The Effects of Oppositional Political Terrorism: Five Actor-Based Models

Low Intensity Conflict & Law Enforcement, Vol. 6, No. 3, Winter 1997, pp. 76-107

16 Pages Posted: 26 Apr 2014

See all articles by Jeffrey Ian Ross

Jeffrey Ian Ross

University of Baltimore - School of Law

Reuben Miller

Independent

Date Written: 1997

Abstract

Oppositional political terrorism has been practiced from the dawn of human history. But the nature of this form of political conflict has changed over time from a localized and domestic activity to regional and international events. Consequently, this type of low intensity warfare has become a shared experience by many individuals, organizations, and states. Terrorism has been recognized as a major problem in domestic and international politics. Almost every country in the world has experienced this type of violence, although some areas and actors are more targeted and affected than others (e.g. Mickolus, 1981).

Although much has been written on the effects of terrorism (e.g. Wardlaw, 1983; Hewitt, 1984; Weinberg and Davis, 1989: Ch.5-6; Ch.7; Sederberg, 1991), particularly counter-terrorism efforts (e.g. Livingstone and Arnold, 1986), a comprehensive model of the responses has not been developed. Ultimately, terrorism is a synergistic phenomenon with causes leading to effects and these responses ultimately connected to causes. Moreover, some of the factors explaining the effects of terrorism are intimately connected to its decline (e.g. Ross and Gurr, 1989; Crenshaw, 1991). The purpose of this article, however, is to create a series of relatively comprehensive actor-based models that outline the responses (i.e. effects of) to terrorism. In order to accomplish this task, a currently existing conflict model serves as a framework to sketch these responses and to specify some of the more important hypotheses. This work provides a tool to explore and test the responses, causes, and ultimately cycles of terrorist-target interaction.

Keywords: oppositional political terrorism, political conflict, domestic activity, regional events, international events, low intensity warfare, domestic politics, international politics, violence, actor-based models, effects of terrorism

JEL Classification: K14, K19, K33, K39, K42, K49, H56

Suggested Citation

Ross, Jeffrey Ian and Miller, Reuben, The Effects of Oppositional Political Terrorism: Five Actor-Based Models (1997). Low Intensity Conflict & Law Enforcement, Vol. 6, No. 3, Winter 1997, pp. 76-107, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2428930

Jeffrey Ian Ross (Contact Author)

University of Baltimore - School of Law ( email )

1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
United States

Reuben Miller

Independent ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
70
Abstract Views
494
Rank
594,428
PlumX Metrics