Building Peace in Permanent War: Terrorist Listing and Conflict Transformation (2025)

Anti-Terrorism Legislation: Impediments to Conflict Transformation

This brief reviews the ambivalent impact of anti-terrorist legislation, in particular the so-called ‘blacklisting’ regimes, on the targeted entities as well as on third parties interacting with them for peaceful and constructive ends. It argues that when applied unwisely, terrorist lists might interfere with efforts to find a political solution to asymmetric intra-state conflicts. It thus offers a range of reform options to improve their capacity to foster armed groups’ shifts from violent to non-violent strategies.

From Spoilers to Statebuilders: Constructive Approaches to Engagement with Non-State Armed Groups in Fragile States

OECD Development Co-operation Working Papers, 2012

OECD DEVELOPMENT CO-OPERATION

2012

Abstract The global policy discourse and the war on terror tend to ignore the wide variety of roles and agendas of non-state armed groups (NSAGs), viewing them primarily as threats to security, negative for peace and as important spoilers that can undermine successful peace building. They tend to be closely linked with other forms of transnational threats such as international terrorism, crime, narcotics, human trafficking, and the illicit trade in small arms.

Naming Terror: Impact of Proscription on Negotiations with Non-State Armed Groups

Journal of Public and International Affairs, 2019

This article explores what impact terrorist blacklists have on negotiated solutions to armed conflicts involving listed non-state armed groups. Even though conflicts that involve non-state armed groups do not usually end through these groups' military defeat, governments around the globe tend to adopt hard-security approaches with regard to inner-state conflicts. Especially when groups resort to terrorist tactics, governments tend to be reluctant to engage peacefully with these actors and instead commonly rely on terrorist blacklists in order to delegitimize and restrict groups' activities. While these blacklists are effective in criminalizing the operations of these groups, they can also severely impede peaceful dialogue and thus negatively impact the resolution of conflicts. Especially the work of NGOs and third-party peace practitioners is greatly constrained by criminalizing any form of interaction with listed groups. Additionally, in the absence of a universal definition of what constitutes a terrorist group, lists vary from country to country and the criteria for groups and individuals to get listed are often extremely vague. Furthermore, most lists fail to re-evaluate the proscribed groups on a regular basis and delisting procedures lack transparency. This article finds that blacklists severely disincentivize peaceful engagement with non-state armed groups and thus calls for a revision of contemporary proscription regimes in order to shift the focus of counterterrorism approaches towards viewing peaceful dialogue as a first option and not a last resort.

Turkey's Struggle with the Kurdish Question: Roots, Evolution and Changing National, Regional, and International Contexts

Eradicating Terrorism from the Middle East, 2016

The Kurdish question in Turkey is a deep-rooted issue that dates back to the Ottoman times. The most current and bloodiest Kurdish insurgency group, the PKK, caused not only a high volume of violence, but also social and political instability in the recent political history of modern Turkey. To curb the PKK problem, Turkey employed a wide variety of countermeasures throughout the conflict. Embracing different paradigms as the conflict unfolded, Turkey’s countering policies emerged as “Ironfist” oriented intense securitization and repression and led to the PKK’s military defeat in 1993. Turkey then embraced accommodating, “motive-focused” oriented policies to remove certain legitimate identity-related grievances after Ocalan’s capture in 1999. Meantime, the PKK also employed significant shifts in its strategy, i.e., from a top-down military approach to a bottom up politico military campaign, to coerce Turkey into a political concession in a long lasted tit-for-tat struggle. This study argues that, despite the military defeat, the PKK has been able to maintain its threat level during the entire span of the conflict that has culminated in Turkey’s recognizing the stalemate and shifting to a conflict resolution paradigm in 2007. However, what led Turkey to commence a peace process toward a negotiated settlement has been, in addition to the perceived stalemate, the critical developments in the Middle Eastern Region -i.e., Arab Spring, Syrian Civil War, and, most importantly, the changing role of the PYD, a non-state Kurdish actor in Northern Syria, affiliated with the PKK, that would lead to power shifts among actors (both state and non-state) in the region.

