Pub Date : 2021-01-26DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2021.1874041
P. Candilis, S. Cleary, S. Dhumad, A. Dyer, N. Khalifa
ABSTRACT Attempts to define terrorist typologies often emphasise the importance of socio-political and psychological factors and the distinction between lone and group actors. However, these attempts are predominantly driven by theory or secondary data, and controversies still surround how much influence family, ideology, and personality factors exercise on terrorist behaviour. Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), we developed a typology for terrorism utilising common social, family, childhood, ideology, and personality factors. The sample comprised 160 incarcerated offenders convicted of terrorism in Iraq. We applied LCA, including a total of 21 variables representing participant characteristics, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours commonly identified in the literature. Analysis indicated a three-class model fit was better than two- and four-class models. The largest class in the LCA (40.6%, n = 65) was classified as ‘non-religious nationalists’ (class 1). The second largest class (40%, n = 64) was classified as ‘oppressed instrumentalists’ (class 2). The smallest class (19.4%, n = 31) was classified as ‘aggrieved antisocials’ (class 3). The new typology merits further investigation in different settings with a larger sample Although the widely supported distinction between lone and group actor terrorism was not borne out in this sample, the new categorisation can nonetheless offer opportunities for identifying those at risk and offering social interventions.
{"title":"Classifying terrorism: a latent class analysis of primary source socio-political and psychological data","authors":"P. Candilis, S. Cleary, S. Dhumad, A. Dyer, N. Khalifa","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2021.1874041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2021.1874041","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Attempts to define terrorist typologies often emphasise the importance of socio-political and psychological factors and the distinction between lone and group actors. However, these attempts are predominantly driven by theory or secondary data, and controversies still surround how much influence family, ideology, and personality factors exercise on terrorist behaviour. Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA), we developed a typology for terrorism utilising common social, family, childhood, ideology, and personality factors. The sample comprised 160 incarcerated offenders convicted of terrorism in Iraq. We applied LCA, including a total of 21 variables representing participant characteristics, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours commonly identified in the literature. Analysis indicated a three-class model fit was better than two- and four-class models. The largest class in the LCA (40.6%, n = 65) was classified as ‘non-religious nationalists’ (class 1). The second largest class (40%, n = 64) was classified as ‘oppressed instrumentalists’ (class 2). The smallest class (19.4%, n = 31) was classified as ‘aggrieved antisocials’ (class 3). The new typology merits further investigation in different settings with a larger sample Although the widely supported distinction between lone and group actor terrorism was not borne out in this sample, the new categorisation can nonetheless offer opportunities for identifying those at risk and offering social interventions.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"15 1","pages":"64 - 81"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2021.1874041","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44497812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-26DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2021.1875022
Chi Zhang
Counter-radicalisation programmes are not new. In the much-criticised global War on Terror, different governments have designed, implemented, and evaluated their counter-radicalisation strategies, ...
{"title":"Weaponized words: the strategic role of persuasion in violent radicalization and counter-radicalization","authors":"Chi Zhang","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2021.1875022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2021.1875022","url":null,"abstract":"Counter-radicalisation programmes are not new. In the much-criticised global War on Terror, different governments have designed, implemented, and evaluated their counter-radicalisation strategies, ...","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"14 1","pages":"330 - 331"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2021.1875022","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43953347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-08DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1850842
B. Lee, K. Knott
ABSTRACT Learning in extremist settings is often treated as operational, with little regard to how aspiring participants in extremist settings engage with complex and abstract ideological material. This paper examines learning in the context of the amorphous network of digital channels that compose the extreme-right online milieu. Through an in-depth qualitative analysis, we explore how well the prevailing model of extremist ideological learning (in ‘communities of practice’) accounts for the behaviour of aspiring participants of Fascist Forge, a now-defunct extreme-right web forum. The findings suggest that some of the social aspects of communities of practice have been replicated in the online setting of Fascist Forge. However, for a combination of technical and ideological reasons, the more directed and nurturing aspects of learning have not. Several issues are raised about the role of ideological learning in online communities, notably the open accessibility of extremist material, the lack of ideological control leading to potential mutation and innovation by self-learners, and the role of digital learning in the preparation, shaping and recruitment of individuals for real world organising and activism.
