Wright State University CORE Scholar Browse all Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2009 The Origins of Ethno/National Separatist Terrorism: A Cross- National Analysis of the Background Conditions of Terrorist Campaigns Brandon Charles Snell Wright State University Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all Part of the International Relations Commons Repository Citation Snell, Brandon Charles, "The Origins of Ethno/National Separatist Terrorism: A Cross-National Analysis of the Background Conditions of Terrorist Campaigns" (2009). Browse all Theses and Dissertations. 933. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/933 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Browse all Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ORIGINS OF ETHNO/NATIONAL SEPARATIST TERRORISM: A CROSS- NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE BACKGROUND CONDITIONS OF TERRORIST CAMPAIGNS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (International-Comparative Politics) By Brandon Charles Snell Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Wright State University, 2009 2009 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES April 13, 2009 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY BRANDON SNELL ENTITLED THE ORIGINS OF ETHNO/NATIONAL SEPARATIST TERRORISM: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE BACKGROUND CONDITIONS OF TERRORIST CAMPAIGNS BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (INTERNATIONAL-COMPARATIVE POLITICS). ______________________________ Dr. Liam Anderson, Ph.D. Thesis Director ______________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. Director, Master International- Comparative Politics Program Committee on Final Examination: ___________________________________ Dr. Liam Anderson, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ___________________________________ Dr. Chad Atkinson, Ph.D. Academic Department ___________________________________ Dr. Pramod Kantha, Ph.D. Academic Department ___________________________________ Joseph F. Thomas, Ph.D. Dean, School of Graduate Studies ABSTRACT Snell, Brandon Charles. M. A., Department of International and Comparative Politics, Wright State University, 2009. The Origins of Ethno/National Separatist Terrorism: A Cross-National Analysis of the Background Conditions of Terrorist Campaigns This study measures the influence that multiple social, political, and economic conditions have on the development of ethno/national separatist terrorist organizations. It begins by analyzing the nationalist theories of primordialism, modernism, and ethnosymbolism, and the terrorist theories of strategic logic and psychology. The nationalist theories consider cultural symbols a powerful component behind nationalist movements and populations with significant symbolic attachments especially prone to react aggressively against perceived threats to those symbols. Proponents of strategic logic and psychological theory also view terrorism as reactive but deviate on whether this response is conceived rationally. Examining the origins of Basque and Catalan terrorism and Roma passivity in Spain assists in identifying background conditions that are evaluated using a logit regression model. The logit model assesses two-hundred ninety-seven minority populations in one-hundred twenty-six states, primarily between 1945 and 2003. The results show cultural identity and sensitivity, violent encounters, political freedom, social unrest, underrepresentation, disproportionate economic privation, and stagnant educational systems and other factors of civil development correlating significantly with the formation of ethno/national separatist terrorist organizations. These findings imply an ability to detect populations and environments with increased potential for producing ethno/national separatist terrorism, and that by addressing those conditions facilitating its development, it may be possible to reduce the probability of additional campaigns developing. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I want to thank my family who made this project possible. Thanks to my lovely daughters, Morgan, who has been part of my educational experience since it began, and Rylee, you are too young to remember much of this period but should know that I am grateful for the extra time that writing a thesis gave us together. Special thanks to my father and stepmother Jerry and Debbie Snell for financial support and help with editing. Special thanks to my stepfather and mother, Carl and Janet Amuchastegui Schey for financial assistance and support. Special thanks to my brother, Aaron Snell, for help with Euskera translations. Special thanks to my committee members, my chair Dr. Liam Anderson, and his sidekicks Dr. Pramod Kantha and Dr. Chad Atkinson. Moreover, thanks Dr. Kantha for your guidance in nationalist studies, and thanks Dr. Atkinson for your assistance building the statistical model. I also want to thank all the others who helped with proofreading: my grandma, Mary Jane Amuchastegui, and members of my cohort, Rachel Miller, Tammy Kirk, and Kristen Gillespie. In addition, thank you Dr. Edward Fitzgerald for recommending the International and Comparative Politics Program and for the letter of recommendation, also thanks to Dr. John Feldmeier and Mr. William Gillespie for your letters of recommendation. Thanks to the whole Political Science Department at Wright State University. Thank you Dr. Donna Schlagheck, the chair of the Political Science Department, for advising about literature and loaning me so many books, and thank you Dr. Laura Luehrmann, the head of the ICP program, for your assistance in getting into the program and tolerating me during class. Last of all, I want thank Veronica Darii who has assisted me all along, spending countless hours helping to dig up statistics and keeping me company as I worked. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...iii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….iv List of Figures……………………………………………………….…………………………...vii Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 1. Literature Review……………………………………………………….………………………7 Theories of Terrorism……………………………………………………………………..7 Primordialism…………………………………………………………………………9 Modernism…………………………………………………………………………...10 Ethnosymbolism……………………………………………………………………...11 Theories of Terrorism……………………………………………………………………13 Psychological Theory………………………………………………………………...13 Strategic Logic…………………………………………………………………...…..17 Analysis of the Literature………………………………………………………………...22 Nationalist Theory…………………………………………………………………...23 Terrorist Theory……………………………………………………………………...26 Psychological Theory………………………………………………………………...26 Strategic Logic……………………………………………………………………….31 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….…34 2. Case Study: Espainetan Abertzaletasuna eta Indarrikarako Edestia: The History of Nationalism and Terrorism in Spain…………………………………….36 Applying the Theories……………………………………………………………………49 Summary of Expectations………………………………………………………………..56 3. Logit Regression……………………………………………………………………...……….57 Explaining the Model…………………………………………………………………….57 Results of Logit Regression ………………………………………………..……………73 Analysis of Logit Results…………………...……………………...…………………….74 4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….88 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………………….....96 Appendix A: Additional Tables………………………………………………………….97 Appendix B: ENS terrorist organizations forming in the period of 1945 to 2003……...102 Appendix C: Countries and Minority Populations……...………………………………123 v Bibliography…………………………………………………………...……………………….126 vi LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS Page Table 1: Summary of Expectations………………………………………………………………57 Table 2: Logit Analysis of Environmental Conditions during the Formation of ENS Terrorist Organizations………………………………………………………………………………….…73 Table 3: Change in probability of ENS terrorist organization developing as a function of unit change in the independent variables……...……………………………………………..……….73 Table 4: Correlations between indices of cultural sensitivity and the formation of terrorist organizations …………….………………………………………………………………………75 Table 5: The annual proportional changes in literate population divided by annual proportional change in population aged 15 and over…………………………………………………………..83 Table 6: Distribution of democratic freedom and observations of literacy rates at and above 98 percent ………………………………………………………………………………………...…84 Table 7: Expected Results (Summary of Expectations)….………..…………………………….90 Table 8: Logit results using the two-tailed test economic variable.................……………….….97 Table 9: Relationship between cultural sensitivity and the development of ENS terrorist campaigns …………………………………………………………………………………….…98 Table 10: Relationship between political representation and the development of ENS terrorist campaigns ……………………………………………………………………………………….98 Table 11: Distribution of literacy and unemployment rates and development of ethno/national separatist terrorist campaigns…………………………………………………………………….99 Table 12: Distribution of economic and political differentials and development of ENS terrorism campaigns …………...…………………………………………………………………………..99 Table 13: Distribution of literacy and unemployment rates and development of ENS terrorist campaigns…………………….…………………...………………………………...………….100 Table 14: Distribution