Terrorism: a critical introduction

This new Handbook provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of current knowledge and debates on terrorism and counterterrorism, as well as providing a benchmark for future research.

Terrorism studies is a fascinating look at a term without a universal definition. Terrorism is a societal construction often base on an ideology, whether it be: political, social, economic, oppression and religious. It is an old phenomenon but its contemporary appearance was first noted in the 19th century in France's " Reign of Terror. " In recent decades, terrorism and state sponsored terrorism have become progressively more glaring and lethal. All terrorism has political, social, economic and religious implications. The intent is to attract a wider audience and provoke a response through violence to support and proliferate their views. This 'new' terrorism has more sources, motivations and tactics and a network of affiliates for globalization. Now, in the 21 st. century, it has taken over and dominated the global political scene. There are numerous reasons for this upsurge such as: violations of international law, neo-liberalism, religious ideology and/or denied basic human rights. Given the increasing global threat of terrorism, it is critical that we understand its history, nature and premises under which it functions. This is important as it will shape the nation-states' policy when redressing the issues at stake. These issues, as well as others, I hope to explore and address these questions in this series of articles entitled: 'The Legacy and Plague of Terrorism.'

This article attempts to have a world wide view about Terrorism. It depicts the modus operandi of terror groups and elucidates the history of terrorism. The writer goes further to unearth the reasons why terrorism is an escalating worry despite the billions of dollars voted as security budget globally by various countries. Finally, it is recommended that various steps including training and re-training of security forces with regards to terror related activities, increased intelligence gathering and international coalition support be taken to end the raging scourge of violence.

Terrorist insurgencies, in all their configurations and local conflicts, constitute the primary warfare threat facing the international community. This is especially the case following September 2001, when al Qaida demonstrated that it had world class ambitions to inflict catastrophic damages on its adversaries. In other conflicts, such as the Palestinian-Israeli arena, terrorist rebellions are primarily localized. Because of the worldwide reach of al Qaida and its affiliates, including the spontaneous emergence of al Qaida-inspired groupings and cells in Western Europe, North America, and elsewhere, many nations have been upgrading their homeland security defenses and calling on their academic communities to provide analytical understanding of the nature and magnitude of the threat and how to counteract and resolve it. As a result, terrorism courses, research institutes and certificate programs have been proliferating at universities and other academic institutions around the world. Despite the great attention being devoted to terrorism studies; however, there is no consensus about the most fundamental starting point in terrorism studies: how to define terrorism.

2013

Terrorism has been present in human history since ancient times, but it was not considered a serious threat for global security. The attacks on the World Trade Center have demonstrated that it is a threat of a global nature. It is an effective weapon used by the "weaker" against the stronger opponents. The subject of terrorism is very complex, difficult and elusive. There is a divergence among the scholars in understanding terrorism studies due to the lack of uniform criteria for the determination of a clear definition. Therefore, this article is an attempt to characterize the diversity of the terrorist activities that deviate from the “conventional” terrorism such as agro-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, super-terrorism, etc.). In addition, the paper stresses the need of combating terrorism as a partial solution to improve the safety of the international community.

Intellectual Discourse, 2010

Terrorism is an old phenomenon but its modern manifestation was first noted in the 19 th century with the anarchist group who assassinated Czar Alexander II in 1881. Since then it has continued unabated but its intensity and frequency increased in the 21 st century. This study examines the trends in international terrorism and, in particular, analyses its causes and consequences. Based upon extensive literature and documentary research, this study found at least three perspectives that explain terrorism either as a reaction to socioeconomic deprivation or as the product of religious fundamentalism or as a legitimate struggle to wipe out injustices perpetrated by the powerful against the powerless. Muslims condemn terrorism and suggest that the Western powers cease their policies of victimising the vulnerable populations, of sponsoring terrorists, of siding with Israel, and of denying others their right to liberty and sovereignty.

The most important challenge in the 21st century has been posed by the terrorist acts in different parts of the world. Terrorists respect no frontiers or boundaries. Terrorism is a crime against humanity. Terrorism is, in fact, premeditated, politically motivated violence committed against innocent civilians and non-combatants by individuals, groups or state agents. The emergence of global terrorism has marked tectonic shifts in this relativistic approach. As a rule, global terrorists commit individual acts of an intentionally provocative nature, which may include threats of murder or the assassination of state and political figures; the seizure of hostages or potentially hazardous facilities; bombings; or the release of poisons, radioactive substances, or biologically active agents. Terrorist acts at potentially hazardous facilities-enterprises working with chemicals, radioactive materials, or explosives; hydro technical structures; unique tall buildings; subways, surface rail, and air transport facilities-present a great danger to personnel and the public and cause substantial economic damage.