{"title":"Fascist aspirants: Fascist Forge and ideological learning in the extreme-right online milieu","authors":"B. Lee, K. Knott","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1850842","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1850842","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Learning in extremist settings is often treated as operational, with little regard to how aspiring participants in extremist settings engage with complex and abstract ideological material. This paper examines learning in the context of the amorphous network of digital channels that compose the extreme-right online milieu. Through an in-depth qualitative analysis, we explore how well the prevailing model of extremist ideological learning (in ‘communities of practice’) accounts for the behaviour of aspiring participants of Fascist Forge, a now-defunct extreme-right web forum. The findings suggest that some of the social aspects of communities of practice have been replicated in the online setting of Fascist Forge. However, for a combination of technical and ideological reasons, the more directed and nurturing aspects of learning have not. Several issues are raised about the role of ideological learning in online communities, notably the open accessibility of extremist material, the lack of ideological control leading to potential mutation and innovation by self-learners, and the role of digital learning in the preparation, shaping and recruitment of individuals for real world organising and activism.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"14 1","pages":"216 - 240"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1850842","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49260884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-06DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1866052
M. Demir, Ahmet Guler
ABSTRACT Suicide terrorism is one of the deadliest terrorist strategies adopted by various terrorist groups around the world, but the 9/11 terrorist attacks have made suicide terrorism a popular attack strategy among terrorist organizations at the global level. However, there is scarce research on the effect of the 9/11 attacks on suicide terrorism. Using data obtained from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) between 1981 and 2018, this research examines the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on suicide terrorism and different types of terrorist organizations that commit suicide terrorism before and after 9/11 and the changes in the trends in the outcomes. The results of negative binomial regression tests comparing pre-9/11 and post-9/11 and monthly interrupted time series analyses showed that the 9/11 terrorist attacks had significant impacts on the above-mentioned outcomes. The results suggested that the 9/11 attacks have played a critical role in inspiring and encouraging terrorist organizations – religious-based ones in particular – to adopt suicide terrorism as an attack strategy.
{"title":"The effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on suicide terrorism","authors":"M. Demir, Ahmet Guler","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1866052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1866052","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Suicide terrorism is one of the deadliest terrorist strategies adopted by various terrorist groups around the world, but the 9/11 terrorist attacks have made suicide terrorism a popular attack strategy among terrorist organizations at the global level. However, there is scarce research on the effect of the 9/11 attacks on suicide terrorism. Using data obtained from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) between 1981 and 2018, this research examines the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on suicide terrorism and different types of terrorist organizations that commit suicide terrorism before and after 9/11 and the changes in the trends in the outcomes. The results of negative binomial regression tests comparing pre-9/11 and post-9/11 and monthly interrupted time series analyses showed that the 9/11 terrorist attacks had significant impacts on the above-mentioned outcomes. The results suggested that the 9/11 attacks have played a critical role in inspiring and encouraging terrorist organizations – religious-based ones in particular – to adopt suicide terrorism as an attack strategy.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"15 1","pages":"24 - 41"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1866052","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45645830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-06DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1867222
Hakim Zainiddinov
ABSTRACT The stereotype literature views responses of a subordinated group to stereotypes as a unified attempt to counter the control and domination of its identity. Complexities that exist within the unified response of the subordinated group have drawn less attention. Using a qualitative content analysis of text-based data (newspapers, legal documents, press releases, scholarly works), the paper examines responses of two American Muslim organizations to the terrorism stereotype. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a representative of the American Muslim mainstream majority and the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a representative of ‘moderate’ Muslims have been consistently denouncing terrorism in all its forms. The unified response, voiced in the denouncement of terrorism, is explained through the depersonalization hypothesis of self-categorization theory, suggesting that an increase in saliency of the Muslim identity predicts greater perceived homogeneity of the group. Yet, beyond this unified response, there are profound differences in these organizations’ views, positions, and tactics toward combating the terrorism stereotype. Such variations depend on the perceived legitimacy of the source of negative stereotypes. Future research should study other stereotypical traits associated with Muslims in the US, to identify the existence of complex internal dynamics within various Muslim groups countering negative stereotypes.
