What drives terrorist innovation? Lessons from Black September and Munich 1972

Abstract

Understanding terrorist innovation has emerged as a critical research question.Terrorist innovation challenges status quo assumptions about the nature of terrorist threats and emphasises a need for counterterrorism policy and practice to attempt to not simply react to changes in terrorist tactics and strategies but also to try to anticipate them. This study focused on a detailed examination of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack and draws on the wide range of open source accounts available, including from terrorists directly involved but also from among the authorities and victims. Using an analytical framework proposed by Rasmussen and Hafez (2010), several key drivers are identified and described, both internal to the group and external to its environment. The study concludes that the innovation shown by Black September was predictable and that Munich represented a profound security failure as much as it did successful terrorist innovation.

Speaking of terrorist behaviour

“…The group is known for its attack on the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In discussing this event, Silke and Filippidou (2020) explain:…”

“…The Munich Olympics attack has sometimes been described as a success for Black September and sometimes as a failure, depending on one's perspective (Silke & Filippidou, 2020). Terrorism in general is sometimes spoken of in terms of success and failure (e.g., Dahl, 2011;Marsden, 2012).…”

Beyond Prevention: The Role of Strategic Communications Across the Four Pillars of Counterterrorism Strategy

“…The 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington were major examples of terrorist spectaculars, but they came from a long line of highly dramatic and carefully staged attacks going back to attacks on aircraft in the early 1970s and on iconic buildings in the 1980s and 1990s. For example, the Black September Munich Olympics attack (1972), 73 the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut (1983), the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (1988), or the dual bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (1998). 74 However, with the emergence of social media and smartphones, members of the public are able to capture the events or the immediate aftermath, with video footage from mobile phones quickly spreading online or being amplified by broadcast on traditional media.…”