The most important challenge in the 21st century has been posed by the terrorist acts in different parts of the world. Terrorists respect no frontiers or boundaries. Terrorism is a crime against humanity. Terrorism is, in fact, premeditated, politically motivated violence committed against innocent civilians and non-combatants by individuals, groups or state agents. The emergence of global terrorism has marked tectonic shifts in this relativistic approach. As a rule, global terrorists commit individual acts of an intentionally provocative nature, which may include threats of murder or the assassination of state and political figures; the seizure of hostages or potentially hazardous facilities; bombings; or the release of poisons, radioactive substances, or biologically active agents. Terrorist acts at potentially hazardous facilities-enterprises working with chemicals, radioactive materials, or explosives; hydro technical structures; unique tall buildings; subways, surface rail, and air transport facilities-present a great danger to personnel and the public and cause substantial economic damage.

IAR Consortium, 2021

Terrorism has remained one of the gravest threats to contemporary global advancement and sustainable development. No meaningful development can be achieved in societies beset by conflicts. In many contemporary societies, attained developmental gains have been reversed by upheavals and years of conflicts. The level of global insecurity has in recent times been accentuated by dimension of the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq. The environment of the failed state of Somalia has indeed become very important in any discourse of currency regarding global security/insecurity architecture. The collapse of the Somali state over three decades ago left in its wake an ungoverned environment which has been exploited by the international Islamist Organizations to develop a "viable" terrorist hub in the Horn of Africa. The alliance of the local Somali Islamists, the al-Shabaab, with the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the ISIS increased the security profile of Somalia. The Libyan domestic conflict also escalated the Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin and throw up a strong and very connected Islamic State in West Africa Province. The linkage of al-Shabaab with the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria, and the upheaval in Yemen has rekindled global attention to the increased attention to the study of Terrorism. It is in this light that this paper devotes itself to going back to the basics in the study of terrorism: the definition, origin, causes and trends. It is the contention of this paper that a good understanding of these perspective will present veritable instruments in the efforts at dealing with Global Terrorism.

Introduction The topic of terrorism is both complex and emotive. It is complex because it combines so many different aspects of human experience, including subjects such as politics, psychology, philosophy, military strategy, and history, to name a few. Terrorism is also emotive both because experiences of terrorist acts arouse tremendous feelings, and because those who see terrorists as justified often have strong feelings concerning the rightness of the use of violence. Without a doubt, terrorism evokes strong feelings whenever it is discussed. A key challenge of understanding terrorism is both acknowledging the moral outrage at terrorist acts, while at the same time trying to understand the rationale behind terrorism. Terrorism is not a new phenomenon in human experience. Violence has been used throughout human history by those who chose to oppose states, kings, and princes. This sort of violence can be differentiated from what is termed as terrorism. Violence in opposition to a government is often targeted against soldiers and those who govern. Terrorism, however, is characterized by the use of violence against civilians, with the expressed desire of causing terror or panic in the population. Terrorism is not unique to the 20th and 21st centuries. Terrorism existed in 18th century revolutionary France during the reign of terror, as well as among the Zealots of Palestine in opposition to Roman rule some 2000 years ago. Arriving at a consensual definition of the phenomenon of terrorism has been a particularly difficult undertaking. Some definitions are either too specific or too vague, concentrating on some essential “terrorist” aspect of the actions, strategies, or types of non-state organizations that engage in terrorism. In this paper we draw on global approaches from international relations and world systems theories to propose a definition of terrorism that skirts these issues by concentrating on terrorist actors rather than terrorist behavior. Arguing that this approach has several advantages, including the dissolution of several empirical and analytical problems produced by more essentialist definitions, and the location of terrorism within a two dimensional continuum of collective-violence phenomena in the international system which discloses important theoretical insights. We proceed to examine the characteristics of terrorism by comparing it with other forms of violence in the international system. I propose that terrorism may be defined as being part of the cycles and trends of unrest in the world system, responding to the same broad families of global dynamics as other forms of system-level conflict. It is no secret that arriving at a consensual definition of terrorism is a difficult task. Some might say that constructing a characterization of terrorism that would be satisfactory for everyone is a downright impossible undertaking. It is much easier to point out the flaws in extant conceptions and usages of the term than to come up with a definition that would be free of those same faults, while being comprehensive enough to be both acceptable to most lay observers and useful for the conduct of academic research on the subject. Taking a birds-eye view of the field, it is clear what is wrong with current characterizations of terrorism: they are either too specific or too vague, they concentrate on particular (and theoretically arbitrary) aspects of the phenomenon while de-emphasizing others, or are too normatively oriented, mixing up descriptive and prescriptive terminology.