The United States, Germany, and other Western industrialized countries began seeking multilateral anti-terrorism agreements in the 1970s. In that decade, transnationally operating terroristic actors tapped into the anti-imperialist, anti-colonial global discourse of the 1960s to justify themselves as national liberation fighters. This dissertation is a case study of Western state officials who interacted with one another and with recently independent states in response to the activity of such ostensible insurgents. The dissertation reveals how Western officials worked to define and deploy the terrorism label against these non-state actors. U.S., German, and other Western officials generated international conventions that treated terrorists as ordinary criminals and ignored their political motivations. The resulting multilateral agreements stipulated that terrorism was an illegal and criminal act. These solutions undermined national liberation actors’ claims to protected status as wartime combatants. This dissertation clarifies some of the mechanisms which permitted Western states to shape the norms about who is or is not a terrorist. However, Western efforts to define and regulate terrorism also led to the institutionalization of terrorism as a global security threat without providing long-term solutions. These agreements did not prevent terrorist attacks. In addition, the Western multilateral conventions were deeply controversial. They triggered still unresolved debates amongst states worldwide about the conditions under which non-state actors had rights under international law to commit politically motivated violence. / History

No / The Russo-Chechen conflict has been the bloodiest war in Europe since the Second World War. It continues to drag on, despite the fact that it hits the headlines only when there is some 'terrorist spectacular'. Providing a comprehensive overview of the war and the issues connected with it, the author examines the origins of the conflict historically and traces how both sides were dragged inexorably into war in the early 1990s. The book discusses the two wars (1994-96 and 1999 to date), the intervening truce and shows how a downward spiral of violence has led to a mutually-damaging impasse from which neither side has been able to remove itself. It applies theories of conflict, especially theories of terrorism and counter-terrorism and concludes by proposing some alternative resolutions that might lead to a just and lasting peace in the region.

The intent of this thesis is to research the anti-terror legislation of 15 countries and the history of terrorist incidents within those countries. Both the anti-terror legislation and the history of terrorist incidents will be researched within the time period of 1980 to 2009, a 30 year span. This thesis will seek to establish a relationship between the occurrence of terrorist events and when states change their anti-terror legislation. Legislation enacted can vary greatly. Common changes in legislation seek to undercut the financing of terrorist organizations, criminalize behaviors, or empower state surveillance capabilities. A quantitative analysis will be performed to establish a relationship between terrorist attacks and legislative changes. A qualitative discussion will follow to analyze specific anti-terror legislation passed by states in response to terrorist events.

Much of the first generation literature on counter terrorist financing made sweeping generalisations and observations regarding these interventions based on relatively limited case study data. Given that the UK approach to counter terrorism clearly attests to the symbiosis between terrorism and money, this thesis evaluates the contemporary relevance of Cicero's aphorism that “the sinews of war are infinite money.” Drawing on a series of discussions and formal interviews with CTF practitioners into several of the most recent high profile terror attacks in the United Kingdom, it confirms a notable shift in terrorist financing methodology in recent years and underscores the trend towards increasing operational independence and financial autonomy. It thus considers the continuing centrality of money in the terrorism equation and has been framed specifically to examine the financing challenges posed by domestic terror cells in the UK, given the trend towards low cost terrorism with its emphasis on self sufficiency and the emergence of more discreet and ‘criminally sterile' funding methodologies. This thesis is primarily concerned with reviewing the efficacy of the UK counter terrorism-financing (CTF) model as perceived by practitioners, both in policy terms and in the context of operational outcomes. The increasing emphasis on new funding methodologies and the ensuing lack of visibility and opportunities for interdiction at the conspiracy phase of terrorist plots, further highlights the operational challenges posed for practitioners in confronting these ‘new' threats. As such, this research encourages several new perspectives, including a review of UK corporate knowledge on previous CTF interventions and consideration of military ‘threat finance' practice to deliver greater operational impact. In particular, it advocates a new focus on micro CTF interventions to address changes in the ‘economy of terror'. Finally, this thesis strongly attests to the continued relevance of finance or more specifically, the 'financial footprint' to inform and provide intelligence insight for counter terrorism responses generally. In doing so, it also considers the impact on privacy from increasingly intrusive financial and digital data collection and the trade-offs that inevitably emerge when liberty and security collide.

