Kidnapping in Armed Conflict: A Research Agenda on Hostage Taking and Recovery

• In Event: Dynamics of Terrorism

Abstract

Kidnapping is a global, costly, and unexamined form of political violence. Though hostage taking has been a feature of conflict since the earliest records of war, there has been a noted increase in this form of violence since the mid-20th century, achieving worldwide prominence over the last decade. From the Chibok schoolgirls captured by Boko Haram to the western journalists beheaded by the Islamic State, hostages suffer significant and symbolic violence. Kidnapping has compelled hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments, representing what the U.S. Treasury Department has called “the most significant terrorist financing threat today.” And while the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and the FARC ravage communities and confound policymakers, there has been almost no scholarly examination of this tool of coercion.

This paper outlines a research agenda on the problems of hostage taking and hostage recovery. Building on the growing literature on “repertoires of violence” and civilian victimization, I argue that kidnapping has been overlooked in political science and security studies, despite its centrality to intrastate and international conflict. In this paper, I address this gap by laying out a research agenda on kidnapping in armed conflict, as both a tactic of rebel and terrorist organizations and a concern for policymakers. To do so, I first propose a typology of kidnapping by political groups, to explain when we might expect groups to kidnap for ransom, prisoner exchange, policy demands, or publicity. Then, I connect the questions of kidnapping to significant debates and theory in the conflict literature. I conclude by proposing a set of relevant questions for future investigation, examining the causes, consequences, and responses to kidnapping.

Author

• Danielle Gilbert, U.S. Air Force Academy