“How to Fight Savage Tribes”: The Global War on Terror in Historical Perspective

Erik Ringmar

Terrorism and Political Violence, 2013, vol. 25, issue 2, 264-283

Abstract: The Bush administration's “Global War on Terror” has, by both defenders and critics, been characterized as unique. However, as this article shows, there is a long tradition, both in the United States and in Europe, of fighting wars against “savage tribes”—against enemies who fail to make a distinction between soldiers and civilians, and who use terror as a weapon. The problem of how to fight such groups was much discussed in the legal literature of the nineteenth century. This is a discussion from which it is possible to learn contemporary lessons.

Date: 2013
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DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2012.661321

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