The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, got its start in the early 2000’s in Iraq. It has since grown into one of the most threatening terror organizations in the world. This paper will focus on ISIS’s motivations regarding their terror attacks in Paris and Belgium in 2015 and 2016 using the Strategic Model and the Natural System model. These terror attacks were directed at a western audience and were used to both further ISIS political agenda of removing western influence from the Middle East and served as a recruitment tool for potential western recruits. This paper will first give a background on The Islamic State, the attacks in Paris and Brussels, and then it will analyze how it is beneficial to look at the Islamic States motives using …show more content…
129 people were killed and 352 died. Two suicide bombers detonated their bombs outside the national football stadium where France and Germany were playing a highly attended match. A few minutes later three attackers entered the Bataclan music hall, where shots were fired and two of the three attackers detonated suicide vests. Some were also shot in the streets on the attacker way to the music hall. The Islamic State claimed credit for the attack several weeks later, though it was assumed responsible immediately after the attack as those involved with the attack had previously been linked to …show more content…
As their organization has become larger; they have taken over more territory and created a state. Due to the various conflicts in the Middle East, and the west’s involvement in these conflicts, direct attacks on western states, such as the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels, are a viable way to achieve ISIS’s goals. While The Islamic State is estimated to have around 30,000 troops, their forces are dwarfed by the western states they are fighting. Due to the level of asymmetry in the conflict, ISIS must rely on unconventional methods of warfare, one of which is terror attacks. By attacking the citizens of states that are fighting against ISIS, they are using terror as a means of deterrence, both against the state they are attacking, and against all other states considering joining the coalition against The Islamic State. The mass fear that is caused by attacks such as the ones in Paris and Brussels make citizens more hesitant to engage in war with these organizations. On the other hand, it causes state leaders to be more insistent on war with these organizations; Brussels resumed its airstrikes against ISIS three days after the attack. This gives The Islamic State what it wants: a long war with the west that will eventually cause western civilians to want to back out of a war that seems impossible to
Throughout Junot Díaz's novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the text poses concerns with narrative viewpoints, familial history of the Dominican Republic, and most importantly, specifies characters. Díaz introduces characters who are present throughout the entire novel, and others who appear only briefly. Isis, in particular, holds a special place in the novel. Before Díaz introduces Isis, we are introduced to many of her family members who maintain family traditions in both the United States and the Dominican Republic. The order of the text enhances our understanding of Isis as a character. Isis stands out as the next generation of her family by living in a familiar place, New York. Isis, a minor character in The Brief Wondrous Life
Likewise, Goodwin illustrates how the use of categorical terrorism can be seem being used by Al-Qaida during the attacks of 9/11. Nonetheless, it is evident that Al-Qaida is unusual in terms of using terrorism to influence the rise of unity rather than trying to overthrow a standing state. For the purpose of instigating a pan-Islamic revolutionary movement, Al-Qaida tries to unite all Islamic people under one state to develop umma, or Muslim community. The logic of Al-Qaida remained that if their “revolutionaries” could illicit a reaction from the powerful US state, resulting in oppression of the middle-eastern region, that Al-Qaida could, as a result, unite all Muslims to counter this suggested oppression. Although the end goal of Al-Qaida clear failed, it does suggest the organization’s attempt at implementing categorical terrorism.
Lewis clearly and entirely pointed out key events explaining the choices to be made by the people of the Islamic faith. This paper highlighted just a few of the many key events. Lewis says, “Most Muslims are not fundamentalists, and most fundamentalists are not terrorists, but most present-day terrorists are Muslims and proudly identify themselves as such.” He also expertly points out, “Terrorism requires only a few. Obviously the West must defend itself by whatever means will be effective. But in devising means to fight the terrorists, it would surely be useful to understand the forces that drive them.”(Lewis. Introduction) In the end, I agree with and commend Bernard Lewis on pointing out that a single religion cannot be blamed for the acts of small groups of radicals.
Since 2014 these groups have been on the rise with a 40% increase of 142,500 reported crimes since the first six months of 2016 (Kern, 2016). Of greater concern are the obvious increases in terror attacks in the EU, specifically in France, Germany and Belgium, host nations for a majority of the migrant populations. In 2015, Paris experienced the Charlie Hebdo attack and ended with the Paris nightclub attack in which more than 150 were killed and 300 injured. In 2016, there have been a significant increase in terror attacks in Europe. The Brussels Airport bombing, the Nice truck attack as well as knife attacks in Germany. Added to this is the threats of future attacks in statements by ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, as coalition forces fight to retake key strongholds from the Islamic State, but failed to secure the surrounding areas controlled by ISIS allowing an untold number of IS fighters to escape and enter into the EU with the flow of
For approximately the past three decades, a terrorist group has come to plague the world with its activities (Gunaratna, 2002). This group is known as Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda, when translated means “The Base”. It is a terrorist organization that seeks to remove western influence from the Middle East and spread its radical Islamic views. Al Qaeda’s most prominent leader was Osama bin Laden, until his death during a raid upon his compound in Pakistan. The Al Qaeda’s motivation stems primarily from extreme and deeply rooted religious beliefs. Their most used method of attack is through suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices. This organization has also used chemical warfare and at this time is believed to still actively seek to utilize chemical and biological agents as means to battle.