{"title":"Responses of US-based Muslim organizations to being stereotyped as ‘terrorists’","authors":"Hakim Zainiddinov","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1867222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1867222","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The stereotype literature views responses of a subordinated group to stereotypes as a unified attempt to counter the control and domination of its identity. Complexities that exist within the unified response of the subordinated group have drawn less attention. Using a qualitative content analysis of text-based data (newspapers, legal documents, press releases, scholarly works), the paper examines responses of two American Muslim organizations to the terrorism stereotype. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a representative of the American Muslim mainstream majority and the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a representative of ‘moderate’ Muslims have been consistently denouncing terrorism in all its forms. The unified response, voiced in the denouncement of terrorism, is explained through the depersonalization hypothesis of self-categorization theory, suggesting that an increase in saliency of the Muslim identity predicts greater perceived homogeneity of the group. Yet, beyond this unified response, there are profound differences in these organizations’ views, positions, and tactics toward combating the terrorism stereotype. Such variations depend on the perceived legitimacy of the source of negative stereotypes. Future research should study other stereotypical traits associated with Muslims in the US, to identify the existence of complex internal dynamics within various Muslim groups countering negative stereotypes.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"15 1","pages":"42 - 63"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1867222","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46194739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-22DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1859583
Janko Međedović, Uroš Kovačević, G. Knežević
ABSTRACT Football supporters represent a specific social group which is prone to violence and ideologically based extremist behavior. In the present study we explored whether football supporters in Serbia are characterized by Militant Extremist Mind-Set (MEM), a set of beliefs characterized by terrorists and ideological extremists. MEM is constituted of three factors: Proviolence, Vile World and Divine Power. We hypothesized that all three factors are more pronounced in football supporters than in the control group of participants; furthermore, we assumed that MEM factors have an independent contribution in the prediction of support for extremist social movements. Relations between these variables are explored in a combined sample of male football supporters (N = 128) and the control group (N = 118). Obtained results confirmed all hypotheses. All MEM factors were found to be more pronounced in football supporters. All three beliefs independently predicted support for extremist social movements. Finally, the interaction between group membership and Vile World in predicting support for the extremist movements was found: football supporters with elevated belief in Vile World were especially prone to affiliate with extremist movements. Study findings provided additional insight into the ideological characteristics of football supporters in Serbia and contributed to the identification of individuals who are particularly susceptible to violent extremism.
{"title":"Militant extremist mind-set in Serbian football supporters: relations with the adherence to extremist social movements","authors":"Janko Međedović, Uroš Kovačević, G. Knežević","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1859583","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1859583","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Football supporters represent a specific social group which is prone to violence and ideologically based extremist behavior. In the present study we explored whether football supporters in Serbia are characterized by Militant Extremist Mind-Set (MEM), a set of beliefs characterized by terrorists and ideological extremists. MEM is constituted of three factors: Proviolence, Vile World and Divine Power. We hypothesized that all three factors are more pronounced in football supporters than in the control group of participants; furthermore, we assumed that MEM factors have an independent contribution in the prediction of support for extremist social movements. Relations between these variables are explored in a combined sample of male football supporters (N = 128) and the control group (N = 118). Obtained results confirmed all hypotheses. All MEM factors were found to be more pronounced in football supporters. All three beliefs independently predicted support for extremist social movements. Finally, the interaction between group membership and Vile World in predicting support for the extremist movements was found: football supporters with elevated belief in Vile World were especially prone to affiliate with extremist movements. Study findings provided additional insight into the ideological characteristics of football supporters in Serbia and contributed to the identification of individuals who are particularly susceptible to violent extremism.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"14 1","pages":"312 - 326"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1859583","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45085064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-22DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1859584
Zsófia Hacsek
Peter Lehr’s book offers us what the title suggests: a three-part critical assessment of how counter-terrorism shapes Western societies, from a detailed explanation of several digital and urban-pla...
{"title":"Counter-terrorism technologies. A critical assessment","authors":"Zsófia Hacsek","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1859584","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1859584","url":null,"abstract":"Peter Lehr’s book offers us what the title suggests: a three-part critical assessment of how counter-terrorism shapes Western societies, from a detailed explanation of several digital and urban-pla...","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"14 1","pages":"327 - 329"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1859584","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46049539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-22DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1862274
Stephane J. Baele, Lewys Brace, Travis G. Coan
ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of a series of mass shootings committed in 2018–2019 by right-wing extremists on 8chan/pol, a prominent far-right online forum. Using computational methods, it offers a detailed examination of how attacks trigger shifts in both forum activity and content. We find that while each shooting is discussed by forum participants, their respective impact varies considerably. We highlight, in particular, a ‘Tarrant effect’: the considerable effect Brenton Tarrant’s attack of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, had on the forum. Considering the rise in far-right terrorism and the growing and diversifying online far-right ecosystem, such interactive offline-online effects warrant the attention of scholars and security professionals.
