Global trends in kidnapping by terrorist groups

This study examines 40 years of kidnapping incidents by terrorist groups and finds several interesting trends, including terrorist groups are engaged in more kidnapping than in years past, but the proportion of kidnapping among all terrorist events annually has remained fairly constant; the geograph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGlobal change, peace & security Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 311 - 330
Main Author Forest, James J.F.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 01.10.2012
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Extremism
Extremists
Hostages
Ideology
Kidnapping
Latin America
Marxists
Muslims
ransoms
Revolutionary movements
South Asia
Terrorism
terrorist ideology and tactics
Terrorist Organizations
Terrorists
Victims
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Summary:This study examines 40 years of kidnapping incidents by terrorist groups and finds several interesting trends, including terrorist groups are engaged in more kidnapping than in years past, but the proportion of kidnapping among all terrorist events annually has remained fairly constant; the geographic concentration of kidnapping incidents has shifted from Latin America (1970s-1990s) to South Asia (2000s-present); left-wing Marxist revolutionary groups have kidnapped more than groups in other ideological categories, but there has been a significant increase over the past decade in kidnappings by Muslim extremist groups; terrorist groups overall appear far less interested in kidnapping for financial gain than for political or policy concessions; and terrorist groups are selective about the type of people they target for kidnapping, which is striking given that many other kinds of terrorist attacks (e.g. bombings) are indiscriminate with regard to victims. The article concludes with some implications and recommendations for future research.
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ISSN:1478-1158
1478-1166
DOI:10.1080/14781158.2012.714766