Using organizational theory and previously untranslated internal documents from the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, this book demonstrates how organizational maintenance led the group to continue fighting even when the costs outweighed the benefits.
This book uses previously untranslated and unpublished transcripts of key internal debates from the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) to unravel the puzzle behind terrorist persistence in the face of certain doom. With its unprecedented view inside a terrorist organization at crucial decision points and discussions of its future, this book highlights the competing considerations that informed ETA's decision-making process, particularly the benefits of the organization's survival for members and the loss of this that peace agreements, which often explicitly demand or hold reasonable expectation that the organization is dissolved, would entail. Bennett's detailed analysis and use of organizational theory reveals that ETA was driven by a desire to survive and expand, and the survival of their organization was ultimately more important than the nationalist movement the organization was formed to pursue.
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1: Introduction
2: Current Understanding of Terrorist Mobilization and Persistence
3: The Organizational Survival Approach to Terrorism
4: Background to Assembly VII
5: Assembly VII of 1976
6: The Elections of 1977
7: Admissions of Failure and the 1981 Ceasefire
8: The First Debate of 1981
9: The Second Debate of 1981
10: Assembly VIII of 1982
11: The Aftermath
12: Conclusion
Appendix: A Guide to the ETA Documents
References
Index
Nell Bennett is an Australian researcher who specializes in terrorism, insurgency, and conflict resolution. She holds a PhD in political science from Macquarie University and a Master of Research in security studies. Dr. Bennett is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counterterrorism and a barrister at the Victorian Bar.
