Richterova, Daniela (2018) Communist Czechoslovakia, terrorists and revolutionaries : an investigation into state relations with violent non-state actors. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis provides a revisionist account of Czechoslovakia’s relationship with ‘terrorists and revolutionaries’ during the latter half of the Cold War. It explores the motives and assesses the quality of the relationship communist-era Prague forged with myriad groups officially or semi-officially associated with the Palestinian cause. It interrogates the country’s complex security and intelligence liaisons with the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and its myriad factions, starting from the mid-1960s and tracing them all the way to the end of the Cold War. Simultaneously, it sheds light on Czechoslovakia’s policies towards some of the most notorious terrorist figures of the Cold War - Carlos the Jackal, the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre commander Abu Daoud, and the enigmatic Abu Nidal. It argues that Prague’s policies towards these non-state actors were heterodox, inherently uncomfortable and anxious. Simultaneously, it contends that Prague was less able to control the actions of its controversial non-state allies than previously thought. In doing so, it challenges the two-dimensional narrative of Soviet sponsorship of international terrorism by interrogating the complex nature of Prague’s policies towards the Third World, the Middle East and unfamiliar non-state entities claiming common ideological and strategic goals. It draws on tens of thousands of recently-declassified Communist Party, government and intelligence records collected from ten archives in four different countries.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Terrorists -- Czech Republic -- 20th century, Cold War, Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah‏, Carlos, the Jackal, Abou Daoud, 1937-, Abu Nidal
Official Date:	July 2018
Dates:	Date Event July 2018 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Aldrich, Richard J. (Richard James), 1961- ; Harrison, Mark, 1949-|
Sponsors:	University of Warwick
Language:	eng

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