![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
Abstract
This article looks at the use of armed force in order to stop terrorist activity. There is little agreement among experts about the importance of the use of force in past counter-terrorism campaigns. Based on limited empirical investigation, it is indicated that police and judiciary measures have been much more frequently used than the military. Concerning the effectiveness of the use of force; there are few indications that it contributes to lessening terrorism. Rather the opposite is the case; the use of force makes things worse. It complies with the aim of terrorist organizations to provoke the state into overreacting. More research is warranted into the specific conditions under which force is used. It remains possible that in very specific circumstances, military force can make a difference.
Keywords:
Acknowledgement
A previous draft of this contribution has been presented at the British International Studies Association Conference in Cambridge, 18 December 2007. The author would like to thank the participants of the panel discussion for constructive criticism on the arguments.
Notes
1. CitationDelpech, ‘The Imbalance of Terror’, 37.
2. CitationDe Jonge Oudraat, ‘Combating Terrorism’, 168.
3. CitationHoward, ‘What's in a Name?’, 8–20; CitationWilkinson, Terrorism versus Democracy, 90.
4. CitationDonahue, ‘In the Name of National Security: US Counterterrorist Measures 1960–2000’, 47.
5. CitationNetanyahu, Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism, 6.
6. CitationByman, ‘A Corrective That Goes Too Far?’, 512.
7. Davis and Jenkins, Deterrence and Influence in Counterterrorism, xi.
8. Davis and Jenkins, Deterrence and Influence in Counterterrorism, 28.
9. CitationLum, Kennedy and Sherley, ‘The Effectiveness of Counter-Terrorism Strategies: A Campbell Systematic Review’, 3. Available at: http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/doc-pdf/Lum_Terrorism_Review.pdf (accessed 19 April 2008).
10. CitationByman, ‘Do Targeted Killings Work?’, 106; CitationFinlan, ‘Trapped in Dead Ground: US Counter-Insurgency Strategy in Iraq’, 12; CitationLivingston, ‘Proactive Responses to Terrorism: Reprisals, Preemption and Retribution’, 225.
11. Delpech, ‘The Imbalance of Terror’, 35; CitationTaillon, The Evolution of Special Forces in Counter-Terrorism, xiii.
12. CitationSerafino, ‘Combating Terrorism: Are There Lessons to Be Learned From Foreign Experiences’, 2, note 2.
13. CitationMalvesti, ‘Explaining the United States Decision to Strike back at Terrorists’, 404–25.
14. CitationCrelinsten and Schmid, Western Responses to Terrorism, 333, 315.
15. Donahue, ‘In the Name of National Security’, 37.
16. CitationMiller, ‘Confronting Terrorisms: Group Motivation and Successful State Policies’, 342.
17. CitationHarmon, Terrorism Today, 131.
18. CitationCrenshaw, ‘How Terrorism Declines’, 84.
19. Wilkinson, ‘Politics, Diplomacy and Peace Processes: Pathways out of Terrorism’, 69.
20. CitationDavis and Jenkins, Deterrence and Influence in Counterterrorism, 26–7.
21. Guelke, The Age of Terrorism and the International Political System, 185.
22. Donahue, ‘In the Name of National Security’, 17.
23. Crelinsten and Schmid Western Responses to Terrorism, 315.
24. CitationGross, ‘Fighting by Other Means in the Mideast; A Critical Analysis of Israel's Assassination Policy’, 352.
25. CitationSilke, ‘Terrorism and the Blind Men's Elephant’, 12–28; CitationCarr, The Lessons of Terror; CitationNeumann and Smith, The Strategy of Terrorism: Why it Works, Why it Fails; CitationDuyvesteyn, ‘Paradoxes of the Strategy of Terrorism’.
26. CitationArce and Sandler, ‘Counterterrorism: A Game-Theoretic Analysis’, 183–200.
27. ITERATE: http://ssdc.ucsd.edu/ssdc/ite00001.html; START: http://www.start.umd.edu/; Dept. of State, Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996 (Washington, DC: CitationDepartment of State (1997). Available at: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/
28. MIPT database. Available at: http://www.mipt.org/
29. CitationEngene, ‘Five Decades of Terrorism in Europe: The TWEED Dataset’, 109–22. The TWEED database is available at: http://www.uib.no/People/sspje/tweed.htm, Univ. of Bergen, Norway.
30. CitationSteven and CitationGunaratna Counterterrorism: A Reference Handbook; Crelinsten and Schmid, Western Responses to Terrorism.
31. CitationWilkinson, Terrorism and the Liberal State.
32. MIPT database, available at: http://www.mipt.org/
33. CitationRees and Aldrich, ‘Contending Cultures of Counterterrorism: Transatlantic Divergence or Convergence?’, 905–23.
