Crossing the Rubicon: Making a Case for Refining the Classification of Jihadist Terrorism

Authors

  • Robert Wayne Hand University of Aberdeen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15664/jtr.354

Keywords:

Jihadist, military, guerrilla, terrorism, typology, counter-terrorism, civil rights, law enforcement, classification, theory, definition

Abstract

This paper posits that our current understanding of Jihadist Terrorism as a monolithic sub-type of Political Terrorism is flawed and that as a result our governments counter this threat with inappropriately-adapted methods.  The author argues: (A) There is a sub-type of Jihadist Terrorism that is more consistent with Walter’s ‘Military Terrorism’ or Feldman and Hinojosa’s ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ than within the typology of Political Terrorism; (B) The author-proposed sub-type of ‘War Terrorism’ should be accepted, examined, defined, and established; and (C) Establishing the author’s sub-type will allow western democracies to devise better counter-terrorism strategies while protecting the civil liberties of their citizens.

Author Biography

Robert Wayne Hand, University of Aberdeen

Robert W. Hand is currently a doctoral candidate (Politics and International Relations--thesis submitted) at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and an Adjunct Lecturer at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul.  He is preparing for a second career as a lecturer and researcher in issues of national security, politics, international relations, and globalisation.  In his previous successful career as a US Army Officer, Robert was involved in intelligence collection, analysis, dissemination, training, international education and cooperation, architecture, force protection and counter-terrorism, and contingency operations from the unit to the national level.  He was decorated several times for his work in these fields, with his highest award being the Defence Superior Service Medal awarded by the US Secretary of Defence.  He is also a Senior Consultant at Information2Intelligence.  Robert’s work since 1998 with force protection issues related to US force protection for Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia, NATO’s support to ISAF in Afghanistan, NATO’s response to Jihadist Terrorism within the EU, and training intelligence and force protection analysts were the foundations for his expertise in terrorism and counter-terrorism.

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Published

2012-09-22

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2012)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2012 The Author(s)

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