MAINTAINING A UNITARY STATE: COUNTER-TERRORISM,SEPARATISM, AND EXTREMISM IN XINJIANG AND CHINA

This essay reviews the history of Uighur related terrorism in Xinjiang as well as elsewhere in China and discusses the political motivations and effectiveness of the Chinese government in suppressing terrorism. The essay assesses both the motivations of the Uighurs engaged in terrorism, as well as the motivations for counter terrorist by the Chinese authorities. A key objective of the essay is to determine what are the political and other reasons that drive the Chinese government’s counter terrorism strategy and tactics and whether these have been effective or counter-productive. The essay assesses the counter terrorism strategy of the Chinese government in Xinjiang Province and across China, the political motivations for the strategy, the impact and success or otherwise. The essay discusses if the government is combatting terrorism, or separatism, or extremism, the confusion of these terms, and whether this has had any impact on the effectiveness of counter terrorism.     

Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria: The international dimension

The terrorist group Boko Haram, or the self-described People of the Tradition of the Prophet (SAW) for Preaching and Striving, continues to terrorise Nigeria, with horrible consequences. Clearly, study of the problem cannot be disconnected from the complex nature of Boko Haram itself, considering the group's unclear agenda and its shadowy sponsors — internal or external. A key question regarding the nature of Boko Haram is whether it has a transnational dimension or not. This paper examines the nature of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. It argues that Boko Haram's terrorism does indeed have a transnational dimension, demonstrating that its agenda and targets transcend Nigeria, and that there are international links to the operations of Boko Haram. Given this international dimension, what concerns does Boko Haram generate for countries outside Nigeria, and what are their responses to the group's continued acts of terrorism? This analysis is contextualised within the charged debate on the definition of terrorism and the modern trend of religious terrorism in the international arena.     

集体行动的逻辑与东南亚反恐合作的困境

"9.11"事件后,东南亚成为全球反恐的第二战场。该地区恐怖主义的国际化与地区网络化趋势的发展,形成了整个地区范围内采取集体行动打击恐怖主义的必要性。本文从奥尔森的集体行动理论出发,认为集体行动的逻辑导致了东南亚反恐合作的困境。     

核恐怖主义与奥巴马政府核战略

基于国际核安全环境的变化和对核恐怖主义威胁的认知,同时为了提升美国在核军控领域的制度和话语霸权,也为了干涉其他国家内政、服务其全球和地区战略,奥巴马政府大大提升了反核恐怖主义政策在美国核战略中的地位。鉴于这一政策为美国在核军控领域制度和话语霸权服务的狭隘性质,它不可避免地存在以下缺陷:反核恐怖主义政策因果关系颠倒;反核恐怖主义政策的目标指向存在一定失误;美国核政策自身存在矛盾。正是由于存在着上述缺陷,决定了奥巴马政府反核恐怖主义政策必然会对国际反核恐怖主义努力产生双重影响。     

Is Narco‐Violence in Mexico Terrorism?

Mexico's drug ‘war’ produced 100,000 deaths between 2006 and 2012. The extreme violence has raised the notion that Mexico has become a failed state wracked by terrorism. We categorise the forms of narco‐violence in Mexico in light of the literature on terrorism and contemporary Mexican politics. Our study suggests three overlapping dimensions of narco‐violence that should be considered terrorism: (a) narco‐terror as a struggle for regional political control; (b) narco‐terror as a practice ordered by cartel leaders rather than spontaneous violence of foot soldiers; and (c) narco‐terror as an expansion strategy from solely drug trafficking to other kinds of organised crime.     

Old ‘counter-revolution’, new ‘terrorism’: historicizing the framing of violence in Xinjiang by the Chinese state

ABSTRACT

China has declared a war on terrorism in Xinjiang, identifying violence in the region as a top security threat. However, what nowadays is officially constructed as ‘terrorism’ was framed as ‘counter-revolution’ in the past. Informed by the concept of macrosecuritization and the agenda of critical terrorism studies, this article examines the changing nature of Chinese state framing of violence in Xinjiang. Through a comparative analysis of the discursive construction of the Baren (1990) and Maralbeshi (2013) violent incidents, I find that the terror lexicon has replaced old narratives of counter-revolution to legitimize a sustained crackdown under a novel geopolitical context. The construction of violence in Xinjiang as terrorism, I argue, is contingent, limited and unstable. It marginalizes factors other than an extremist or separatist agency in the incubation of the violence, in particular the frictions created by the crackdown with which the Chinese government is trying to placate the unrest.     