34. CitationCharters, The Deadly Sin of Terrorism: Its Effect on Democracy and Civil Liberty in Six Countries, 220. Italics in original; Taillon, The Evolution of Special Forces.
35. Grant CitationWardlaw, Political Terrorism: Theory, Tactics and Counter-Measures, 94; CitationWilkinson ‘Politics, Diplomacy and Peace Processes: Pathways out of Terrorism’.
36. Wardlaw, Political Terrorism, 90.
37. Lum, Kennedy and Sherley ‘Are Counter-Terrorism Strategies Effective?’, 504–5.
38. CitationEnders and Sandler, ‘Is Transnational Terrorism Becoming More Threatening? A Time-Series Investigation’, 327.
39. CitationChalk, ‘The Liberal Democratic Response to Terrorism’, 26.
40. Livingston, ‘Proactive Responses to Terrorism’, 222.
41. Arce and Sandler, ‘Counterterrorism: A Game-Theoretic Analysis’, 184.
42. CitationRoss and Gurr, ‘Why Terrorism Subsides: A Comparative Study of Canada and the United States’, 405–26.
43. CitationSederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism: From Myth to Maturity’, in CitationKegley, International Terrorism, 270.
44. Chalk ‘The Liberal Democratic Response to Terrorism’, 28.
45. Gal CitationLuft, ‘The Logic of Israel's Targeted Killing’, 1.
46. Livingston quoted in Sederberg ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 270–1.
47. It has even been argued that it is not only the presence of military force but also the training that can act as deterrent; ‘“soft targets” are less likely to be found in states whose special forces are assisted by, or include, members of internationally reputed, elite counter-terrorist forces from abroad. It is clear that the level of terrorism has lessened in those countries whose troops have received training from the SAS, for example’. Taillon, Evolution of Special Forces, 136–7.
48. CitationWhiteneck, ‘Deterring Terrorists: Thoughts on a Framework’, 187; CitationFreedman, Superterrorism.
49. Robert F. Trager and Dessislava P. Zagorcheva, ‘Deterring Terrorism: It Can Be Done’, 96.
50. Whiteneck ‘Deterring Terrorists’, 198.
51. Arce and Sandler, ‘Counterterrorism: A Game-Theoretic Analysis’, 184.
52. CitationEnders and Sandler, ‘What Do We Know About the Substitution Effect in Transnational Terrorism?’ 119–37.
53. CitationSiqueira and Sandler, ‘Terrorists versus the Government: Strategic Interaction, Support and Sponsorship’, 894.
54. CitationEppright, ‘Counterterrorism and Conventional Military Force: The Relationship between Political Effect and Utility’, 339.
55. Malvesti, ‘Explaining the United States Decision to Strike back at Terrorists’.
56. CitationPrunckun and Mohr, ‘Military Deterrence: An Evaluation of Operation El Dorado Canyon’, 267–80; CitationHanle, Terrorism: The Newest Face of Warfare, 218.
57. CitationEnders, Sandler and Cauley, ‘UN Conventions, Technology, and Retaliation in the Fight Against Terrorism’, 84–105; Silke, ‘Fire of Iolaus: The Role of State Countermeasures in Causing Terrorism and What Needs to be Done’, 241–55; Lum, Kennedy and Sherley ‘Are Counter-Terrorism Strategies Effective?’ 505.
58. Lum, Kennedy and Sherley, ‘Are Counter-Terrorism Strategies Effective?’ 506, italics in original.
59. CitationSilke, ‘Fire of Iolaus’.
60. CitationMueller, ‘Six Rather Unusual Propositions about Terrorism’, 491.
61. CitationBrophy-Baermann and Conybear, ‘Retaliating Against Terrorism: Rational Expectations and the Optimality of Rules Versus Discretion’, 196–210.
62. Livingston, ‘Proactive Responses to Terrorism’, 220.
63. Kegley, International Terrorism: Characteristics, Causes, Controls, 190.
64. Harmon, Terrorism Today; Art and CitationRichardson, Democracy and Counterterrorism: Lessons From the Past, 564; CitationCronin ‘How al-Qaida Ends: The Decline and Demise of Terrorist Groups’, 17–48; Hanle Terrorism.
65. Hanle, Terrorism, 216.
66. Harmon, Terrorism Today; Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’.
67. Byman, ‘Do Targeted Killings Work?’; Gross, ‘Fighting by Other Means in the Mideast’; Luft, ‘The Logic of Israel's Targeted Killing’.
68. Luft, ‘The Logic of Israel's Targeted Killing’.
69. Byman, ‘Do Targeted Killings Work?’; Gross, ‘Fighting by Other Means in the Mideast’; Luft, ‘The Logic of Israel's Targeted Killing’.
