Trendsetters, Trend Followers, and Individual Players: Obtaining Global Counterterror Actor Types from Proscribed Terror Lists

This article seeks to conceptualize global counter-terror actor types by examining the designated terrorist organisations lists of six countries; the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Russia and China. It is argued that these countries should be placed into one of three distinct categories: Trendsetters, Trend Followers and Individual Players. Being able to classify countries according to these categories is important for global policy makers. It raises awareness of the differences between countries, and emphasises that ‘one-fits-all’ policies are inappropriate and have little chance of achieving global endorsement