Reassessing the Causes of Nongovernmental Terrorism in Latin America

For years, nongovernmental terrorism in Latin America was considered an epiphenomenon of the Cold War. The persistence of this type of political violence in the 1990s, however, not only belied many assumptions about its causes but also led scholars to reexamine the phenomenon. This article investigates the validity of a number of hypotheses by applying a pooled time-series cross-section regression analysis to data from 17 Latin American countries between 1980 and 1995. Findings indicate that nongovernmental terrorist acts in Latin America are more likely to occur in poorly institutionalized regimes characterized by varying degrees of political and electoral liberties, a deficient rule of law, and widespread human rights violations. The analysis also shows that nongovernmental terrorism in the region tends to surface in cyclical waves; but it finds no association between economic performance or structural economic conditions and the incidence of nongovernmental terrorism.     

Africa and the war on terror

An analysis of the links between weak states and terrorism; strategies to combat the spread of terrorism in countries where populations may be vulnerable; and a look at Africa's situation in the US's war against terror.     

Existential Terrorism: Civil Society and its Enemies

This paper explores the attitude of contemporary terrorism towards civil society, the intermediate realm between the family and the state that accommodates the free play of economic and cultural forces and individual and group interests. Terrorism now targets not only people and institutions that operate within civil society but civil society itself, i.e., terrorism increasingly targets the very possibility of an autonomous realm of everyday life. This tendency is found in the Islamism of Al‐Qaeda, but also in any group that adheres to the “Augustinian paradigm” of civil society that arose in the West and dominates radical ideologies. An exploration of this situation illuminates both the nature and tactics of contemporary terrorism and the role of civil society itself.     

Terrorism,Agenda 2063 and the challenges of development in Africa

The nobility of the objectives and aspiration of the African Union's Agenda 2063 towards the developmental needs of the African people are laudable, as are the attempts being made to ensure collective action, despite the ‘shield of sovereignty behind which too many corrupt leaders have hidden’. However, these noble objectives and aspirations may be undermined and threatened by the upsurge in militant Islamism and the spread of terrorism within and outside Africa, a fact not being addressed by Agenda 2063. Yet while Agenda 2063 does not seek to address the challenges posed by terrorist networks within the continent, which are threatening human security as well as the sovereignty, territoriality, legitimacy and stability of political regimes, these issues are at the core of the agenda. This article argues for Agenda 2063 to step up its efforts to combat both the roots of terrorism and the threat to development that terrorism itself poses.     

论伊斯兰祈祷团的结构及其应对措施

从2005年至今,东南亚恐怖组织伊斯兰祈祷团策划并实施了一系列恐怖活动,对东南亚各国的安全形势造成了巨大的威胁.作为一个重要首领被捕、遭受严重打击的恐怖主义组织,伊斯兰祈祷团之所以能在短期内死灰复燃,根本原因在于其严密的组织结构.伊斯兰祈祷团的人员与资金来源结构是确保其强大凝聚力的重要基础,而严密的分工结构亏灵活的网络结构则为其运行提供了强有力的支撑.     

The Response to Terrorism as a Threat to Liberal Democracy

When dealing with terrorism as a threat to liberal democracy, it is a common assumption that it is the terrorists — who by definition refuse the rules of the liberal democratic "game"— who pose the greatest threat to the underlying principles and freedoms that are enshrined in this form of political life. However, in instances where the state fails to ensure that its response to terrorism is limited, well-defined and controlled, it is likely that institutionalised counter-terrorist policies will pose an even greater threat to the political and civil traditions that are central to the liberal democratic way of life. This paper demonstrates the potential danger by examining three cases when counter-terrorist policies initiated by (supposedly) liberal democratic entities came dangerously close to transplanting subversive terror from "below" with institutionalised, bureaucratised terror from "above": the "strategy of tension" initiated in Italy between 1969 and 1974; the Spanish "dirty war" against ETA between 1983 and 1987; and the abandonment of democratic rule in Peru between 1992 and 1996. The paper concludes that ultimately the effectiveness of the liberal democratic state's response to terrorism depends on its acceptability. It is therefore paramount that any solution which is initiated is made with due regard to the long term impact that it will have on the wider process of liberal democratic life.     

Democratic Regimes, Internal Security Policy and the Threat of Terrorism

Since terrorism poses a serious threat to the processes of liberal democracy governments should act decisively to curb terrorist groups. This article examines the range of political, judicial and enforcement measures available, assesses the problems associated with them and the conditions for their success. Political measures include reforms in response to popular unrest, negotiations with terrorist groups and amnesties to encourage an end to violence. Since terrorists seek to influence domestic and international public opinion, the authorities need to counter that propaganda and in particular to explain and justify the political, judicial and enforcement measures they adopt. Governments have to choose between treating terrorism like other forms of criminal behaviour or setting up special courts and passing emergency legislation, with the attendant dangers to civil liberties. Enforcement of anti-terrorist measures has quite often been inept. Coordination is required to prevent police anti-terrorist units and other security agencies from engaging in institutional rivalry. But if these agencies are efficient in their intelligence gathering, and politically supervised to ensure that they act within the law, they can be decisive in the reduction of terrorism, as in Western Europe at the end of the 1970s.     

