International Terrorism

Choosing the Right Target

Brian Michael Jenkins

Expert InsightsPublished 1981

The author addresses the question of “What really is the Soviet role in international terrorism?” The Soviet Union provides direct and indirect support, including arms and training, to many groups that have used terrorist tactics in the course of their struggle. There is, however, no convincing evidence that the Soviets are orchestrating terrorism worldwide. Publicly blaming the Soviet Union for terrorism may give any future measure proposed to combat it the cast of an anti-Soviet ploy. The author feels that now is the propitious time to seek an international agreement reasserting diplomatic immunity and calling for diplomatic isolation of nations who indulge in terrorist activities. If we go after the Russians instead, the terrorists may get away.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Jenkins, Brian Michael, International Terrorism: Choosing the Right Target. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1981. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6597.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.