state terrorism the point of contention is whether this is an act of communication or destroying your opponent. Page 16 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Conclusion Collective action can be contained, disruptive, or violent; A violent repertoire of contention can often be characterised as political violence; Political violence can also include broader manifestations than terrorism; State terrorism can be understood as a form of political violence exercised by the state against non-state actors; Cumulatively, it can become necessary to introduce terms such as political repression and even genocide. Lecture 3: from anarchists to jihadists: the four waves Concepts Far enemy US and other western states that are aligned > supply opposite regimes with i.e. machines that go to Egypt, money, weapons, training etc. Powerful external background that must be broken, otherwise no hope of taking up arms against them according to Bin Laden. Greater Jihad= every individual believer, personal struggle against temptation & sin. What we try to do on a day-to-day basis is to live our religion in the best way we can. Golden Age of Assassination When monarchs, prime ministers, and presidents were struck down, one after another, usually by assassins who moved easily across international borders. Homegrown Large series of plots and attacks that were organised attempted and sometimes successfully executed by people who, by a large, had been born and raised in a country they attacked (act on behalf of Jihadism). League of Nations The non-European portions of those defeated empires were deemed not yet ready for independence. ‘Mandates’ administered directly by individual victorious powers until the territories were ready for independence, Lesser Jihad= warfare for the sake of religion. Near enemy= people that the Jihadists ultimately want to replace with their own systems of governance and sociopolitical beliefs (Zawahiri). Salafism Way of practising Islam > Take what the Prophet Muhammad and his various followers did and wrote in the Quran as a literal example of almost every aspect of life. Inspired Jihadism > shares the same goals globally. Page 17 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Takfir Denouncing someone as no longer being Muslim places them outside the faith. Their (in-)actions have shown such a breach of fundamental attributes to being Muslim. Therefore, can no longer make a claim to this position. Terrorism The use of violence against civilians with the expressed purpose of sending messages (> 2nd order effects) to grab people’s attention to either intimidate, emulate you and create a way forward (> communitive tool through extreme violence). Wave= cycles of violent activity lasting at least a generation (22-25 years) that have a distinct international character. Rapaport It is a cycle of activity in a given time period characterised by expansion and contraction phases. Crucial features > 1) its international character; 2) similar activities occur in several countries; and 3) driven by a common predominant energy that shapes the participating groups' characteristics and mutual relationships. Their names: ‘Anarchist’, ‘Anti-colonialism’, ‘New Left’, and ‘Religious’ suggest a different energy drives each. Summary Each wave is characterised by a distinct ideology 1) Cycles of violent activities; 2) All have boundaries (> lasting a generation); Some are precise > religious wave. o Critique > many time periods mash into each other. o Critique > focusses much on one particular iteration ideologically speaking of terrorism, therefore, almost pushes other forms out. 3) International events; Modern terrorism Understand when it roughly began and ended, what the waves are about, what ‘new-left wing thinking’ means and what it motivated. Anarchism (1860-1914s); o Origins in Russia; On January 24, 1878, Vera Zasulich wounded a Russian police commander who abused political prisoners. Throwing her weapon to the floor, she proclaimed that she was a ‘terrorist, not a killer’. o Social unrest > Widespread expectations of reform (improvement): a growing number of civil liberties; Those expectations weren’t met. Page 18 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o Anarchists advocated changing Russian society so that you could hold the Tsar to keep his promises by protesting, writing letters, etc. Having a Tsar making promises, and even then, nothing has happened. No real reforms have taken place or were ineffective. o 1890s: ‘Golden Age of Assassination’. Led to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II (1881) & president McKinley (1901); Terrorism was a strategy, not an end. o Technology enabled internationalization > contributed to emergence; Dynamite (TNT) > widely available, highly portable, unparallel destructive power; > used because the assailant usually was killed too, so it was not a weapon a criminal would use. > It didn’t form a weapon of peace. Instead, a democratisation Violence. Can be used by both the military and civilians. Telegraph (cheaper & quickly communicate with people 1000s miles away) & railroad (cheaper and quicker to get around). o Terrorist doctrines spread as blueprints > contributed to this emergence. Russian writers created a strategy for terror, which became an inheritance for successors to use, improve, and transmit. [Terrorist leaders] share one very significant feature > a paramount desire to become more efficient by learning from the experiences of friends and enemies alike. o The first great effort to deal with international terrorism failed because the interests of states pulled them in different directions, and the divisions developed new expressions as the century developed. Anti-colonialism (1918-1960s); o A monumental international event that precipitated this 2nd wave > the Versailles Peace Treaty that concluded World War I; o World War I made the use of