Law enforcement as politics by other means: lessons from countering revolutionary terrorism

Abstract

This article demonstrates that law enforcement, as a counterterrorism instrument, is not only useful to disrupt terrorist activities by taking resources and manpower away from the terrorist group, but can also have a more political impact. Law enforcement pressure can divert the resources of a terrorist group away from political activity to mere survival or a private feud against the state. Drawing on cases studies of the Red Army Faction and the Weather Underground, two ways in which terrorist groups can become isolated from their support base as a result of law enforcement pressure will be illustrated.