Combating International Terrorism

Abstract

Throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s, many West European governments struggled against indigenous terrorist groups. These groups tended to be small, close-knit organisations espousing some form of revolutionary ideology, with little public support.¹ Some of the major terrorist groups included the West German Red Army Faction, the French Action Directe, the Italian Red Brigades, and the Greek 17 November. Other West European countries such as Spain and Turkey experienced terrorism in the form of ethnic separatist movements. In Great Britain, the Irish Republican Army has used various methods - many of them violent - in its effort to drive the British out of Northern Ireland. In most cases, the governments were successful in mounting intensive anti-terrorist efforts which dramatically curtailed terrorist activities. A key ingredient in the fight against indigenous terrorist groups was ‘more efficient police work and a greater public readiness to provide information to the police’.² For the most part, West European governments took full responsibility for combating the problem. The US role was generally limited to providing intelligence in so far as these groups targeted US military and NATO facilities.