11.7: Student Resources

Key Terms/Glossary

• Assistance model of state-sponsored terrorism - when a state tacitly supports and encourages terrorist actions in other countries.
• Caliphate - a political arrangement where the government is ruled based on the idea of Islamic rules.
• Civil war (political science definition) - a conflict between a rebel group and the government who are politically and militarily organized with stated political objectives that take place in the territory of a state that is a member of the international system with a population of at least 500,000.
• Civil war (simple definition) - an armed conflict between two or more groups where one of the combatants is the government.
• Consent-based (traditional) peacekeepers - peacekeepers that have been invited by the belligerents.
• Counterinsurgency - defined as a government’s efforts to reduce and/or mitigate political violence instigated by insurgents.
• Counterterrorism policies - government’s efforts to prevent terrorism from occurring.
• Covert repression as policy - actions undertaken by secret police services, or domestic intelligence agencies to enforce repressive policy.
• Existential threat - a threat to the existence of the state itself.
• External sponsored political violence - when a government uses violence against foreign citizens, usually in neighboring countries.
• External threat - a threat determined to be outside the borders of a country.
• Grievance explanation - says that political violence along communal lines is jointly a product of deep-seated grievances about the status of the group and the situationally motivated political interests that various political actors desire to pursue.
• Guerilla warfare - a type of military conflict where small, lightly armed bands engage in guerrilla warfare from a rural base that targets the state.
• Indiscriminate violence - defined as the use of violence that is random in nature.
• Insurgency - an act of uprising or revolt against a government and/or the state.
• Internal sponsored political violence - when a government uses violence against its own citizens.
• Internal threat - a threat determined to be within the borders of a country.
• Intrastate political violence - political violence that wholly or largely occurs within a state or country.
• Jummas (hill people) - a group of ethnically distinct tribes living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area, so named due to their particular crop cultivation method of slash and burn.
• Kurds - an ethnic group, speaking a Indo-Iranian language, native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan.
• Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - the name of the Kurdish insurgency movement in Southwestern Turkey.
• Lootable resources - defined as accessible natural resources, such as oil, minerals and precious metals that can confer wealth on those who own, mine or transport them.
• Low-intensity conflict (LIC) - is defined as a level of hostilities or use of military power that falls short of a full‐scale conventional or general war.
• Monopoly on the use of violence - only the state and its institutions, such as the police or the military, have the authority to use violence, when necessary.
• Negotiated settlements - defined as successful discussions between combatants where an agreement is reached to end political violence.
• Non-state actors - political actors not associated with a government.
• Nonviolence movements - defined as movements that engage in nonviolent practices to accomplish political goals. Tactics can include protests, boycotts, sit-ins, and civil disobedience.
• Overt repression as policy - state repression through official state policy.
• Patronage model of state-sponsored terrorism - when a state actively participates and encourages terrorist actions in other countries.
• Peacebuilding - defined as the implementation of structures to promote sustainable peace.
• Peace enforcement missions - occur when consent is not required or peacekeeping forces were not invited by the belligerents.
• Peacekeeping forces - refer “to the deployment of national or, more commonly, multinational forces for the purpose of helping to control and resolve an actual or potential armed conflict between or within states”.
• Physical violence - the use of physical force to exert power.
• Political violence - the use of physical harm is motivated by political intentions.
• Psychological explanation of terrorism - the idea that the violence itself is the desired outcome as opposed to being the means to the end.
• Rational choice explanation of terrorism - the idea that the use of terrorism is a result of a willful strategy based on a careful political calculation.
• Rebellion - an act of violently challenging the government or existing ruler in order to bring attention to the status quo with which the challengers are dissatisfied.
• Responsibility to Protect (R2P) - if a state refuses to protect its own citizens, then other states are expected to intervene in the state where abuses are occurring.
• Revolution - is a public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing government and regime.
• Secession - defined as the act of formal withdrawal or separation from a political entity, usually a state.
• Selective violence - when a government only targets active participants in the war and/or those who commit political violence.
• Spoilers - disaffected individuals who may disagree with a negotiated settlement and prefer political violence to peace.
• State-sponsored political violence - characterized as “official government support for policies of violence, repression, and intimidation”.
• State-sponsored terrorism - government support for terrorist actions in other states.
• Terrorism - defined as a violent act that generally targets noncombatants for political purposes.
• Third-party guarantor - defined as an external force that can enforce the provisions of a negotiated settlement.
• Transnational - defined as “events, activities, ideas, trends, processes and phenomena that appear across national boundaries and cultural regions”.
• Transnational political violence - defined as political violence that occurs across different countries or crosses state borders.
• Violence - the deliberate infliction of harm on people.

Summary

Section #11.1: What is Political Violence?

Political violence is a form of violence. Political violence occurs when the use of physical harm is motivated by political intentions. It is differentiated from criminal violence, which generally is not motivated by politics. Several types of political violence exist. Intrastate violence occurs within a country, whereas transnational violence occurs across countries. Political violence can also be divided into two categorie. The first is internal sponsored political violence, or when a government uses violence against its own citizens. The second is external sponsored political violence, or when a government uses violence against foreign citizens.

