Elementary Particles – 20 – Terrorism by Edwin Bakker and Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn
The authors ask themselves a few questions about terrorism and make an analysis of the known facts. That doesn’t always lead to answers we want to hear.
Of this booklet, I only found a Dutch version.
The first question – what is it
The first question in Elementary Particles – 20 – Terrorism; – what is it? – is not answered unequivocally. A lot depends on what you want to see. After all, it is highly context-dependent. One person’s hero is often another’s terrorist. The nature of the actions also changes, as does the idea that they may serve a political purpose. Due to the variation of its aspects, it is not unambiguously possible for scientists to attach a single definition to them. That is why a choice has to be made for this booklet. The definition here states that terrorism is a tool to generate attention, fear and unrest through attacks to achieve political goals.
The second aspect – purpose and operation
The second aspect – purpose and operation – are also diverse. There are political goals, such as national separatism, but also religious, ethnonationalist, far-left and anarchist terrorism, far-right, and then “single issue” terror. However, Europol indicates that many groups are a mix of these. There is also state terrorism in history, as in France, Germany,… As for the purpose of terror, it’s mostly unclear. That is why the concepts of direct and indirect goals have been created. In the latter in particular, there is a fear that CBRN weapons will be used. However, one of the essential components of the operation of terror is well known: the sowing of fear.
This is followed by a bit of history and the name of the historian David Rapoport.
Causes
In the next chapter, the authors will look for causes. The names of the types of terror seem to refer to it. However, the question of “why” remains largely unanswered. The answer that is there is one of negative descriptions: it’s not extreme poverty, it’s not too small an IQ, it’s not mental illness, it’s not alienation from reality… The root causes are still unknown. However, psychology and group dynamics are important facets.
When looking at the deeds and the perpetrators, the authors look at the hard facts. The organization of the terrorists, their modus operandi, numbers of attacks, types of attacks and the consequences of all this violence, as well as the targets.
After that, the authors look more at attacks on Dutch soil. They are talking about the most well-known organizations and incidents. They also look at actions taken by Dutch people abroad.
In the final chapter, we look at the ultimate question: “What do we do about it?” (in the Netherlands). This is the first time that the word counter-terrorism has been used. Their objectives are proposed by Europe:
- prevent
- protect
- pursue
- react.
However, the Netherlands has an approach based on five pillars:
- acquire information,
- prevent threats,
- protect vital objects, services and people,
- preparing for attacks,
- prosecute suspects.