RT Article
T1 Force of words: the role of threats in terrorism
JF Terrorism and political violence
VO 32
IS 7
SP 1527
OP 1549
A1 Brown, Joseph M.
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1831480085
AB This article builds a new theoretical framework to understand the role of threats in terrorism. Interviews of IRA members give rise to a speech/kinetic action model of terrorism, in which threats and violence jointly determine the physical consequences and political messages conveyed by terrorist attacks. In fact, threats are integral to the attack, and some attacks can be said to consist of threats alone. IRA interviews reveal four varieties of threats: warnings, hoaxes, pledges, and bluffs. These categories are distinguished by the timing of the threatened violence (immediate or prospective) and the intended truthfulness of the threat. The IRA interviews establish the function of each type of threat in influencing the beliefs or behavior of state and society. Threats may disrupt the economy, increase or decrease bloodshed, control social behavior, secure tactical or strategic advantage, claim attacks, aggrandize the perpetrator, and facilitate bargaining. A single threat may serve several of these functions, signaling different messages to different audiences. In fact, this is one of the most important applications of threats. When violence alone would produce suboptimal outcomes, threats alter the pattern of damage in a way that optimizes militants’ messaging for all audiences.
NO Gesehen am 19.01.2023
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 1548
NO Published online: 17 Aug 2018
K1 Terrorism
K1 Threats
K1 Coercion
K1 Signaling
K1 Communication
K1 Irish Republican Army
DO 10.1080/09546553.2018.1486301