Islamism and intelligence in South Asia: militancy, politics and security

State sponsorship of terrorism is a complex and often ignored subject in contemporary security studies discourses. As stated by the British military historian Adrian Weale and noted in the foreword of Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia, ‘[i]nternational terrorism rarely happens without a state sponsor, directly or indirectly’ (p. x). Covert and overt support to terrorist groups to fulfil the state’s interest was a feature of international terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the emergence of ‘new terrorism’ after the end of the Cold War and the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US underlined that global terrorist organisations have evolved to operate without state support or sponsorship. Prem Mahadevan brings the focus back to the issue of state sponsorship of terror with a focus on Pakistan and the non-state actors operating from its soil targeting neighbours, especially India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.