70. CitationHeymann, ‘Dealing with Terrorism: An Overview’, 29.
71. Byman, ‘Do Targeted Killings Work?’ 101.
72. Sederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 272.
73. CitationEubank and Weinberg, ‘Terrorism and Changes is Political Party Systems’, 125.
74. CitationMueller, ‘Response’, 526; Wilkinson, Terrorism versus Democracy, 190.
75. CitationWilkinson, ‘Pathways Out of Terrorism for Democratic Societies’, 458.
76. CitationGray, ‘Combatting Terrorism’, 17–23.
77. CitationDaalder and Lindsay, ‘Nasty, Brutish, and Long: America's War on Terrorism’, Current History, 408; Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’.
78. Gray, ‘Combatting Terrorism’.
79. Hanle Terrorism; CitationRivers, The War Against the Terrorists: How To Win It.
80. Eppright, ‘Counterterrorism and Conventional Military Force’, 334. Walter Laqueur argues that counterterrorism has become less effective in the twentieth century because of the limitations on the police force compared to the nineteenth century. CitationLaqueur, The New Terrorism: Fanatics and the Arms of Mass Destruction, 45.
81. Davis and Jenkins, Deterrence and Influence in Counterterrorism, 59.
82. CitationLuttwak, ‘Dead End: Counterinsurgency Warfare as Military Malpractice’, Harpers Magazine, February 2007.
83. Silke, ‘Fire of Iolaus’, 253; CitationHewitt, Effectiveness of Anti-Terrorism Policies.
84. CitationCrenshaw, How Terrorism Ends.
85. Art and Richardson, Democracy and Counterterrorism, 571; Eppright, ‘Counterterrorism and Conventional Military Force’, 341.
86. CitationTrager and Zagorcheva, ‘Deterring Terrorism’, 121.
87. Miller, ‘Confronting Terrorisms’; CitationLaqueur, ‘Reflections on the Eradication of Terrorism’, 207–12.
88. Sederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 265.
89. Sederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 264.
90. Crenshaw, ‘How Terrorism Declines’ and ‘How Terrorism Ends’; Kurth Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’ and Ending Terrorism; Wilkinson, ‘Pathways Out of Terrorism for Democratic Societies’, ‘How Terrorism Ends’, ‘Politics, Diplomacy and Peace Processes’ Terrorism versus Democracy; Harmon, Terrorism Today.
91. CitationDuyvesteyn, ‘The Role of History and Continuity in Terrorism Research’,; Sederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 277; Wilkinson, ‘Pathways Out of Terrorism for Democratic Societies’, 460.
92. Crenshaw, ‘How Terrorism Ends’.
93. CitationRichardson, Roots of Terrorism, 9.
94. Sederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 277.
95. Sederberg, ‘Responses to Dissident Terrorism’, 278; Wilkinson, ‘Pathways Out of Terrorism for Democratic Societies’, 461; Hewitt, Effectiveness of Anti-Terrorism Policies.
96. Carr, Lessons of Terror; Abrahms, ‘Why Terrorism Does Not Work’.
97. Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’, 28–9.
98. Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’, 18; Charters, Deadly Sin of Terrorism, 214; Guelke, Age of Terrorism, 180.
99. Crenshaw, ‘How Terrorism Ends’, 3.
100. Miller, ‘Confronting Terrorisms’.
101. Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’, 30.
102. Miller, ‘Confronting Terrorisms’.
103. See for recent activities the MIPT database. Available at: http://www.mipt.org/
104. Wilkinson, ‘Pathways Out of Terrorism for Democratic Societies’.
105. Wilkinson, Terrorism versus Democracy; Alex P. CitationSchmid, ‘Terrorism and Democracy’, 14–25.
106. CitationQuan Li, ‘Does Democracy Promote of Reduce Transnational Terrorism Incidents?’, 278–97; Charters, Deadly Sin of Terrorism.
107. Wilkinson, ‘Pathways Out of Terrorism for Democratic Societies’ and ‘Politics, Diplomacy and Peace Processes’; Harmon, Terrorism Today.
108. Cronin, ‘How al-Qaida Ends’, 31.
109. CitationKilcullen, ‘Countering Global Insurgency’, 597–617.
110. Mueller, ‘Six Rather Unusual Propositions about Terrorism’, 487.
111. Donahue, ‘In the Name of National Security’, 18.
112. Donahue, ‘In the Name of National Security’, 18
113. Tracer and Zagorcheva, ‘Deterring Terrorism’, 121.
114. CitationPillar, ‘Counterterrorism After Al Qaeda’, 104.
115. CitationCreveld, ‘The New Terrorism’, 19.
116. Taillon, The Evolution of Special Forces, xiv.
117. Essential qualities are: violence, fear, aimed at a broader audience, purposive act, political nature, aimed at non-combatants and instrumental act.
118. Donahue, ‘In the Name of National Security’, 34 (italics in original).
119. CitationWolfendale, ‘Terrorism, Security and the Threat of Counterterrorism’, 753.