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The Post‐9/11 “Terrorism” Discourse and Its Impact on Nonstate Actors: A Comparative Study of the LTTE and H amas
Author(s) -
Toomey Michael,
Singleton Benedict E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asian politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1943-0787
pISSN - 1943-0779
DOI - 10.1111/aspp.12110
Subject(s) - terrorism , legitimacy , adversary , politics , political science , state (computer science) , political economy , law , sociology , computer security , algorithm , computer science
In the aftermath of the 2001 W orld T rade C enter bombings, the application of the label “terrorist” to one of the parties in a given conflict can serve to deny political legitimacy, and can make possible the use of extreme measures to deal with them. This article compares the fortunes of the L iberation T igers of T amil E elam and H amas. Through the use of an analysis of contemporary discourses relating to terrorism, it is argued that, in the post‐9/11 world, successfully ascribing a nonstate opponent as a terrorist permits the use of overwhelming force. The discourse thus becomes a powerful political technology in the hands of state actors, regardless of the justification for its use.