Building foundations for the comparative study of state and non-state terrorism |
| |
Authors: | Melissa Finn Bessma Momani |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Department of Political Science and Balsillie School of International Affairs, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada;2. Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Waterloo, ON, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | In this article, we argue that a comparative study of state and non-state terrorism that uses the minimal foundationalist definition of terrorism as its central analytical framework offers a unique and instructive approach for answering the question: “what is terrorism?” To date, most recent comparative case study analyses of terrorism focus on ideologies, political/governance models, structural/contextual enablers, practices, organisational structures, and/or the basis of issues such as trust, belonging, and membership. We uniquely contribute to the growing literature on comparative terrorism studies by comparing and contrasting state and non-state terrorism on the basis of strategic communication vis-à-vis the preparation, execution, and outcomes of political violence (the “terrorism attack cycle”), the instrumentalisation of victims, and fear management. We argue that state and non-state terrorism are co-constituting and co-enabling phenomena, possibly best conceptualised as two bounded and coiled strands of the political violence DNA. |
| |
Keywords: | State terrorism non-state terrorism comparative terrorism studies strategic communication definition of terrorism terrorism attack cycle drones Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) Boko Haram al-Shabab |
|
|