Hostage‑taking by rogue states is on the rise. New research provides fresh ways to tackle it

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · May 05, 2026 · 966 words · By Kylie Moore-Gilbert

State-sponsored hostage-taking International Law and Human Rights Geopolitical Instability

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What to know about State-sponsored hostage-taking

The author discusses the rise of state-sponsored hostage-taking and promotes a special edition of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. The text proposes several policy solutions, including expanded legal frameworks, stronger government coordination, and improved recovery care for victims.

Propaganda risk 30%

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 3

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Hostage-taking by nation-states is emerging as an overlooked consequence of the more unstable and dangerous world that’s been created by the fracturing rules-based order.

Why it matters

In an increasingly might-is-right system of international relations, malign actors have become even more emboldened to take the citizens of Western democracies hostage.

Common ground

Once primarily the domain of non-state actors, including terror groups, drug cartels and armed gangs, hostage-taking has become a lucrative bargaining chip in the hands of countries like Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and Venezuela.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Oversimplification: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this State-sponsored hostage-taking story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that These positions exist now in the US and Canada?
How does this story connect State-sponsored hostage-taking with International Law and Human Rights over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/hostage-taking-by-rogue-states-is-on-the-rise-new-re…

analyticsAnalysis

30%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 90%

Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Name Calling / Labeling 80% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Oversimplification 70% confidence

Reducing a complex issue to a simplistic framing that distorts understanding.

Why it matters: Recognizing oversimplification helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5

check_circle Corroborated 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info

Claim 1: “These positions exist now in the US and Canada.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web results are about Reddit forums and United Airlines flights, which are irrelevant to government offices coordinating hostage responses.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — For the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) and Northern Ireland; News, Politics, Economics, Society, Business, Culture, discussion and anything else UK related.
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/wiki/index.mobile/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jul 14, 2023 · Question This is what nerdwallet tells me: “If you paid for your ticket with United MileagePlus miles, you can cancel your flight online or by calling customer service. As of Jan. 1, 20…
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/comments/14z8p23/can…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — United won't cancel the flight and return the luggage. So, any passenger with a checked bag is completely stuck. Any passenger who may actually want a refund for this nonsense is also stuck. They are …
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedairlines/

info

Claim 2: “A new, special edition of the the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (which I guest edited) highlights some possible policy solutions.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web results are for the New England Journal of Medicine and unrelated medical/mathematical topics; there is no evidence regarding the 'Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research and review articles, and editorial opinion on a wide variety of topics of ...
https://www.nejm.org/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Explore the current issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 394 No. 17).
https://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/current

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Apr 18, 2026 · An 87-year-old man presented with difficulty breathing after having inhaled thick smoke from a forest fire for several hours. Respiratory failure developed. On flexible bronchoscopy, bl…
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm2518379

check_circle

Claim 3: “strengthening the Declaration on Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations (launched by Canada and now supported by more than 80 nations)”

CORROBORATED

The claim is confirmed by multiple sources: a general research article, a joint statement, and the official Canada.ca government website, confirming Canada launched the declaration and it has wide support.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — strengthening the Declaration on Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations (launched by Canada and now supported by more than 80 nations). imposing multilateral sanctions and other tools of econ…
https://theconversation.com/hostage-taking-by-rogue-states-i…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State relations was launched in Ottawa, Canada, on February 15, 2021, with the aim of enhancing international cooperation to end this practice.
https://www.norway.no/en/missions/osce/norway-and-the-osce/s…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Arbitrary detention for leverage in state-to-state relations transcends geographic boundaries. Through constructive dialogue, shared learning and collective problem solving of common challenges and re…
https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2023/09/ministe…

info

Claim 4: “in an innovative study on Israeli public opinion in the wake of the mass hostage-taking by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, 2023, our contributors found that feelings of connectedness to hostage families had an impact on how the public perceived hostage deal-making.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific finding regarding 'feelings of connectedness to hostage families' is only mentioned in one source. Other sources confirm the October 7 attacks occurred but do not mention this specific study's findings.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — For instance, in an innovative study on Israeli public opinion in the wake of the mass hostage-taking by Hamas and other armed groups on October 7, 2023, our contributors found that feelings of connec…
https://theconversation.com/hostage-taking-by-rogue-states-i…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Hamas’s incursion into Israel on October 7 transformed the politics of the Middle East. Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has carried out a forensic a...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0atzea-mPY

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — However, the combined use of facial recognition tools and social media exploitation can yield verifiable identity data. This report identifies three murderers from the October 7 attacks.
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/05/01/using-facial-recogni…

info

Claim 5: “hostage-taking has become a lucrative bargaining chip in the hands of countries like Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and Venezuela.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific phrasing and list of countries appear in one web search result. While other results discuss cooperation between these countries, they do not specifically confirm the claim that hostage-taking is used as a 'lucrative bargaining chip' by all these specific nations.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Once primarily the domain of non-state actors, including terror groups, drug cartels and armed gangs, hostage-taking has become a lucrative bargaining chip in the hands of countries like Iran, Russia,…
https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/hostagetaking-by-rogue-st…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — China wants reforms of the world order, but what Russia, Iran and North Korea seek more resembles an outright revolution. Russia moreover now sees its relationship with Europe as almost entirely adver…
https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/10/cooperation-b…

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web search NEUTRAL — And it starts, they write, with Russia's war in Ukraine. An Invasion and a Convergence "Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was a critical catalyst for cooperation among Russia, China, Ira…
https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/meet-the-axis-of-upheava…

info

Claim 6: “UN torture rapporteur Alice Edwards argues this would help open avenues for victims seeking justice.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of mathematics forum posts and is completely irrelevant to Alice Edwards or UN torture rapporteurs.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Prove that that $U(n)$, which is the set of all numbers relatively prime to $n$ that are greater than or equal to one or less than or equal to $n-1$ is an Abelian ...
https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/276644/prove-that-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2012 · A remark: regardless of whether it is true that an infinite union or intersection of open sets is open, when you have a property that holds for every finite collection of sets (in this c…
https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/153902/un-countable…

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web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · Mathematics Stack Exchange is a platform for asking and answering questions on mathematics at all levels.
https://math.stackexchange.com/questions

check_circle

Claim 7: “This step was also proposed in a 2024 Australian Senate inquiry into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm the 2024 Australian Senate inquiry into the wrongful detention of citizens overseas and the associated proposals/reports.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This step was also proposed in a 2024 Australian Senate inquiry into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas. The government has yet to respond to the inquiry. 3) Innovative models for …
https://theconversation.com/hostage-taking-by-rogue-states-i…

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web search NEUTRAL — A global human rights organisation says Australia currently lacks a system to identify cases of wrongful detention of its citizens. During a Senate inquiry hearing on Sept. 26, Human Rights Watch (HRW…
https://anr.news/state-of-affairs/australias-system-failing-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Disappointing Response to Australian Parliamentary Enquiry into Wrongful Detention. In the early hours of November 29, the Australian Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee quietly publ…
https://hostageaid.org/disappointing-response-to-australian-…

help

Claim 8: “Legal academic Carla Ferstman suggests governments should look to existing models in the US and Canada and consider passing legislation to allow victims of state-sponsored terrorism to sue hostage-taking states in their domestic courts.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for Carla Ferstman's proposal.

help

Claim 9: “Other research shows Russia escalated its strategy of taking US citizens hostage as the relationship between the two countries deteriorated, particularly following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this specific research claim.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.