political violence, for these types of ideological goals, less popular; It started with political assassination. Great powers gained less control, and their colonies got more power. Post-WWI EU landscape under President Wilson and the League of Nations > o Self-determination & nationalism principle. Leage of Nations; Every people’s right to determine their own political systems & features, etc.; '"Revolution"' is the overriding aim in every wave, but is understood in different ways, they create a new source of political legitimacy > meant national self-determination. o Terrorism crucial to the establishment of nation-states: Ireland, Israel, Cyprus, Algeria etc. Page 19 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Distinction terrorism vs. freedom fighter. New left (1960s-1989); o Lack of revolutionary potential 1st world (in UK & Germany); o ‘New’ Left: revolutionary potential can be created; Cuba > small groups sparking the revolution: working with the population, gaining public support, and ultimately creating their own way. o Shared struggle against capitalism, imperialism, repression; Anti-authority motives; Not just about classical Marxist reasoning > about much more. o Fall of the Soviet-Union (1989) > showed the ideological fantasy: new classical left-wing thinking. Religion (1979-present). o Iranian Revolution: new organising principle for politicians and society; o Soviet invasion of Afghanistan 1979-‘89; o Internationalisation of the armed jihad; Didn’t exclusively focus on Afghanistan. o 9/11 & ‘War on Terror’; o Not exclusively Islamist phenomenon → Why so long-lived? Right-wing extremist attacks. Jihad: a ‘determined effort’ Contested concept > continuously reinvented; Greater VS Lesser Jihad; Subject to continuous debate & evolution: o When, how, and by who to use violence? Principal enemies from bigger Muslim groups like Al-Qaeda & ISIS > fellow ‘internal enemies’, such as SIA & Sunni Muslims, instead of targeting the West. Even though you may not kill fellow believers: Muslims cannot kill other Muslims. Remember the old specific names and details 3 Jihad as solution to societal ills 1) Earliest iterations of jihadism > Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328): Archetypical Islamist revivalist Problem: Islamic society in decline > victim of moral and political corruption; Cause: return to time pre-Islamic ignorance (‘jahiliya’) Islamic leaders had fallen from the faith; Solution: 1) Legitimise violence against corrupt Muslim rulers; 2) Jihad as ‘sixth pillar’. Page 20 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Lasting influence: o It’s not permitted to kill fellow Muslims, but these leaders and their supporters have straight so far from the path of true Islam > rhetorical divine: armed jihad re-envisioned to allow legitimisation of violence to fight Muslim rulers who had strayed from the ‘right path’. 2) Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1791): founding father Saudi Arabia (literalist interpretation of the faith) Problem: Arabic society in decline > western influence; Cause: Deviation from strict interpretation Islam, e.g. worship of idols and holy sites; Solution: 1) Return to roots of Islam; Quran and Sunnah; 2) Prophet and early followers as role models (Salafs). 3) Hassan al-Banna & Muslim Brotherhood (1928) Problem: End Ottoman Empire 1924 & British rule Egypt; Cause: Deviation from ‘true’ Islamic practice, corrupting Western influences (democracies & liberalism etc.). Solution: 1) Education & social programs; 2) Increasing emphasis in al-Banna’s thinking of jihad as a personal duty; 3) MB had increasingly militant offshoots. They all 3 didn’t point to geopolitical development as a problem. Waves of jihadism? Historical perspective suggests a wave-like pattern in prominence of political Islam and jihadism; Jihadist violence & terrorism not a historical constant; concept under ongoing development, with modern exponents often going back to arguments made by Taymiyya and al-Wahhab; Muslims have always been among the principal enemies of jihadists. Page 21 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Al-Qaeda & global Jihad Afghanistan invasion > rallying cry for Muslims across the word: “Jihad had to be waged, no longer only in Afghanistan. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Abdullah The forces of this community were Azzam, Soviets in Afghanistan so powerful and godless > (’79-’89), Bin Laden, USS Cole. paramount that every abled-body man > the ultimate goal of Al-Qaeda did what they could for the cause.” or Islamic state is to form an So, Afghanistan becomes a rallying cry for Islamic Caliphate in their own International movements of Jihadism. particular fashion. After long internal debate, Al-Qaeda was able to internationalise the Jihad, but rather than a US withdrawal from Africa, they caught the US to double down. Rise of ‘homegrown’ jihadism ‘01-’04: Jihadist terrorist threat international; o Where they come from. ‘04-’07: Rise of ‘homegrown ’jihadist terrorism: o Internet: a technical revolution that made many things possible, and regarding terrorism: Kept informed (through Jihadist propaganda) and engaged in radicalising interviews in warzones across the globe > overseas conflicts became closer to home. o Disruption of international terrorist networks: o Difficulty reaching foreign conflict zones. Thus, conducting attacks in their home country. Islamic State Began as an Al-Qaeda franchise; o 2003: US invasion in Iraq > By then, the most important and famous Jihadist group (Al-Qaeda) in the world had no real presence or networks there. 2004: al-Zarqawi swears Bayatto bin-Laden → AQI (in Iraq); o Infamously violent group, fanning flames of sectarianism against the Iraqi Shiʿis. Page 22 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o Got even criticised by Bin Laden, so AQI and Al-Zarqawi were constantly charged with violence. 