The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

TERRORISM

Negotiating at the Edge of the Abyss

Guy Olivier Faure

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon. The word comes from the French Revolution with the idea of a group imposing a new power through terror, but the practice is much older. It was already a method used in the biblical times by the Sicarii (“dagger men”) Zealots, a Jewish group spreading terror among “collaborators” of the occupying Romans. In the mid-nineteenth century, terrorism became a common tool in Russia for anarchist groups in their struggle against the czar. French anarchists, then Irish Republicans, then Jewish groups in the Middle East took their turn in inducing fear to enforce their views. More recently, Palestinians, and jihadists have illustrated this ...