Abstract

Suicidal terrorism is fast becoming one of the most pestilent global afflictions of the 21rst century. As a terror tactic it is one of the most lethal. Strategically it functions as a relatively cheap and effective means of upsetting the political, economic and military situation of a region and has become one of the major threats to peacekeeping and peace-making efforts. Yet as prevalence rates and death tolls from suicidal attacks increase, policy makers are still working in the dark trying to find the most effective policy responses to the emergence of this new and poorly understood security threat. Currently there is an extremely small empirical research database on which policy-makers may base their understanding of the genesis of suicidal terrorism in order to work toward its prevention and eradication. Comprehending this growing threat and learning to combat it effectively on both the local and international level is extremely relevant to current public policies aimed at promoting peace and stability. This paper briefly discusses the background of modern day suicide terrorism, its migration around the world, and the tendency of modern day terror groups to embrace it as a tactic. Drawing from field research in four distinct world regions

I am indebted to Mia Bloom for coining this phrase that she also uses as the title for her book Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror, Columbia University Press, 2005. As far as the history of suicide terrorism, suicide bombing as a strategic tactic is not a new phenomenon. In recent history it appeared in the fifties in Vietnam in the form of bicycle bombers who exploded themselves in cafes killing enemy occupiers who frequented them. (This piece of history related from French counterterrorism expert Francois Gere, personal communication 2005). Looking back into the ancient past, many cite the scriptural account of Sampson as one of the first suicide terrorists who when blinded and chained to pillars decided to use his great strength to pull the columns down, collapsing the building upon himself and those surrounding him. Similarly some experts recall the Muslim Assassins and Jewish Sicari as the first suicide terrorists as both groups carried out assassination missions that were nearly always suicidal for the person carrying it out. Pakistani warriors in ancient times also were known to run underneath elephants carrying advancing troops to slit the bellies of the warring beast bringing them falling down upon themselves – killing both their enemy and themselves in the process.

the author gives an in-depth analysis of the social and psychological factors in the genesis of human bombing. Focusing on social and psychological factors within the sponsoring groups, the individual bombers and the societies in which they exist, the author has identified two main differing motivational sets on the level of the individual actors for the genesis of suicide terrorism. The first of these is trauma based, occurs within zones of active conflict and is often: nationalistic, viewed in terms of self and community defense, expressive regarding attempts to mete out justice to the perceived enemy occupier, and includes acts of revenge by actors who are often so traumatized that they have become deeply dissociative and even refer to themselves as “already dead.” The second motivational set applies to actors outside of active zones of conflict but who are nevertheless influenced by them (through Internet, video footage, pictures and propaganda) and who frequently develop a deep sense of secondary traumatization. The actors in the second motivational set are generally: vulnerable to terrorists ideologies due to a sense of alienation, marginalization, lack of life meaning and lack of positive identity, and usually recruited through exposure via Internet or via close knit family and friendship networks. In both motivational sets it is important to recognize that individuals are generally not motivated to take part in suicide terrorism without an ideology that guides them, and they are also generally in need of an organization to equip and guide them to carry out their acts (although a rare few have acted on their own [1, 2] and they generally are more willing to take part in suicide terrorism when there is broad based support for suicide terrorism in the sector of the community in which they find their sense of belonging.