Bibliography / Thesis (MA (Political Science. International Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research paper offers an analysis of new terrorism as a concept for analysis in Political Risk. In order to assess the novelty and value of new terrorism it is juxtaposed with old terrorism. This analysis uses a historical comparative method in which three terrorist groups, within two distinct historical periods, are discussed and compared. The first historical period is 1945-2000 and assesses old terrorism through a descriptive assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah. The second historical period, 2001-2009, provides a descriptive assessment of al-Qaeda. The primary variables for analysis with regards to the terrorist groups selected herein are goals, targets and tactics. Also discussed is the secondary variable structure. A number of key findings indicate that there are more similarities than there are differences between old and new terrorism. The novelty and value of new terrorism is thus limited as a concept for analysis within Political Risk Analysis. The conclusion of this research paper establishes that for a normative conceptualisation of terrorism to exist, and have value, it must consider both old and new terrorism. This normative understanding of terrorism better serves the purpose of mitigation within the sphere of Political Risk Analysis. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie bied .n ontleding van nuwe terrorisme as .n begrip vir ontleding in Politieke Risiko. Ten einde die nuutheid en waarde van nuwe terrorisme te evalueer, word dit naas ou terrorisme gestel. Hierdie ontleding gebruik .n histories-vergelykende metode waarin drie terroristegroepe, in twee afsonderlike historiese tydperke, bespreek en vergelyk word. Die eerste historiese tydperk strek van 1945.2000 en evalueer ou terrorisme met behulp van .n beskrywende evaluering van die Moslem Broederskap en Hezbollah. Die tweede historiese tydperk, 2001.2009, bied .n beskrywende evaluering van al-Qaeda. Die primere veranderlikes vir ontleding met betrekking tot die terroristegroepe wat hierin aangewys is, is doelstellings, teikens en taktiek. Verder word die sekondere veranderlike struktuur bespreek. .n Aantal belangrike bevindinge dui daarop dat daar meer ooreenkomste as verskille tussen ou en nuwe terrorisme bestaan. Die nuutheid en waarde van nuwe terrorisme het dus beperkinge vir ontleding as .n begrip in Politieke Risiko-ontleding. Die gevolgtrekking van hierdie studie dui dus daarop dat, vir .n normatiewe konseptualisering van terrorisme om te bestaan, en ook waarde te he, dit beide ou en nuwe terrorisme in berekening moet bring. Hierdie normatiewe begrip van terrorisme dien die doel van tempering binne die sfeer van Politieke Risiko-ontleding beter.

Although there has been a wealth of academic literature which has examined counter-terrorism, both in the general sense and in case study focused approaches, there has seldom been an engagement in terrorism studies literature on the nature of the state itself and how this impacts upon the particular response to terrorism. Existing literature has a tendency to either examine one branch of the state or to treat (explicitly or implicitly) the state as a unitary actor. This thesis challenges the view of the state as a unitary actor, looking beneath the surface of the state, investigating intra-state dynamics and the consequences for counter-terrorism. I highlight that the state by its nature is ‘peopled', demonstrating through comparative analysis of case studies from Spain, France, and the United Kingdom, how the individual identities and dispositions of state personnel at all levels from elites to entry level positions determine the nature and characteristics of particular states. I show that if we accept that the state is peopled, we must pay attention to a series of traits that I argue all states exhibit to understand why campaigns of counter-terrorism take the shape and form that they do. I posit that we must understand the role that emotional and visceral action by state personnel in response to terrorism plays, how the character of particular state organisations can impact upon the trajectory of conflicts, and how issues of intra-state competition and coordination can frustrate even the best laid counter-terrorism strategies. Furthermore, I show how the propensity for sub- state political violence to ‘terrorise' populations makes the response to terrorism a powerful political tool, and how it has been deployed in the past for political gain rather than purely as an instrument to improve security. I conclude that future academic analyses of counter-terrorism must take this into consideration, and likewise, state personnel must be mindful of the nature and character of their state should they wish to effectively prevent terrorism and protect human rights and the rule of law.

The definition of terrorism in international law The subject of this graduation thesis is to explore problem of defining terrorism in international law. Although it is very broad topic, the thesis has attempted to explore most of the questions this issue has offered. First of all, it examines reasones why define terrorism in international law. Further this study provides information about perception of the term terrorism in the past depending on the political and social conditions and about how the terrorist attacks influenced the effort to find the definition of terrorism. The thesis pays big attention to regional treaty in which terrorism is defined and uses it as a comparison basis for finding the elements of the definition, since regional international treaty law has achieved the biggest success in this area. However, in the last two decades successes have achieved on universal level, especially by the adoption of the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism, which is the first universal agreement binding defines terrorism. This study also introduces the latest development of efforts to create a Comprehensive Convention on the Suppression of International Terrorism, which is, unfortunately, no more than small. Given the decades-long efforts to define terrorism, the...

The current study is a content analysis and comparison of news articles from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The objective of this study is to explore media coverage of terrorism over the last five decades to determine the impact of religion and to compare coverage between two respected news sources that are known for their liberal (New York Times) and conservative (Wall Street Journal) view points. Using a stratified random sample, 1,832 news articles were selected between 1960 and 2006 from the two news sources of interest. The articles were read, analyzed, and categorized. Then, a qualitative analysis examined a random selection of articles pertaining to religious terrorist events. Results suggest an increase in coverage of religiously perpetrated terrorism in recent decades. Interestingly, coverage from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal showed similar patterns despite being representative of opposite ideologies. Implications are discussed. / by Heather Zurburg. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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The purpose of this study seeks to uncover the relationship between the political objectives of the primary Palestinian political entities, the methods used by those entities to pursue their goals, and the socio-cultural fluctuation vis-á-vis the acceptability of, and participation in, suicide terrorism that has occured as a result.