Little is known about why the users of terrorism abandon their violent strategy. The field of terrorism studies has focused on the motivations for engaging in terrorism rather than on the motivations for renouncing terrorism. Yet a number of protracted campaigns have ended by the deliberate decision of participants. This paper aims at identifying the individual, material and societal incentives for giving up terrorism in the Spanish context.
Our paper seeks to answer some of the following questions: is the counter-terrorist effort the most significant variable behind a process of terrorist disengagement? Do groups that abandon violence come to the realisation that terrorism has failed or do they perceive new opportunities for achieving their political objectives through peaceful means? Do terrorist groups and individuals follow a simple logic of cost-benefit analysis? What leads individuals to accept offers of reduced prison sentences or amnesties? Is the decision to renounce terrorism the result of an individual or a group process? How do terrorists perceive the government’s counter-recruitment strategy?
The paper will examine terrorist disengagement in three ethno-nationalist groups – Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - Militar (ETA-m) Euskadi Ta Askatasuna Político-Militar (ETA-pm) and Terra Lliure – in order to identify the mechanisms that facilitate abandonment, defection, decline or defeat. The paper will present the preliminary results of a three-year project funded by Spain’s Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), which will run from 2013 to 2016. The project aims to provide an analysis of how Spain dealt with groups employing political violence and terrorism, and what lessons can be learned from these experiences that can be applied to future counterterrorism campaigns.
