Description
Book SynopsisThis book contextualizes the use of terror as part of wider movements of political contention, demonstrating that terroristic innovation occurs as part of wider historical processes rather than in a vacuum.
Drawing on evolutionary theory, this study explains how terroristic groups innovate upon, transform, and abandon techniques of political violence in order to advance their causes against the state. The book further traces the processes through which the use of aircraft as weapons of destruction developed, from the first instances of aircraft hijacking in 1920s Peru, through Palestinian terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s, up to its adoption by al-Qaeda in the 1990s and leading to the 9/11 attack in 2001. This examination provides an essential focus on the techniques through which terror is achieved, offering a novel understanding of the mechanisms of political violence and the implications of counterterrorism on the evolution of terrorism
Table of Contents1. Introduction
2. An Evolutionary Approach to Terrorist Innovation
3. The Emergence of Aeroplane Hijacking
4. Hijacking for Transportation or ‘Freedom Flights’
5. The Global Impact of Palestinian Hijackings
6. Criminal Innovations
7. Aeroplanes as Weapons of Destruction
8. Conclusion
Bibliography
Endnotes
Index
