ABSTRACT
Terrorism is inherently international. The archetypal international terrorist act involves the citizens or territory of more than one country, as for example in the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, which killed nearly 3,000 citizens including British, German, French, Italian and Indians. In view of globalisation and increasing interdependence, almost every significant terrorist campaign has an international dimension, even when it is mounting a challenge to a specific government within its own territory. For example, the IRA raised funds in the United States and used the Republic of Ireland as a safe haven, as a logistic organisational base and as a source of recruits. Similarly the Basque terrorist group ETA has used French territory as a sanctuary and as a base of planning operations. Another manifestation of this international dimension is terrorist groups’ and states’ constant search for political support from like-minded groups overseas, and many examples exist of bilateral collaboration between extremist groups involved in terrorism and states that sponsor and support them.
