STA TE/TERRORISM: DISCOURSES OF TERRORISM AND STATE IDENTITY-FORMATION By Priya Dixit Submitted to the Faculty of the School of International Service of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In International Relations Chair: 7 Dr. Patrick T. J kson . _ ·} ;J ~ ~ fl_ tfj_ ~% r. fames H. Mittelman ~~M~ Dean of the School of International Service J \)e ~ ~ ?,,()-o 1 Date 2009 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 .lt.ll!L'.'r.'llf'\11~9 ...... ·---·- - ' .. nlVl!;;f\i\,/t\l\I U-NJVtK~ffY LIBRARY UMI Number: 3388937 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI ---Dissertation Publishing.___ UMI 3388937 Copyright 201 O by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Pro uesr ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ©COPYRIGHT by Priya Dixit 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT This dissertation explores how commonsensical identities of states and terrorists are produced within representational practices and how they shift through time. By analyzing the official rhetoric of terrorism, this dissertation extends previous work of critical security scholars by applying poststructural discourse analysis to the study of terrorism. At the same time, this dissertation contributes to the subfield of terrorism studies by utilizing a relatively less-used methodology, that of poststructural discourse analysis, to question commonsensical narratives of states and terrorist relations as always reactive and antagonistic. While the initial focus is on the use of the language of "terrorism" in Nepal's official security discourses, this dissertation adopts a Foucauldian genealogical approach to compare representational strategies in Nepal with those of the British state in its relations with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the following pages, this dissertation examines the strategies (mechanisms) through which identities of states and terrorists are constituted, focusing on linguistic representations. Using a concept of identity as relational, official accounts of danger especially those relating to the Maoists in Nepal and the IRA in Britain are studied and the subsequent changes in identity outlined. This dissertation adopts the view that identity does not exist without representations. Three issues are of concern here: one, the counterterrorist state produced in both Northern Ireland and Nepal was not a self-evident identity but was produced during social interactions, especially in the process of representing others as "terrorist". Two, this counterterrorist identity was aiways in 11 contention with other representations present at the time. Three, commonsensical narratives about terrorism, such as states always act to counter terrorist violence and that states do not talk to terrorists, if unpacked, allow for illustrating the contingent, contextual nature of such claims. As both the IRA and the Maoists relations with states indicates, states often do talk to so-called "terrorists'', even if "terrorist" groups have not renounced violence. Overall, this dissertation argues strategies of representing such as managing stake and establishing authority recur in more than one context. How these strategies play out in the construction of state/terrorist identities in Nepal and Britain is the focus of my study. Examining these strategies helps explain how state relations with "terrorists" were legitimated, but also how stakes and authorization were open to question. The use of "terrorism" to label acts and groups was inconsistent and difficult to stabilize. Official representations of groups as "terrorist" did not always "stick'', once again questioning the inevitable counterterrorist identity of states as posited in much of mainstream terrorism studies. Thus, this dissertation examines how state and terrorist identities are produced and how relations among them shift. It studies the politics of representing selves and others. lll ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are more people than I can acknowledge here who contributed to the making of this dissertation. First, my dissertation committee, especially Dr. Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, my chair, Dr. James H. Mittelman and Dr. Carole Gallaher all offered me enormous guidance with ideas for my dissertation and encouraged me when I faltered. At various points during this PhD process, each of them employed me as well, thus assisting not only in my intellectual development (such as it is) but financially in the completion of my PhD. I am comfortable in the academic milieu today due to their continued assistance and advice and I will always remain extremely grateful to them. On a personal note, my family and friends were central to this dissertation process and they will have my gratitude for listening to me and encouraging me throughout. Of my family, I am thankful to my mum and dad and my grandparents, especially my granddad, without whose help much of my higher education would never have occurred. They are well-pleased I'm the first woman in my clan to have begun and completed a PhD, despite remaining certain that it should not have me taken this long! Then, my friends, including but not limited to university colleagues, who aided in different ways ranging from academic discussions, provision of foods and generally being around for discussion. In this, Dr. Peter Howard deserves special mention for listening to my wrestling with theoretical conundrums, encouraging me and providing employment over the summers. The School for Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Research on Intercuituraiism and IV Transnationality (SPIRIT) at Aalborg University in Denmark and, especially, Dr. Ulf Hedetoft there guided me towards the critical security scholarship of the Copenhagen School and thus informed a significant part of my dissertation. The organizers of the Summer Workshop on Teaching about Terrorism, which I attended in 2006, can be credited for their willingness to discuss the many and varied ways in which terrorism is studied, especially here in the United States. Finally, I am extremely grateful to the School of International Service at American University, without whose financial and intellectual assistance there would have been little opportunity for me to begin and complete a PhD. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................... .ii ACKN" 0 WLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION: STUDYING THE STATE AND TERRORISM IN NEPAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND ..................... 1 2. THE STATE AND TERRORISM: A LITERATURE REVIEW .................. 12 3. LANGUAGE OF TERRORISM AND THE MAKING OF THE STATE: A DISCOURSE ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO STATE/TERRORISM ............................................................... 80 4. DANGEROUS "TERRORISTS" TO PARTNERS IN PEACE: STATE/IRA RELATIONS ....................................................... 143 5. STATE/MAOIST IDENTITIES IN NEPALESE SECURITY DISCOURSES ......................................................222 6. TERRORISM AS DISCOURSE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STUDY OF TERRORISM TODAY ............................... 323 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................345 Vl LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Representing 'Terrorists' in Official Discourses ................................. 135 2. Major Rhetorical (Linguistic) Commonplaces Used to Describe (IRA) 'Terrorism' Within Official British Discourses ............... 158 3. Descriptions of the Brighton Bombing in Official British Accounts Immediately Following the Bombing ......................... 195 4. Self/Other Representations in Official British Accounts Immediately Following the Docklands Bombing ................................. 212 5. Major Events During April 2006 in Nepal. ......................................... 292 6. State/Other(s) Identities in Nepalese Official Discourses 2001-2006 ................................................................. 307 7. Common Discourses and Stakes for the State ..................................... 315 Vil CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: STUDYING THE STATE AND TERRORISM1 IN NEPAL AND NORTHERN IRELAND It was the winter of 1999 in Australia -- summer in Nepal -- when I left Sydney, Australia for Nepal to do research on Nepal's community-based forestry programs. Community forestry in Nepal had been hailed as a success in international development circles for its transition from hands-off conservation techniques to hands-on methods which encouraged the involvement of local people. I wanted to understand how this change was understood in local communities and by government officials. During the course of my research, I found out that the official government view was of the people involved as being enterprising and self-sufficient and as excellent managers of forests. Local peoples' self-reliance and self-sufficiency were described as tied to traditional Nepali ways of surviving in a harsh geographical environment in a country situated between two