How to finance terrorism: the case of the Italian Red Brigades (1970-1988)

Abstract

This article analyses the different means used by the Red Brigades to fund their clandestine structure and to launch attacks over a period of almost twenty years, between 1970 and 1988. In relation to the activities of the Red Brigades, the findings of the research reveal three main financial sources: robberies, kidnappings, and external funding. Thanks to information that has been made currently available, it is possible to affirm that practically all the Red Brigades’ financing was secured through these three channels.