ABSTRACT
Long term peripheral violent nationalisms bring about two types of responses from the centre: government repressive reactions of an instrumental nature and identity reactions of a centralist nature which are likely to cause, in some cases, new state anti-terrorist nationalism. Anti-terrorist state nationalism stresses pluralist, pacifist and humanist values, directly counterpoising them to those of violent peripheral nationalism. The consolidation of violent nationalisms leads governments to explore multiple approaches in an attempt to determine the nature of the anti-terrorist struggle. Hostile identity polarisation proper to anti-terrorist state nationalism leads to a situation which denies the proclaimed values of pluralism, humanism and pacifism. The use of illegal anti-terrorist practices that are not officially acknowledged creates the conditions which facilitate the corruption of those responsible. The normative anti-terrorist policy had entrenched the armed group and its legitimating community. The hypocritical language and morality inherent in the dirty war, once made public, reinforce the hostile polarisation around identity markers.
