The dominant Western rhetoric enforces the portrayal of Hamas as a static organisation, its violent and ‘fanatical’ behaviour rendering it as innately characteristic while contradictory evidence is marginalised as irrelevant. This myopic approach has failed to understand Hamas, and for peace ever to be achieved this paradigm must be broken.
Hamas ultimately wishes for the end of Israel and the liberation of Palestine, but it thinks almost exclusively in short term goals and is open to the possibility of entering into negotiations. The dominant view in Israel seeks to stop Hamas getting any more of a foothold in Palestine than it already does, doubting the sincerity of its elements of moderation.
The fact that Hamas and Hezbollah have participated in elections does not necessarily mean that they have abandoned Islamist ideology. The very term ‘Islamist’, or at least its application, is highly problematic. Furthermore, all Islamist organisations are very different, and are constrained by the institutional rules of participation to differing degrees.
Transnational organized criminal groups were ever since a darling of the sensation seeking media. But since the attacks of 9/11, criminal networks were moved even further into the spotlight, as the sources of income for the historically most deadly and horrific generation of global terrorism.
Terrorist organizations have become more effective in delivering fear to global populations. It is not only globalization that has helped terrorist groups operate more efficiently, but also their inherited nature of a constant process of adaptation, ingenuity, and incrementalism when faced with new grand strategies.
A case can be made that a negotiated settlement has been possible in Northern Ireland due to an inclusive political strategy and acceptance of compromise, whereas the Basque situation has not been conductive to a settlement due to the government pursuing an exclusionary position towards ETA and radical nationalist political groups.
Terrorism has existed for centuries as a way of creating disruption and fear. Yet, to declare a war against it has created numerous questions as to how to fight this multifaceted idea. Individual groups do indeed hold ideological stances, just as legitimate political parties do, but to brand all terrorism and terrorists as the same would be incorrect.
The application of sudden non-state actor violence to achieve political goals can be traced far back in history, but terrorism as a transnational and organized activity was first witnessed in Europe by the end of the 19th century. A long-term process of change usually precedes terrorism. Thus terrorism does not occur in stable times or systems, and its effectiveness is dependent on the instability of the framework or society it is practiced in.
This essay argues that religion plays a crucial role in Hamas’ political behaviour. Hamas established its identity around Islam when the organisation was being created and today it places Islam in the centre of its political actions. Yet Hamas remains a political organisation at a relatively high level of development, and it uses selected religious elements depending on what it deems profitable in any given political situation.
The current campaign in Afghanistan has lasted for over nine years and the Taliban has grown into a formidable insurgency. This paper explains why a lack of cultural awareness condemns counterinsurgency operations to almost certain defeat, and explores the implications for the campaign in Afghanistan.
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