NCJ Number
81393
Journal
British Army Journal Issue: 58 Dated: (April 1978) Pages: 32-46
Date Published
1978
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This essay argues that terrorism is not a useful weapon for carving out long-term strategic societal change. It formulates several models of terrorism based on several modern terrorist groups as well as the viewpoints of prominent revolutionary theorists.
Abstract
A terrorism model is outlined which focuses on only those activities having real political motivation. None appears to have achieved large-scale permanent change in societies or governments, but instead has gained only death, jail, or disrepute. Experiences of groups like the Weathermen and the Provisional Wing of the Irish Republican Army suggest that the degree a terrrorist organization is removed from a central political purpose determines its success. There is drift and change in this pattern, especially by splinter groups who may be swept from an inner politically attentive policy zone to more bizarre outer regions by emotional, impulsive acts. This has been demonstrated in the extreme left-wing People's Organization Vanguard in Chile and the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), while inward drift can be seen in the Black Panthers. Based on these observations, a second model depicts terrorist groups in concentric circles radiating out from adherence to specific political goals. Case histories of the Tupamaros in Uruguay and Che Guevara's National Liberation Army are presented to show how movements have enjoyed some success while in this model's inner regions but have suffered as they slid into military rather than politically aligned positions. An examination of terrorist methods refines this model by showing that precision small-scale terror gradually moves into random mass terror as groups shift from realistic political goals to impulsive actions. A final model illustrates terroristic activities along a continuum from precision small-scale acts synthesizing current technology and terrorist activity used to achieve objectives such as placing a cause before a world audience to random mass terror with no decipherable political objective. A discussion identifies revolutionary traditions and theories, highlights what revolutionary therorists Marx and Engels, Lenin, Mao, Guevara and Debray, and Fanon have thought about terror and change in societies. Charts and 56 references are provided.