Transnational Terrorism - A Chronology of Events, 1968-1979

• NCJ Number: 74050
• Author(s): E F Mickolus
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 1000 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation; University Consortium for World Order Studies
• Sale Source: Greenwood Publishing Group
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This volume presents a comprehensive, descriptive listing of over 5,000 worldwide terrorist incidents, on the assumption that quantitative comparative data should reveal some patterning of transnational terrorist behavior.

Abstract

The material constitutes the data in the International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE) computer system. Included are descriptive listings of terrorist attacks from the beginnning of recorded history to the present day. The bulk of the material, however, is concentrated in the period between 1968 and 1979 and includes case histories of more than 4,000 terrorist incidents. Also provided are a chronology of all airliner hijackings throughout history, a statistical analysis of patterns of terrorist behavior worldwide, and a complete listing of threats and attacks on nuclear facilities. The chronology begins with the Biblical story of Joseph, described as the first recorded political kidnapping. One of the last entries is a detailed description of the events of November 4, 1979, in Tehran, Iran, when radical Moslem students seized the U.S. Embassy and took Americans hostage. Among the aspects of terrorist activity statistically examined to ascertain future trends are national involvement in transnational terrorism, temporal patterns, logistic and tactical shifts, damage and casualties inflicted by terrorists, and government involvement in terrorist events. Implications derived from this examination are that terrorists will continue to engage mostly in simple forms of attack which entail little risk to themselves and will adapt to measures taken by governments to keep their activities in check. It is deemed unlikely that terrorists will form a strong international union because of their diverse and conflicting goals, although bilateral cooperation of terrorist groups will continue. The majority of terrorsts attacks will be directed against symbols of Western wealth and power. Tabular data are included. Appended are a glossary of terrorist groups and an index of countries affected by terrorism.