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Terrorism as a Political Instrument


Written By: Falakdipti 

Abstract

Terrorism has existed since the old times, back when it was classified as an act against the monarch. Now, in the modern age, it is known as the use of violence to propagate religious and/or political ideologies. Usually, terrorism is associated with militant groups acting against a State, but governments also have the ability to engage in terrorism to use it for political and economic gain. The present paper aims to define terrorism and how it is used by States to establish dominance in the political world and its impact.

 

Keywords: state, government, militant, sponsor, terrorism

 

Introduction

Terrorism is an act which involves unauthorised and illegal utilisation of deliberate violence in order to achieve political goals.[1] The term ‘terrorism’ originated in the 18th century, during the French revolution.[2] According to the description by Nobel laureate Thomas Schelling, terrorism is the power to hurt in its purest form. Mostly the victims of terrorism are the civilians of the State under attack, but the line that separates the combatants and the victims is usually blurry, especially in civil conflicts.

Most terrorism is domestic, that is, the victims and the perpetrators are from the same State. The aim of such attacks is not to cause harm to an individual or a group, rather they are designed to establish an influence, in general, over the governing body. The act of terrorism committed outside the boundaries of the territory in dispute was recognised as a distinct category in the 1970s with a rise of suicide bombings and plane high-jacking incidents known as ‘international terrorism’.[3] The victims and the perpetrators are of different nationalities.

Terrorism can be classified into three broad classes: revolutionary, sub-revolutionary and establishment.[4]

1.     Revolutionary: It is the most common type of terrorism. It seeks to completely overthrow a political system or ideology. Some examples are Baader-Meinhof Gang (Germany), Red Brigades (Italy) and Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Spain).

2.     Sub-revolutionary: It is less common than revolutionary terrorism. The goal is not to abolish a pre-existing regime but to transmute the socio-political structure. This type of terrorism is relatively harder to identify because in order to bring modifications in the system, the governing body is given threats of being disposed of. An example is the movement to end apartheid in South Africa by the African National Congress.

3.     Establishment: It is also known as State or State-sponsored terrorism. It is employed by the government of a State, either against the citizens of its own territory or foreign governments. It is rather difficult to identify since the support of the State is often done covertly. Some examples are UNITA (Angola), Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Iraq and Syria) and Joseph Stalin’s police and military force (Soviet Russia)

 

Objectives

The aim of this study is to learn the role of terrorism in politics. Political instruments form the link between the creation of a policy and its implementation. Thus, it plays an important role. Terrorism is often used as a tactic by States to control its citizens with fear and to seize or to intimidate other States. There are various types of State-supported or State-funded acts of terrorism, which are to be discussed in the present paper in detail with examples.

 

Analysis

There is no difference between terrorism and the utilization of explicit strategies that endeavour dread and fear by States typically viewed as "legitimate". Governing bodies of countries often resort to violence to influence a segment of the population of their territory or depend on coercive elements of state institutions.

There are three ways a State can engage itself in terrorism:[5]

1.     Governmental or State terrorism: it is also known as “terror from above”, where a government uses tactics to instil fear in its own population to control it. These actions frequently compose the acknowledgment policy of the governing body, with the use of official institutions like judiciary, police, military forces and other government bureaus. The written laws sometimes allow or encourage torturing, killing, detention or destruction of property in the wake of government policies.

·       The government of Abiy Ahmed Ali in Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (West Africa) is accused to be a “terrorist state” that uses violence against its own population. According to the statements made by Shimelis Abdisa (de facto ruler of the Oromia region of Ethiopia), the ultimate goal of the Ethiopian government is to establish an Oromo-dominated system of government through elimination of other ethnic groups of the country, especially Orthodox Christians and Amharas.[6] The Ethiopian regime is allegedly making use of political bodies headed by top politicians and some non-state actors as well, such as the kerros, which is an organisation of young members of the Oromo community that destroy churches and kill people who practise Orthodox Christianity and the Amharas.

    The Prime Minister, who is the head of State in Ethiopia, is someone who believes in ethnic politics, and was brought to power by extremist Oromo nationalists to implement policies that promote portioning of the country of Ethiopia on the lines of ethnicity, using acts of terrorism to oppress non-Oromo communities.

·        The Great Purge, also known as the Great Terror or the Year of ’37 was an act of State-terrorism that occurred from 1936 to 1938. It was a campaign perpetuated by Joseph Stalin in the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (East Europe and North Asia) of repression against political opponents, Trotskyists (followers of Trotskyism; a branch of Marxism), religious activists, ethnic minorities and the kulaks (peasants who owned more than 8 acres of land). Total estimated deaths range between 6,80,000 and 1200000.[7]

 

2.     State involvement in terror: it is when the government carries out operations using terror tactics against other States or groups or individuals that the regime sees as a threat. These terror activities are officially sanctioned, although the government authorities rarely ever accept their involvement.

·       Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación, also called Antiterrorist Liberation Groups were established by José Barrionuevo of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party to fight Euskadi Ta Askatasuna in the Basque country (Northern Spain and Southwest France).[8] The GALs were active majorly in the French Republic (West Europe), although most torturing and abductions happened in the Kingdom of Spain (Southwest Europe). The Spanish newspaper El Mundo played an important role in revealing the role of government in the act, sand the regime’s involvement was confirmed in the trials held by the court.

·       Hamas, also known as Ḥarakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah, is an organisation which is the de-facto governing authority of the Gaza Strip. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, which is known as the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The military group of the organisation has been accused of setting up illegal groups to carry out terrorist attacks in the State of Israel (West Asia).

On November 26, 2020, terrorist organisations of the State of Palestine (West Asia) came together and released a joint statement expressing their support to Hamas and gave a warning to the PA of the State of Israel.[9]

 

3.     State sponsorship of terrorism: it is also referred to as State-supported terrorism. In this the government provides equipment, training, and other means of assistance to non-state terrorist groups. The supply of a safe shelter or physical base for the terrorist group is one of the most important forms of this assistance by the regime. False paperwork, not only for personal identification (passports, internal identifying documents), but also for bank transfers and gun sales, is another vital asset a State sponsor may offer. Access to educational centres and experience that is not easily accessible to organisations lacking comprehensive funding are other forms of assistance. Finally, the grant of diplomatic safeguards and facilities, such as immunity from extradition, diplomatic passports, the use of embassies and other secure grounds, and diplomatic pouches for the shipment of weapons or explosives by the State sponsor proves significant to multiple terrorist groups.

 

·       The ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), is often accused of aiding the conduction of major terrorist attacks, especially in India (South Asia), such as terrorism in Kashmir[10], Indian Parliament attack of 2001, Varanasi bombings of 2006 and Mumbai Attacks of 2008. The Intelligence service of Pakistan allegedly also trains and recruits people for Taliban and Mujahideen, to attack Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir respectively. The intelligence agencies of the United States of America (North America) also concluded that the attacks on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 were also done by the Inter-Services Intelligence.[11]

Former President of Pakistan Parvez Musharraf admitted to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (South Asia) training militants of terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba to plot attacks in Indian Kashmir and Taliban (that calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) to fight against the USSR, also known as the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics or the Soviet Union.[12]

·       The Republic of Iraq was accused by the United States of America of providing a safe haven and bases to Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), and the Abu Nidal organization (ANO). It was removed from the United States of America’s list of State-sponsors of terrorism multiple times, last being in 2004, after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the overthrow of Saddam Hussain’s regime.

·       The Bureau of Counterterrorism of the United States of America currently has designated three countries as State-sponsors of terrorism:[13]

 

 Name of the Country

Date of Designation

Syrian Arab Republic (West Asia)

 

December 29, 1979

Islamic Republic of Iran (West Asia)

 

January 19, 1984

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea* (East Asia)

November 20, 2017

 

·       The countries that were in the list before were[14]:

 

Name of the Country

Date of Designation

Date of Removal

Reason of Removal

People’s Democratic

Republic of Yemen (South Yemen)

December 29, 1979

Date unknown, 1990

Merged with Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) to form the Republic of Yemen

(West Asia)

 

 

The Republic of Iraq

(West Asia)

1. December 29,1979

2. Date unknown,

    1990

1. Date unknown, 1982

2. September 25, 2004

1. To allow US weapon     companies to sell weapons for the Iran- Iraq war

2. 2003 invasion and end of Saddam

Hussain’s reign

The State of Libya

(North Africa)

December 29, 1979

May 15, 2006

Due to the continuous dedication of Libya to

the renunciation of

terrorism

 

 

 

The Republic of Cuba

(Northern Caribbean)

March 1, 1982

May 29, 2015

Agreement signed by the United States to

Restore relation with

Cuba

 

 

 

The Republic of the

Sudan** (North East

Africa)

August 12, 1993

November 9, 2020

Paid 335 Million US Dollars in compensation to the families of the victims of the 1998 United States embassy bombings

 

Some countries have a large presence of terrorism. Few of them are listed below[15]:

1.     The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (South-Central Asia): In the mid-1990s, Afghanistan became the hotbed of Islamic terror operations. Several radical Islamic (mostly Sunni) terror groups used Afghanistan as their preparation and operating base with the radical Taliban government establishing power. Al Qaeda was a massive umbrella group that hired and trained terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia and around the world. Al Qaeda, Al-Jihad, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, the Islamic Party, the Armed Islamic Group, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are some of the extremist organisations still active in the region.

2.     The Islamic Republic of Iran (West Asia): For a long time, Iran has been an influential promoter of Islamic extremism, with claims made by other countries that it funds terrorist operations in Iraq. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security have been active in organising and supporting terrorist activities and have tried to advise a number of organisations to achieve their aims by using terrorism. A number of militant groups, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, HAMAS, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the PFLP-GC of Ahmad Jibril, have obtained financing, safe havens, training and weapons in Iran.

