Terrorism is an act of violence, usually done in the public sphere, which is used to incite fear in a population in order to coerce change in public opinion or a government’s position on an issue. In many parts of the world, groups wage war with their countries, either to separate from the government or to overthrow it entirely. Sometimes these people are treated unfairly by their government, and their struggles are justified. Other times, these groups use violence against both military and civilian targets, terrorizing innocent bystanders to get what they want—these groups are terrorists. Often, though, it is difficult to tell the difference.
They elucidate that terrorism is a “premeditated, politically motivated, violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups of clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience,” (National Institute of Justice).
Terrorism can be defined and viewed in many different ways. As discussed in “Terrorism and Political Violence,” by Alex Schmid, there are multiple frameworks in which terrorism can be defined (Schmid 2010, 197). In Schmid’s article, he discusses the five ways he feels terrorism can be looked at, terrorism as/and politics, terrorism as/and crime, terrorism as/and warfare, terrorism as/and communication and terrorism as/and religious fundamentalism (Schmid 2010, 197). This is interesting because it explores the concept of terrorism in different lenses, where each has its own motives, its own background and its own participants. This is important to understand because not every act of terrorism is done in the same light and for the same purposes. Just as any other crime, there are reasons behind the act. When studying terrorism, understanding motives makes all the difference, and understanding what is at stake for the attacker or the attacked helps fully conceptualize the matter.
Terrorism is the act of engaging in destructive acts or causing mayhem by a group of people in order to pursue their agenda. This act of intolerance has been on the rise especially in Muslim countries. Terror groups such as the al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have emerged in different parts of the Asia and Africa. Their agenda is to impose the sharia law in the Muslim community. This is because they feel oppressed by the Western countries which are composing of the Christian majority (Duyvesteyn & Peeters, 2015).
However, the article suggests that despite the results of terrorist’s performance, their success is determine on how society respond to the terrorist’s act. If the government takes action to prevent any dreadful event, it gives a perception that terrorism can work. It gives the notion of terrorist group that violence send a message to the government and influence
Terrorism, within modern society, has become a common strategy employed by various radical groups throughout the world. The utilization of terroristic tactics originated in Russia during the 19th century as a response to an autocratic Russian system that was believed to be well overdue for refinement. During this time, terrorism remained within its place of origin and was a carefully directed phenomenon. Thus, most acts of terror were aimed at specified targets who were chosen systematically, ensuring the message being conveyed was clear and no harm occurred to civilians. With the progression of society, terrorism has evolved into a more horrific strategy. Evolving from a once directed phenomenon to an increasingly unsystematic style of attack, that can occur anywhere at anytime. This change has caused many to believe that terrorism itself is a mindless act that serves no purpose other than to instill fear within society. This assumption is partially correct, but contrary to popular belief the use of terrorism by radical groups does serve a purpose. By instilling fear within society through violent acts, terrorists attempt to usher change. This is because “Terrorism is based on the idea that the kind of change desired can be achieved only with violence” . With this belief, many radical organizations choose to utilize terrorism as a tool to cause change, as they believe it is the only way to bring about change. Another effect of this belief is radical groups are
Terrorism primary purpose is psychological, as it’s perpetrators are concerned with not the amount of damage they cause but rather the emotional and personal effects of their action. This has been referred to as propaganda by deed, where the actions of the perpetrators of terrorism are not based on strategical gains and instead are focused on drawing attention and fear towards the group. One profound example of this can be seen in the recent attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando where 49 were killed. While such is a horrific the proportion of those killed compared to the U.S population is small, yet the psychological effects were huge because it happened on U.S soil and in the usually fun setting of a nightclub. This psychological component that exists within terrorism is essential in understanding its own
In his academic work “Why Terrorism doesn’t work”, Max Abrahms examines the list of twenty-eight terrorist groups since 2001 in order to demonstrate that terrorism doesn’t achieve its political objectives (Abrahms, 2006). He used statistical
In advance to developing my claim, I consider it is relevant to describe the general idea of terrorism. Terrorism including suicide bombing, mass shootings, and another indiscriminate killing is a sad feature of current life. Terrorism and terrorist events for example, the September 11 attack, and the world trade
Terrorism in the twenty-first century has some similarities and differences from terrorism in the twentieth century. Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use or threatened use of violence in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. Also useful to remember that because the two entities involved, the terrorists and the terrorized, are on the opposite end of the political, religious or ideological continuum, the same act is viewed by them differently. There is much sense in the phrase one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
It has been established that individually the two terms (terrorism and religion) have sense of connotation and originality but when one endeavors to integrate the two terms, they lose their authentic and explicit definition. Unlike religion where beliefs and metanarratives are implicated, thus hard to define, terrorism has been defined and redefined by many scholars and despite the many definitions, the scholars acknowledge the use of violence to attain the grievances (power) which are backed by ideologies. Religious terrorism ensues when the ideology that drives the group is religion.
Some major purposes of terrorist atrocities is to gain or attract attention. Furthermore, the terrorist atrocity may increase the prestige of the terrorist group and strengthen its acceptability and influence among other terrorist groups. The war on power is what drives most terrorist groups and feeds the act of terrorism. Additionally, terrorist atrocities is to provoke the existing political establishment to commit counter-atrocities. If the government is seen employing the same tactics as terrorist groups, they will gain sympathy by others (Poland, 2011). People choose terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social or political or historical wrong (Poland, 201). They also choose to terrorize other religious groups when they feel
Terrorism is the deliberate threat or use of violence by individuals or a subnational group to attain a political or social objective. There are two broad categories of terrorism, which are domestic and transnational. Domestic terrorism involves only the host country therefore the attackers and victims are from the same geographical location(**). For this paper I will focus most of my discussion and research on transnational
The rise on terrorism has dramatically increased in a diverse range of countries around the world. Within the last year, the world has achieved the highest number of attacks. Terrorism is an act of violence and strategy towards the government. One of the main purpose of terrorism is to not only add fear into the public, but also change the public’s eye. Now, global terrorism is a bigger issue that affects the world. Global terrorism does not just affect how the economies work but how civilizations continue to manifest. Global terrorism affects and targets religious groups, governments, and political parties. Terrorism can be caused by an individual or a group of people referred to as terrorist. People who are terrorist are able to break down their mental state of mind and risk their lives for what they believe in. It is almost impossible to track down these dangerous criminals because they keep such a low profile that no one can single them out from the regular public. There have been countries that have harbored terrorism worldwide, especially in the Middle East. There have been numerous events that led to disaster and eventually war. Most terrorist organizations are radical fundamentalists who commit terror in the name of their religion. Due to the shocking event of September 11, 2001, the US government made the “war on terror” the number one issue. Terrorism has been a part of global history
While established governments see terrorist activity as terrorism, terrorists themselves see it as war - war against an enemy, an oppressor, war for freedom, justice, etc. Indeed, they see themselves as rightful governments fighting for their lawful rights. And, as established governments, they pursue their wars by destroying people and property.