This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ The integration of terrorist organisations into political systems Factors, dynamics and circumstances that lead to a successful transformation Frayman, Amir Pavlo Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 THE INTEGRATION OF TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS INTO POLITICAL SYSTEMS FACTORS, DYNAMICS AND CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LEAD TO A SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATION A dissertation presented by Amir Frayman Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy King's College London April 2014 2 ABTSRACT This research explores the factors, dynamics and circumstances that explain how and why terrorist organisations decide to integrate into political systems. The research proposes that such integration is a result of decisions and actions taken by a terrorist organisation, the state that deals with it and the surrounding international system. The research propositions are tested against three cases of terrorist organisations that successfully integrated into political systems: the Irgun, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Hizballah. The findings determine that the presence of certain factors, whether on the organisational, domestic or international levels – and preferably all at the same time – provide the necessary conditions for a successful integration to occur. The research concludes that the most dominant parameters that create the necessary conditions for terrorists' political integration are: (a) fluctuation in the level of public support for the terrorist organisation's strategy and tactics, (b) internal split in the ranks of a terrorist organisation if one faction becomes more moderate than the other, (c) the mix of aggressive and accommodating counter-terrorism policies employed by the state, and (d) the level and impact of international involvement in the conflict. In situations where these parameters are present and have a tangible influence on a terrorist organisation's decisions, behaviour and actions, the process of integration into a political system by the terrorist organisation is not only more likely, but also faster and more efficient. 3 Ultimately, the research offers a theoretical model that could potentially provide a set of guidelines for decision-makers on how to instigate, encourage or enhance a transformation process within terrorist organisations, from militant strategy and extremist doctrine toward acceptance of political strategy and democratic principle-based ideology as the sole means to achieve their objectives. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abtsract .................................................................................................. 2 Table of contents .................................................................................. 4 Table of figures ..................................................................................... 6 Table of maps ........................................................................................ 6 Preface .................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1: conceptual framework ..................................................... 9 Terrorism .............................................................................................................. 9 Terrorist organisation ......................................................................................... 14 Integration into political systems ....................................................................... 15 Literature review................................................................................................. 19 Research propositions ......................................................................................... 30 Research methodology ........................................................................................ 39 Case selection .............................................................................................................. 41 Data collection ..................................................................................................... 49 Limitations ........................................................................................................... 50 Research outline .................................................................................................. 51 Chapter 2: The Irgun ..........................................................................53 The Irgun – alternative and opposition .............................................................. 54 Organisational factors ......................................................................................... 61 Role of violence ........................................................................................................... 61 Perception of the opponent ........................................................................................ 65 Split in the ranks ......................................................................................................... 69 Level of public support ............................................................................................... 74 Domestic factors .................................................................................................. 79 British policy towards the Irgun................................................................................. 79 The Jewish Agency's policy towards the Irgun........................................................... 90 International factors......................................................................................... 105 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 115 5 Chapter 3: The Ulster Volunteer Force ........................................ 122 "For God and Ulster" ........................................................................................ 124 Organisational factors ...................................................................................... 131 Role of violence ......................................................................................................... 131 Perception of the opponent ...................................................................................... 136 Split in the ranks ....................................................................................................... 141 Level of public support ............................................................................................. 146 Domestic factors ............................................................................................... 152 The British security policy – a comprehensive approach ........................................ 153 The British political dimension – creativity and compromise ................................. 166 International factors......................................................................................... 190 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 197 Chapter 4: Hizballah ........................................................................ 207 The rise of Hizballah ......................................................................................... 209 Organisational factors ...................................................................................... 216 Role of violence ......................................................................................................... 216 Perception of the opponent ...................................................................................... 223 Split in the ranks ....................................................................................................... 226 Level of public support ............................................................................................. 230 Domestic factors ............................................................................................... 235 1982-2000: Israel's (in)security zone ...................................................................... 236 2000-2006: The folly of containment ....................................................................... 243 2006-present: "Israel has gone crazy" ....................................................................