Typology of Counter-Terrorism Strategies: A Comparative Study of India and Israel

Vinita Priyedarshi

Terrorism, which took a new turn in the 20th century in the form of anti-colonial insurgencies has, in the current 21st century, been described as ‘post modern terrorism’ in the sense that it is no longer driven by ideologies alone but is now more ethnic and separatist in nature. This evolution of terrorism has been accompanied by a spectrum of strategies associated with different phases of terrorism to counter it. This book is an attempt to undertake an examination of the various strategies employed by the terrorists and the strategies employed by various institutions to counter the terrorists along the varying spectrum of the genesis of terrorism. The book deals with the strategies of dealing with terrorism across borders. It attempts to formulate a typology of counter-terrorism strategies which have either been adopted by states in their fight against terrorism or should be adopted to deal with the menace of terrorism, in the form of recommendations. The typology of counter-terrorism has been developed deductively by comparing the counter-terrorism strategies of India and Israel, that have faced the threat of terrorism ever since their inception. It is true that each system is different from the other and a particular counter-terrorism strategy would yield different results in different systems, depending upon the consequences and the uniqueness associated with each system. Yet such analogies are beneficial for the simple reason that they provide us with a wide range of possible alternative counter-terrorism measures which could be used by different states afflicted with this menace – the book seeks to provide such an analogy.

Vinita Priyedarshi Vinita Priyedarshi a graduate degree in Political Science, and was awarded a Gold Medal in her Masters in Political Science. She did her MPhil in International Politics from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), from where she is currently pursuing her PhD. She has been awarded the Research Fellowship Programme for the period 1999-2011 by the United Service Institution of India for the project “Assessing the Theory of Fourth Generation Warfare: Counter-insurgency in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Northern Ireland”. She has written a number of articles for different journals and websites, and presented papers in national seminars. Her areas of interest include international relations theory, counter-terrorism, and counter-insurgency.