Nowhere to turn - The shifting trends of suicide attacks

Suicide attacks have come to characterise jihadist campaigns in various theatres. From Bali to Baghdad, Jerusalem to Jalalabad, the images of suicide bombers, often accompanied by martyrdom videos, have become synonymous with violent Islamist movements.

However, as Robert Pape demonstrated in his 2005 book Dying to win - the strategic logic of suicide terrorism, suicide attacks are not integral to Islamist or Islamic campaigns, but are simply a relatively modern tactic that has seemingly proven effective against post-industrial militaries.

Pape argued that "there is little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism". Rather, groups sponsoring suicide tactics are "trying to establish or maintain political self-determination by compelling a democratic power to withdraw from territories they claim".

The University of Chicago professor was largely correct in this assertion. However, since 2005 the use of suicide attacks has expanded considerably, and the motivations for the tactics have diversified.

Therefore, while Pape's thesis remains broadly accurate, the use of suicide tactics has changed over the years. As data from Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC) since 1998 demonstrates, religious ideological motivations have become more common as opposed to political nationalist motivations and non-democratic states have also been targeted.

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