ABSTRACT
Can states be terrorists? States certainly commit acts of violence, and indeed, state violence is routinely far more lethal and destructive than the violence carried out by non-state actors. In the 20th century, wars killed an estimated 231 million people, and the biggest death tolls usually occurred when fully fledged states slugged it out with each other (Leitenberg, 2006). Up to 15 million people were killed in the First World War. That slaughter was dwarfed by the Second World War which resulted in as many as 75 million deaths. Civil wars fought between governments and their opponents account for a hefty proportion of the remaining deaths, with, for example, the Chinese Civil War alone causing 6.2 million deaths between 1946 and 1950.
