Publication details
Narkoterorismus – nálepka, či skutečná hrozba? Poznatky z kolumbijské historie
| Title in English | Narcoterrorism – a label or a real threat? Lessons from Colombian history |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Sborník vybraných příspěvků z 6. výroční konference bezpečnostního výzkumu |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Political sciences |
| Keywords | terrorism, narcoterrorism, organized crime, Colombia |
| Description | This paper aims for a critical evaluation of the „narcoterrorism“ concept. The term has entered public discourse during the 1980s and ever since, its meaning has been constructed in dependency on the specific needs of politicians and public officials. The academy has lagged behind the whole time and scientific examination of narcoterrorism has been largely controlled by the context of political imagery that constructed its meaning. In a process that lacked the scientific incliantion towards systematization of findings, the concept swelled up into a state in which the „narcoterrorist” label now applies to structures that are incomparable in their character, declared goals, and methods used for the achievement of these goals. Colombia presents itself as an area ideal for demonstration of the resulting mess, in which the „narcoterrorist” label is applied for both organized crime groups employing terrorist methods in their pursuit of maximal profit in drug trade, and insurgency groups that employ terrorist methods as a tool in their pursuit of specific political goals and use drug trade as a way to finance the insurgency. The goal of this paper is to indicate a possible way towards more meaningful scientific approach towards the narcoterrorism concept – the reduction of its meaning to a subcategory of criminal terrorism. |