The Body and Controlling the Means of Violence: The Impact of the October 1983 Beirut Suicide Attacks on France's Action directe

Abstract

This research on suicide terrorism and arms control focuses on use of the human body as a weapon and the intersection of the body with technology. Through the case of the French terrorist group Action directe (Direct Action) the article analyzes the impact of suicide terrorism on conventional terrorists, the possibility that conventional terrorists become more violent when another group with similar or identical goals turns to suicide terrorism, and asks whether conventional terrorists turn to suicide terrorism once an example is set by another group. The article concludes that contemporary suicide fosters a perception of strength and of the vulnerability of conventional forces. In this light, suicide terrorism and the role that the body plays with an exploding prosthetic, are a major new challenge to how arms control is analyzed and discussed.