Strategy of tension

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A strategy of tension (Italian: strategia della tensione) is a political policy where violent struggle is encouraged rather than suppressed. The purpose is to create a general feeling of insecurity in the population and make people seek security in a strong government. The strategy of tension is most closely identified with the Years of Lead in Italy from 1968 to 1982, in which extra-parliamentary far-left Marxist groups, far-right neo-fascist groups, and state intelligence agencies performed bombings, kidnappings, arsons, and murders. Some historians and activists have accused NATO of allowing and sanctioning such terrorism through projects like Operation Gladio, although this is disputed by other historians and denied by the intelligence agencies involved. Other cases where writers have alleged a strategy of tension include the deep state in Turkey from the 1970s–1990s, the war veterans and ZANU–PF in Zimbabwe that coordinated the farm invasions of 2000, the DRS security agency in Algeria...

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