EISS Anthology — Terrorism and counter-terrorism

EISS Anthology — Terrorism and counter-terrorism Papers on terrorism and counter-terrorism presented at EISS conferences and workshops, newest first. 2026-06-11T12:00:00Z https://eiss-europa.com/feeds/themes/terrorism-and-counter-terrorism.xml European Initiative for Security Studies Interpreting Counterterrorism in African Conflict Management https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2026-interpreting-counterterrorism-in-african-conflict-management 2026-06-11T12:00:00Z 2026-06-11T12:00:00Z Saurav Narain Silvia D'Amato

Scholarly attention to the convergence between international conflict management and counterterrorism has expanded significantly, though with an implicit interpretation of the ‘use of force’ logic, and an emphasis on UN peacekeeping’s downsizing of protection and human rights norms in engagement with the concept (Moe, 2021; Geis and Moe, 2023). Furthermore, terrorism-related violence is on an unprecedented rise in Africa, with several armed conflicts being embroiled with jihadist actors. African states over the last decade have increasingly pursued counterterrorism through informal coalitional arrangements and bilateral interventions, characterised by expansive force mandates and minimal accountability mechanisms. This paper advances a structured conceptual framework for understanding counterterrorism in international conflict management by identifying four analytical tensions: (1) militarisation and ‘use of force’; (2) organisational density and overlap in coalitions; (3) organisational capacity for prevention-focused mandates; (4) localised meaning-making and contested legitimacy. Building on the ADHOCISM dataset (Maglia, Karlsrud & Reykers 2025), we specifically analyse how these tensions manifest across UN-mandated integrated operations, UN-authorised autonomous interventions, and non-UN operations. The goal is to show and explain the critical shift in African conflict governance, characterised by the declining relevance of UN-centric peacekeeping frameworks and a parallel emergence of militarised ad hoc coalitions with differing levels of protection standards.

From Revolt to Rule: Insurgency as Proto-State Formation https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2025-from-revolt-to-rule-insurgency-as-proto-state-formation 2025-06-26T12:00:00Z 2025-06-26T12:00:00Z Marnix Provoost

State formation is a continuous process, marked by the centralisation and monopolisation of power to establish authority over a population within a defined territory. This paper argues that insurgency is a centrifugal force challenging this centralisation. However, insurgents are not merely destructive but, driven by an idea of an alternative political order, are establishing a new form of formal or informal governance, though at the expense of the established state’s authority and monopolies on using force, collecting taxes, and enacting laws. In its nature, an insurgency is a complex and dynamic phenomenon, itself analogous to state formation, similar in its evolution through the establishment of political authority by monopolising the use of force and generating revenue. Thus, the state and insurgents compete on three key axes of monopolisation: on legislation, on the use of force, and on taxation, each forming a critical pillar of governance and authority. These features distinguish the inherent use of force in insurgency from violence associated with mutiny, rebellion, criminals and terrorist organisations. This paper addresses theoretical gaps between insurgency and state formation by using the latter as a framework to analyse the former. Using complexity theory, it presents a model illustrating how distinct non-state groups and social structures may evolve from coexistence through cooperation to convergence into a proto-state, influenced by specific internal and external contextual factors that may contribute to insurgent success or failure. It posits that successful insurgencies often are a symbiosis of non-state groups or social structures possessing political-administrative, financial-economic, and force-exerting capabilities, enabling the formation of a proto-state. An insurgency’s nature lies in this process of integration, while its character is shaped by contextual factors. Additionally, the paper argues that securing and re-allocating revenue is a critical aspect in establishing insurgent governance and legitimacy, but often neglected the traditional political-military focus.

Organizational Lineage and the Diffusion of Lethal and Non-Lethal Information between Armed Groups https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2024-organizational-lineage-and-the-diffusion-of-lethal-and-non-lethal-information-be 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z Evan Perkoski

How does tactical, organizational, and other information pass between armed groups? Existing research overwhelmingly focuses on observable links like alliances, training camps, and shared foreign patrons. Yet, information is also passed via organizational lineage through processes of splitting, merging, and membership migration. Focusing on organizational splitting in particular, we test this argument with a case study of Republican armed groups in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and by statically forecasting how organizational linkages shape patterns of tactical diffusion between groups. The results confirm our expectations and they underscore the critical role of organizational lineage in the diffusion of information between groups. This has important ramifications for how researchers model the dynamics of armed groups particularly as they relate to operational capacity, tactical innovation, and future trajectory.