2006: al-Zarqawi killed & ISI (in Iraq) declared in Sunni areas: o Fight against Shiites remains the priority. 07-08: ‘Surge’ → Many ISI/AQI staff killed or imprisoned. ISI was once again the primary threat in Iraq > geopolitics play into this. The foreign fighter phenomenon 10.000s foreign volunteers joined rebel groups in Syria, Iraq etc.; Jihadist, pro-government, Kurdish, FSA... realities on the ground hard to define, ever-changing. What to do with returnees? o Difficult for people to recall for sure what they did; o Many would claim that they would be cooks. What to do with detainees in Kurdistan? o What to do with the children born there? Besides Jihadism, multiple other ‘waves’ of terrorist groups; o Besides non-state terrorism, also state terrorism; o Cyberterrorism; o Sovereign movement > government interference. Violent far-right > the principal phase of terrorism; o Responsible for the most terrorist attacks in the US, however declining in Europe. Page 23 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Conclusion Terrorism is not tied to one particular ideological conviction; o ‘Waves’ shaped by ideology, technology, internationalism etc. Most jihadist terrorism is targeted against other Muslims; Focus on jihadist terrorism may leave us blind to developing threats. → What will be our ‘failure of imagination’? Key takeaway questions What are where the 4 waves about and their notion? What is Jihadism > contested concept, core pillars, understanding how it evolved in its contemporary form > o Invasion in Afghanistan; o Internationalisation to jihadism and Al-Qaeda; Internally debating what to do > far enemies o US Invasion of Iraq > Al-Qaeda needed there boots on the ground; Al-Zarqawi and ALI. Key-persons: Osama Bin Laden, Al-Zarqawi, and Al-Baghdadi; Why ISI > ISIS > IS. Lecture 4: Case Study: The Provisional IRA Concepts The Angelo Irish Treaty (1922) A truce was negotiated in July 1921, followed by the signing of a treaty on 6 December, which brought the conflict to a formal end. This treaty determined the division of Ireland up until today, with six counties of Ulster forming Northern Ireland and remaining part of the United Kingdom. Michael Collins was “pro-treaty”, whereas Eamon DeValera rejected the treaty, splitting Republican opinion and leading to the Irish Civil War. On January 7th, 1922, the Dáil (Irish seat of government) voted narrowly by 64 votes to 57 to accept the Treaty. The Battle of Ballinamuck (1798) Key battles in Irish Republican history. It was prolific for a few reasons > mainly because the French came to help the Irish rebels rise against the English, but they were completely overpowered. All they had at their disposal were these pipes (made out of sticks > get a blacksmith to sharpen the top of a piece of metal and stick it on the stick). They didn't even have armed weapons or anything like that. After the rebellions lost – they always lost - to Longford Courthouse, and were asked who helped in the rebellion. The English wanted to know who made those pipes because they caused quite some damage. The local blacksmith, Arthur Furry, was pointed out; however, the British believed the rebels could coerce people into helping them. So, the British went to Arthur to ask if he was coerced and how sharp he made them. To which he replied: “I Page 24 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) could’ve shaved with the pipes” > I made them as sharp as I possibly could because I wasn’t coerced. Battle of the Bogside in Derry (1969) Showing no sign of abating and, in Belfast, hundreds of houses were burned to the ground, leaving thousands of people, mainly Catholics, homeless. Republican communities were calling on the IRA to provide weapons and protection for the Catholic population of the North. The leadership refused these requests, because the IRA’s new leadership under Cathal Goulding was re-directing the movement away from violence towards political participation (i.e., abandoning the traditional abstentionist policy > only engage in an armed campaign, because policy wasn’t an option). However, this led to a split in the IRA: the political or violent route. Black and Tans A notorious group of British paramilitary forces, who were constables recruited into the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force as reinforcements during the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s > gained a brutal reputation. Bloody Sunday On the morning of November 21st, an elite assassination unit known as ‘The Squad’ mounted an operation planned by Michael Collins (below). Their orders were clear > take out the backbone of the British Intelligence network in Ireland, specifically a group of officers known as ‘The Cairo Gang’. Their operation was successful. Later that afternoon, in retaliation, the Black and Tans went to a Gaelic football game between Dublin and Tipperary in Croke Park stadium. The British forces fired indiscriminately into the crowd of spectators, killing a further fourteen people, including player Michael Hogan. This was a crucial error for the British because it completely infused the island of Ireland with rage. Cairo Gang= British intelligence network who were wreaking havoc on Irish republicanism at that time during the Civil War. A civil rights march in Derry Organised by members of the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) and supported by the NICRA. It was met with violence by the Northern Ireland police force (RUC) because these loyalist communities perceived that this March was out front for the IRA > believed that they were behind it and were going to push using violence far beyond what the civil rights protesters were actually demanding (which turned out to be not wholly true). Images swept across the world’s Media. Derry riots (1969) A period of sectarian rioting began between Catholics and Protestants in Derry and Belfast. Not