STATE SPONSORS AND

SUPPORTERS OF
TERRORISM

By Elisabeth Paige Edson

 TERRORISM
The calculated use of violence (or the threat
of violence) against civilians in order to attain
goals that are political or religious or
ideological in nature; this is done through
intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.
 STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM
Terrorism practiced by a government against its own people or
in support of international terrorism

The truest form of state sponsorship of violence in other

countries for political ends would be situations in which
intelligence agencies actively plan the actions, train the
operatives, issue orders, and then send them off to carry out
these orders. This kind of state sponsorship of violence is part
of ongoing conflicts between states that occurs at the covert
level.
TYPES OF STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM
Active State Sponsored Terrorism direct support that is
difficult to stop and would most likely cause the collapse of the
terrorist organization.

Passive State Sponsored Terrorism indirect support that

is easily stopped if necessary, with no real negative affect on the
terrorist organization.
ACTIVE STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM

Activity is directly undertaken by the intelligence agencies of various

countries.

Intelligence agencies train, fund, and control domestic groups that are
involved in political violence in another country.

The groups in these circumstances are indirect agents of a foreign policy.

This type of sponsorship implies that if the foreign country withdraws its
support, either because of policy changes, shifting alliances, or a threat of
retaliation, the terrorist group would collapse.
PASSIVE STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM
Intelligence agencies do not directly control these groups, the groups
themselves determined their political agenda.

State aid including the use of diplomatic pouches for communications or arms
or the provision of false passports, or even diplomatic passports.

Such support would be a relatively inexpensive foreign policy tool. In addition,

from the government perspective, these groups were expendable and support
could be stopped with little disadvantage if governmental foreign policy should
change.

These groups existed and would continue to exist without the foreign support.
CASE STUDIES / EXAMPLES
Hungary and Italy against Yugoslavia

Hungary and Italy supported various dissident groups throughout Yugoslavia.

Their goal was to destabilize Yugoslavia and to make it more vulnerable.

These two governments provided important support to Croat nationalist groups seeking
autonomy or independence.

Italy and Hungary provided funds and arms to the Croat nationalist groups and supported
their terrorist attacks.
 CASE STUDIES CONTINUED
Iran

Iranian government supported Kurdish insurgents in neighboring Iraq as a means of weakening

that country.

Iran has been considered among the most active sponsors of terrorist groups in other countries.

The Republic has attacked domestic exiles abroad, provided support to groups whose activities
facilitate Iranian foreign policy objectives, and has aided Islamic groups seeking to force their
governments to adopt a more decidedly Islamic form of governance.
 CASE STUDIES CONTINUED
India and Pakistan

The violence inside the two countries contributed to the outbreak of fighting between them.

Both countries have developed nuclear weapons capabilities since they became independent
countries, increasing the stakes and the dangers involved in the conflict between them.

The continual tension between the two countries and their wars makes it easy to understand why
each has been willing to support dissident groups inside the other.

The Indian intelligence services have been active in aiding dissident groups in Pakistan by providing
clandestine assistance for the rebels.

Pakistan has clearly assisted groups that have used violence to challenge Indian rule.
 SUMMARY
Almost any country may at times use such support or even sponsorship of domestic
groups in other countries as part of their foreign policies, even when they ultimately do not
control the groups.

State sponsored terrorism involves activities like sabotage, economic disruption,

bombings, and assassinations. Governments have accepted this type of activity as one of
the normal consequences of being involved in international politics.

Unintended consequences of state sponsored terrorism are known as blowback.

Foreign sponsorship of terrorist groups has had one unintended consequence such
support has resulted in greater public acceptance of terrorism since the technique has had
the assistance of their governments or allied governments.
 WORKS CITED
Lutz, James M., and Brenda J. Lutz.Global Terrorism. Third ed. London:
Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. Print.

"State-sponsored Terrorism - Dictionary Definition."Vocabulary.com.

Vocabulary.com, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
<https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/state-sponsored%20terrorism>.

Terrorism - Dictionary Definition."Vocabulary.com. Vocabulary.com, n.d. Web.

07 Mar. 2017. <https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/terrorism>.