Stigmatizing State Sponsors of Terrorism: An Evaluation of Feasibility https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2024-stigmatizing-state-sponsors-of-terrorism-an-evaluation-of-feasibility 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z Müberra Dinler

In the post-Cold War World, stigmatization emerged as a way of disciplining transgressive states. However, the existing state of affairs raises questions on the feasibility of targeted punishment and disciplining through stigmatization. Even the members of the Western liberal-democratic society of states sharing certain normative stances and similar security concerns do not always act in solidarity in creating an "audience of normals", a group of states that come together to "stigmatize" -label, stereotype, separate and discriminate- a norm-breaking/deviant/transgressor actor, to put an end to its transgressive behavior. When they do, the stigmatization might not bear the targeted outcomes due to either the stigmatized actor's stigma management or the stigma's inadequate intensity. Adopting the theoretical insights revolving around the concept of stigma in international relations, this paper aims to explore at which instances a Western "audience of normals" was able to be mobilized to stigmatize states involved in terrorist activity. Three case studies from the Middle East and North Africa region, namely Iran, Libya, and Syria are selected to show the consensus and difference of approaches of the EU and the US in stigmatizing the terror-related activities of these actors. By doing this, the study will contribute to the theoretical debates on stigma imposition and discuss potential outcomes for international security.

The Resilient Body of the State: Imaginary of Cohesive Society in PVE and Countering Hybrid Threats https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2024-the-resilient-body-of-the-state-imaginary-of-cohesive-society-in-pve-and-counter 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z Jan Daniel

This paper broadens the research on the international agenda of Countering/Preventing Violent Extremism by putting it into conversation with critical research on countering hybrid threats. While both international security agendas differ in their identification of the origins of the respective threats and specific countermeasures, they share the focus on security threats stemming from the interplay of actions of malign actors present inside the social body and domestic social failures. Drawing on the theoretical research on social imaginaries and critical research on resilience, the paper traces the imaginaries underpinning these international agendas and highlights the rising interest in societal divisions, polarisations, marginalisation, and alienation as a source of social vulnerabilities. Such imaginary foregrounds the idea of a cohesive society as a precondition for societal resilience and thus security, while pointing to threats stemming from groups that might not be properly attached to the state body and the rest of the society. Due to their marginalisation and alienation, these might be swayed by hostile propaganda or extremist recruiters and thus potentially present a security threat to the rest of society. In conclusion, the paper points out a novel social security imaginary foregrounding various societal failures as well as social cohesion as a precondition of societal resilience and thus security.

The Role of Narratives in Radicalisation: A Critical Examination of Causality and Agency https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2024-the-role-of-narratives-in-radicalisation-a-critical-examination-of-causality-and 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z 2024-06-27T12:00:00Z Unaesah Rahmah

This study embarks on a comprehensive exploration of the intersection between narrative and terrorism, delving into the pivotal role narratives play in the radicalisation process. With a methodological approach grounded in an exhaustive literature review, employing keywords such as "narrative," "terrorism," and "radicalisation," the study identifies three patterns of findings on this topic. The first category of researchers establishes a direct causal link between narratives and their impact on the opinions and behaviours of individuals, suggesting that stories can significantly influence audience actions. In contrast, the second category acknowledges the importance of narratives in radicalisation but refrains from asserting a straightforward causal relationship between narrative content and the commitment to violent actions. The third category casts doubt on the direct correlation between narratives and violent behaviours, positing that current academic discourse may overstate the influence of narratives, overlooking the critical element of individual agency. This investigation highlights the divergent scholarly perspectives on the role of narratives in radicalisation, revealing a common thread of scepticism towards the unequivocal power of narratives and underscoring the absence of rigorous, evidence-based studies. By examining the existing literature, the study seeks to address pressing questions surrounding the certainty of narrative influence on individual radicalisation and to define the narrative’s function more clearly within this complex process. The anticipated outcome is to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the narrative dimension of terrorism, challenging the existing literature's potential overemphasis on narrative power and advocating for a balanced consideration of audience agency.