{"title":"The ‘tarrant effect’: what impact did far-right attacks have on the 8chan forum?","authors":"Stephane J. Baele, Lewys Brace, Travis G. Coan","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1862274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1862274","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper analyses the impact of a series of mass shootings committed in 2018–2019 by right-wing extremists on 8chan/pol, a prominent far-right online forum. Using computational methods, it offers a detailed examination of how attacks trigger shifts in both forum activity and content. We find that while each shooting is discussed by forum participants, their respective impact varies considerably. We highlight, in particular, a ‘Tarrant effect’: the considerable effect Brenton Tarrant’s attack of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, had on the forum. Considering the rise in far-right terrorism and the growing and diversifying online far-right ecosystem, such interactive offline-online effects warrant the attention of scholars and security professionals.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"15 1","pages":"1 - 23"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1862274","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42900977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-09DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1856168
María Jiménez Ramos
ABSTRACT Narratives have become a promising approach in the study of terrorism due to their intrinsic value in understanding complex sociopolitical phenomena. In Spain, a ‘battle of narratives’ is developing in the current post-ETA period. This offers an interesting setting for the examination of their effects on their audiences among the growing remembrance policies and educational initiatives. This paper focuses on the narrative of victimization and its relevance in post-violent contexts. It uses the methodology of pre- and post-surveys to study the impact of the indirect testimonies of ETA’s victims on a sample of 225 undergraduate students in Navarre, a region with a high incidence of ETA terrorism.
{"title":"The impact of the narrative of victimization: an experiment with university students in Spain","authors":"María Jiménez Ramos","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1856168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1856168","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Narratives have become a promising approach in the study of terrorism due to their intrinsic value in understanding complex sociopolitical phenomena. In Spain, a ‘battle of narratives’ is developing in the current post-ETA period. This offers an interesting setting for the examination of their effects on their audiences among the growing remembrance policies and educational initiatives. This paper focuses on the narrative of victimization and its relevance in post-violent contexts. It uses the methodology of pre- and post-surveys to study the impact of the indirect testimonies of ETA’s victims on a sample of 225 undergraduate students in Navarre, a region with a high incidence of ETA terrorism.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"14 1","pages":"265 - 287"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1856168","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47913742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-12-08DOI: 10.1080/19434472.2020.1856911
Mohammed Ibrahim Shire
ABSTRACT Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, service-providing insurgent groups have responded differently, with some initiating more attacks amid ongoing destabilisation while others have immediately veered towards precautionary measures such as initiating public awareness campaigns and setting up quarantine centres. What drives these divergent responses? Relying on publicly available and semi-private sources, this article examines how the Taliban in Afghanistan, Ha'ayt Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria, and Al-Shabaab in Somalia have operationalised their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal that the divergent responses are rooted in the framing of the pandemic discourse. The Taliban and HTS both interpreted it as a calamity that needs responding to and repurposed their activities accordingly by stepping up their attacks against combatants while concomitantly exploiting the humanitarian vacuum created by the pandemic by delivering health services. However, as the pandemic surged, the two groups gradually scaled down their combatant targeting and prioritised delivering health services to bolster their legitimacy and build popular support for their proto-states. By contrast, Al-Shabaab labelled the pandemic as a Western and Chinese ‘problem’, and made no visible changes to their operations in response to the crisis, only belatedly beginning to offer health services as the pandemic worsened.
{"title":"More attacks or more services? Insurgent groups’ behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia","authors":"Mohammed Ibrahim Shire","doi":"10.1080/19434472.2020.1856911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1856911","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, service-providing insurgent groups have responded differently, with some initiating more attacks amid ongoing destabilisation while others have immediately veered towards precautionary measures such as initiating public awareness campaigns and setting up quarantine centres. What drives these divergent responses? Relying on publicly available and semi-private sources, this article examines how the Taliban in Afghanistan, Ha'ayt Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Syria, and Al-Shabaab in Somalia have operationalised their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reveal that the divergent responses are rooted in the framing of the pandemic discourse. The Taliban and HTS both interpreted it as a calamity that needs responding to and repurposed their activities accordingly by stepping up their attacks against combatants while concomitantly exploiting the humanitarian vacuum created by the pandemic by delivering health services. However, as the pandemic surged, the two groups gradually scaled down their combatant targeting and prioritised delivering health services to bolster their legitimacy and build popular support for their proto-states. By contrast, Al-Shabaab labelled the pandemic as a Western and Chinese ‘problem’, and made no visible changes to their operations in response to the crisis, only belatedly beginning to offer health services as the pandemic worsened.","PeriodicalId":54174,"journal":{"name":"Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression","volume":"14 1","pages":"288 - 311"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2020-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/19434472.2020.1856911","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41484286","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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