Citation

Barter SJ. Terrorism Polit. Violence 2011; 23(2): 213-232.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/09546553.2010.526869

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Why have militants in southern Thailand utilized anonymous and at times indiscriminate terrorist violence against civilians? This article gauges three explanations: resource wealth, weak states, and strong states. I argue that terrorist violence against civilians in southern Thailand is partially sustained and largely structured by the considerable institutional strength of the Thai state. This helps sustain the conflict by providing an additional grievance and it structures the form of violence by forcing militants underground and severing their links to civilians. A potential response would be to trim state agencies and scale back the presence of the state in Patani.

Language: en

Keywords

Islam; Patani; strong states; terrorism; Thailand