Between Manipulation and Failed Adaptation: The Italian Intelligence and the Rise of Right-Wing Terrorism, 1969-1982 https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2023-between-manipulation-and-failed-adaptation-the-italian-intelligence-and-the-rise 2023-06-22T12:00:00Z 2023-06-22T12:00:00Z Niccolò Petrelli

In 1968-69 Italy was swept by a wave of protests and riots by workers and students which were seen by right-wing politicians and extra-parliamentary organizations as the harbingers of a revolution. From that moment on the country experienced an appalling series of acts of subversion and terrorism by a multitude of right-wing groups that would last more than 10 years, including a sustained bombing campaign, several planned and attempted coups d'état, and almost continuous street killings. In the face of such an unprecedented wave of terror the Italian intelligence services performed very poorly; first they failed to provide strategic warning with regard to the shift of right-wing organizations from riots and aggressions to outright terrorism; secondly, they mostly failed also in the provision of tactical warning, proving unable to deliver timely and targeted information on the plots of right-wing extremists. Scholarly studies have generally explained such an intelligence failure by emphasizing the connivance between right-wing organizations and many high-ranking intelligence officials and the de facto adoption by the Italian intelligence service of what we might call a “manipulation strategy” geared towards taking advantage of right-wing terrorism to strengthen consensus around state institutions, in this way stabilizing the country (Bull, 2007, Willan, 2002, Ferraresi, 1996). This paper, by contrast, aims at providing a broader explanation for the Italian intelligence failure in countering right-wing terrorism by focusing on two hitherto overlooked variables, the “institutional culture” of the Italian intelligence, and its collection and analysis capabilities, and by integrating a vast range of archival sources declassified between 2014 and 2021 by the Italian security services. In the period under scrutiny, the institutional culture of the Defense Intelligence Service (SID – Servizio Informazioni Difesa), heavily biased towards political (and military) intelligence, significantly affected both collection and analysis. In fact, the SID managed to penetrate the majority of right-wing extremist organizations, and combining HUMINT and SIGINT disposed of non-negligible collection capabilities; these nonetheless proved inadequate for providing tactical warning of impending bombings, plots and attacks as the intelligence service penetrations tended to focus on gathering political rather than operational intelligence. Similarly, in terms of analysis, the SID showed an inclination to privilege understanding the overall political vision of right-wing organizations to the detriment of their social background, organizational features, and working mechanisms. Cumulatively, these had a deeply adverse impact on the intelligence service performance between 1969 and 1982.

Between the Scylla of 'Ontological Lethargy' and the Charybdis of 'Epistemological Terrorism': Revisiting the critical vs orthodox divide in Terrorism Studies https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2022-between-the-scylla-of-ontological-lethargy-and-the-charybdis-of-epistemological 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z Andreas Gofas

Presented at EISS 2022. No abstract on file yet.

Blurring the Lines: Sovereignty and Consent in the Fight against Terrorism https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2022-blurring-the-lines-sovereignty-and-consent-in-the-fight-against-terrorism 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z Renée de Nevers

Presented at EISS 2022. No abstract on file yet.

The Human Dignity Case Against Administrative Detention https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2022-the-human-dignity-case-against-administrative-detention 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z Eden Lapidor

Presented at EISS 2022. No abstract on file yet.

Veterans, Novices, and Patterns of Rebel Recruitment https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2022-veterans-novices-and-patterns-of-rebel-recruitment 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z 2022-06-30T12:00:00Z Evan Perkoski

Presented at EISS 2022. No abstract on file yet.

Comparative Analysis of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Counter-Terrorism Efforts https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2021-comparative-analysis-of-north-atlantic-treaty-organization-nato-and-shanghai-coo 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z Aybike Yalcin Ispir

Presented at EISS 2021. No abstract on file yet.

