International cooperation in the field of international political terrorism

Political terrorism is defined. The various forms of international terrorism are enumerated. Types and manifestations of terrorism are discussed as well as their differentiation according to objectives and means. The necessity of international cooperation to deal with the problem is discussed, and five fields of possible cooperation are listed. The following existing multilateral conventions are dealt with: the Tokyo Convention of 1963, the Hague Convention of 1970, and the Montreal Convention of 1971. It is stressed that there is a need for a general convention of cooperation or, at least, border agreements, treaties of extradition, and mutual judicial assistance. The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism (1977) is discussed as an agreement meant to “deprivilege poltical offenses.”     

A Poisson model of incidents of international terrorism in the United States

Abstract

Various haphazard, and often uncoordinated, efforts have been devoted to discouraging and combatting terrorism. Unfortunately, there has been a noticeable lack of quantitative studies of the problem of terrorism. Nevertheless, it can be expected that the problem of international terrorism will eventually be a focus for operations researchers. A factor fundamental to any OR study is an understanding of the underlying generating process for incidents of terrorism. Based on incidents of terrorism from 1968 to 1974, this paper notes that the Poisson is a good model for the occurrence of incidents of international terrorism in the United States. Results of both chi‐square and Kolmogorov‐Smirnov tests are presented. Finally, an unusual result, inconsistent with popular beliefs, is noted.     

The threat of international terrorism in the united states: The police response

Abstract

As the 1990–1991 Gulf crisis unfolded, leaders of the UN coalition against Iraq became increasingly concerned about the possibility of terrorism accompanying the initiation of hostilities with Baghdad. Such concerns were reinforced by Iraqi warnings and by Baghdad's long association with international terrorist movements. Ultimately, however, the Iraqis proved unable to make effective use of terrorism to support their war effort. This failure resulted for a variety of reasons including effective counterterrorism measures by the allies. Additionally, a number of other nations with terrorist linkages pressured their terrorist clients to refrain from helping Saddam Hussein. They did this for reasons of their own that nevertheless supported allied strategy. Finally, the Iraqis’ lack of any precrisis preparation for terrorist action meant that they were simply unable to mount more than a few ineffective operations.     

Conference on Middle East fundamentalism and terrorism,the carnegie endowment for international peace,April 21, 1988

Abstract

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D. C. was the site of a conference on Middle East Fundamentalism and Terrorism held 21 and 22 April 1988. The conference was cosponsored by the School of International Affairs of The George Washington University, the Center for International Development and Conflict Management of the University of Maryland, the Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer Memorial Foundation of the Anti‐Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the Anti‐Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, and the Institute for Studies in International Terrorism of the State University of New York.

Experts from around the country and the world tried to deal with the problem of Middle Eastern fundamentalism and various connections to international terrorism. A series of six panels of academic and nonacademic experts confronted several perspectives in terms of the Arab and non‐Arab Middle East and global and regional perspectives, as well as fundamentalism and the peace process in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. The final conference panel dealt with governmental, intergovernmental, and nongovernmental responses to the problem.

The following papers were selected as representative of various views on the subject from an interdisciplinary perspective. Special thanks are due to the cosponsors and to Prof. Ferdinand Ermlich of SUNY's Institute of Studies in International Terrorism, who served as Rappateur.     

Some reflections on the victimology of terrorism

Abstract

Literature on terrorists and terrorism is abundant, but very little is written on the victim. Whether the studies are published by psychologists or political scientists, by psychiatrists or sociologists, data on the victim are conspicuous by their absence. There is hardly any mention of how victims of terrorism are chosen, their characteristics, the role they play, if any, in preparing or triggering the terrorist acts, their behavior during the ordeal, and their postvictimization condition.¹ The dearth of the empirical data renders the systematic study of the victims of terrorism particularly difficult. This paper presents a series of reflections on some victimological aspects of terrorism and offers a number of suggestions for future research.     

On the Economics of terrorism

Steven Livingston, The Terrorism Spectacle (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1994), 219 pp., $49.95.

Max Singer and Aaron Wildavsky, The Real World Order: Zones of Peace/ Zones of Turmoil (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers, 1993), 212 pp.

Richard Shultz, Roy Godson, and Ted Greenwood, eds., Security Studies for the 1990s (Washington, DC: Brassey's, 1993), 423 pp., $50.00.

Elisa Boulding (Editor), Building Peace in the Middle East: Challenges for States and Civil Society (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994), 347 pp., $45.00.     

Resurgent religious terrorism: A study of some of the Lebanese Shi'a contemporary terrorism

Abstract

This study introduces the concept of geocultural immobility. A minority's geocultural immobility is identified as an imposed low geographic mobility within a nation with low cultural pluralism. It establishes the Lebanese Shi'a geocultural immobility, to which it attributes their religious resurgence. This Lebanese Shi'a religious resurgence is proven in this research to produce the zealots needed by religious terrorist organizations. This study also introduces and defines religious terrorism as violent acts performed by elements of religious organizations or sects, growing out of a commitment to communicate a divine message. It makes distinctions among religious terrorism, secular terrorism, and fighters for religious freedom, which are based on the actors' motives, affinities, and consciousness of the maliciousness of their acts. The primary and secondary data and the quasiexperiment in this research support its special hypotheses. They indicate a statistical correlation between eight Lebanese Shi ‘a cultural and religious attributes.     

www.terrorism.com: Terror on the Internet

The nature of the Internet--the ease of access, the chaotic structure, the anonymity, and the international character--all furnish terrorist organizations with an easy and effective arena for action. The present research focuses on the use of the Internet by modern terrorist organizations and attempts to describe the uses terrorist organizations make of this new communication technology. Is the use of the Internet by terrorists different from that of other, "conventional" means of communication? How can governments respond to this new challenge? The population examined in this study is defined as the Internet sites of terrorist movements as found by a systematic search of the Internet, using various search engines. The sites were subjected to a qualitative content analysis, focusing on their rhetorical structures, symbols, persuasive appeals, and communication tactics. The study reveals differences and similarities between terrorist rhetoric online and in the conventional media.     

再论所谓的"重评斯大林思潮"

我国学术界对俄罗斯是否存在"重评斯大林思潮",存在着不同观点.本文从俄罗斯近年出现"斯大林热"的社会政治背景出发,通过对俄罗斯学术界有关斯大林问题研究情况的概述,通过对具有代表性的历史教科书在此问题上总体倾向的分析,以及就俄罗斯近年涉及斯大林问题的历史出版物在宏观数量方面的总体把握,得出的结论是,俄罗斯官方和学界在主流上不存在"重评斯大林"问题;同时认为,评价斯大林应坚持马克思主义和社会主义的价值观,而不应坚持俄罗斯民族爱国主义的价值观.