Question

What strategic and tactical lessons can be drawn from the anti-colonial groups active in the 1950s and 1960s? How do you think these lessons have been applied by terrorist groups operating today? With what level of success?

Answer 1

Anti-colonialism is a term applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. The presence of a colonial regime assists in the formulation and articulation of a discourse that tends to awaken the self-consciousness of the indigenous population.

Anti-colonial terrorism is rooted in a feeling that one's own identity is inconsistent with the identity defined by the former colonial power. These movements are frequently based on nationalism as defined by one's race, religion, ethnic, linguistic, or cultural identity. It is almost always driven by a resistance to domination by a foreign force whose modus operandi includes the dissemination of their own identity and its values.

The lessons that can be drawn from the anti-colonial groups are that their activities are conducted as a way to bring about social change. It is a means of spreading fear or terror through violence to direct people's attention to certain problems and publicize their political or religious demands. They tend to identify a collective enemy as responsible for the injustice meeted out to them.

Since the end of World War II, terrorism has accelerated it's development into a major component of contemporary conflict. Primarily in use immediately after the war as a subordinate element of anti-colonial insurgencies, it expanded beyond that role. It has proven to be a significant tool of diplomacy and international power for states inclined to use it.

Terrorist groups operating today aim at publicizing grievances and build support through their propaganda. They aim to destabilize governments and divide the population as well as provoke authorities to overreact and generate international sympathy for the prepetrators' cause. These are similar to the ideologies of anti-colonial groups.

The sucess of terrorism according to the historical record is mixed. Terrorism has been successful in achieving political ends. For example, terrorism accompanied the struggles to achieve independence from colonial rule in Algeria, Kenya and Israel. It also helped in the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa. However, in general terrorism has been most successful when it's goal has been to end colonial domination. It has been successful in toppling existing regimes and it has been able to win international recognition for its cause. In recent years though terrorism has shifted it's roots, methods, and goals. Terror today is perpetrated by individuals or independent groups. Networks have been established in the name of religion rather than ideology or nationalism. Their goals have become more grandiose and have generated public alarm universally.