necessarily between the IRA and the UVF, but the UVF and RUC were present, and Catholics were protesting in Northern Ireland. Page 25 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Easter Rising On Easter Monday 1916, Irish Republicans (a handful of rebels) launched an armed revolt against a general post office, GPO, in Dublin City Centre. They declared Irish in Ireland an independent country. However, sometimes there is this belief that the whole Ireland of Ireland was behind this Eastern rise, but this isn't true. It wasn’t popular since nobody wanted it to happen. Until this point, those who had pushed for this new Irish cultural identity had always said they wanted it to be achieved non-violently. These involved young rebels were killed, and a lot of those who were suspected of aiding the rising were treated very poorly. The Irish Civil War (March 1922 - May 1923) The anti-Treaty IRA held a meeting in the Mansion House in which it pledged its opposition to the new government. By the end of this CW, many leaders in the Irish Republican movement were dead, including Michael Collins (31). County Cork strongly suspected that anti-treaty rebels were responsible for that. While this conflict lasted only 10 months, it affected Irish politics for the next decade and lived long in the memory of the Irish people. The Irish Free State of 26 counties officially became the Republic of Ireland in 1949. Irish Parliamentary Party block in Ulster When the British came over and planted people so that they could breathe the Irish out, Ulster (Northen-Ireland) was the most successful place with this idea that you could get rid of the local people by planting your own people. In Ulster, there were 2/3 protestors and 1/3 Catholics. So, when the IPP in Ireland was looking for home rule in 1914, Ulster said: “we don't want home rule, we're all Protestants, we're basically English people”, and there was a big push against these peaceful IPP devolution. Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association They were doing what was happening worldwide at the same time: civil rights movements in the US, where Martin Luther King was taken to the streets, and the Big March in Washington around the late 1960s. So, this did not come out of nowhere and led to mass protests in Northern Ireland. No violence had erupted yet, and the IRA was also nowhere to be found. The Official IRA= a kind of social movement > wanted to go through a non- violent political participation route and wanted to connect more to the socialist policies just like in the Republic of Ireland. Proportional Representation (PR) Ensuring that places where there was a majority would get majority representation. So, if there were a catholic majority in that area, that area would have a Catholic representative. the constitutional lines would be redrawn so that no part of Northern Ireland could get a Catholic majority, so they would switch Catholic areas and push half into one unionist constituency and the other half into another unionist constituency. This meant that no Page 26 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) matter where you were in Northern Ireland, you were always the minority. Therefore, they would not get political representation. The Provisional IRA Any attempt at British rule participation would be at the expense of violent campaign. How do you possibly wage a successful arms campaign if half the time you're participating politically? Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) British Forces in Northern Ireland were mainly comprised of Protestants from the area who, on sectarian lines, were not interested in the rights of Catholic people. They all had very bad blood and were seen as tainted and discriminatory, and they weren't protecting communities in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin The political wing of the IRA. An organization that was followed through until 1998. Today, it is the political party in Ireland, but it originated alongside the IRA when it first emerged during the Irish War of Independence. The Squad A group of Irish republicans in the IRA known as ‘the Squad’ (> SAS). An elite force who would go undercover in darkness and take out opponents organised by Michael Collins. Their order was to take out another important organisation, the Cairo Gang. The War of Independence (1919-1921) After the Easter Rising > emergence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Before this were different republican organisations who would have sought to have Ireland ruled at home rule, but weren't we operating under the same name (e.g. Irish republican brotherhood). In the war's opening months, violence was quite sporadic, and there weren't even many casualties. But when it started to intensify towards the end of 1919, the IRA launched a series of attacks on British barracks across southern counties of Ireland > quite prolific because the IRA were demonstrating that they could actually remove the British from the Island or Ireland. The British underestimated a little bit of how many were actually involved and could join the IRA after the Easter Rising. Some key attacks across barracks across southern Ireland where the IRA tried to systematically remove all evidence of British rule. So, the IRA weren’t targeting civilians but rather political institutions, law and order, etc. The violence intensified on 21 November 1920. Page 27 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Summary Part 1: Ireland history Ireland and England had a fractious relationship since the 12th century when Ireland became England’s first colony; The colonists brought with them > English language, fashions, culture, and commercial ways, which parliamentary legislation privileged; o At that time, Ireland had an Irish language, mixed with different religions and very different from the English culture. Irish land and labour (harvesting woodland for colonial gain) funded English imperialism in Ireland and beyond and provisioned colonies, especially in the Atlantic and India; o Now, in Ireland, there is a big push towards getting forest trees back. Back in time, you could only travel by river. “Not what they want but what is good for them” (remark by Oliver Cromwell, 1658); o Poor view of the Irish > not sub-human, but didn’t have the adequate or ability of the capacity of the English people. Multiple attempts at Irish independence were thwarted; o Irish Identity dates back to this point in time (17th century). Irish republican history > the Battle of Ballinamuck (1798); o Lots of different parts of Ireland collectively tried to rise up against the colonial power. Religious sectarian > Ireland seen as catholic, and the British were seen as protestant; During these (social movement) uprisings, lots of Catholics and protestants rose alongside each other against these colonial powers > perceived as the working class who wanted to sovereign themselves. Late 19th and early 20th centuries > cultural revival from the new generation with a deeper sense of national pride and identity; o Under English rule, everything wasn’t necessarily bad, and things were going OK, but > desire to embrace the Irish language and Irish sports (Gaelic Football, hurling, etc), which the British suppressed. Revised sense of pride and identity > led to a few key moments: By 1914, the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) was moving to achieve devolution by peaceful means, pushed back by Ulster; Page 28 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o 1st World War was happening, and there was a growing frustration amongst the Irish Republicans that they would never get independence. Trying to take political, non-violent routes and getting kicked back repeatedly. 1916: Easter Rising > Easter Monday Irish Republicans launched an armed revolt against British rule in Ireland; o Although quickly suppressed by the British Army, the rising helped pave the way for the Irish War of Independence. The implications for those who participated won public support > it was the response by the British Empire rather than the rising itself which led to a key period in Irish history: the War of Independence. o Various fractions of Republican volunteers soon began operating under a new name > the Irish Republican Army (IRA). 1919: the IRA launched a series of attacks on British barracks across the southern counties in Ireland; 1920: many barracks had been destroyed, and many more had been evacuated, effectively removing British authority from large swathes of the country. o In response, the British deployed a unit called the ‘mobile elite striking force’ with little training and suffering from PTSD who swiftly acquired a reputation for torture, extra-judicial killings and burning of homes and businesses > sectarian element. Black and tans > not only did they tactically fail, but their ill-discipline fed the IRA propaganda campaign waged to discredit the British in the eyes of the world; Bloody Sunday (1920) 21 November 1920: violence intensified > 1) The Squad took out a few key people in the British military; o Successful operation to take out the Cairo Gang. 2) British forces fired indiscriminately into the crowd of spectators o Irish furious > the British not only unnecessarily killed civilians but also did it in a place that meant a lot to the Irish people. Ireland was placed under military or ‘martial’ law, at which point the violence and death toll escalated; July 1921: Truce was called due to British Prime Minister David Lloyd George between the two governments, Sinn Féin; 1922: The Angelo Irish Treaty; o Michael Collins > pro-treaty: “gave Ireland the freedom to achieve freedom, we aren’t united on our own yet, but we’re getting close”. o Eamon DeValera > rejected the treaty: “If we’re going to push for an united Ireland, we must push harder.” Splitting Republican opinion and leading to the Irish Civil War. o March 1922: the anti-Treaty IRA held a meeting pledging its opposition to the new government. Page 29 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Ironic since they fought for the Irish people throughout the Easter Rising & Bloody Sunday and now turned against their own government. So, the IRA wasn’t against British rule or the Republic of Ireland. o May 1923: by the end of the Civil War many leaders in the Irish Republican movement was dead, including Michael Collins (31); While this conflict lasted only 10 months, it was to affect Irish politics for the next decade and lived long in the memory of the Irish people. 1949: Ireland became a Republic. o The Irish Free State of 26 counties officially became the Republic of Ireland. Important > the treaty didn’t make Ireland a republic, rather a kind of subsidiary to the British state (still had the bend the knee to the kind). Historical context takeaways British colonial rule goes back centuries; o How did the partition happen? o Who was behind it? o Emergence of the IRA? Ireland asserted their demand for independence many times (militarily) before success; o Important > Ireland had tried military to revolt. 1916 > a “watershed” moment for Irish Republicanism; o General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin > still has bullet holes in the building from the Easter Rising. 