Labeling Controversial Organizations: The Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt

Terrorists deny the authenticity of states, the rights of people , the unique importance of individual human beings and ultimately morality. Terrorists for one reason or another, loathe our freedom and our way of life. (Zupan, 2004)

Transnational terrorism points toward an ideological globalism ignoring a world divided by national frontiers. by acknowledging the nature of transnational terrorism, policymakers may come to realize that the structure of terrorism has changed. At least two major international terrorist groups embrace a transcendent ideology-al Qaeda and Hezbollah-and both groups are motivated by religion. In addition, several smaller groups want to follow in their path. Second, at first glance, because many of these groups are Islamic, it would seem to suggest the beginning of religious conflicts beyond nationalistic

“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

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).

In the post Osama bin Laden era al-Qaedist ideology is flourishing across the Arab world. A significant development has been the rise of al-Qaeda offshoots in the Middle East. The Abdallah Azzam Brigades franchise has increasingly become a noteworthy actor in terrorism. On May 8th, 2012 Thomas Nides, Deputy Secretary of State designated Abdallah Azzam Brigades as a foreign terrorist organization (Nides, T.R. , 2012). Abdullah Azzam Brigades may have only recently been added as a foreign terrorist group; nevertheless the organization has deep roots, lethal capacity, and is capable of contributing to supplementary instability in the Middle East.

These groups advocate that the loss of human rights for some will result in the respect of human rights for all. Essentially and end to war and a world ran by sharia. Even if their claims of unavoidable collateral damage were justifiable, that is not enough to make terrorism itself justified.

Additionally, John Mueller lambasts what he labels as the socially constructed ‘terrorist industry,’ which he attacks for artificially inflating concerns over terrorist attacks. Instead, Mueller confirms that the damage caused by terrorism is not materially significant but stems primarily from the fear that it creates. Violent retaliation is viewed as a form of ‘self-flagellation’ that provides the terrorists with exactly what they want. As mentioned, realist definitions of power, self-interest and rationality lack explanatory prowess when non-state actors are able to subvert states thanks largely in part to the use of suicide-terrorism. The proliferation of terrorist groups and their use of suicide-tactics in many ways defies realist expectations and conclusions.

Radical Islamists are activists whose main goal is to form an international group of Islamic believers. They are determined to form this group in whatever way they can, even using violence and having mass killings. The United States of America allows them to be radical because of their needs such as, oil. They take teachings from the Qur’an and radicalize them into violence and harsh beliefs, however, the majority of Muslims do not believe in most all of the ways of radical Islamists.

This week in Lamy terrorism and human security were covered in chapters nine and ten. LAmy describes terrorism as the use of violence to bring attention to a “grievance”, to get a certain “response”, or to weaken someones moral to elicit “political change”. Lamy explains that terrorism can be done as a result of infractions on culture, economics, and/or religion. One example the book gives is Al Qaeda which is a religious based terrorist group that fight due to an oath of loyalty to Osama bin Laden. This group became recognized as a terrorist group after the incident of September 11. These terrorist acts were done on the premise of the belief in jihad. Like most terrorists, Al Qaeda fights for the beliefs for which there is no compromise;

The most recent presidential race associated the most dangerous fear and entity to the United States is ISIS, which is a radical Islamist extremist group that models their actions closely with Sharia Law. ISIS mainly consists of terrorists that are willing to do anything to destroy more prominent Western civilization. ISIS is the terrorist group of this current generation; however, they were not the first terrorist group in this region. Terrorist groups started as a result of Arab nations lack of ability to militarily confront Israel during the 1960s. The Palestinian secular movements such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Al Fatah began to target civilians that were not associated within the immediate arena of conflict.

The Canadian Center for Intelligence and Security Studies report explains that, “Al Qaeda 's propaganda portrays the current socio-political system as one that oppresses and discriminates against Muslims, who are the victims of an international world order dominated by the West – the aggressor and enemy of Islam.” (ITAC

Political violence is the leading cause of wars today. Personal agendas have led to many of the political objectives that cause violence today this has caused many problems throughout the world and will continue to do so until a solution to this issue is found. Political objectives have been advanced involuntarily dependent upon the kind of government a nation exercises. For instance, in a democratic nation political groups must worry about convincing the majority in order to advance ethically. Those who try to influence the majority through acts of violence are considered today as “terror” organizations. Though perhaps if it were not because of the recent 9/11 terror attacks that maybe such warrants would not be seen as terror attacks,

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.

Differing accounts on either pole focus on al-Qaeda’s continued relevance as the premier terrorist network, whether it is any longer effective or not. From there, the natural conclusion comes around to asking how effective al-Qaeda is, and by which mechanisms does it project that effectiveness. Aside from this, both parties agree that al-Qaeda has an uncanny habit of surviving in the turbulent international dialectic that spawned radical Muslim distress, vicariously.