Can Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism Provide an Alternative to the Failed War on Terror Paradigm?
“Can Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism Provide an Alternative to the Failed War on Terror Paradigm?“
Speaker: Jackson, R. (University of Otago, New Zealand)
Date: 16 April 2019
Speaker Session Preview
SMA hosted a speaker session presented by Dr. Richard Jackson (University of Otago, New Zealand) as a part of its SMA General Speaker Series. Dr. Jackson’s presentation highlighted his assessment of whether nonviolent responses to terrorism can provide an alternative to the War on Terror paradigm. He began by outlining scholarly evidence on the effectiveness of counterterrorism strategies and approaches, arguing that there is no real empirical evidence that coercive, force-based approaches to counterterrorism work, and that the War on Terror paradigm has demonstrably failed to curb terrorism or increase security. The reasons for this are well understood in the literature on violence. He explained that violence, by its nature, produces unpredictable outcomes, which makes it a poor tool of policy. Moreover, he suggested that the nature of terrorism as a conflict strategy means that violent forms of counterterrorism are not suited to resolving the deep political reasons why actors choose terrorist strategies. Dr. Jackson believes, therefore, that serious consideration ought to be given to nonviolent responses to terrorism. Furthermore, he believes that research on these methods could potentially provide new, innovative policy options that could prove more effective than the current War on Terror approach. Though research in these areas is still at a nascent stage, he thinks that they provide compelling reasons as to why we ought to conduct more serious research to explore their potential.
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