Greece’s Ulrike Meinhof: Pola Roupa and the revolutionary struggle

© 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Pola Roupa’s arrest in 2016 was the final nail in the coffin of Revolutionary Struggle, the first guerrilla group to emerge on Greece’s terrorist landscape after the 2002 collapse of 17 November, the country’s premier terrorist organisation for almost three decades and one of Europe’s longest-running terror gangs. Drawing on the judicial investigation findings, courtroom testimonies, RS communiqués and interviews with counter-terrorism officials, this article tells the story of Pola Roupa, the first female leader of a Greek terrorist group in an attempt to understand the political reasons and motivational factors that led to her involvement in terrorism. At the same time, the article hopefully contributes to the study and understanding of women and terrorism by providing an insight into the role and experience of a female militant inside Greece’s gender-conservative and overwhelmingly male-dominated armed struggle movement.Published versio

Show Racism The Red Card: potential barriers to the effective implementation of the anti-racist message

This discussion paper focuses on anti-racist groups associated with British Association football (soccer) and the barriers that they face in relation to effective implementation of the anti-racism message and aspirational cultural change. In order to address those issues (above) this essay draws on the educational charity Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) and their work to educate individuals in Great Britain though football. It takes an overview of the work of the charity, specifically focusing on three key areas relating to the group’s mission statement. Concluding comments are made on the current position of SRTRC in light of recent high-profile racist incidents

It’s not the size, it’s the relationship: from ‘small states’ to asymmetry

Debate about the definition of “small state” has produced more fragmentation than consensus, even as the literature has demonstrated its subjects’ roles in joining international organizations propagating norms, executing creative diplomacy, influencing allies, avoiding and joining conflicts, and building peace. However, work on small states has struggled to identify commonalities in these states’ international relations, to cumulate knowledge, or to impact broader IR theory. This paper advocates a changed conceptual and definitional framework. Analysis of “small states” should pivot to examine the dynamics of the asymmetrical relationships in which these states are engaged. Instead of seeking an overall metric for size as the relevant variable—falling victim in a different way Dahl’s “lump-of-power fallacy,” we can recognize the multifaceted, variegated nature of power, whether in war or peacetime

Moral spaces, and sexual transgression: understanding rape in war and post conflict

When it comes to rape in war, evocative language describing rape as a ‘weapon of war’ has become commonplace. Although politically important, overemphasis on strategic aspects of wartime sexual violence can be misleading. Alternative explanations tend to understand rape either as exceptional — a departure from ‘normal’ sexual relationships — or as part of a continuum of gendered violence. This article shows how, even in war, norms are not suspended; nor do they simply continue. War changes the moral landscape. Drawing on ethnographic research over 10 years in northern Uganda, this article argues for a re-sexualization of understandings of rape. It posits that sexual mores are central to explaining sexual violence, and that sexual norms — and hence transgressions — vary depending on the moral spaces in which they occur. In Acholi, moral spaces have temporal dimensions (‘olden times’, the ‘time of fighting’ and ‘these days’) and associated spatial dimensions (home, camp, bush, village, town). The dynamics of each help to explain the occurrence of some forms of sexual violence and the rarity of others. By reflecting on sexual norms and transgressions in these moral spaces, the article sheds light on the relationship between ‘event’ and ‘ordinary’, rape and war

What I have learned about countering terrorism in the UK: a conversation with Robert Spencer

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Routledge in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, available online:https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1841197 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Bob Spencer served as senior investigating officer and a specialist senior investigating officer for terrorism for the West Midlands Police in the U.K. Almost immediately after the 7/7 attacks in London, he was made Head of Intelligence for the West Midlands CTU. West Midlands being assessed at the time to have had the highest terrorism threat in the U.K. outside the capital, Spencer was invited to head the delivery of the governments Prevent agenda within the Regional Counter Terrorism Unit, with responsibility for embedding the strategy across four regional forces. Spencer retired from the force in 2012 but continued to advise various organizations around their compliance with terrorism regulations and particularly their organizational security and preparedness. In June 2016, he was appointed the Prevent Coordinator for Walsall Council in the West Midlands, retiring from the role in 2019.Published versio

Greek Everyman: Andreas Papandreou at 100

© The Author 2019. The Political Quarterly © The Political Quarterly Publishing Co. Ltd. 2019 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2019 marks 100 years since the birth of Andreas Papandreou, Greece's first socialist prime minister and an extraordinary figure of twentieth century European politics. Looking back, the central purpose of this article is to answer pivotal questions about Papandreou and his career. What have been the major turning points in his life? What were his main beliefs? What motivated him and his politics? What were his political priorities and methods? What did he want to achieve as prime minister? Why did he become so involved in foreign policy issues? What were his assets as prime minister? Did they outweigh his shortcomings as a politician and leader? Did power change him and how? What will be Papandreou's place in history?.Published versio

Critical Terrorism Studies–an introduction

Symposium: Critical Terrorism Studies: Foundations, Issues, Challenge

Critical Terrorism Studies–an introduction

Symposium: Critical Terrorism Studies: Foundations, Issues, Challenge