Motivations and Causes of Terrorism
Despite the end of the Cold War and the faltering beginnings of a peace process in the Middle East, terrorism still remains a serious threat in many countries, not surprisingly, given that the underlying causes of the bitter ethnic and religious struggles which spawn terrorism pre-dated the Cold War, and most of these conflicts remain unresolved.
While the former Soviet Union sponsored terrorism on an opportunistic basis, the idea that all international terrorism was concerted by the KGB during the Cold War is clearly an over-simplification. The overthrow of the communist dictatorships did remove an important cluster of state sponsors of terrorism. However, one of the main attractions of terrorism to its perpetrators is that it is a low-cost but potentially high-yield weapon, and it is generally possible to find weapons and cash from alternative sources, including militant supporters and sympathizers in your own home base and those living and working in prosperous countries in the West, as well as from racketeering, extortion and other forms of criminal activity, and in some cases, alternative state sponsors. Moreover, the end of the Cold War has also had a major negative effect on political violence: the removal of communist one-party rule has unleashed numerous long-suppressed, bitter ethnic conflicts.
WESTERN EUROPE
In Western Europe it is the historic separatisms of Irish republicanism in Northern Ireland and Basque nationalism in Spain that have spawned the most lethal and protracted terrorism. In Northern Ireland the IRA and Loyalist cease-fires are still holding, and the British and Irish governments and the Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, John Hume, deserve credit for their efforts towards peace. But the cease-fire is still extremely fragile, and it is going to be very difficult indeed to convert it into a lasting and honourable peace. The declared objectives of IRA/Sinn Fein and the Unionists are as far apart as ever, and the terrorist para-militaries still have their stocks of weapons and explosives. In Spain ETA has been greatly weakened by improved Franco-Spanish police co-operation, but the terrorists show no signs of giving up.
EASTERN EUROPE
In the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe the removal of communist dictatorship has taken the lid off many simmering ethnic rivalries and ...
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...conviction before courts of law;
· tough measures to penalize the state sponsors who give terrorist movements safe haven, explosives, cash and moral and diplomatic support;
· a determination never to allow terrorist intimidation to block or derail international diplomatic efforts to resolve major political conflicts in strife-torn regions, such as the Middle East. In many such areas terrorism has become a major threat to peace and stability, and its suppression therefore is in the common interests of international society.
To conclude on an optimistic note, one major aspect of advanced technology gives the democratic governments a potentially winning card in their battle against terrorist organizations. Whereas developments in terrorist weaponry and the vulnerability of modern complex societies help the terrorists, the development of sophisticated fine-grained computers and terrorism databases provide superb assets for the intelligence war against terrorism. If these developments are matched by greatly enhanced international intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism collaboration, they can lay the foundations of long-term success over terrorist organizations.
They give speculative answers as to possible reasons why, including provocation and gaining support, but they do not go further into the history of the IRA and The Troubles. Using Crenshaw’s model on the Causes of Terrorism (1981), I will look at the varying factors that led to the formation of the PIRA and subsequently the Belfast
In the modern society, the enmity between various criminal gangs and the security agencies have also been on the rise and this is expected to continue escalating in the future. Some of these groups include criminals and terrorists. Terrorists, for instance, focus on ensuring that
The Soviet Union wanted to sway Afghanistan and helped install a government that pushed out Islamic Revolution supporters to Pakistan. The United States did not agree with this and therefore entered Pakistan, contacting the radical group. These groups were funded to fight a war against Afghanistan for us. One of these groups was the Taliban. After al-Queda, under Osama bin Laden orchestrated the attack on September 11, 2001, the United States entered a war with Afghanistan and Iraq. The war was fought against us with the weapons funded by our country. These actions during the Cold War morphed the theme of fear from Communism to Terrorism. We can also compare how the fear was handled differently. With Communism, it was easy to identify because it came from specific countries. With the War on Terror, terrorists are unknown individuals, coming from all over the globe. This makes explaining events and different groups difficult for the public because there is no known enemy that we can identify and
The future of America is definitely affected by terrorism and terrorism has benefited from the new technologies that aid and speed up communication around the world. Terrorists can use tactics that they know and manipulate advanced technologies such as the internet. These technological advantages have certainly improved the capabilities of terrorist groups to plan and accomplish their operations. It also offers these terrorists the ability to affect communities faster and much more intensely than earlier terrorists. In order to reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, in regards to their threats, strategies and tactics, when dealing with the internet, a complete understanding of the nature of America’s enemies is necessary.
Looking back on communism and its affect on American society, the present day terrorism can draw many parallels. The parallels are similar, yet they are not quite on the level of paranoia that communism instated within the U.S. and against our own society. To be accused of being a communist, one did not have to have a certain appearance; it was an ideology that that individual accepted, however to be accused of a terrorist is mostly along the lines of an appearance and the Muslim community.
