Conflict and Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

The studies of terrorism and conflict both have a great deal to contribute to helping explain each others root causes - but only if their respective approaches can be applied together. This is particularly significant for the study of terrorism. In this chapter I intend to demonstrate how the root causes of terrorism can be more clearly explained and understood by combining the different approaches of terrorism and conflict studies that were discussed in Chapters 1 and 2. This theoretical exercise is in response to the explanation of terrorism provided by orthodox terrorism discourse. This discourse, as I have argued, monopolises the comprehension of terrorism and has particularly limiting shortcomings in relation to understanding it. The intention of this synthesis therefore is to rethink terrorism by deconstructing the orthodox understanding of the root causes and instead present a broader, more holistic and multi-level approach. This should provide a wider explanation and ultimately a more useful understanding because it will furnish the study of terrorism with greater access to an extensive range of analytical tools that can be used to understand the roots of the problem of terrorism and hopefully help to resolve it.KeywordsPolitical IdeologyRelative DeprivationPolitical ViolenceTerrorism StudyLethal ViolenceThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.