Walter Laqueur's The New Terrorism
The author of this text, Walter Laqueur, has produced written accounts of the history of terrorism, the origins of terrorism, modern terrorism, and the future of terrorism. Also included in this text among the smaller sections is the use of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist motives, and how terrorism is related to other outside influences.
The origins of terrorism were provided in early history through the acts of the sicari, a Jewish extremist faction. These were the first terrorist of history to use guerilla tactics that attacked other Jews. There were many groups to follow these pioneers of terrorism. Another group, the Order of the Assassins who spanned over the eleventh century. There were other groups around that time but they were considered secret societies.
The first to adopt the philosophy to use weapons of mass destruction were Karl Heinzen and Johann Most. These two men believed that killing was politically necessary. The odd thing is that they only wrote this and did not practice what they preached. Both these men were German radicals who moved to the U.S. to be able to publish their thoughts.
On to the early 1960’s terrorism was not limited to Europe. America and Japan experienced internal terrorism. Other countries that dealt with terrorism were Turkey and Palestine. Several other smaller Middle Eastern became involved with terrorist activities.
The U.S. terrorist problems came from the Black Panthers, a militant group comprised of young African-Americans, and the Weathermen, young middle-class whites. These two groups had very different motives behind their actions; The Black Panthers dealt with the struggles of the minority equality and advocated e...
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I think Laqueur’s thesis was that Terrorism can come from anywhere and that any type of motive can drive a person, group, or country into committing terrorist acts. This thesis statement is well supported throughout each chapter. Speaking of which I felt that each chapter could have been its own little book on terrorism because there was no fluidity in the text. By this I mean that the chapters were independent from one another and that the whole text did not flow like a novel would. I guess that was the purpose Laqueur had in mind while writing this book.
Once again I don’t feel that the text was terrible but I do feel that it is limited to being informative. This text has to be read and analyzed after each chapter in order to get the full comprehension of terrorism. Laqueur is a good author and he knows what terrorism is and how it functions.
In the first chapter, Juergensmeyer states, “This book is about religious terrorism … I have tried to get inside the mindset of those who perpetrated and supported such acts.” (pg.7). By doing this type of analysis he is able to figure out whether religious terrorism distinguishes itself out from other forms of terrorism. This is what I have interpreted as his thesis statement, because this is essentially what is being portrayed throughout the book. Since this book is filled with tons of information, I have chosen to focus on a couple of case studies he presents to analyze instead of briefly covering all six cases he has presented. The cases I have chosen are named the “Soldiers of Christ” and “Islam’s Neglected Duty”.
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.
In today’s society the word “terrorism” has gone global. We see this term on television, in magazines and even from other people speaking of it. In their essay “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”, published in 2002, Clark R. Chapman and Alan W. Harris argue that the reaction of the American officials, people and the media after the attacks of 9/11 was completely irrational due to the simple fact of fear. Chapman and Harris jump right into dismembering the irrational argument, often experienced with relationships and our personal analysis. They express how this argument came about from the terrorist being able to succeed in “achieving one major goal, which was spreading fear” among the American people (Chapman & Harris, para.1). The supporters of the irrational reaction argument state that because “Americans unwittingly cooperated with the terrorist in achieving the major goal”, the result was a widespread of disrupted lives of the Americans and if this reaction had been more rational then there would have been “less disruption in the lives of our citizens” (Chapman & Harris, para. 1).
While terrorism—that is, violence or the threat of violence aimed intentionally at civilians—has been employed since time immemorial as a means of securing political goals, the 1960s ushered in an entirely new form of political violence. Motivated by thinkers like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, this new breed of terrorism struggled in vain to halt the vehicle of Capitalism: as it was steered by the opulent and sustained through exploitation of a bloodied working class. Significant amongst likeminded New Left groups was the Weather Underground Organization (WUO), which conducted a series of bombings in protest against perceived American injustice. This expression of hostility by student activists, albeit far from a true revolutionary movement, stands out as one of the only so-called "terrorist movements" to consistently attack and antagonize on American soil.
The horror of domestic terrorism is a problem all Americans should be concerned with, especially since there is a violent subculture in this nation which seeks out and indoctrinates people into their way of life. The crime that I will be focusing on during the course of this paper will be domestic terrorism, specifically hate groups such as the KKK, and various other white supremacy groups. The theory that I will be using to try and explain these crimes will be subcultural theory, but more especially the Subculture of Violence theory provided to us by Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracutti. The reason I will be using his specific subcultural theory is because I feel that it bests describes how the people in these situations are desensitized to the evils they do and then begin to believe that the acts and beliefs are normal, or superior to all other views.
Darity A. William Ed. Jr. “Black Panthers” International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 2nd Ed. Vol 1.(2008): 318-320. Gale U.S. History in Context. Web. 24 Jan. 2001.
Over the past century, terrorism has advanced from random killings to enormous plans for terrorist groups. To understand terrorism, you must first define it. Terrorism as we all know it is hard to define and understand, and has many different definitions as it is used widely. The word "terrorism" stems from the word "terror", which means to instill fear in. People become terrorists when they take the actions towards instilling fear and terror upon people to prove a certain point or agenda.
One of the foremost not-so-shocking consequences that have unusually become a trend in today’s society as a result of the events of September 11th is the issue of racial profiling. Racial profiling is the unjust method used by certain police officials to gather suspects for a variety of crimes; it is used to target certain individuals based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion (“Racial Profiling”). Citizens and authorities alike have developed an attitude towards people from the Middle East. When a person sees a Middle Eastern male enter a plane before it takes flight, people usually began to feel extreme paranoia. Since we are assuming that the attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001 were both done by the same nationality, citizens have established the mindset that all Middle Eastern individuals are inevitably terrorists. It is true that both masterminds for each of the attacks were of Middle Eastern descent. However, the paranoia is not rational; it is only rooted in an irrational fear birthed out of ignorance. The only conclusion th...
Terrorism originated back as early as the 14th century. The French Revolution originated the word of “terrorist” and “terrorism” (Terrorism Research, n.d.). The use of the word "terrorism" began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. (Terrorism Research, n.d.). In recent years, there have been major terrorism events in the United States such as 9/11, U.S.S. Cole, Boston marathon, and the federal building bombing in Oklahoma. Shortly after 9/11, Homeland security implemented five threat conditions (Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green) with red being severe and green being the lowest threat condition. The author further states that local police are in the best position to learn about intelligence regarding terrorist threats and potential targets. Many of the resources available to local law enforcement include crime prevention seminars, community policing and partnerships with local businesses particularly banks, realtors, car rental agencies and
Michael Walzer is an esteemed retired professor from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Walzer has written many books, essays, and articles. His essay, Excusing Terror, is one that best relates to the current events happening around the world. In this essay, Walzer talks about different reasons that people would want to resort to terrorism. In this essay I will argue Walzers view on Terrorism is correct in that terrorism is wrong because it is akin to murder, it is random in who it targets, and no one has immunity. I will also offer an objection to Walzer’s theory and explain why it is not a valid one.
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 word terror dates back to the French Revolution. “A terrorist was, in its original meaning, a Jacobin who ruled France during la Terruer” (Moeller 20). Terrorism has clearly become much broader in the years since its origination. Since the concept was first birthed in France it has been used for separatist, nationalistic, political and religious ends, etc.
The political views and opinions that Doris Lessing's character accumulate in The Good Terrorist are most likely fueled by Lessing's real life experiences with communist parties and her unsatisfying life in the suburbs in Rho...
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,