Innovation and Organisational Survival in Terrorist Groups: Evidence from the PKK

Abstract

This article examines innovation as a central mechanism of survival in terror-ist organisations, using the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a longitudinalcase study. Drawing on Lubrano’s tripartite typology of tactical, operational,and strategic innovation, it explores how the PKK has continuously adaptedto shifting political, military, and geopolitical environments since its emer-gence in 1978. Rather than attributing the organisation’s longevity to con-ventional factors such as external sponsorship, ethnic mobilisation, orideological devotion alone, the article argues that its endurance stemsfrom deliberate, multidimensional, and institutionalised innovation.Empirically, it traces the PKK’s evolution from rural guerrilla warfare totechnologically sophisticated insurgency; its organisational transformationunder the decentralised KCK system; and its ideological transition fromMarxism–Leninism to democratic confederalism. The analysis culminates inthe PKK’s self-declared dissolution in May 2025, interpreted not as a rupturebut as the latest phase of strategic reinvention designed to reposition theKurdish movement within civil and political arenas. By integrating theoreticalinsight with longitudinal analysis, the article demonstrates how innovationfunctions as both an adaptive and anticipatory mechanism, sustaining orga-nisational relevance under pressure. It concludes by reflecting on the broaderimplications of innovation for the persistence and transformation of violentnon-state actors.