1919 > the Irish War of Independence saw the emergence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) ; The Anglo-Irish treaty splits Republican opinion, leading to a civil war; o For the first time > Irish Republicanism is not this cohesive, homogeneous thing; o It can turn brother against brother, and the tactics employed by Irish Republicans might turn on their own (> the Troubles); The six counties in Northern Ireland remain under British rule; What followed was a turbulent period in Irish history known as ‘The Troubles’. Part 2: the Trouble Consolidating power The creation of Northern Ireland didn’t bring security for either the two- thirds Protestant majority or the Catholic minority. Catholics and Protestants could be recognised by their Irish or British names, where they lived, where they wanted to go, and through families (small area). Page 30 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) The Catholics considered themselves “trapped” > denied their Irish identity and ruled by a Unionist (protestant) establishment, voted in again and again by the Protestant majority (McKittrick, 2002, p. 5). Division and divide 1922: proportional representation (PR) was abolished because the stage from the start, from the outset, was founded on division and divide. This attitude of fear that was facing violence on all sides was not safe, and that was shared by the Protestants. o Conversations were heard saying > need to remain part of the UK and if the Catholics get a stronghold anywhere, they're going to threaten that flee to get rid of that; o Effectively redrawing local government boundaries to ensure Unionist majorities in constituencies across Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland wasn't thriving at the time. In many ways, it fed into the image of unionists that they were a little bit forgotten about (maybe because of its turbulent history and other challenges). Northern Ireland wasn’t as important as London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, etc. So, it wouldn't have been a thriving economic centre by any means, and, at the same time, whatever inequalities were there, they were certainly targeted at the Catholic minority. Saturday 5 October 1968: Civil Rights march in Derry. Friday, November 22, 1968: Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland's Prime Minister, announced package of reform measures. These were met with resistance from the unionist establishment and community who claimed the movement was a guise for the IRA (using its same tactics, but an opposite outcome > using force and indiscriminate violence to achieve a loyalist unionist state to maintain the connection with the UK). Loyalist paramilitary groups re-emerge. Throughout 1968 and into 1969: attempt to throw off concessions to civil rights marches, loyalist paramilitaries began assembling at civil rights protests. Here, loyalist resistance groups, such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) began to re-group. 1969: Derry Riots > not an armed campaign. Page 31 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o Citizen Defence Committees were tasked with defending Catholic communities; o The IRA were nowhere to be found. Reaction from the British government In London, hearing about riots happening in Derry, houses getting burned, civilians being killed, the RUC completely overwhelmed (theories that they’re aligning with loyalist paramilitary groups), and marches were still happening > October 1969: the British army arrived, and initially, they received a warm welcome from Catholic communities as they were seen as a ‘neutral’ peacekeeping force who would bring peace to Northern Ireland, unlike the RUC and the B Specials. Soon, however, this relationship would deteriorate. Part 3: The Emergence and Evolution of the Provisional IRA 1969: the Split > two parallel events were unfolding: 1) The Battle of the Bogside in Derry. 2) The IRA’s new leadership under Cathal Goulding was re-directing the movement away from violence towards political participation. By making these changes all at once, it is proposed that the leadership was changing “too much, too soon” for many of the existing members (Morrison, 2014a, as cited in Morrison, 2019, p. 325). The Irish Republican Movements subsequently split in 1969. While the split among existing members was fairly even, the influx of new recruits taking up arms and membership largely went on to join the newly formed Provisionals; o Though the Republic of Ireland was more aligned with the official IRA. o There was sympathy towards the Catholics who were targeted by loyalist paramilitaries during all these riots and would take refugees. o As the provisional IRA campaign went on, they lost to the republic. It was these new recruits whose future leadership would shape the trajectory of the PIRA’s armed campaigns for the next 28 years. o Characterised a fundamentally different organisation than ever before. Page 32 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Who were the PIRA volunteers? We see a lot that when the violence is at its peak > younger people join, and when it is lessening > older people join. Women in the PIRA There is a long, storied tradition of women’s participation in Irish Republican militancy dating back to Cumann na mBan (the female auxiliary paramilitary force which emerged in 1914). As the PIRA evolved, women began playing a more pivotal role in the organisation. Martina Anderson was convicted in June 1986 of conspiring to cause explosions in England and is currently a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly; 1973: Marian and Delours Price took part in coordinated bombings in London and went on hunger strike in prison. Part 4: The PIRA’s Evolution and Development However, the nature of women’s participation is not the only thing to evolve and develop throughout the armed campaign. 