Territorial Confiscation May Restrain Terroristic Regimes

Abstract

This opinion essay proposes enforced territorial confiscation as a possible means of restraining terroristic regimes. The author traces terrorism from left-wing revolutionary groups, such as the German and Japanese Red Armies and the Italian Red Brigades, to the present, when published lists of terror organizations are, in the author's account, made up mostly of Muslim fanatics, and identifies a growing concern with regimes that themselves act in a terroristic way. The regimes discussed include the Russian and North Korean leaderships, the Iranian regime, the Turkish government under Erdoğan and the Hamas regime in Gaza, with reference to the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023. The essay argues that such regimes violate international rules and ethical principles and hide behind their own populations, who suffer both from the regime and from retaliation by harmed countries, citing examples from Yemen, Iran, Gaza and the Ukrainian shelling of Russian sites. Because military retaliation appears to have little effect on these leaderships, and because territory is often a nation's most precious property even for such regimes, the author suggests that the threat of territorial confiscation might restrict their terroristic activity. The author considers the approach unsuitable for superpowers such as Russia or China but possibly effective against Iran, Hamas and Turkey, while noting that its implementation would most likely first require a military defeat.

Abstract prepared by the editorial office from the full text of the article; the authors did not supply one.