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A Eurocentric Study of New Terrorism - Assessing New Terrorism´s validity and applicability in describing European terrorism 2010-2018 using quantitative research.

Lindholm, Henrik LU (2020) FKVK02 20201
Department of Political Science
Abstract
New Terrorism has been a highly regarded theory in the field of terrorism since the late 1990s, but how accurate is it in regards to European terrorism in 2010-2018? Are terrorists more lethal, primarily religious, part of transnational and decentralized organizations, and are they using CBRN-weapons? This paper uses a quantitative study, with a descriptive and retroductive approach, of all terror attacks in Europe 2010-2018, to examine New Terrorisms’ validity, and propose possible changes to the theory. I find that New Terrorism is partly correct. Terror groups are primarily transnational and non-hierarchical and lethality is higher than in the early 90s, although less so in Western Europe. Separatist groups are however found to be the... (More)
New Terrorism has been a highly regarded theory in the field of terrorism since the late 1990s, but how accurate is it in regards to European terrorism in 2010-2018? Are terrorists more lethal, primarily religious, part of transnational and decentralized organizations, and are they using CBRN-weapons? This paper uses a quantitative study, with a descriptive and retroductive approach, of all terror attacks in Europe 2010-2018, to examine New Terrorisms’ validity, and propose possible changes to the theory. I find that New Terrorism is partly correct. Terror groups are primarily transnational and non-hierarchical and lethality is higher than in the early 90s, although less so in Western Europe. Separatist groups are however found to be the most common type of movement, followed by ideological movements – responsible for 4 and 2 times as many terror attacks as religious groups. Likewise, the potential threat of terrorists using CBRN-weapons for mass destruction is found to be incorrect. Based on this, New Terrorism 2.0, Europe edition is proposed. Stating that separatist and ideological groups are the most common, lethality is high (but less so in Western Europe), organizations are primarily transnational and non-hierarchical, and the risk of terrorist using CBRN-weapons is low in contemporary European terrorism. (Less)
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author
Lindholm, Henrik LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20201
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
New Terrorism, Europe, CBRN-weapons, Religious terrorism, Lethality, Separatist terrorism.
language
English
id
9011224
date added to LUP
2020-09-21 11:51:50
date last changed
2020-09-21 11:51:50
@misc{9011224,
  abstract     = {{New Terrorism has been a highly regarded theory in the field of terrorism since the late 1990s, but how accurate is it in regards to European terrorism in 2010-2018? Are terrorists more lethal, primarily religious, part of transnational and decentralized organizations, and are they using CBRN-weapons? This paper uses a quantitative study, with a descriptive and retroductive approach, of all terror attacks in Europe 2010-2018, to examine New Terrorisms’ validity, and propose possible changes to the theory. I find that New Terrorism is partly correct. Terror groups are primarily transnational and non-hierarchical and lethality is higher than in the early 90s, although less so in Western Europe. Separatist groups are however found to be the most common type of movement, followed by ideological movements – responsible for 4 and 2 times as many terror attacks as religious groups. Likewise, the potential threat of terrorists using CBRN-weapons for mass destruction is found to be incorrect. Based on this, New Terrorism 2.0, Europe edition is proposed. Stating that separatist and ideological groups are the most common, lethality is high (but less so in Western Europe), organizations are primarily transnational and non-hierarchical, and the risk of terrorist using CBRN-weapons is low in contemporary European terrorism.}},
  author       = {{Lindholm, Henrik}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Eurocentric Study of New Terrorism - Assessing New Terrorism´s validity and applicability in describing European terrorism 2010-2018 using quantitative research.}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}