3.     The Syrian Arab Republic (West Asia): Although Syria continues to decrease its footprint in Lebanon, it still continues to support and host Palestinian terrorist groups, and likely Iraqi ones. Few of the Islamic extremists that continue to operate from Syria are HAMAS, the PIJ, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Syria has now become a terror base, where Islamic extremist jihadists from Europe, Asia and the Middle East are battling to gain control of the country from the Assad government.

In nearly all facets of their activities and assistance, terrorists are improving their sophistication and skills. The productivity of these operations has been improved by the aggressive application of new tools for information processing, networking and intelligence. Technology surrounding guns and other firearms has become more and more affordable, and the buying power of terrorist groups is increasing constantly due to support from various countries. The ready availability for any user with ample monetary resources enables well-funded terrorists to match or surpass the sophistication of government counter-measures taken by the States affected.[16]

Today, most experts of the field agree that some parts of the Middle East, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the main power centres of domestic and international terrorism. Decades of corruption and greed of these States to assume more political power has led to terrorist groups, especially the ones driven by religious ideologies, to fill the void of a stable, selfless government in these regions and manufacture a disturbing amount of religiously motivated terrorists that are used as a pawn for political benefits.

There are numerous impacts of State-supported acts of terrorism. Few of them are:

1.     Direct economic destruction due to liquidation of physical property and objects.[17]

2.     Foreign cynicism and increased nationalism

3.     Warfare between countries

4.     Loss of lives of civilians

5.     Negative impact on mental and physical health

6.     Increase in instances of racism, xenophobia and colourism.

Findings

The secondary research method was used to collect the findings for the present research paper. Documents referred for the study were published papers, news articles, books and research websites.

The findings of the study are as follows:

1.     Terrorism has existed since historical ages.

2.     It is used till this day to propagate ideologies and supress opposition or those who are not from the same community or State as the perpetuators.

3.     It can be used for political gain.

4.     Terrorism can be domestic or transnational.

5.     It can be roughly divided into three types: revolutionary, sub-revolutionary and establishment

6.     State can support terrorism for political gain by engaging in the terror act itself, indirectly and unlawfully engaging itself in terrorism or sponsor terrorism by funding and supporting non-State terrorist groups.

7.     Acts of violence and mistrust between countries can be curbed with agreements and compensations.

8.     Most acts of sponsorship of terrorism by States undergo in the middle-east region.

9.     The countries that face the most violence and loss due to terrorism are mostly in the middle-east as well.

10.  Religion is one of the most common tools used to turn civilians into terrorists.

11.  According to Charles Tilly, “Properly understood, terror is a strategy, not a creed. Terrorists range across a wide spectrum of organizations, circumstances, and beliefs”[18]

 

Conclusion

Terrorism is a classic and a major political instrument. It refers to the usage of unauthorised, unlawful, and most of the time immoral acts of violence by a State on either its own civilians living within its territory or on another State in order to intimidate, control, and supress groups or individuals who practise non- compliance. Terrorism is of multiple types, depending on the location of the target, nature of the perpetuators, aim of the attacks and the reason behind the usually unjustified violence. Terrorism can be furthered classified into different kinds, depending on the degree of involvement of State in the act. Terrorist activities for political gain are mostly carried out by rich and developed nations such as the Soviet Union in the 20th century or the United States of America in the present times, or States that get funded by the former, for example the misuse of funds by the governments of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the State of Palestine, and the victims are countries that lack monetary funding but are rich in resources or communities that are less in number or are the weaker section of the population. Apart from having a huge impact on politics, terrorism supported by States affects the economy and sentiments of the civilians as well. Terrorism has unfortunately become one of the most commonly used way of executing political agendas, and one of the easiest too for financially independent and strong States.

 

[1] Soanes, Hawker, Elliott. (2006). Oxford Dictionary of Current English. P. 945. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

[2] https://www.lexico.com/definition/terrorism (accessed on November 28, 2020)

[3] https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/terrorism.pdf

[4] Jenkins. (July 27, 2020). Terrorism. Illinois: Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism (accessed on November 26, 2020)

[5] http://www.terrorism-research.com/state/ (accessed on November 26, 2020)

[7] Thurston, Robert W. (1998). Life and Terror in Stalin's Russia, 1934-1941. P. 139. Connecticut: Yale University Press.

[8] Watson, Cameron (2007). Basque Nationalism and Political Violence: The Ideological and Intellectual Origins of ETA. P. 15. Reno: Center for Basque Studies.

*North Korea; not to be confused with Republic of Korea (South Korea)

[14] http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/15/what-is-the-state-sponsors-of-terrorism-list.html (accessed on November 29, 2020)

**North Sudan; not to be confused with Republic of South Sudan

[16] http://www.terrorism-research.com/future/ (accessed on November 30, 2020)

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