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Emotional Impetus for the Response to Terrorism

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Part of the book series: Rethinking Political Violence ((RPV))

Abstract

This chapter looks at the role that emotion has in driving and shaping the response to terrorism in ways which are seldom expressly considered in the literature on counter-terrorism. It highlights examples from the case studies above, showing how emotion operates, from the knee-jerk reaction of rank and file personnel, to strategies and policies intended to seek revenge rather than effectively counter the terrorist threat.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A. Schmid, The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research, (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 2.

  2. 2.

    T.R. Gurr, Why Men Rebel: Fortieth Anniversary Edition, (London: Paradigm, 2011).

  3. 3.

    T. Bjørgo, ‘Introduction’ in T. Bjørgo, (ed) Root Causes of Terrorism: Myths, Reality and Ways Forward, (New York, Routledge, 2005), p. 26, J.M. Post ‘The socio-cultural underpinnings of terrorist psychology: When hatred is bred to the bone’, in T. Bjørgo, (ed) Root Causes of Terrorism, p. 54.

  4. 4.

    L. Richardson, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, (New York, Random House: 2007) p. 76.

  5. 5.

    S.H. Kim and R.H. Smith, Negotiation Journal, 9/1 (1993), pp. 37–43.

  6. 6.

    A. Silke, ‘Fire of Iolaus: The role of state countermeasures in causing terrorism and what needs to be done’ in T. Bjørgo, (ed) Root Causes of Terrorism: Myths, Reality and Ways Forward, (New York, Routledge, 2005) pp. 246, 254.

  7. 7.

    F. Renaires, ‘Nationalist Separatism and Terrorism in Comparative Perspective’, in T. Bjørgo, (ed) Root Causes of Terrorism: Myths, Reality and Ways Forward, (New York, Routledge, 2005), p. 126.

  8. 8.

    See, for example, D. Rothe and S.L. Muzzatti, ‘Enemies Everywhere: Terrorism, Moral Panic, and US Civil Society, Critical Criminology, 12/3, (2004), pp. 327–350, G.R. Skoll, Social Theory of Fear: Terror, Torture and Death in a Post-Capitalist World, (New York: Palgrave, 2010), D.L. Altheide, ‘Terrorism and the Politics of Fear’, Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 6/4 (2006), L. Jarvis, Times of Terror: Discourse, Temporality and the War on Terror, (Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2009), L. Stampnitzky, Disciplining Terror: How Experts Invented ‘Terrorism’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), J. Mueller, Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats and Why We Believe Them (New York: Free Press, 2006), J. Mueller & M.G. Stewart, Chasing Ghosts, The Policing of Terrorism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016).

  9. 9.

    I. Lustick, Trapped in the War on Terror (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006), p. 8.

  10. 10.

    N. Crawford, ‘The Passion of World Politics’, International Security, 24/4, pp. 116–56.

  11. 11.

    A, Wendt, ‘The State as Person in International Theory, Review of International Studies, 30/2, (2004), pp. 289–316.

  12. 12.

    B.E. Sasley, ‘Theorizing States’ Emotions’, International Studies Review, 13/4, pp. 452–76.

  13. 13.

    D.M. Mackie, E.R. Smith, and D.G. Ray, ‘Intergroup Emotions and Intergroup Relations’, Social and Personal Psychology Compass, 2/5 (2008), pp. 1886–1880.

  14. 14.

    B.E. Sasley, ‘Theorizing States’ Emotions’, p. 454.

  15. 15.

    K. Fierke, Political Self Sacrifice: Agency, Body and Emotion in International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 92.

  16. 16.

    A number of scholars have written on the institution to organisation shift. See, for example, C.C. Moskos, ‘From Institution to Occupation: Trends in Military Organization’, Armed Forces & Society, 4/1, (1977), pp. 41–50, C.C.Moskos, ‘Institutional/Occupational Trends in Armed Forces: An Update, Armed Forces and Society, 12/3 (1986) pp. 377–382, C.J. Downes, ‘To Be or Not To Be a Profession: The Military Case, Defense Analysis, 1/3 (1985), pp. 147–171, M. Nuciari, ‘Models and Explanations for Military Organization: An Updated Reconsideration’ in G. Caforio, (ed) Handbook of the Sociology of the Military (New York: Springer, 2006) pp. 61–86. On the changing demographics, expectations and enthusiasm for military life, David Gee’s report on army recruitment practice in the United Kingdom makes some interesting observations. See D. Gee, Informed Choice? Armed Forces Recruitment Practice in the United Kingdom, (London: Informed Choice, 2007).

  17. 17.

    C. Marighella, Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, np.

  18. 18.

    First published as F. Fanon, Les Damnés de la Terre (Paris: François Maspéro, 1961) Published in English as: F. Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (London: Penguin Books, 1967).

  19. 19.

    Ibid, pp. 56–7.

  20. 20.

    B. Purdie, Politics on the Streets, p. 215.

  21. 21.

    E. Collins, Killing Rage (London: Granta, 1998), p. 261.

  22. 22.

    Ibid, p. 267.

  23. 23.

    Ibid, p. 269.

  24. 24.

    Ibid.

  25. 25.

    See, for example, J. Newsinger, British Counterinsurgency: From Palestine to Northern Ireland, (New York: Palgrave, 2002), p. 162, and G. Warner, ‘The Falls Road Curfew Revisited’, Irish Studies Review, 13/2 (2006), p. 362.

  26. 26.

    E. Burke, ‘Counter-insurgency against “Kith and Kin”?, The British Army in Northern Ireland 1970–76’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 43/4 (2015), p. 660.

  27. 27.

    Ibid, p. 659.

  28. 28.

    R. English, Armed Struggle, p. 138.

  29. 29.

    G. Ellison and J. Smyth, The Crowned Harp, p. 61.

  30. 30.

    See, for example, the Cameron Report 1969 into the actions of the RUC in the disturbances at Civil Rights demonstrations on 5th October 1968, and thereafter.

  31. 31.

    T. Hennessey, Hunger Strike, p. 38.

  32. 32.

    T Hennessey, Hunger Strike, p. 8.

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McConaghy, K. (2017). Emotional Impetus for the Response to Terrorism. In: Terrorism and the State. Rethinking Political Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57267-7_5

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