Counter-Terrorism Policy and Minority Alienation: Some Lessons from Northern Ireland

Abstract

Questioning the assumption that the United Kingdom's experience in Northern Ireland holds few lessons for contemporary counter-terrorism strategy, this article examines the complex relationship between terrorism, counter-terrorism policy, and minority alienation in the United Kingdom through the lens of the Northern Ireland conflict and the Belfast Agreement. The main argument in this article, and the ultimate lesson that emerges from the Northern Ireland conflict, is that an effective counter-terrorism strategy must move beyond short-term, coercive strategies, toward social and political strategies that are designed to address minority alienation and facilitate the project of building a socially cohesive, multicultural society.