Preventing Political Violence Against Civilians

The increased targeting of civilians by militants raises serious and profound questions for policy-makers. While much of the focus in recent years has been on internationalist militant groups, political violence has notably become more local, not more global. The underlying grievances and issues articulated by the militants and their constituencies are local in nature and require more regionally defined solutions.

Using fieldwork from Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine, this book examines the tactics and strategies of the Provisional IRA, Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and devises a model of constraint to prevent violence against civilians. By developing a model which acknowledges the importance of understanding the historical, social and political context of a conflict, as well as drawing on the latest research, de Burca offers a fresh perspective and approach to the challenges facing conflicted societies.

Review: De Burca's striking and innovative text offers a nuanced analysis of political violence used to pursue ethno-nationalist aims. Her cases, Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine, may be traditional but her conclusions offer an important road map to scholars, students and policy practitioners on the means by which such violence can be prevented and minimised and ultimately replaced by political action.

De Burca convincingly argues that generic and de-contextualised models for addressing political violence fail to capture the depth and complexity of the phenomenon. The model proposed, rooted in social movement theory, offers greater understanding of political violence as well as identifying practical policy tools to address it. - Ben Tonra, University College Dublin Aoibhin de Burca's book provides a fresh analysis of an important question, why and when militant groups resort to violence against civilians.

Understanding the dynamic of political violence, as the author argues, is essential to prevent its escalation. This insightful, original and detailed comparative study of Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine is an important read for both scholars and policy makers. - Guy Ben-Porat, Ben Gurion University of the Negev and author of Between State and Synagogue: The Secularisation of Contemporary Israel