SSRC-NUPI Project on Political Violence

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Spoleto Workshop, May 2004

Violence exercised by ethnic separatists, insurgent guerrillas, and religious militants is not a new phenomenon. Since the events of September 11, politically-motivated violence, especially violence that targets civilians, has become an urgent foreign policy issue internationally. The Iraq crisis and issues relating to weapons of mass destruction have further augmented this sense of urgency. However, there is growing concern that many of the policies now in place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere may prove ultimately counter-productive, fuelling radicalism rather than subduing it, legitimising violence rather than discrediting it.

Armed militant groups are not homogeneous. To respond effectively to the challenges of militancy, it is critical to distinguish between different militant groups and to understand their specificities. Arguably the shortcomings in current policies relate in part to a lack of detailed understanding of the nature of the militant groups involved, the social and political environment in which these groups are nurtured and operate, the nature of the grievances that motivate them, as well as how these factors have shifted over time. These shortcomings may also relate to a lack of clear appreciation of the strengths, weaknesses, and costs of the military, political, and economic policies that various governments have implemented over the years in response to the challenge of political violence within their domestic domains. It has been noted that the gap between policymakers and analysts with regard to appropriate responses to political violence is in general very large. On the one hand, many policymakers have tended both to overreact and to rely too heavily on purely military and policing options, thereby inadvertently reinforcing the grass roots legitimacy extended to politically violent groups. On the other, academics frequently underestimate the constraints placed upon policymakers, and thus present policy recommendations that are often unrealistic and unfeasible.

The overarching objective of this project, launched by the GSC Program of the SSRC, in partnership with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), is to narrow the gap between policymakers and analysts with regard to appropriate responses to political violence. The SSRC and NUPI have convened an international group of distinguished scholars all of whom have extensive field experience with militant groups of the type often designated as terrorist and most of whom have policy advisory experience. Through detailed case analysis and a comparative framework, the project aims to provide a better understanding of these groups as well as to formulate realistic policy recommendations.

Project Objectives

The SSRC-NUPI Project on Political Violence has 4 main objectives:

To provide detailed analysis of a wide range of groups that practice political violence, the social base from which these groups derive support and recruits, their political economy, the nature of the grievances that motivate and legitimise them, and how these elements have evolved over time in shifting political environments.
To examine those military, political, legal and economic policies that governments have used in dealing with armed militants operating in their territories. In particular, to examine which combination of policies have been effective, which have been less successful, and the political and social costs of policy failure.
To analyse how governments have responded to the "global war on terrorism" with regard to its impact on their national policies and to assess the effectiveness of these responses in relation to locally based militant groups.
To propose improved and more effective national policies as well as to develop broad policy guidelines with general applicability in order to help generate the conditions required to move armed militants into non-violent strategies.

Through a combination of detailed and comparative case analysis, the project proposes to provide a better understanding of these groups as well as to formulate realistic policy recommendations. The policy recommendations will be case specific as well as general policy guidelines derived from the comparative analysis.

In the final stage of the project, the focus will be placed on policy recommendations and dissemination of findings. To this effect, policy briefings will be organized in different locations around the world to reach out to members of the strategic and policy establishment, including government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officials, diplomats, academics and journalists. At these events, scholars who have participated in the project will present the findings of their case studies, a synthesis of the comparative analysis, and policy recommendations outlining new options for dealing successfully with political violence.

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SSRC-NUPI Research Project on Political Violence