Spanish and Italian terrorists disengage differently
An EU-funded project, 'How terrorism ends: A comparative analysis of underground organisations in Italy and Spain' (HTE), looked closely at the factors leading to terrorist disengagement and group dissolution. Through a quantitative study and comparative case studies, researchers discovered that there are many differences in the experiences of each country. Building upon current data available, the project looked at all types of terrorist groups in Spain and Italy from 1970 to 2010. Relative to this period, researchers studied the key reasons terrorists left their groups, such as defeat, negotiation, victory and splintering.In Italy, terrorists were found to disengage due to policing, splintering and the offering of legal incentives. In Spain, however, repressive police action was the most effective way to dissolve groups.On a larger scale, researchers noticed that cycles of violence were largely connected to political events such as election periods. Also, the larger the terrorist group, the longer they functioned. Additionally, the cause of the terrorists groups impacted their longevity.In Italy, groups focusing on regime change (47.5 %) and social revolutions (45 %) lasted longer than those focusing on territory change or policy change. In contrast, Spanish groups striving for territorial changes (46 %) lasted the longest.The case studies looked closer at factors driving disengagement and involved former ETA members (Spain), the Red Brigades (Italy), and other key experts and informants. Spanish interview subjects revealed the most important element was their arrest. However, even after their arrest, they continued to believe in the validity of their cause. In contrast, former Italian terrorists cited more paths for leaving terrorist groups, such as voluntary departure, arrest, individual defection and group dissolution. Most important were micro factors (wanting to be reintegrated into society, becoming a father, etc.). Next were the loss of confidence in the group, and to an even lesser extent repression and legal interventions.These results are all significant as they reveal that motivations for terrorism in Europe vary on a country-to-country basis. Moreover, European countries must carefully examine the internal dynamics of their country and implement different strategies to eradicate dangerous terrorist groups.
Keywords
Safety, security, terrorism, group dissolution
