Call for Book Chapters
Terrorism in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean: A Comparative Analysis
Editors: José de Arimatéia da Cruz, Michael Hall, and Sabella O. Abidde
In the 1970s and 1980s, while terrorism was common in Europe, the US was largely isolated from these attacks—except perhaps against its national interests, buildings, and citizens within the US. But within a decade, there was the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York; the extrajudicial act that maimed dozens of people during the 1996 Summer Olympics; and the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh. However, it was the September 11, 2001, heinous acts that focused the US on the insidiousness of terrorism. The African continent was like that in the sense that except for low-intensity conflicts, ethnic and religious conflicts, resource conflicts, and national wars, the continent was, for the most part, unmindful to classical terrorism.
But all that changed in the post-9/11 environment when terrorist groups based in the Middle East exported their ideologies, angst, and aspiration to the continent. These groups—Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and Al-Shabaab—operates within the continent’s political, religious, cultural, and social space. Boko Haram, operating primarily within Nigerian, was a fringe anti-western and anti-globalization sect that morphed into a bloodletting and terror machine. We have in Latin America groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC); the National Liberation Army (ELN); and the Shining Path (SL). While some groups are moribund, others have disbanded. The Caribbean Island nations, on the other hand, is not known for big-name terrorist organizations even if it had suffered terrorism in the past. What is more common in the region, however, are political violence and cybersecurity incidences.
While all terrorist activities are criminal; not all criminal activities are terrorism. Relatedly, there is the belief that the actions of a state—in pursuit of its national security objectives—cannot be considered terrorism. This is a fallacy because, states, in the pursuit of certain objectives, do indeed cause death and destructions. A heinous as it may be terrorism serves several goals—including economic, religious, social, and political. At other times, it is a tool for the weak, the oppressed, and the exploited to maintain or retain their humanity. Increasingly, however—especially since the post-9/11 world—terrorism is seen as cruel criminal, and untenable. It is also one of those phenomena that, for the most part, has been challenging in terms of an exact definition. Nonetheless, since 2003, there have been no fewer than a dozen conventions and protocols related to states’ obligations in combating and curtailing terrorism.
The purpose of this book, therefore, is to offer a comparative assessment of terrorism in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. We require that scholars engage in a cross-regional analysis of terrorism. The three regions have many proximities in terms of their history of slavery and colonialism, underdevelopment, and shared experiences in terms of their role and place within the Global South. A concerted and systemic effort at understanding terrorism in the three spheres will aid in our understanding of national security, national interest, foreign policy, governance and institutions, and the role and place of these emerging regions within the international system. And while we have listed some topics, scholars who are interested in the project may suggest topics so long as their area of interest falls within the overall theme of this project.
Suggested topics are:
POTENTIAL CHAPTER TOPICS:
I. CONCEPTUALIZING TERRORISM
1. What is Terrorism?
2. An Overview of Terrorist Groups
3. The Modern Origins of Terrorism
4. Terrorism in a Post-9/11 Environment
5. The Human, Economic, and Environmental Cost of Terrorism
6. The Media and Terrorism
II. DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
7. Terrorists and their Global Networks
8. Criminal Syndicates and Terrorists
9. Domestics Laws and International Conventions
III. NON-TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF TERRORISM
10. Drugs, Weapons, and Terrorists
11. Terrorists and Telecommunications
12. Sympathizers and Sponsors of Terrorism
13. Women, Children, and Terrorism
FORMATTING/CITATION/DUE DATES:
- Submit a 300 to 350 word abstract and a 150 to 200-word bio (about the author) by 1 August 2021. You will be notified of acceptance or rejection of your abstract on 15 August 2021.
- The completed chapter—9,000 to 9,500 words—is due 30 January 2022.
- For formatting/citation, please adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style (no in-text citations, use endnotes and provide bibliography).
- Send the abstract, author biography, and general inquiries to [email protected] and please cc the co-editors [email protected] and [email protected].
ABOUT THE EDITORS
José de Arimatéia da Cruz is a professor of international relations and international studies in the department of political science & international studies at Georgia Southern University, Georgia. He holds a PhD in political science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. Dr. Cruz is a former Research Professor at the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute; and a Research Fellow at the Brazil Research Unit Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA). Visiting Professor at the Department of International and Diplomatic Studies Prague School of Economics and Business. He is the co-author of “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 10: Military Takes Control of Policing in Rio de Janeiro,” Small Wars Journal, 23 February 2018; and “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 9: Concerns About Potential Gang Influence on Upcoming Brazilian Elections,” Small Wars Journal, 25 January 2018. He is a Small Wars Journal-El Centro Fellow.
Michael Hall is a professor of history in the department of history at Georgia Southern University, Savannah, GA. He holds a B.A. in History - Gettysburg College; M.A. in International Studies - Ohio University; and a PhD in History, Ohio University. He is the author of “Ethnic Conflict in Mexico: The Zapatista Army of National Liberation” in Santosh C. Saha, Ed. Perspectives on Contemporary Ethnic Conflict: Primal Violence or the Politics of Conviction (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006); Historical Dictionary of Haiti (Scarecrow Press, 2012); and “Castro and Cabral: Cuban Assistance in the Struggle for Independence in Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde” in Sabella Abidde and Charity Manyeruke, Eds. Fidel Castro and Africa’s Liberation Struggle (Lexington Books, 2020). Dr. Hall is the Book Review Editor, Journal of Global South Studies.
Sabella O. Abidde is a professor of political science at Alabama State University. He holds an MA in political science from Minnesota State University Mankato, and a PhD in African Studies, World Affairs, Public Policy and Development Studies from Howard University. His edited volumes on Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean include The Challenges of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Springer, 2021); Fidel Castro and Africa’s Liberation Struggle (Lexington, 2020); and Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean: The Case for Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation (Lexington Books, 2018). He is a member of the Association of Global South Studies (AGSS); the Caribbean Studies Association (CSA); the Latin American Studies Association (LASA); and the African Studies/Research Forum (ASRF).