Understanding Suicide Terrorism

Summary

As a terror tactic, suicide terrorism is one of the most lethal as it relies on a human being to deliver and detonate the device. Suicide terrorism is not confined to a single region or religion. On the contrary, it has a global appeal, and in countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan it has come to represent an almost daily reality as it has become the weapon of choice for some of the most dreaded terrorist organizations in the world, such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. Drawing on over two decades of extensive field research in five distinct world regions, specifically the Middle East, Western Europe, North America, Russia, and the Balkans, the author discusses the origins of modern day suicide terrorism, motivational factors behind suicide terrorism, its global migration, and its appeal to modern-day terrorist groups to embrace it as a tactic.

Zusammenfassung

Der Suizidterrorismus stellt eine besonders grausame Terrortaktik dar, benutzt er doch Menschen – nicht selten Frauen und Kinder – als „lebende Bomben”, die sich selbst in die Luft sprengen, um andere mit in den Tod zu reißen. Das Phänomen ist nicht auf eine bestimmte Region oder Religion begrenzt, sondern kommt im Gegenteil global vor. In Ländern wie Syrien, Irak, Afghanistan oder Pakistan gehört es beinahe zur alltäglichen Realität. Einige der weltweit gefürchtetsten Terrororganisationen, beispielsweise ISIS und Al-Qaida, setzen den Suizidterrorismus als bevorzugte Waffe ein. Gestützt auf ihre Erfahrungen aus über zwei Jahrzehnten ausgedehnter Feldforschung in fünf Weltgegenden, insbesondere dem Mittleren Osten, Westeuropa, Nordamerika, Russland und dem Balkan, erörtert die Autorin die Ursprünge des modernen Suizidterrorismus, seine zugrunde liegenden motivationalen Faktoren, seine globale Ausbreitung und die faszinierende Anziehungskraft, die er auf unterschiedlichste Terrorgruppen ausübt und sie veranlasst, ihn in das Spektrum ihrer Taktiken zu integrieren.

Keywords

Suicide terrorism - Middle East terrorism - modern-day terrorism - suicide terrorism motivation - martyrdom - shaheed

Schlüsselwörter

Suizidterrorismus - Terrorismus im Mittleren Osten - moderner Terrorismus - Motivation zum Suizidterrorismus - Märtyrertum - Shaheed

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