联合国制裁恐怖主义机制的功能和不足

联合国制裁恐怖主义机制的功能包括约束作用、示范作用、规范作用和服务作用。这些功能推动了恐怖主义制裁的国际合作。由于制裁机制的存在,国际社会形成了一个治理恐怖主义的新模式。然而,成员国的不合作导致上述功能存在以下缺陷:机制的约束作用较弱,示范作用较窄,规范作用有限,服务质量不高。成员国不合作的根源在于制裁机制中的权力分配失衡、国际社会中相互依赖的变化、制裁机制本身的不健全和不透明。要提升未来成员国在国际反恐中的合作和治理效果,各主要国家和联合国应当推动制裁机制的完善,以赢得更广泛的国际合作。     

东南亚恐怖主义的层累构造与演化逻辑

东南亚恐怖主义的形成有其特殊条件,是多种矛盾层累式构造的结果。东南亚各国历史上复杂的政治经济结构、族群社会结构带来的社会矛盾和族群矛盾构成了东南亚恐怖主义的基座。伊斯兰复兴运动衍生的极端伊斯兰意识形态以及基地组织在东南亚的扩散和"演进"成为东南亚恐怖主义成长的关键因素。美国发动的全球反恐战争给穆斯林带来选择困境,爱好和平的穆斯林同样需要抵制西方社会对伊斯兰教"污名化"的侵袭,反而为极端组织的成长提供了生命力。因为情势的不同,东南亚各国的反恐陷入集体行动的困境,固化了层累式构造的矛盾,影响了反恐行动与反恐合作。     

菲美安全合作及其对中国安全环境的影响分析

菲律宾是第一个表示支持美国反恐斗争的亚洲国家,反恐战争使双方之间的安全合作关系迅速升温,用美国总统布什的话说,美菲在反恐战争中已经是"军事同盟".本文分析了菲美安全合作关系迅速升温的原因、影响,并针对菲美安全合作对中国安全环境的影响提出了一些政策建议.     

新加坡与美国的军事合作关系

在军事战略方面,新加坡已成为美国亚太安全岛链中的重要角色,成为美国防范恐怖主义和围堵中国的棋局中的一个棋子.本文通过军事合作与地缘战略两项因素,分析新加坡与美国的军事合作关系.本文研究发现:第一,新加坡正在取代此前菲律宾的地位,成为美国在亚太地区前沿部署的关键性角色;第二,美国对于新加坡的武器输出,已经超出"防御武器"的限制;第三,在"9·11"事件之后,新加坡宣布与美国站在同一阵线,共同对抗恐怖主义.也就是说,由于地缘战略的重要性,美国正借与新加坡的军事合作,使其成为美国亚太安全岛链的一环.     

Targeting islamist terrorism in asia pacific: an unending war

Three years into the US-led “War on Terror,” the international coalition against terrorism remains fragmented. Despite the killings of many key al Qaeda leaders as well as worldwide disruption of its bases, financial infrastructures and networks, al Qaeda has demonstrated remarkable regenerative and adoptive capabilities. Al Qaeda remains resilient enough—mutating into new forms and adapting to the changing operational environment—to continue with its campaign of terror, targeting not only the interests of the United States, but its allies and supporters worldwide. At the strategic level, the spirit of cooperation has been undermined by some of the policies of the United States. At a tactical level, the failure can be attributed to two major factors. One is the failure to understand the nature of the threat, especially the “al Qaeda phenomenon” in its entirety, including the vision, sense of mission, capabilities, acumen and the organizational skills of Osama bin Laden. Second, and most important, is the failure to address the core issues and the ideology that underlie the militant Islamist threat.

With Iraq emerging as the new epicenter of global terrorism, the center of gravity of terrorism seems to have shifted back to the Middle East. However, this does not make the threat less salient in the Asia Pacific region. In the region, the threat lies in the ideological challenge posed by an alternative vision of the state represented by a pan-Islamic caliphate or by the ideal of an Islamic state governed by Shar'ia law. It is therefore incumbent upon Asia Pacific countries to manage the threat of radical Islamic terrorism by preventing transnational groups such as al Qaeda from utilizing separatist and ethnic or religious conflicts in the region for their broader global revolutionary agenda.     

The African state and the failure of US counter-terrorism initiatives in Africa: The cases of Nigeria and Mali

Counter-terrorism initiatives are failing across the African continent. A major reason for this failure lies in the state-centric and military-focused nature of many counter-terrorism initiatives. In Africa, the state is often the source of insecurity for ordinary citizens. Any military strengthening of an illegitimate African state by the international community not only serves to bolster a predatory state but also undermines the human security of citizens. More importantly, such an approach conflates sub-state and international terrorism and serves to bolster the latter, thereby undermining regional and international security further. Put simply, current counter-terrorism initiatives are counter-productive. This paper focuses on counter-terrorism efforts in Nigeria and Mali with a special focus on US initiatives to combat terrorism in the region.