Psychology Of Terrorism Book Review

Afghanistan was a peaceful and civilized country. However, within a century it became a disastrous mess, but the question is how? The Kite Runner follows an Afghani boy’s life, from childhood to adulthood. Within his life, he experiences Afghanistan in peace under their own government rule, and Afghanistan in chaos under either USSR or Taliban rule. With differing relations between countries at the time, The Kite Runner provides a creative approach to the retelling of those. Throughout The Kite Runner, Hosseini thoroughly criticizes improper foreign policy worldwide. He depicts this through: symbolism, relationships between the characters, and a main overarching conflict.

In the past weeks we have explored what makes up the mind of a terrorist by considering various psychological and behavioral factors of terrorism. Another factor we discussed was Osama Bin Laden: Terrorist CEO and the evolution of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. I will summarize categorizing the means of communication and influence they have upon advancing terrorist narratives, the psychological and behavioral factors within Al-Qaeda leadership and affiliate groups, compare and contrast his ability to communicate and exert influence upon these various audiences from the years preceding 9/11 until his death. All these factors play a part with one another in order to understand the big picture.

The vice of gambling is not an addiction that I indulge in, luckily. That said I would venture a guess, or better yet place a bet that you have never read a book titled “Inside Terrorism” written by Bruce Hoffman. In his book Bruce Hoffman defines terrorism as “the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change.” The United States does not have the luxury of kicking back and watching from the sidelines the war against terrorism take place. Currently the USA is not only involved in but is one of the prime combatants against terrorism in the following wars: War in Afghanistan, War in North-West Pakistan, and the War on ISIL. The effects of war are not ones that US citizens should continue to live with and permit if technology can be implemented to reduce and effectively combat terrorism. Some of the more severe effects of war are first and foremost lives of American soldiers being cut short, soldiers acquiring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and a monumental economic impact and drain of the hardworking American citizens’ tax dollars. What were once yester year’s dreams and subjects of science fiction novels has materialized into reality for the US and its arsenal to fight terrorism. Drones are an effective weapon against terrorism, and their use when justified save lives of American soldiers, reduce incidences of PTSD, and decrease the economic impact of war.

Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, takes place in Afghanistan during two different wars. The first war takes place from the nineteen seventies until nineteen eighty-eight, but a part of it has rolled into present day, two thousand fourteen. This war originally involved Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, but is now a civil war in Afghanistan (“The Afghan War”). In 1978, “Afghanistan changed forever,” (Hosseini 34). The power in Afghanistan was overthrown and handed to Marxist-Leninist political parties until the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in 1979 (“The Afghan War”). The Soviet War with Afghanistan was responsible for ripping apart families and the country of Afghanistan. During this time, 4.3 million Afghan citizens

Background information about the War in Afghanistan is absolutely necessary in order to discuss the withdrawal of United States ' troops from Afghanistan. The history intertwining the United States and Afghanistan is a long and complex chronology. For full transparency I

A multitude of factors contribute to any type of reasoning or psychological makeup of an individual; whether it is a person’s history of behavioral problems, inability to maintain a functional relationship, or in this case becoming part of a terrorist organization. In Sarah Kershaw’s “The Terrorist Mind: An Update”, we are able to see what drives a person to commit acts of terror where it is praised in a given community.

This essay will describe the psychological, and behavior factors in terrorism, while listing the motivating factors behind them. The means of communication, and influence behind the narratives that would inspire future acts of terrorism. The factors of the psychology of the Al Qaeda leadership from Osama Bin Laden. This paper will also compare and contrast the radicalization models that would explain terrorist motives. And finally the factors of the disengagement of terrorism, and the processes behind them.

Terrorism is a difficult issue to understand and grasp for many people. What is even more difficult to understand is what drives an individual to become radicalized to the point of joining a terrorist organization and committing terrorist acts. While there is not specific criteria or a “cookie cutter” approach to understanding what motivates and radicalizes an individual to participate in such atrocities, there are however, several psychological and behavioral factors that have been common among these individuals. The following paper will outline some of the psychological and behavioral factors that attribute to an individual’s radicalization and eventual willingness and even perhaps

Source: CNN
Synopsis: According to the online article, The psychology and neuroscience of terrorism, director of forensic psychiatry at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences stated that, “Fear is the primary psychological weapon underlying acts of terrorism. It is this fear, or the anticipation of future acts of terror, that can have serious effects on our behavior and minds,” such as the way we think, change the production level of hormones with our body, as well as alter the decisions we make. As a result, chronic stress begins to affect our ability to reason, problem solve, as well as how to respond to a fight-or-flight moment; therefore, human beings become desensitized

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.

In the article “Profile of a Terrorist” by Cindy Combs, the author maps out and discusses the different causes of terrorism committed by people. Understanding and determining what drives people to terrorism is no easy task. Why do people choose to commit acts of terrorism? Why do people choose to become rebellious and wreak havoc on so many innocent civilians? Combs discusses the different types of terrorists as suggested by Frederick Hacker who was a Vienna-born psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and expert on aggression and terrorism.

(5) Terrorism is far more devastating today, than in the past because of the effects of mass media. Today's media influence multiplies the fear effect of terrorism by vividly conveying its horror. This greatly increases our collective sense of vulnerability, and terrorists seek to exploit media coverage to put us and our government on the psychological defensive. The belief that, in some instances, the brilliance of scientists and engineers is no match for the suicidal motivations of terrorists is now a conviction of many Americans who witnessed the September

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a story about an individual by the name of Amir who has experienced many changes within his home state of Afghanistan. The experiences forever changing him, and the story reflects on that. One of the underlying issues the author demonstrates within this novel is the treatment and view of the ethnic minority within Afghanistan and Pakistan. The second issue that sets the background of the novel is the ever-changing system Afghanistan is challenged with, transitioning from various systems and facing de-stabilization as of result, starting from the coup and then to the Soviet incursion. Due to the large amount of information, stemming from the transitions Afghanistan has gone through.

There are many things can be seen in the psychology of terrorism. Unfortunately there is not good science on psychological factors of terrorism; there are theories and educated opinions (DeAngelis, 2009). The one overarching factor is the fear with which terrorism is based. By definition, terrorism is acts that cause terror by one group on to another, usually for political goals (“Terrorism”, n.d.). Why people suffer from these fears is related to their psychological behavior. Terrorist activity can be described as “fostering a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, in demonstrating the incompetence of the authorities, destroying a sense of security and safety, and in provoking inappropriate reactions from individuals and authorities.” (Alexander & Klein, 2005). Terrorists themselves are affected by psychological behavior; their own and that of others around them. They may even be affected by the behavior of victims and potential victims. Osama Bin Laden has even been known to admit that in the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, his

It is not an easy task to come out with the reasons that drive someone to be involved in a terrorist action, sure it is not a voluntary action. DeAngelis 2009, stated that the psychology of terrorism is marked more by theory and opinion than by good science. Research show that the tourists’ actions are viewed in term of political and groups’ dynamic processes rather than individual ones. The association between September 11th and Islam that comes as a result of the war on terrorism that declared by the United States and the United Kingdom against Bin Laden and his gangs who were not representing Muslims or Islam at anyway. The war today is not between Muslims and non-Muslims, it is the war against an expansionist ideology that feeds hate that