The tragedy of strained relations between Islamic and Judeo-Christian countries is a part of everyday life. One need only pick up a newspaper or check the news story of the day via television, radio, or internet to learn of the latest violent attack by a suicide bomber or military retaliation on such an attack. The terrorist attacks have been perpetrated by countries that are predominantly Islamic with the counter attacks coming from a well-armed Israel, supported by US arms sales as well as US silence. Arecent CNN talk show byline queried, “Are we at war with Islam?” One does sometimes wonder.
...tions, which makes these groups much more dangerous. Behind the peaceful and reasonable mask, they seem quite harmless, which gives chances to act on sly. Intentions are overt; Islam religion and Muslim identity are seen as the only source of universality. The Ramadan’s sayings are like explicit indicator of their visions that is believed that all humanity either with gentle coercion or with overt violence will be Muslim. “One day we shall go back to the source!” (qtd in Bogaard). As long as Europe does not struggle to recover its weakness that generates powerless image in the eye of Muslims and does not abolish the Europe- Arab alliance that causes dependency on Arab countries; ultimately, cannot stop that the radical groups’ increasing power, the Islamization of Europe will become faster. In the light of these reasons, the coexistence in Europe is not possible.
To understand Hobbes’s argument for why the State of Nature is a State of War it is important to understand Hobbes’s meanings of the terms State of Nature and State of War. The State of Nature is the condition where mankind is forced in contact with one another in a society where there is no authority to enforce power or laws. In this state, the lack of authority encompasses the lack of political institutions and the connotations associated with them: no national allegiances and no punishment. All men in this state have the right to any actions, even to harm one another and none of these actions are unjust. The resulting atmosphere created by this Sate of Nature is the State of War where all rational people live in constant fear of violent and brutish attacks. The State of War is a state of uncertainty and insecurity. It does not always necessarily consist of actual fighting but instead consists of the constant awareness that everyone is ready to fight everyone else. To substantiate his argument that the State of Nature is a Sate of War he relies on three assumptions.
The continuing successful and attempted terrorist attacks in the USA and the endless wars and conflicts in which we are involved are a manifestation of political, economical and imperialistic failures in Arab lands. This was supported by Western society with the United States as the largest of powers. Instability, oppression, poverty and political alienation that the citizens of many Islamic-Arab nations experienced within the last hundred years have led to major hatred of the United States by the people of many Arab nations. These sources of hatred can be viewed as remote causes of the endless terror attacks and conflicts around the globe. Through the analysis of these causes, it is possible to find ways to avoid such incidents of terror by solving the problem at the source.
15 people were killed, including the two shooters, while 24 were injured. The shooters in this massacre were two boys who attended the school, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and were believed to be motivated by bullies, but that was never proven. The pair of teens originally took two propane bombs into the school that were rigged to explode. Once the bombs failed to detonate they began shooting people. Violent video games and bullying were the two leading suspicions for the reasons of shooting. Harris and Klebold were also both suspected of being in a cult that told them to do shoot the
The topic of my paper is types of terrorism. There are several types of terrorism for which to choose for my paper, state, dissident, religious, left-wing v. right-wing, and international. In this paper I have chosen state terrorism, religious terrorism, and international terrorism as the types of terrorism that I am going to discuss. I will discuss what they are in my own words and give examples of two different groups for each type that represent that type of terrorism. Then I will compare and contrast the three types of terrorism that I chose.
Sageman, Marc. "The Journal of International Security Affairs The Normality of Global Jihadi Terrorism 2005th ser. Spring.9 (2005). .
Rational choice is based on the belief criminals act in a rational way. Rational choice could be related to terrorism when you understand how terrorist acts, their beliefs, and their actions. Terrorism happens when there are suitable targets, motivated offenders, especially without strong ties to the community, such as those who are unemployed, and absence of guardians such as the police, which would be explained by rational choice theory (Anderton & Carter, 2005). Like other forms of violent crime terrorist attacks are usually carried out by young males (Silke, A. 2003). This is important fact to know for law enforcement to know who to target. A Rational choice view of terrorism has certain factors to consider such as timing, international
Through recent years the uprising of the radical Islamic terrorist group, ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, has been gaining worldwide concern and attention. According to “ISIS Fun Facts” an article on CNN, ISIS has been creating an Islamic State across Iraq, Syria, and the entire world. They are applying Sharia law, the body of Islamic law, because they want to establish a society that goes along the lines of the region's ancient past. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, has gained authority over many of the world's muslims(Laub,2016). The total number of people fighting for ISIS is uncertain, but it is said to be between 20,000 to 31,500(Windrem,2016). Laub also stated that the extremist group has
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, but instead the result of partisan advancement. Acts of terrorism have been around throughout the evolution of mankind. Terror attacks have even been traced back as far as the religious roots of an ancient middle east (Ross, Will Terrorism End?, 2006). However as man evolved, so did terrorism. Today’s extremism involves some of the main characteristics of ancient terrorism, but much more developed. Political advancement is no longer the root cause of terrorism acts. Instead influxes of “holy” wars have been appended the prior definition of terrorism. Mistakably modern terrorism has been confused for Political violence with political objectives, but research will establish that the nature of terrorism is fundamentally different from other forms of political violence.