1978: Armed PIRA members openly display weapons at a Bloody Sunday demonstration in Derry. Phase 1: putting the ‘A’ in IRA (1969–1976). Over the course of this period, PIRA structured themselves like an Army with various brigades, battalions, and companies; Page 33 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o Structure > each unit was responsible for specific geographical combat areas. During this time, the PIRA framed themselves as defenders of Catholic communities under threat by sectarian Loyalist mobs. After the initial split, for the first few months, the main conflict for the IRA was the Official IRA. o Provisionals vs. Official & Republican vs. Republican. Captures lots of the faithful errors that the PIRA engaged in; So focused on violence > often couldn’t see who their real adversary was. o The PIRA was incredibly suspicious and controlling > an armed forced who would protect catholic communities even from themselves. Would also weep out people whom they considered to be destructive towards the catholic communities: drug dealers, paedophiles, people who would be informing on them to the British (many of whom did not do that). Some of the worst atrocities and saddest stories come out of the Troubles in Northern Ireland about the things that Provisional IRA did to those whom they suspected of sharing information. The British response to Phase 1 Three core operations and events can be strongly linked to the surge in recruitment towards the PIRA during this time: 1) The Falls Curfew (1970); While the British Army searched for weapons within the Falls Road on July 3rd, rioters threw stones, petrol bombs, and other missiles met them; o The British Army wanted to weep out the PIRA > aware that they were both controlling and protecting the catholic communities. In turn, they responded with the deployment of tear gas and what started as a riot soon turned into a gun battle between the OIRA and the British Army; The Army imposed a 36-hour curfew on the Falls Road area, during which, house-to-house searches were carried out in this predominantly Catholic area; o Looked like a warzone. As the searches continued, the soldiers engaged in recurrent battles with the OIRA and PIRA. Over the three days, the Army killed a total of four civilians; o Went down very poorly amongst catholic communities in N-Ir > both the IRA & the neutral British Army were supposed to be protecting them. Still, not really, but at least the IRA didn’t kill civilians. The curfew was finally lifted on July 5th when women and children from the surrounding areas marched into the cordoned area with supplies for the locals. Page 34 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) 2) Operation Demetrius (i.e., internment without trial, 1971); By the middle of 1971, the PIRA bombing campaign was in full flow; Between January and August 1971, there had been over 300 explosions and 320 shooting incidents across Northern Ireland (Taylor, 1991); Under the Northern Ireland Special Powers Act, internment without trial was introduced; o It successfully got a few members of the PIRA, though some were completely innocent. By the end of the internment policy in December, close to 2,000 people had been detained, of whom the vast majority were Catholic. 3) Bloody Sunday (1972). On January 30, a crowd of around 10,000 gathered in Derry for an anti- internment march organised by NICRA. This was at a time when all parades and marches were banned; o Because of what happened when the protests happened > a safety measure. But if someone tells you not to protest for your civil rights, you don’t listen. The Army cordoned off parts of the route, but the protestors re-routed. As protestors attempted to cross the barricades, rubber bullets, tear gas and a water cannon were deployed to try and disperse the protestors; This escalated as members of the 1st Parachute Regiment opened fire on the crowd, killing fourteen; This day was to become known as ‘Bloody Sunday’; The resulting Widgery report, commissioned after a tribunal of investigators, exonerated the army while implicating many victims. o After Bloody Sunday > an inquiry was made into the event, and the tribunal found unambiguously that the British Army were not at fault, but that would change; o This infuriated lots of Catholics because they knew that those who’d been killed, their family members, weren’t in the IRA. o In 2010 > the Saville Report. Provisional response When truce negotiations failed, the PIRA began a campaign across Northern Ireland and, notably, across the Irish Sea to England. 1972: Devastation in Belfast after the Provisional IRA detonated 20 bombs, killing two soldiers and five civilians. Sometimes gave a warning; First-time attacks that left N-IR soil. 1976: the British government withdrew the Special Category Status for all paramilitary prisoners; o Meaning that political prisoners no longer had more freedom or didn’t have to wear a uniform compared to regular prisoners. Page 35 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) As a reaction, prisoners went on the ‘blanket protest’ > wearing no prison uniform; o 1978: This escalated to the ‘no wash’ protest; o 1980: Nell McCafferty’s poignant essay brought the world’s attention to the women’s side of the ‘dirty protest’. 2002: twenty years after ‘Bloody Friday’, the PIRA issued an apology. Up until this point, the campaign was very much an army approach > leading to internment and to prisoners ending up in these situations and having to protest, so under a new leadership > Phase 2: a cellular approach (1977-1980) During this time, PIRA’s structure was re-organised to a tighter, cellular-based network in which cells acted independently. Almost instantly, the effects of the structural changes were noticeable; o Emphasise > secrecy & discipline: “Whatever you say, say nothing”. Under new leadership, 465 fewer charges for paramilitary offences occurred within a year; Several cells were placed across Britain, waiting for the order or the opportunity to carry out their attacks; Younger Northern-born and bred members such as Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness took charge, respectively, becoming PIRA Chiefs of Staff in 1977 and 1979. o Gerry Adams still denies he was a member of the IRA. A war of attrition Disillusioned about the prospect of a speedy retreat by the British, the PIRA adopted a ‘war of attrition’ to bring about a demand from the British people for the withdrawal