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Commonality of Contemporary Extremist Groups: Why Some Fall and Others Flourish

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Commonality of Contemporary Extremist Groups: Why Some Fall and Others Flourish COMMONALITY OF CONTEMPORARY EXTREMIST GROUPS: WHY SOME FALL AND OTHERS FLOURISH A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of The School of Continuing Studies and of The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Studies By Todd K. Wager, B.A. Georgetown University Washington, D.C. November, 2009 COMMONALITY OF CONTEMPORARY EXTREMIST GROUPS: WHY SOME FALL AND OTHERS FLOURISH Todd K. Wager, B.A. Mentor: John O. Voll, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Contemporary extremist groups pose a significant threat to stability and their actions influence US foreign policy. An analysis of why some contemporary extremist groups fall while others flourish reveal common attributes that inform an enhanced US government policy and response strategy. The identification and characterization of extremist groups reveals two major types – those based on political ideology and those based on religion. Analysis of case studies and data bases on how extremist groups end indicates that those based on political ideology flourish when the single political issue is well defined and the group exploits the media and international organizations effectively. Extremist groups based on political ideology fail most often through direct law enforcement actions that capture or kill the leadership. Political ideology based extremist groups that flourish often transform into political parties and cease terrorist activities. Analysis of case studies and data bases on how extremist groups based on religion focused on the three Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religious extremist groups share five common attributes: a search for meaning, a sense of religious duty, a quest for purity, inspirational leadership, and scripture as justification. Religious ii extremist groups that flourish are highly effective in each of these common attributes. Some Zionist, Christian and Islamic extremist groups have achieved their goals and transformed into political parties. Characterization and comparative case studies of currently active Islamic extremist groups reveal a common perceived threat of modernity and globalization. Islamic extremist groups are engaged in the definition of an Islamic identity, cultural and worldview. US government foreign policy and response strategy will be more successful in ending extremist groups by understanding why some fall and others flourish. An enhanced diplomatic response that fully integrates the proper balance of soft and hard power is essential for success. Diplomatic engagement, de-radicalization and political inclusion augmented by civilian, intelligence and military actions appears to be the most effective response to prevail in the struggle with religious extremist groups. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1 – EXTREMIST GROUPS OF THE LATE 20 TH CENTURY.................... 11 1.1 Brief History of Extremist Groups .......................................................................... 11 1.1.1 The Rise of Democracies .................................................................................. 12 1.1.2 Social Movements Based on Political Structure .............................................. 13 1.1.3 International Terrorism ..................................................................................... 14 1.1.4 Religious Fundamentalism ............................................................................... 14 1.2 Emergence of the Modern Extremist Group ........................................................... 15 1.2.1 Nationalism, Religion and Globalization ......................................................... 16 1.2.2 Extremist Groups go Global ............................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 2 – CHARACTERIZATION OF EXTREMIST GROUPS........................... 25 2.1 Extremist Groups Based on Political Ideology ....................................................... 25 2.2 Extremist Groups Based on Religion ...................................................................... 27 2.2.1 Zionist Extremism ............................................................................................ 28 2.2.2 Christian Extremism ......................................................................................... 35 2.2.3 Islamic Extremism ............................................................................................ 39 2.3 Analysis and Emergent Trends................................................................................ 48 CHAPTER 3 – COMMON ATTRIBUTES OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMIST GROUPS . 50 3.1 A Search for Meaning ............................................................................................. 50 3.2 A Sense of Religious Duty ...................................................................................... 52 3.3 A Quest for Purity ................................................................................................... 53 iv 3.4 Inspirational Leadership .......................................................................................... 54 3.5 Scripture as Justification ......................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER 4 – CHARACTERIZATION OF CURRENT ISLAMIC EXTREMIST GROUPS ........................................................................................................................... 58 4.1 Islamic Radicalization ............................................................................................. 58 4.2 Islamic Modernization and Modernity .................................................................... 61 4.2.1 The Traditional View ....................................................................................... 62 4.2.2 The Contemporary View .................................................................................. 65 4.3 Islamic Identity, Cultural Framings and the Future ................................................ 74 CHAPTER 5 – GOVERNMENT POLICY AND RESPONSE STRATEGY ................. 84 5.1 Diplomatic Disengagement ..................................................................................... 85 5.2 Diplomatic De-radicalization .................................................................................. 86 5.3 Diplomatic Engagement and Political Inclusion ..................................................... 88 5.4 Civilian, Intelligence and Military Responses ........................................................ 89 5.4.1 Civilian Responses ........................................................................................... 90 5.4.2 Intelligence Responses ..................................................................................... 91 5.4.3 Counterinsurgency, Counterterrorism and Military Action ............................. 91 5.4.4 Integrated Responses using the Media and the Internet ................................... 93 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................114 v INTRODUCTION Extremist groups of the late 20 th Century have influenced United States (US) foreign policy choices for more than 50 years. The US and its allies took a multifaceted approach to responding to the threats extremist posed to the stability of the West. This thesis analyzes the commonality and attributes of contemporary extremist groups in an effort to understand why some groups have failed while others have survived and others have transformed into non-extremist groups. It is necessary to define extremist and terrorist. The term extremist is used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political, cultural, or religious center of a society. The main focus is on extremist groups which take violent action to further their ideology or worldview. Because of the emphasis on violent action when referring to extremist groups, the term terrorist groups is interchangeable with extremist groups. Since September 11 th 2001, much of the academic, political and policy work has focused on understanding the origins of extremist groups. A causal relationship can be found between terrorists groups and political ideology (e.g. the Irish Republican Army (IRA)), terrorist groups and religion (e.g. Hamas) and the confluence of all both factors in entities such as Hezbollah when discussing the origins or the formation of extremist groups. The influence of these factors on the origins and the formation of extremist groups has been widely studied, including extensive case studies on hundreds of terrorist groups including the three (IRA, Hamas, Hezbollah) mentioned above. 1 There has been scant research, however, on the organizational, ideological, tactical, and behavioral tendencies that explain why certain extremist groups have failed while others have survived and others have transformed into non-extremist groups (often political parties). Individual studies have sought to explain certain groups in isolation. This thesis seeks to identify
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