NCJ Number
129031
Journal
Security Management Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1991) Pages: 26-32,34-36
Date Published
1991
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the policies of various Western democratic countries toward terrorist hostagetaking and recommends a strategy of "firm flexibility" in dealing with such incidents.
Abstract
Although hostagetaking is only a small part of the terrorist problem confronting democratic societies, it has an impact out of proportion to its effectiveness as a political tactic. Democratic governments are and must be concerned about the individual lives of their citizens; whereas, terrorists easily treat individuals as pawns to be sacrificed in a larger game. This article examines policies toward terrorists' hostagetaking in the countries of Israel, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Japan, and West Germany. This article recommends a policy of firm flexibility as an approach that combines strategies of force and concession. The policy of "flexible firmness" must address six issues: negotiation, use of force, proactivity, media coverage, continuity of government, and individual responsibility. Under this strategy, negotiation is accepted as an attempt to resolve a situation through discussion and carefully weighed compromise. Credible force is required if any option beyond complete surrender is to exist. This requires the development of specialized units and capabilities. Proactivity is the process by which plans and capabilities are developed in advance for foreseeable contingencies to ensure the most effective response should a situation arise. Regarding media coverage, the government must do a better job of protecting important information while providing as much accurate material as possible to the media.