1. State and non state terrorism

2.  On completion of this unit the students
should be able to explain the characteristics
of two contemporary global crises and
evaluate the effectiveness of responses to
these.

3.  Terrorism – is the threat or conduct of violent
and premeditated attacks on political,
economic or civilian targets with the
intention of spreading fear and achieving a
(usually political) goal. For example the
September 11 attacks in New York and
Washington in 2001.

4.  State terrorism is violence "committed by
governments and quasi-governmental
agencies and personnel against perceived
enemies," which can be directed against both
domestic and external enemies.

5.  The causes
 Responses from key global actors
 Challenges to effective solutions
 One group from two of the following – state
terrorism (Iran), religious groups (Al Qaeda),
alternative governments, anti colonial groups,
secessionist groups

6.  What constitutes a crisis?
 Traditionally the term crises implies a
moment of crucial decision in the contest of
immense danger, a brief period of time when
one or more actors perceive a threat to their
vital interests and have a very short time to
react.

7.  Cuban Missile Crisis of
1962 illustrates this.
 Crises heighten the
threat of war as they
transform the normal
relations between
states.

8.  The term crises in the 21st century refer to a
range of issues which threaten the security
and interest of the wider global political
community.
 Third agenda or cross border issues –
affecting a number of states at any one time
and they require the joint action of the global
political community and international
cooperation to be resolved.

9.  Challenge the traditional notion of security
being achieve through a state maintaining
the integrity of its borders and require more
proactive action on the part of states to solve
it.
 Globalisation has increased the threat of
global crises – but at the same time provides
the means to solve them – through IGGS.

10.  Negotiations between actors in the global
political arena in response to a crises, most
commonly concerning conflicts and natural
disasters, but also economic and health
crises.

11.  When global actors work together to achieve
common goals. e.g. the EU, ECB and IMF
lending funds to Greece in 2010 and 2012 to
prevent it defaulting on its loans and
triggering a financial crisis.

12.  Most commonly used in regards to
development policies, sustainability seeks to
organise states and their economies so that
currents needs are meet while not
jeopardising meeting the needs of future
generations.

13.  Violence used as a means of achieving one’s
political objectives, commonly witness in
global politics through inter state war.
Traditionally perceived as an instrument of
state power, violence and threatened acts of
violence are increasingly used by terrorists
groups as a means of achieving their
objectives.

14.  There are gaps between the aspirations of
the international community to solve global
crisis and their ability to do so.
 Tension between state national self interest
and their desire to protect their sovereignty
over the collective interests of the winder
international community.

15.  Before the invention of dynamite by Alfred
Nobel in the 1860s it was difficult for
attackers to kill large numbers of people
indiscriminately.
 In the 1790s it took the resources of
Robespierre’s government to round up and kill
17,000 people and turn the guillotine into the
symbol of the state sanctioned policy of
‘terror’ against the enemies of the revolution.

16.  Edmund Burke, a British
politician, was the first
person to use the words
‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’.
 Condemning the excess
of the revolution he
spoke of ‘those hell
hounds called
terrorists..let loose on the
people’.

17.  What techniques do terrorists use?
 What types of groups use terrorism?

18.  Terrorism is a global crises – turn of the 20th
century there were 8 deaths of military
personal for every civilian death. Now that
figure has been reversed – non combatants
are the targets.
 Of huge concern, often expressed by US
officials is threat that terrorists will find a way
to deploy nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons.

19. Al Qaeda and Iran

20. 11/09/2001 – Co ordinated hijacking of
passenger jetliners targeting the heart of the
USA’s political, economic and military power.

21.  In the attack at the Khobar Petroleum Centre, four
Al Qaeda militants forced their way in and shot 22
Westerners.

22. July 7th 2005 – Co ordinated bomb target
civilians using London public transport, killing
52 and injuring 700

23.  The near miss bombing of
jetliner over Detroit - in
which a would be bomber
attempted mid flight to
light an explosive hidden in
his underwear. The jihadist,
Umar Adbulmutallab was
trained in Yemen.

