Nuclear Terrorism after 911 by Robin M. Frost

Author:Robin M. Frost [Frost, Robin M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Strategy, Political Science, General, Political Ideologies, Communism; Post-Communism & Socialism, Political Freedom, Terrorism
ISBN: 9781136624193
Google: eBUHEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-10-28T01:39:22+00:00

Social revolutionaries

Social-revolutionary groups, whether on the left or right of the political spectrum, are founded on the belief that the entire political and economic structure of a given state, and more usually the entire world, must be destroyed in order that a better one can be erected. To the extent that they are genuinely revolutionary, it might seem that the constraints against mass-casualty terrorism that operate on them would be low. However, Post argues that in fact they operate under some of the same constraints that influence separatists: 'they would be significantly constrained from indiscriminate acts that cause significant casualties among their own countrymen, or cause negative reactions in their domestic and international audiences. But discriminate acts against government or symbolic capitalist targets could be rationalized by these groups.'23

There are problems with this argument. The nature of revolutionary ideologies and their typical practitioners could easily permit or encourage terrorism on a massive scale, even if the protagonists were claiming to act on behalf of a larger constituency, such as 'the working class'. Revolutionary ideologies allow the core group to see itself as a tiny, embattled but chosen elite, custodians and implementers of a truth denied to others; they are ultimately global and all inclusive, rather than limited to a particular state or territory, and they allow almost any individuals or groups to be designated as enemy collaborators or fellow-travellers, or simply as expendable in the struggle for the greater good. Finally, the leaders of revolutionary groups are often markedly paranoid and/or have narcissistic traits or disorders, with grandiose beliefs about themselves, their mission and the ultimate rightness of their cause. It would be a mistake, therefore, to assume that they would necessarily make the same strategic and political calculations that rational nationalist separatists might. If international capitalism were the enemy, for example, a revolutionary group might have few qualms about trying to blow up Manhattan, Zurich or London.

The absence of significant international support for revolutionary movements might in itself encourage nuclear terrorism: if there are no state supporters to alienate, that potential constraint is void. Similarly, revolutionary groups might be tiny, with few or no attachments to particular people, communities or places, and therefore no particular constituencies to which to respond. Under these circumstances, the decision to go nuclear would seem, on the whole, to be more technical - can we build one, will it work, can it be concealed and delivered? - than ideological or humanitarian, while the massive social, economic and symbolic effects of a nuclear explosion would be extremely attractive, especially when they could be seen as hastening the collapse of an immoral system.

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