CRMJ WEEK 3 DISCUSSION

Chapter 4

Terror From Above

Terrorism by the State

A State Terrorism Paradigm

· Understanding State-Sponsored Terrorism: State Patronage and Assistance

· Linkages between regimes and terrorism range from clear lines to murky “deniable” associations.

· Concepts:

· State patronage for terrorism.

· State assistance for terrorism.

· State Sponsorship: The Patronage Model

· Active state participation in terrorist behavior.

· Foreign and domestic participation

· Active involvement by agencies and personnel.

· Cases: Direct arming, training, and providing sanctuary.

· State Sponsorship: The Assistance Model

· Tacit state participation in terrorist behavior.

· Foreign and domestic participation.

· Indirect support for extremist proxies.

· Cases: Indirectly arming, training, and sanctuary.

· Case in Point: Failed States

· Involuntary hosts of terrorist organizations and networks.

· Territory serves as sanctuary for extremist groups, without state cooperation.

· Cases: Libya, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and Iraq.

State Terrorism as Foreign Policy

· Moral Support

· Politically sympathetic sponsorship.

· Open embracement of the main beliefs and principles of a cause.

· Governments may act as ideological role models for championed groups.

· Case: Iranian support for Islamist movements.

· Technical Support

· Logistically supportive sponsorship.

· Providing aid and comfort to a championed cause, directly or indirectly.

· Permits an aggressive agenda while allowing “deniability.”

· Case: Syrian regime of Hafez el-Assad.

· Selective Participation

· Episode-specific sponsorship.

· Support for a single incident or a series of incidents.

· Carried out by proxies or agents of the state.

· Case: Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.

· Active Participation

· Joint operations.

· Government personnel jointly carry out campaigns in cooperation with a championed proxy.

· Case: Phoenix Program.

State Terrorism as Domestic Policy

· Legitimizing State Authority

· Every type of regime seeks to legitimize its authority and maintain its social order.

· Democracy.

· Authoritarianism.

· Totalitarianism.

· Crazy states.

· Vigilante Domestic State Terrorism

· Unofficial repression.

· Terrorism perpetrated by nongovernmental groups.

· Unofficial support from agents of the state.

· Case: Paramilitaries and death squads.

· Official Domestic State Terrorism

· Repression as a state’s domestic policy.

· Deliberate adoption of domestic terrorism.

· Overt cases: Policies of Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, and Taliban Afghanistan.

· Covert case: Iran during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

· Genocidal Domestic State Terrorism

· Dr. Raphael Lemkin’s 1944 book, Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.

· Scapegoating a group of people as policy.

· Acts classified as genocide against a group:

· Killing members of the group.

· Creating conditions leading to the partial or complete destruction of the group.

· Preventing births or forcibly transferring children.

Monitoring State Terrorism

· U.S. Department of State’s Country Reports on Terrorism

· Annual list of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism.

· Private Agencies Monitoring Political Abuses

· Human Rights Watch

· Amnesty International