The Global Fight Against Terrorism

The word ‘terrorism’ can be traced back to the French Revolution and the reign of terror committed against the population of France in the 1790s. During this time, thousands of people were killed and the general population was severely oppressed. Also, some of the first instances of terrorist tactics, such as assassination and intimidation, were witnessed in the killing of prominent officials and other opponents of the Revolution. In general, terrorists aim to incite fear in the population through pre-meditated violent acts and gain publicity as a medium in achieving their goals. Such acts include taking hostages, bombings and assassinations, all of which create fear and compliance in a victim or audience. Terrorism can be distinguished from other types of political violence through its disregard for and intentional harming of innocent civilians. Also, terrorists usually adopt a state of mind where one side is always good and any opposition is bad and deserves to be punished. As a result, terrorists will always have some supporters who share the same radical thoughts as them and thus terrorism, as a whole, will always be accepted as a legitimate use of violence. This is the reasoning behind the famous phrase by Gerald Seymour, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”(QUOTE

For our purposes, we will use the Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d), to define terrorism. It defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Examples of terrorism persist on a near daily basis around the world. Unstable countries, such as Afghanistan and Syria, deal with terrorist attacks on a constant basis. The common thread of these attacks is deliberate targeting of civilian populations in order to achieve political objectives. The best known and largest example are

Tactics to induce terror in pursuit of a political goal have been utilized by a multitude of organizations across the globe. This method of power control is known as terrorism, and due to its impact and unpredictability, it is highly feared and monitored today in the 21st century. Attacks of this nature stem from radical beliefs of religion, ethics, or other politics, and have been carried out globally, ranging from the 9/11 attack in New York City to the 2015 shooting in Paris, France. Terrorism over recent years has grown despite an abundance of efforts by many nations and international organisations to stop development of such groups. This growth is partially attributed to advances in digital technology and the furtherment of communication techniques, such as social media and web-based content, which has allowed for the spread of these radical ideas across the planet making it difficult to control the advancement of these beliefs (Council on Foreign Relations, 2009). Terrorism will never be able to be fully stopped due to the abstract nature and ideology from which terrorism originates.

“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.

Those people who choose to utilize terrorism typically are seeking change. An example of terrorism used to bring about change would be the struggle between Unionist and Republicans in Ireland. The Republicans who wanted an independent Irish nation free from British control were vastly out powered by the Unionist who wanted to remain tied to England. After various efforts to gain an independent Irish nation failed the Republicans eventually formed the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and utilized violence as a means to create fear and pressure (White, Jonathan. 2013. "Defining Terrorism in Modern History." In Terrorism and Homeland Security 3-27, Wadsworth Centage Learning pps

Throughout the world, terrorism affects cultures in a myriad of ways. The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as, “ the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological” (DOD). Terrorism has emerged in the last ten years as one of the most crucial issues governments attempt to tackle. Many movies and documents can help people better understand the major strain of terrorism. As seen by the effects of the September eleventh attacks on American security, tourism and economy, the Taliban, and Somali piracy, terrorism has had an utmost impact on the world.

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.

There has been difficulty in defining terrorism in international law due to "changes in terrorist methodology and the lack of any precise definition of the term 'terrorism’” . The United Nations General Assembly also condemned acts of terrorism without defining it. Therefore a functional approach had been adopted through treaties dealing with the forms of terrorism considered to be unacceptable. Although, it is agreed upon in international law that terrorism is unlawful, it is not addressed whether it is a casus belli, an unlawful act that justifies a military response. There is a general duty for states to act thoroughly to avert the performance of violent and terrorist acts within its territory. However, this duty is breached when governments support terrorism or fails to apprehend terrorists.

Consequently, we have more than a hundred definitions for terrorism. (Laquer) A famous terrorist expert summarized it as “a problem in the problem definition.” (H. H. A. Cooper) The problem of defining terrorism is that it fluctuates between terrorism and variants of freedom fighting – essentially the definition depends on who is labelling who. A significant contribution to our understanding of terrorism, however, has been by David Rapoport and his “four waves” of international terrorism. He describes waves as “a cycle of activity in a given time period,” one that is “characterized by expansion and contraction phases,” and its chief feature is its international character, where the activities in the several afflicted countries are “driven by a common predominant energy that shapes the participating groups’ characteristics and mutual relationships.” Having traced through history the direction of modern terrorism dating as far back as 1880, Rapaport lists four distinct waves of terrorism: anarchism, anti-colonialism, communism/socialism, and religious fundamentalism; the names of which reflecting the energy that individually shape them. (Rapaport 47) Rapaport’s wave theory has been crucial to our understanding of the global spread of

Hacker, a physiatrist expert on terrorism. He suggested that terrorists can be divided among three types, which are criminals, crazies, and crusaders. (Ross) The hope of the terrorist is to induce a sense of terror that will force the people of a government to pressure their political end. What the terrorists want to do is make a government be overthrown by the people to create chaos, and destroy the foundation of the government. In order for a terrorists to attract and maintain the fear of the people is to make more violent and high-profile attacks that are more known and more recognized, Which mainly includes hijackings, kidnappings, and suicide bombings, the bigger the destruction the more publicity therefore, the more people that know about it. No matter how much the attack seems random there is always a plan behind it. The main idea so to look for a high civilized area to increase the shock value; some of the people believe that terrorists are freedom fighters instead of someone who creates destruction and mayhem, the people on the side of terrorism would say that”” one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. “” Engage in transnational terrorism are sometimes tried by national liberation. (Terrorism)

When terrorism is at our doorstep we often ask “why?” The clearest and concise actions enacted are motivations of socially, political, and financial determination. With terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah, extremist’s Islamic groups are on a mission from Allah (Middle Eastern God). Terrorist actions carried out by Islamic groups are typically political. The F.B.I defines terrorism as actions carried out by the unlawful use of force, or violence against persons, or property to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population, or segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social aim (NIJ,2013). Given the nature of the intended political goal motivations behind terrorism are intended to cripple an infrastructure and regain control under their regime.

Nowadays terrorism is like a disease that has extended its evil actions through the borders of several countries. This disease is propagated by groups that use violence indiscriminately, targeting innocent people, trying to overthrow the institutional order and political structure, although sometimes it takes place in countries with political power emptiness. Terrorism is the method that embraces some groups or organizations that try to get by force what they are not able to get by reason.

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.

Beginning as a tactic to counteract the effects of the French Revolution, terrorism has evolved into the “unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims” (OED). What distinguishes terrorism from other forms of political violence is that it is specifically aimed at eliciting a reaction from the government through psychologically affecting the public. Oftentimes, nations attempt to minimize terrorism by increasing the degree of power held by the governing institutions. However, democratic societies must retain the freedom to criticize and hold the government accountable. The government should not enhance its authority for the sake of arbitrary control but should use its power in