When one thinks of terrorism, the conflict in Israel or other Middle Eastern countries usually comes to mind. Although true to some extent there are many other groups in the world that fall under the category of Îterroristsâ. One of these groups is located in Europe, more specifically in Northern Ireland, and is commonly known as the IRA, or the Irish Republican Army. This group has been around for decades and has fought politically and militarily for the liberation of Ireland from the rule of Great Britain. To fully grasp and understand the Provisional Irish Republican Army (from now on in the paper the Provisional Irish Republican Army will be referred to as the IRA) and its cause, it is necessary to analyze the history, leadership and organization, tactics and strategies, and involvement with other terrorist groups This paper will focus on what is known as the Provoâs or the PIRA, which is the paramilitaristic side of the IRA, while not much will be focused on the politica!l sector of the IRA known as the Sinn Fein.
In Module one, I learned that terrorism is a result of physical harm or deadly acts of force with the intent of a political outcome by the use of terror for coercion. There are various types of terrorism such as international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism occurs outside of the United States with a purpose to influence the policy of a government by intimidation. International and Domestic terrorism both involve violent acts dangerous to human life that violate federal and state laws. Domestic terrorism occurs within the United States with the intention of coercion or intimidation by way of mass destruction, etc. Some forms of terrorism include Improvised explosive devices (IED), kidnappings, suicide bombings and
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
Terrorism has been around for centuries and religion-based violence has been around just as long. (Hoffman, 2). The violence was never referred to as terrorism though. Only up to the nineteenth century has religion been able to justify terrorism (Hoffman, 2). Since then, religious terrorism became motivated and inspired by the ideological view (Hoffman, 3). Therefore, it has turned against the main focus of religion and more towards the views of the extremist and what is happening politically (Winchester, 4).
The threat of global terrorism continues to rise with the total number of deaths reaching 32,685 in 2015, which is an 80 percent increase from 2014 (Global Index). With this said, terrorism remains a growing, and violent phenomenon that has dominated global debates. However, ‘terrorism’ remains a highly contested term; there is no global agreement on exactly what constitutes a terror act. An even more contested concept is whether to broaden the scope of terrorism to include non-state and state actors.
Simonsen, C. E., & Spindlove, J. R. (2000). Terrorism today: the past, the players, the future. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Terrorism has always been around and always will be around. Lately, though, terrorism has become more brutal. More and more people are being killed everyday because of it. Hundreds of terrorist organizations and entities exist all over the world. The deadliest, however, are from the Middle East or Africa. Their targets are as populous as the Earth. Nobody is off limits. Generally, they like to kill anyone and everyone who opposes them in any way, shape, or form. Since the mid- to late-1990s, the Middle Eastern nations especially have been under close watch because of all the terrorist organizations, their attacks on many non-Muslim groups and nations, and now national agencies, militant groups, and even the President are doing all they can to stop terrorism before it gets worse.
The word terrorism was first used during the French Revolution from the reign of terror inflicted by the French from 1784-1804 ("International Affairs"). It was used to describe the violent acts perpetrated on the French that inflicted terror on the various peoples and instilled fear within them. However, at the time it had a more positive connotation than the term that instills fear today. During the French Revolution this was because it referred to state-sponsored terrorism in order to show the need of state instead of anarchy, sometimes promoted by other groups (Hoffman 2). Therefore, even though terrorism has taken a new nature, terrorism can refer to official governments or guerrilla groups operating outside national governments ("International Affairs"). In order to encompass terrorism’s various sectors and explain it to the public, in both positive and negative aspects, many analysts have tried to put it into a few words. Terrorism is a method used by tightly of loosely organized groups operation within states or international territories that are systematic in using deliberate acts of violence or threats in order to instill...
Terrorism is one of the most extensively discussed issues of our time and at the same time it is also one of the least understood. The term itself “terrorism” means many different things to different people, cultures, and races. As a result, trying to define or classify terrorism with one universal definition is nearly impossible. The definition of terrorism used in this research is a reflection of much of the Western and American way of defining it. The definition of terrorism is,
Islam, the religion of peace and harmony has unfortunately been corrupted by the deadly terrorist acts which have taken place around the world during these past couple of years. Today the people in this world view Islam as a threatening and terrorist religion. Often, the killing of innocent people, suicidal bombings and terrorist attacks are carried out people who tend to claim themselves as Muslims, though in reality, the dissident actions of these so called named Muslims have nothing to do with Islam. Among all the attributes of God, the Holy Book (Quran) mentions that: he is the source of peace and bestower of security (59:23) people must establish peace in their life. Terrorism what a complete disgrace, however people forget one thing that terrorism is not only found in Islam yet also continued in other religions and countries. But then why Islam? Is it because terrorism has been related to Islam just like peace is to war. The terrorist that claim they are Muslim with pride are oblivious, ignorant and it shows their lack of knowledge. The Holy Quran clearly states that: