POL 10002 International Politics E. Pasimaloku
Assessment 3: Major Essay
Topic: How effective has terrorism being in achieving its political objectives.
This essay will discuss how effective the terrorism has been in achieving its political objectives and will base its arguments on Political Terrorism by Schmid AP and Alberts J 1988 case study and supported by the 9/11 attack by Webster 2011 and the Siege operation by Cathy 2013. In unpacking the topic, key areas such as history and defining terrorist, the effectiveness of terrorism, its political objectives and quantify why civilians has been the target. The cases used were chosen to support the body of the essay as they highlight effectiveness of terrorism with a whole range of terrorism attacks and history around the world indicating the method used, the group involved and the objective of such attacks. The historical background of the word terrorism is that it originates from ‘terrorisme’ a French word that actually came from a Latin verb ‘terreo’ which means frightened. The word terror is expressed in Rome as an unsettling stage of emergency. It was when the Jacobins lost power that terror turned to be an abuse word in this expression (Rajiv, D 2013). This term of abuse has been on the world stage entwined with a complexity of unfinished definition. It has shifted the focus of state governments around the world to its national security department for expansion and development where the Middle East countries,
Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern
“Terrorism's particularly heinous but highly attractive means to achieve political objectives or even radically restructure political foundations is manifest within societies in all reaches of the world. While the practical application of terrorist methodologies comes across as a relatively straightforward craft, the conceptual and ideological understanding, and subsequent evaluation of its socio-political influence, implementation, and psychological impacts present difficult questions, and in some cases conceivably insurmountable obstacles” (Romaniuk 2014, para
The word “terrorism” was first used during the French Revolution when British statesman Edmond Burke used the term to describe the actions of the Jacobin-dominated French government. Under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre, thousands of people that were said to be enemies of the state were put on trial and then executed by use of the guillotine (O 'Connor, 2006). However, since the inception of the word, it has taken on a new meaning. One can now hear the word “terrorism” and be overcome by anger or even fear. Terrorism now seems to have turned to attacks against a government rather
The act of terrorism, an unlawful use of violence and intimidation, is most commonly seen targeting civilians but can also include damage to property or injury to specific individuals. These malicious acts are used to fulfil political, religious or ideological aims in attempt of intimidating the government or society. Terrorisms’ impact reflects on the government and society extracting various responses, both legal and non-legal. The effectiveness of these responses, aimed at obtaining equal justice against terrorism, tend to vary while considering the concepts of preventing terrorist attacks while not infringing on human rights and the resolution of the ‘war against terrorism’. The evident lack of consistency in these responses has been reflected
The French Revolution’s aftermath during the 18th century sparked a vicious campaign against nobles who were seen as enemies of the newly formed state. The post-revolutionary government because of their series of mass executions was referred to as terror. The terror concept differs from the modern use of “terrorism” because the perpetrators are not usually governments and are instead nonstate actors (Lacquer, 2001). The word terrorism can be like the word globalism because it can be difficult to define because of the diversity of its meanings among different individuals and different groups. The continual transformation of the contexts in which the term is used causes difficulty in forming a distinctive meaning, but does not make it impossible to study the phenomenon as a distinctive form of political violence. Terrorism may differ from media outlets, governments, cultures, scholars, and readers. Examining the usage of the term thorough-out history will be a useful way to come to a conclusion as to the true meaning and definition of the term. Even though examples of terrorism can go back several millennia, studying the history of it will make it seem considerably new at this time and
The definition of terrorism has forever been a topic of debate. One thing agreed upon however, is that there are different types of terrorism. For instance, there is religious terrorism, and there is political terrorism. This paper will discuss the question: How do religious and political terrorism differ in terms of their roots, their motivations, and their methods – and it will also briefly discuss how their traits coincide.
This essay will endeavour to give an historical analysis of contemporary terrorism and its changing nature by focusing on three specific terrorist campaigns over the last thirty years. The essay will begin by first presenting a definition of terrorism and will move on to provide a brief account of the geographical shift in terrorism by discussing the movement from territorial based terrorism to more ideological focused campaigns. In addition, it will give a concise discussion on the theory of globalisation in relation to terrorism and the impact it has had on the growth of international
The word terrorism has had changing meaning over the centuries which is illustrated in this week 's reading assignment. For example, earlier incarnations used the term terrorism as it was wielded as a government instrument – by the French government during the transient point of the French Revolution, as well as, the Nazi and Fascist Italy regimes (Hoffman, 2006). Much of the modern concept of terrorism has been historically shaped and defined by military powers. Legitimate warfare was created out of custom and treaty law. It did not matter to the great powers that the
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.
Terrorism is defined as the use of force against innocent civilians in order to achieve the political aims of the group. A terrorist group could use violence and asymmetric warfare in order to obtain their goals. Generally stated, weak and failing states tend to be safe havens for terrorist groups. The regions in which the weaker states occur are in old colonized regions in both Africa and the Middle East. The weak states tend to provide unmonitored border crossings as well as areas, which transnational terrorists can plan attacks on both the west and countries in their region. However, not all weak and failed states harbor terrorists. The states which hold them tend to have an ambiguous or ambivalent relationship with the transnational terrorist groups that they house. By housing the groups, the states are able to further their own interest and support their own purposes. In order to know if a state harbors terrorists, the most important thing is to analyze the government of the countries in order to determine if they are vulnerable to influence from the groups. Because the states which do not have a high enough capacity or autonomy to act as they wish, they become very susceptible to accepting aid and using transnational terrorist groups to further their own aims.
The acts of terrorism can affect the lives of many people and is not limited to those who receive physical scaring, but also people who have an emotional connection to those who are injured, and quite possibly an entire nation. To distinguish between domestic and international terrorism one must first define terrorism. It seems from region to region there are slight variations of what qualifies as terrorism. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of or social objectives” (FBI Terrorism 2002-2005). The Federal Bureau of Investigation further distinguishes terrorism by dividing them into two distinct categories: Domestic and International terrorism.
The history of terrorism can be traced back as far as the French revolution. Some of these acts of terrorism only seem as distant reminders of our past, but at the same time, are not a far cry from today’s brutal acts; and although these acts seem distant, it doesn’t also mean they are no longer in the thoughts of individuals in today’s time.
The use of terror is a worldwide phenomenon. The historical record has seen its use for many reasons. One of these reasons is to establish and protect a political ideology and have that ideology recognised by other states. But what then can we define as terrorism? The term itself is one that has been adopted in Western societies to identify the types of actions that cannot be defined as justifiable in any sense. However, evident in this essay is the practice of terrorism as much more than just a random radical happenstance and more of a political instrument. This is evident in all three examples list above. Syria used terrorism to crush political enemies, Zedong’s radical movement allowed him to seize power through terror and the South African government assisted terrorists to help them both defeat their political oppositions. It can be argued that there are even Western societies that can be accused of using terrorist tactics against their own citizens. While their actions aren’t always labelled as terrorism, their tactics are similar in the form of their capability to terrorise. Weber’s contributions to the field of politics might help to develop the framework for ‘political terrorism’. In his essay, ‘Politics as a Vocation’ (Weber 1958, p. 77), Weber describes how politics is “not limited to the policies and questions of the day, but rather how the hypothetical parties in question attempt to attain political power and keep that power, their ‘physical force’. Tilley builds
Terrorism can be defined as the specific and deliberate use of violence against civilians in order to achieve political aims. The international community today finds itself in unprecedented danger. According
Given the growing global threats of terrorism, it is significant that an understanding of the history, nature and mechanism-premises under which terror operates is obtained. This is significant as it would shape the perspective of policy makers when addressing issues of this nature. Terrorism, as it is understood is the action of none-state weak actors, individual or groups, who for some reasons feels suppressed, marginalized and, or denied what they may view as the basic human right. All terrorism has political objectives, even though the perpetrators may use religious relics to appeal to a wider existing audience, and invoke a response through violent act to prove or propagate their point. Yoram Schweitzer in "Suicide Terrorism