Who Gets to Resist?

This paper examines contested definitions of terrorism and resistance, analyzing how the US and India instrumentalize such labels to suppress dissent and monopolize violence. Notably, it is worrisome that state narratives regarding who gets to resist remain dominant, despite national wars on terror...

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Main Author: Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS) 2025-06-01
Series:Politikon
Subjects:
Online Access:https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon/article/view/482
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author Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui
author_facet Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui
author_sort Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui
collection DOAJ
description This paper examines contested definitions of terrorism and resistance, analyzing how the US and India instrumentalize such labels to suppress dissent and monopolize violence. Notably, it is worrisome that state narratives regarding who gets to resist remain dominant, despite national wars on terror being widely criticized. Moreover, it is puzzling that the US and India, states with historically diverging foreign policies, are today converging on security issues.  To address these dynamics, this paper employs case studies of the US and India to demonstrate how they use anti-terror laws and framing inconsistently, privileging elite interests over democratic processes. While the US focuses on opposing resistance against allies abroad, India directs aggression domestically, reflecting differences in federal structures and foreign policy ideologies. These findings provide theoretical insights regarding how states with divergent foreign policies can act similarly on matters of national security, offering timely insights into the US and India’s management of resistance, revealing systemic mechanisms that reinforce state authority under the guise of counterterrorism.
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spelling doaj-art-437e9c8479fa4f1994812873ea1e4bdd2025-08-20T02:06:31ZengInternational Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS)Politikon2414-66332025-06-016010.22151/politikon.60.2Who Gets to Resist?Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui0University of California, Irvine This paper examines contested definitions of terrorism and resistance, analyzing how the US and India instrumentalize such labels to suppress dissent and monopolize violence. Notably, it is worrisome that state narratives regarding who gets to resist remain dominant, despite national wars on terror being widely criticized. Moreover, it is puzzling that the US and India, states with historically diverging foreign policies, are today converging on security issues.  To address these dynamics, this paper employs case studies of the US and India to demonstrate how they use anti-terror laws and framing inconsistently, privileging elite interests over democratic processes. While the US focuses on opposing resistance against allies abroad, India directs aggression domestically, reflecting differences in federal structures and foreign policy ideologies. These findings provide theoretical insights regarding how states with divergent foreign policies can act similarly on matters of national security, offering timely insights into the US and India’s management of resistance, revealing systemic mechanisms that reinforce state authority under the guise of counterterrorism. https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon/article/view/482Resistance MovementsTerrorismIndiaUnited StatesNational SecurityForeign Policy
spellingShingle Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui
Who Gets to Resist?
Politikon
Resistance Movements
Terrorism
India
United States
National Security
Foreign Policy
title Who Gets to Resist?
title_full Who Gets to Resist?
title_fullStr Who Gets to Resist?
title_full_unstemmed Who Gets to Resist?
title_short Who Gets to Resist?
title_sort who gets to resist
topic Resistance Movements
Terrorism
India
United States
National Security
Foreign Policy
url https://politikon.iapss.org/index.php/politikon/article/view/482
work_keys_str_mv AT mohammadamaansiddiqui whogetstoresist