The Pen, the Sword and the Bomb: Comparing the Ideologies of Terror Groups

• In Event: New Perspectives on Political Violence

Abstract

This paper explores the ideological themes terror groups use to mobilize supporters. Despite extensive research regarding distinctions between different types of terror groups, analysis comparing the ideological constructs of these groups, and empirically testing how ideology can lead to different actions, remains fairly limited. Focusing on identifying the main themes privileged by different groups and analyzing how these themes lead groups to action, this study answers the following questions: how do different types of terror groups mobilize their constituency? What are the similarities and differences in the themes drawn upon by different terror groups, and what does this comparison teach us about the groups’ activity?
Exploring these questions, this study undertakes a two-stage analysis. First, it samples the most violent terror groups operating over a 45 year period worldwide, subdividing them according to their different ideological streams. Of these, the foundational ideological texts of the most active groups from each ideological stream is located and analyzed, drawing on social movement theory’s frame analysis in order to identify the main themes given primacy by each group. This first stage allows for a conceptual mapping of which facets different groups emphasize and which are ignored in their respective agendas.
Following this conceptual mapping, the next stage explores the connection between the different ideological themes emphasized by the various groups and their violent activity. Focusing on both the type and deadliness of group actions, the analysis examines how and to what extent the groups' activity is influenced by the different emphasis placed on specific ideological constructs. The results illuminate how different groups’ worldview structures their actions, laying the foundation for future analyses of how such groups may be confronted.

Author

• Alon Burstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem