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Research On Terrorism Trends Achievement
Research On Terrorism Trends Achievement
Editor
Andrew Silke
Foreword
Bruce Floffrnan
FRANK CASS
LONDON . PORTLAND, OR
Fir* publßhed in 2004 in Great Brítain by
FRANK CASS
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Research on terrorism: trends, achievements, and failures / editor, Andrew Silke; foreword,
=\ Bruce Hoffman.
cm. - (Cass series on political violence, ISSN 1365-0580)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Tèrrorism - Research. I. Silke, Andrew. II. Series.
8N6437.-r496 2003
303.6t25t072 - dc22
2003062610
An nghß reserued. No part of thß publicøtion may be reproduced, stored ín or introduced into a retrieual
system or transnuittedin anyform or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other-
wise, without the prior written perrnission of the publßher of thß book.
Contents
List of Tables ix
Foreword
Bruce Hofman >a¡ii
Index 229
List of lllustrations
List of Thbles
Foreword
Much attention has been focused on the intelligence failures that led to
the tragic events of 11th September 2001.. Surprisingly little attention,
however, has been devoted to the academic failures. Although these
were patently less consequential, they were no less signifìcant: calling
into question the relevance of much of the scholarship on terrorism
during the years leading up to 9/1,1. That bin Laden and al-Qa'eda
figured so inconspicuously in this literature is a reflection notjust of a
failure to anticipate or interpret emerging trends in terrorist violence
but of an intellectual myopia that characterized the field.
Until 9/11, for example, the conventional wisdom was that terrorists
would abjure from carrying out mass casualty attacks using conven-
tional weapons and would shun CBRN (chemical, biological, radiolog-
ical or nuclear) weapons simply because there was little reason for them
to kill en mûsse when the death of a handful of persons often sufficed. In
the case of CBRN, this logic was taken further with the argument that
there were few realistic demands that terrorists could make by threat-
ening the use of such indiscriminate weapons, and little that they could
accomplish by using them that they could not achieve otherwise. In
short, the prevalent belief was that terrorists remained more interested
in publicity than in killing and therefore had neither the need nor the
interest in annihilating large numbers of people
By the mid-1,990s, however, the appearance of new adversaries, with
new motivations and new rationales, began to challenge the conven-
tional wisdom. In particular, incidents like the 1993 bombing of the
'V/orld
Thade Center, where the terrorists sought to topple one of the
1O7-storey Twin Towers onto the other with the aim of killing 250,000
people; the 1995 sarin nerve gas on the Toþo subway; the massive
explosion at a US government office building in Oklahoma City a
month later; the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania in 1998; and the litany of aborted or averted attacks that
continued literally until the eve of the new century and would likely
have produced similar incidents of carnage, called into question the
view that the selÊimposed constraints which hitherto had prevented
terrorists either from employing CBRN or undertaking mass casualty
attacks with less exotic weaponry were still applied. Those who
XVlII Research on Tërrorism
time. It paints an effective and compelling portrait of the need for greater
perspicacity, insight and originality in the fìeld. Its message is clear: if the
voice of the scholarly community is to be heard by those poliry-makers
responsible for defending against and fìghting terrorism as well as for
finding ways to resolve longstanding conflicts and to address the griev-
ances and causes that result in terrorism, the scholarly work on this
subject must be relevant, empirical, incisive, and truly informed.
f
An Introduction to Terrorism
Research
ANDREV/ SILKE
volume of what has been written is both massive and growing, the
quality of the content leaves much to be desired. So much is dross,
repetitive and ill-informed. As Brian Jenkins commented sombrely
after 9/1.1., 'we are deluged with material but still know too little'.1
,\nd yet, there can be few topics in the social sciences which cry out
louder for better understanding. The very word, 'terrorism', is charged
with emotion and horror. Not surprisingly, here is a subject which
provokes extreme perceptions in almost all who consider and think
about it; perceptions which spill easily into beließ about the actors
behind the violence. Misconceptions and prejudices born in the wake
of the amorality of terrorist acts - the suffering of victims and the
wanton destruction of property - if pervasive enough go on to influence
the policies used to combat terrorism and can have a powerful influence
(and often a poor one) on offìcial attitudes on how to deal with the
terrorists. Providing policy-makers and the wider world with the find-
ings of balanced and reliable research has long been recognised as essen-
tial to producing effective strategies and policies to counter and prevent
terronsm.
At a time when there is an increasing sense of paranoia regarding
terrorism, there is a strong need for balanced, expert and informed
research into this subject. Good research can provide powerful tools for
insight and guidance on what has become one of the most challenging
problems of the modern age,yet good research has often been desper-
ately lacking. This book aims ro address rhe need to provide an up-to-
date assessment of the state and nature of research on terrorism. In
doing So, the chapters assembled here examine the k.y issues
surrounding the conduct and application of terrorism research. The
focus of this volume is ultimately to present a clear and succinct view of
the key issues and problems facing terrorism research, and to look at
recent trends in the research, at its strengths and weaknesses and at the
impact it is having (or is failing to have) in a world after 9/11.