The Four Horsemen of Terrorism

It's Not Waves, It's Strains

Bibliographic Data

ID4086863
AuthorsTom Parker (Bard College), Nick Sitter (0000-0003-3068-2105, Ludovika University of Public Service, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume28
Issue2
Pages197-216
Publication date2016-03-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTerrorism and Political Violence (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-6553 • E-ISSN: 1556-1836
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09546553.2015.1112277
OpenAlexW2246035491
LanguageEN
Citations received16

David Rapoport's concept of Four Waves of terrorism, from Anarchist terrorism in the 1880s, through Nationalist and Marxist waves in the early and mid-twentieth century, to the present Religious Wave, is one of the most influential concepts in terrorism studies. However, this article argues that thinking about different types of terrorism as strains rather than waves better reflects both the empirical reality and the idea that terrorists learn from and emulate each other. Whereas the notion of waves suggests distinct iterations of terrorist violence driven by successive broad historical trends, the concept of strains and contagion emphasizes how terrorist groups draw on both contemporary and historical lessons in the development of their tactics, strategies, and goals. The authors identify four distinct strains in total—Socialist, Nationalist, Religious, and Exclusionist—and contend that it is possible to trace each strain back to a “patient zero” active in the 1850s

Epistemology · Marxist philosophy · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Terrorism · Law · Philosophy · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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