24.  November 2010 – A single
gunman, believed to be
connected with AQAP, shot
13 people in a Texas military
base. Terrorism experts call
this a ‘lone wolf’ scenario –
and it highlights the threat
that groups such as AQAP
pose – as they can inspire
single individuals to carry
out their objectives with
deadly results.

25.  Terrorists do not limit
themselves to civilian
targets – economic and
industrial centres of
their perceived enemies
may also be a target for
terrorists groups, who
seek to weaken their
adversaries’ economies
through such activities.

26.  In 2012 a car bomb injured
an Israeli diplomat’s wife in
India. On the same day a
similar attack was a foiled in
Georgia.

27.  In 2012 a bomb on a bus
of Israeli tourists killed
6. Counter terrorism
experts have identified
the blast to be the work
of Hezbollah, a militant
Shia Islamist group,
supported by Iran to the
tune of $100 to $200
million annually.

28.  Global terrorism and the threat it poses, have
profoundly changed modern warfare. In the past
enemy combatants were recognisable members
of another state’s armed forces who wore its
uniforms and fought with conventional
weapons. However globalisation has broadened
the geographic reach of groups that wish to
harm a state through the sorts of connections
that globalisation has created – technology,
communications, transport and finance.

29.  For example the 9/11 attacks
were committed by 19 men
from Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
who learnt to fly in various parts
of the world, organised the
attacks in Afghanistan,
Germany and the US, and
received finance from at least
12 different countries, using
commercial jetliners effectively
as missiles to attack civilians
within the US.

30. YEAR NO. TERRORIST INCIDENTS
2000 About 1100
2001 About 1700
2002 About 2600
2003 About 1900
2004 About 2500
2005 About 5000
2006 About 6700

31.  A contested term –
 The UN believes terrorism is “any act intended to
cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or
non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a
population or compelling a government or an
international organization to do or abstain from
doing any act”.

32.  A contested term –
 The UN believes terrorism is “any act intended to
cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or
non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a
population or compelling a government or an
international organization to do or abstain from
doing any act”.
 The US believed this implied that a state could be a
terrorist.

33.  The terms terrorism means premeditated,
politically motivated violence perpetrated
against non combatant targets, usually
intended to influence an audience.

34.  Terrorism – is the threat or conduct of violent
and premeditated attacks on political,
economic or civilian targets with the
intention of spreading fear and achieving a
(usually political) goal. For example the
September 11 attacks in New York and
Washington in 2001.

35.  Why do groups decide to use violence to
achieve their political objectives?

36.  You need to be able to explain the causes of
terrorism -

37.  Historical – local grievances – nationalist aspirations
 Poverty
 Feeling of being oppressed and marginalised by a generally larger
& more power state or institution.
 Ideology – left and right wing terrorism
 Religion
 Above terrorists share in common the belief that violence will
usher in change
As Al Gore said:
“another axis of evil in the world: poverty & ignorance; disease &
environmental disorder; corruption & political oppression”

38.  Asserts that terrorism is a new threat and that it
is in fact a new form of warfare.
 Asymmetric warfare in which opposing groups
or nations have unequal military resources, and
the weaker opponent uses unconventional
weapons and tactics, as terrorism, to exploit the
vulnerabilities of the enemy.
 All big industrial powers have advanced military
capacity – terrorists cannot threaten their
military superiority

39.  But the danger of terrorism for the big
powers is the security of their civilian
populations as well as the stability of their
economies and political systems.
 Advanced industrialised economies are
vulnerable to threats to their energy supplies,
information systems and symbols of national
pride

40.  Most attacks use weapons which are cheap
and easy to access – guns and bombs
 Cost of blowing up a building or firing into a
crowded market is minimal – but the cost to
the object of this violence is immense
 Emotional costs – lost and damaged lives

41.  Financial costs – buildings, infrastructure, lost
efficiency
 9/11 cost Al Qaeda $500,000 to implement.
 Compensation paid from insurance and
government from people killed and
businesses damaged total $38 billion.

42.  Cost America GDP $75 billion in loses
 Defence spending increased by $100 billion
 Short term impact is a total of $200 billion.
This is a return rate of 400,000 to 1.