Section #11.2: State-Sponsored Political Violence

States have a monopoly on the use of violence, which means only states have the authority to use violence, when necessary. State-sponsored political violence can be divided into two categories: internal and external. Internal state-sponsored political violence is also called government terrorism and occurs when a government officially sanctions violence against an internal threat or enemy. External state-sponsored political violence has also been called state-sponsored terrorism. Different models of state-sponsored political violence exist, either through active or tacit support.

Section #11.3: Non-state Political Violence

Non-state actors also participate in political violence. Insurgents can participate in rebellions and civil wars. These non-state actors are also referred to as guerillas and sometimes terrorists, given the tactics that they use. Insurgents and/or guerillas are often motivated by grievances, where political violence along communal lines is jointly a product of deep-seated grievances about the status of the group. Terrorist action can be explained through psychological or rational approaches. Finally, revolutions are when the public seizes the state in order to overturn the existing government. Revolutions are often violent as the existing regime opposes such action. Nonviolent revolutions can also occur, usually when a nonviolent movement succeeds in its goals.

Section #11.4: How Does Political Violence End? Post-Conflict Strategies

There are various arguments on how political violence ends. In general, civil wars that end in a negotiated settlement have a higher chance of experiencing a renewed war in relation to the wars that end in a decisive victory. Negotiated settlements are defined as successful discussions between combatants where an agreement is reached to end political violence. Sometimes, a third-party guarantor is needed to enforce the negotiated settlement. Peacekeeping forces are a good example of a third-party guarantor, which can be either through consent or without consent. Sometimes, peacebuilding is used instead, especially when institutions need to be rebuilt.

Section #11.5: Comparative Case Study - Conflict Termination: Bangladesh and Turkey

The presence of a low-intensity conflict (LIC) can lead to a resumption of a full scale conflict. When a government uses indiscriminate violence, or random violence, against insurgents, it leads those who prefer peace to instead support the insurgents. This is what happened in Turkey, with their Kurdish minority, where even though the leader of the PKK was captured, the group still remains popular. Alternatively, if a government uses selective violence in their counterinsurgency strategy, only targeting those who actively participate in political violence, then a negotiated settlement is possible. This is what occurred in Bangladesh, when the government did not target ordinary Jumma people, who did not feel compelled to to fight back.

Review Questions

1. What is political violence?
   1. Political violence is the deliberate infliction of harm on people.
   2. The use of physical force to exert power.
   3. Occurs when the use of physical harm is motivated by political intentions.
   4. Violence that wholly or largely occurs within a state or country.
2. State-sponsored political violence has also been referred to as:
   1. Government terrorism (when it is within a state or internal)
   2. State-sponsored terrorism (when it is outside or external)
   3. Both responses are correct
   4. Neither response is correct.
3. Which answer below is not an example of non-state political violence?
   1. Civil war
   2. Insurgency
   3. Guerilla warfare
   4. Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
4. Negotiated settlements
   1. are defined as an external force that can enforce the provisions of a negotiated settlement.
   2. are defined as successful discussions between combatants where an agreement is reached to end political violence.
   3. are defined as an external force that can enforce the provisions of a negotiated settlement.
   4. are defined as accessible natural resources, such as oil, minerals and precious metals that can confer wealth on those who own, mine or transport them.
5. Which response below is NOT correct?
   1. Indiscriminate violence by a government’s forces can lead to a resumption of conflict with insurgents.
   2. Indiscriminate violence by a government’s forces can also be referred to as selective violence.
   3. Indiscriminate violence by a government’s forces can be part of a country’s counterinsurgency strategy
   4. Countries can use indiscriminate violence to punish the supporters of an insurgent group.

Answers: 1.c, 2.c, 3.d, 4.b, 5.b

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How does political violence differ from other types of violence? Can a criminal act ever be considered political violence?
2. Describe the difference between state-sponsered and non-state terrorism. Which one do you think you would fear more?
3. How do civil wars and revolutions differ? First, clearly explain each term and compare these types of violence.
4. What is the difference between peacekeeping and peacebuilding? Which approach do you think would be more effective if political violence happened in your society?
5. How can a low intensity conflict (LIC) lead to a resumption of full-scale conflict? Can you think of a situation when it would not?

Suggestions for Further Study

Books

• Reiter, D. (2009). How wars end. Princeton University Press.
• Weinstein, J. (2007). Inside rebellion : the politics of insurgent violence / Jeremy M. Weinstein. Cambridge University Press.

Journal Articles

• Fearon, J. (2004). Why Do Some Civil Wars Last so Much Longer than Others? Journal of Peace Research, 41(3), 275–301.
• Kalyvas, S. N. (2004). The Paradox of Terrorism in Civil War. The Journal of Ethics, 8(1), 97–138.
• Quinn, J., Mason, T. D., & Gurses, M. (2007). Sustaining the Peace: Determinants of Civil War Recurrence. International Interactions, 33(2), 167–193.

Datasets and Websites

• Uppsala Conflict Data Program: Uppsala University Department of Peace and Conflict Research.