Downgrading or Upsizing Strategies: How Rebels Learn About the Right Repertoire of Violence https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2021-downgrading-or-upsizing-strategies-how-rebels-learn-about-the-right-repertoire-o 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z Luis De la Calle

Presented at EISS 2021. No abstract on file yet.

How Terror Evolves: The Emergence and Spread of Terrorist Techniques https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2021-how-terror-evolves-the-emergence-and-spread-of-terrorist-techniques 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z Yannick Veilleux-Lepage

Presented at EISS 2021. No abstract on file yet.

Live-Streaming of Terrorism: Context, Potential Effects and Challenges https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2021-live-streaming-of-terrorism-context-potential-effects-and-challenges 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z 2021-09-03T12:00:00Z Sandro Nickel

Presented at EISS 2021. No abstract on file yet.

Al-Baghdadi's Revenge: Identifying the Strategic Value of Vengeance Narratives in the Islamic State's Propaganda https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2019-al-baghdadi-s-revenge-identifying-the-strategic-value-of-vengeance-narratives-in 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z Marie Robin

Presented at EISS 2019. No abstract on file yet.

Hostages and Counter-Terrorism: The Fallacies of the Realist Approach https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2019-hostages-and-counter-terrorism-the-fallacies-of-the-realist-approach 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z Étienne Dignat

Presented at EISS 2019. No abstract on file yet.

Little Ado About Something: A Gender Perspective of EU and UN Counter-Terrorism Strategies https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2019-little-ado-about-something-a-gender-perspective-of-eu-and-un-counter-terrorism-s 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z Laura Berlingozzi

Presented at EISS 2019. No abstract on file yet.

Negotiations with Terrorist Groups and the "No Talks" Paradigm https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2019-negotiations-with-terrorist-groups-and-the-no-talks-paradigm 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z 2019-06-13T12:00:00Z Anna Muehlhausen

Presented at EISS 2019. No abstract on file yet.

Criminal Networks in Africa: a New Door of Latin America Traffics? https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2018-criminal-networks-in-africa-a-new-door-of-latin-america-traffics 2018-06-15T12:00:00Z 2018-06-15T12:00:00Z Raquel Barras Tejudo

Regarding illicit routes, Africa, and concretely the Sahel becomes one on the main doors of the drug sent from Latin America. But there is no only drug. The same routes are used by the mafias as routes of migratory flows. In this sense, the Maghreb and the Sahel had registered recently an important increase in the illicit traffics. These routes are used by the transnational organized crime groups, which have illegal activities of arms traffic, money laundry, traffic of human beings as well as other illicit traffics. In this sense, Africa is the new ‘paradise’ for any type of illicit traffics: drugs, human beings, weapons and raw materials such as precious stones, ivory, gold, platinum, wood, or oil... Particularly, across the Sahel region there are some specific conditions such as conflicts and unresolved internal tensions, political instability, state fragility and widespread power vacuum, vast uncontrolled and permeable frontiers, institutional weaknesses or corrupt regimes, that constitute a perfect breeding ground for the criminal networks. All of these circumstances contribute also to generate the proliferation of non-State actors in North Africa, as armed groups, insurgent movements, ethnic militias, organized crime groups, contrabandists, traffickers as well as extremist religious groups. The result of this is a region with an important increment of violent extremism and terrorist activity (sometimes linked with criminal groups creating a hybrid hazard), the proliferation of migrant smuggling mafias, as well as the drug caravans. The aim of the paper is analyzing the new transnational crime organizations based in Africa, and at the same time, the tools to deal with this threat. The research focuses on the main conglomerates of crime, the links between Africa and Latin American organized crime groups and how this danger in combination with terrorist groups could have a massive impact in the security of the region as well as for the world security.

Defining, Labelling, Listing: The Construction of the Terrorist ‘Other’ since the End of the 19th Century https://eiss-europa.com/papers/2018-defining-labelling-listing-the-construction-of-the-terrorist-other-since-the-end 2018-06-15T12:00:00Z 2018-06-15T12:00:00Z Corentin Siret