Listing terrorists - the impact of proscription on third party efforts at engaging armed groups

Mediating Peace with Proscribed Armed Groups

On 21 October 2010, Berghof Peace Support (Berlin) and Conciliation Resources (London) convened a policy workshop at the European Foundation Centre (Brussels), with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (UK). The aim of the workshop was to initiate a debate about the direct and indirect implications of EU counter-terrorism legislation on EU led or supported peace processes and to identify possible steps forward. This report summarises discussions and recommendations among 30 participating high-level EU officials, mediators and civil society experts.

The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy, Scott Nicholas, ed.

Existing literature on terrorism and counterterrorism (CT) has overwhelmingly focused on the strategic and operational policies of major Western states such as the USA and the UK. It is predominantly based upon theoretical reflections, which draw on both International Relations and other disciplines, and empirical analyses, which offer up case studies and regional overviews. Alex P. Schmid, a leading expert on terrorism studies, has identified, in Perspectives on Terrorism, that the CT policies of states and groups of states have received relatively little attention by experts in all fields. It is for this reason that this edited book has been assembled. There has been little concentration on how terrorism has been a truly global phenomenon and how others have responded to this threat. The majority of titles, especially those about CT policies in the post-9/11 period, show that there is a compelling need for a multifaceted and comprehensive investigation of all aspects of CT, in which equal attention is given to state and non-state perspectives and approaches in all regions of the world.

-Good Practices Incounter Terrorism II

Good Practices Incounter Terrorism II, 2022

It is with great pride that COE-DAT presents volume 2 of “Good Practices in Countering Terrorism (GP CT Vol.2).” This project launched in 2020 to address current issues and research in the field of counterterrorism. Within this scope, the GP CT Vol.2 is the latest initiative aimed at practical solutions to counter-terrorism policy problems with innovative best practices proven in the field. This project, in cooperation with TOBB University of Economics and Technology, was published by terrorism experts, academics, and practitioners. The aim of this project is to provide critical thinking in the field of CT, an inherently sensitive subject, and to create an interactive platform of expertise on effective methods, strategies, national responses and alternative models. As stated in NATO 2030 document, Allies agreed to step up NATO efforts to build the capacity of alliance partners in areas like CT. Each of NATO’s member stability is significantly vital for alliance security. Previous experiences reveal that prevention is always a better option when we compare with intervention. Recent conflicts in Ukraine with Russia once again emphasized the emergency of this issue. In this context, COE-DAT organized a series of workshops, which increased information sharing and demonstrated progressive research on current issues in the fight against terrorism, including Terrorism Experts Conference 2021. This project, which emerged because of this hard work, aimed to develop and synchronize CT policies at the national level, but also to provide for future studies and research. Without a doubt, these practices will not work in all environments, as terrorism varies by region and circumstances. However, COE-DAT submits that these can be used as an inspiration in the development of effective counter-terrorism policies and efforts. COE-DAT believes that this book will be an inspiration and lead up to more “good practices” combining the conceptual and operational aspects of counter-terrorism in the coming years. COE-DAT is committed that this series will continue to be updated in future endeavors

Good Practices in Counter-Terrorism Volume II

Good Practices in Counter-Terrorism Volume II, 2022

It is a privilege to share the second volume of “Good Practices in Counter Terrorism”, the results of the efforts of a group of highly respected researchers and practitioners. In order to address the current issues and the bourgeoning discussions in the field of counter terrorism (CT), in early 2020, the NATO Centre of Excellence for the Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) initiated the “Good Practices in Counter Terrorism” project with the academic support of TOBB Economics and Technology University (TOBB ETU). This living project has been produced by members of the pool of visiting lecturers at the COE DAT, the accumulated human resources of the center through years of engagement with academics and practitioners. Within this framework, we, as COE DAT and TOBB Economics and Technology, organized a series of workshops in which current issues in CT were addressed by relevant experts. Upon the conclusion of the discussions and based on the latest research and experience of our experts, we published the first volume of “Good Practices in Counter Terrorism” in early 2021. Following the same structure, and initiated in early 2021, the second volume of the series is the final outcome of a one-year endeavor which has built an interactive platform of expertise on the effective methods, strategies, national responses, and alternative models in CT. We hope that this timely contribution will offer a comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach to support efforts in the CT domain through inspiring various actors in their ongoing endeavors to develop, professionalize and synchronize CT policies at the national level.