ATS1701 Lecture 3: Terrorism and Political Violence - Lecture 3 - Terrorist Organisations and Tactics
25 May 2018
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Lecture 3 - week 3 - terrorist organisation and tactics
- terrorists choose their organisational type - based on their objectives and
concerns with security
• also based on the capacities of their opponents
- hierarchically structured organisations are often more likely to produce
operations that yield the most casualties.
- organisational structures provide a hint at the type of activities they are
determined to conduct
- larger organisations - more resources, greater impact, well developed plans
- terrorism a form of political action - one of many options from which political
actors can choose as a tactic to advance their objectives
- terrorists use a diverse array of tactics to achieve different tasks
- symbolism in terrorists’ tactical choices
- great deal of rationality in planning
- organisation and structure matter
- organisational structures
• hierarchies
•
o pyramid structures
• networks
•
o chain/line
o
▪ people, goods or information move along a line of separated
contacts - communication just travel through the
intermediary nodes
▪ lines of communication
▪ security problems
o hub, star or wheel
o
▪ franchise or cartel where a set of actors are tired to a
central node or accept and must go through that node to
communicate and coordinate with each other
o all channel/full matrix
o
▪ functions as in a collaborative network of militant peace
groups where everybody is connected to everybody else
▪ no central node
▪ no hierarchy
▪ nodes are able to operate independently
▪ leaderless resistance
▪
▪ lone wolf actors
▪ claimed decentralisation as essential to survival -
avoiding detection
- terrorist groups organise based on the capacities of the counter-terrorism
strategies of the gov
- those groups that operate in areas where there are more opportunities for
dissent tend to have higher instances of loosely organised groups
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 3 - week 3 - terrorist organisation and tactics. Terrorists choose their organisational type - based on their objectives and concerns with security: also based on the capacities of their opponents. Hierarchically structured organisations are often more likely to produce operations that yield the most casualties. Organisational structures provide a hint at the type of activities they are determined to conduct. Larger organisations - more resources, greater impact, well developed plans. Terrorism a form of political action - one of many options from which political actors can choose as a tactic to advance their objectives. Terrorists use a diverse array of tactics to achieve different tasks. Terrorist groups organise based on the capacities of the counter-terrorism strategies of the gov. Those groups that operate in areas where there are more opportunities for dissent tend to have higher instances of loosely organised groups.
