Victims of terrorism are quick to blame any government that gives terrorists sanctuary, provides them with money, or takes any step that falls short of sustained attempts to crush the movement. This focus is understandable. State support for a terrorist group not only is morally wrong but also makes the group far more capable and hinders efforts to counter it. Not surprisingly, state-supported groups are widely depicted as one of the greatest problems for counterterrorism.

This depiction, however, needs refinement. Although states can boost a terrorist group's overall capabilities, many state-supported groups remain weak or ineffective. Still others have collapsed despite state backing because of their own incompetence or lack of appeal. Most important, the effect of state support is not uniform. States can shape a wide range of group capabilities, but the impact varies from state to state and from group to group. States also place limits on their proxies and can even set back the group's cause.

This chapter reviews the type of support that states have given to terrorist groups in recent years and discusses its effects on the groups and the governments they oppose.

An overview of support

Although most of the attention given to state sponsors focuses on their links to a group's actual operations, this focus obscures the much broader role states often play. States can assist terrorist groups in a wide range of ways, not all of which are directly linked to the group's attacks on non-combatants.