of their troops; o Margaret Thatcher was extremely staunch in her approach; o In turn, they wished to make Northern Ireland ungovernable and economically unviable. Many of these plans were hatched from within prisons (Moloney, 2002), where prisoners still were without special prisoner status; A key event which led to the third phase in N-Ir > Part 3: The Hunger Strikes With little to no progress being made in having their demands met in 1980, seven prisoners engaged in a simultaneous hunger strike; This attempt was without success, but another was led in 1981 by a PIRA volunteer named Bobby Sands; o The hunger strikers were led to believe that Thatcher's government would give in to their demands, and then, at the last minute, they didn't > at that point, the hunger strikers began eating again. Page 36 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) The strikes were staggered. A new hunger striker was to join each week until demands were met. o When the hunger strikers started dying, they would die every 2 weeks, which would bring more media attention to the hunger strike; o Many of the strikers were provisional IRA, but some were interned and no members of the Provisional IRA; o The hunger strikers’ demands (e.g. the reinstatement of the special prisoners’ state) were something that the civil rights movements wanted as well The concrete strike wasn’t exclusively a Provisional IRA campaign but also supported by different organisations in the North. Any armed campaign completely depends on public support; without it, you can’t change any sociopolitical situation. The IRA was slowly losing this. The Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement 1973: the Sunningdale Agreement; o It didn't work > huge uprising bombing by the groups of PIRA in 1973-’74. 1985: fail of the Annual Irish Agreement. So, the Good Friday Agreement wasn’t the first brokerage of peace, but it was definitely the most successful. Page 37 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) o Called for those who have been incarcerated: paramilitaries, the loyalists, and the national side being released even though they had been involved in attacks and killing people. Many were unhappy with the terms it set out, somewhere happy. 4 different things that fell into place that created the Belfast Agreement: 1) War weariness that people in the north were sick of the violence and it didn't have the energy to fight it anymore; 2) Change in leadership > different areas in the Republic of Ireland got a new president, Albert Reynolds from Longford. Thatcher was replaced by John Major (> much more in favour of the peace process in N-IR. 3) Fundamentally, Reynolds and John Major brought Jerry Adams and Sinn Féin to the table to negotiate even though they were republican paramilitaries and they had been involved in the Provisional IRA; 4) Also much pressure internationally to brokerage a peace agreement. Why study the Provisional IRA? On the Island of Ireland, the legacy of the socio-political backdrop (‘The Troubles’) poses an ongoing threat; o Although the Belfast Agreement has, for all intents and purposes, promoted peace, the IRA has not gone away; In fact, there were splits yet again in the Republican movement > threat they pose, although it's different, it's still very much tied to the sociopolitical history. o Studying historical cases allows us to analyse new and emerging threats, such as the Continuity IRA, Real IRA, and New IRA. The Official IRA perpetrated the Omagh bombing> so it's not as if the Belfast Agreement fixed everything, but up until this point, it has certainly abated much of the violence that emerged during the Troubles. The Brexit referendum has re-ignited old issues; o Border placement will ultimately indicate whether the Northern Irish territory moves towards the UK or Ireland; Brexit represents a political shock and creates an opportunity to re-open old wounds (Trumbore & Owsiak, 2019). It violated some of the terms of the Belfast Agreement: how can you hold an Irish passport while there is a hard border between you and that country? Counterterrorism o The case study contains several examples of counterterrorism “interventions” that sought to bring peace to the streets but ultimately strengthened the legitimacy of the Provisionals (Gill & Horgan, 2013). In many ways, the adversarial group, the British authorities, played into the hands of the IRA a little bit in times when the Provisionals were maybe lacking recruits. Page 38 of 102 Terrorism & counterterrorism (year 2) Events such as Bloody Sunday, fall through curfew internment > led to a kind of perfect storm which allowed the agreement to really thrive; Most counterterrorism policies (prevention, intervention, airport security, etc.) in the European Union are informed by the British approach because British counterterrorism operators were homed during the Troubles and became, in many ways, excellent. Towards the end of the troubles > the Provisionals weren’t going to win because the operations had gotten too sophisticated: managing to get cells into Provisional IRA meetings, and overall, the counterterrorism operations had just skyrocketed. Lecture 5: the evolution of critical terrorism studies Concepts Critique terrorism school= fundamentally view society in the state of conflict between those who have and those who have not. Referential body of literature= kinds of literature citing each other rather than generating new empirical insights. Manufacturing of consent= you have this particular way in which a particular story is reported and then it gets changed. Orthodox terrorism school= Seen as status quo > there isn't a common power in different conflicts (historical issues, lingering issues of colonialism, post-colonialism etc.). Social construct= it doesn’t have a meaning until we give meaning to it. Statu

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