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The Globalization of Terrorism

Global Issues 621

Chapter 23

Page 364

What is Terrorism?

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What is Terrorism?

• Unfortunately, the term ‘terrorism’ is one that has become a part of our everyday vocabulary, but how do we define the term ‘terrorism’?

• LET’S FIND OUT: In groups of two students, complete ‘The Problem of Defining Terrorism’ on pages 365 and 366.

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Geography of Terrorism

• The causes of

terrorism can often

have geographic

origins

Patterns can be mapped

Nations harbor terrorists

Nations sponsor terrorism

o Geopolitics

o Globalization

o Economic disparity

o Religious differences

o Cultural differences

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Global Patterns of Terrorism

• Modern terrorism began in

1968 when an Israeli plane

was hijacked by

Palestinian terrorists.

• But terrorism has changed

in today’s world:

1. Terrorists understand the

role mass media plays

(Internet, media releases)

2. Little care is given to

avoid death and injury to

ordinary people.

o No warnings issued

o Maximum death is the goal

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Is Terrorism Common?

• Hundreds of terrorist

acts occur each year,

but receive little

attention:

They cause little death

and/or little damage

Have we become

desensitized to the

violence?

• There are many terrorist

groups still active in the

world:

Some are presently inactive

(like the IRA);

Others are active and wreaking

havoc worldwide

o See Figure 23-3 on page 368

o Al-Qaeda (65 Nations)

o Hamas (Israel)

o Hezbollah (Lebanon)

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Is it Increasing or Decreasing?

• That depends on how it

is measured.

Do you count only

international terrorism?

Do you ignore incidents

involving attackers and

victims within one

country?

Problems arise with how

politicians and the media

choose to use these

statistics to either

exaggerate or underplay

the incidents of

terrorism.

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Objectives of Terrorism

• Terrorism isn’t, in

itself, a goal; it

is a method used to

achieve a goal.

An aspect of

asymmetrical warfare

(fought between

opponents who are not

militarily equal; the

weaker party resorts

to terrorist acts)

There are four basic

objectives of

terrorism:

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Objectives of Terrorism

1. A group wants to achieve a specific goal:

Overthrow a government

Force a foreign army to leave a country

Obtain money

Release of prisoners

2. To cause widespread fear and anxiety, hoping to break down the normal social order of the target population.

3. To provoke the target government to overreact and introduce excessively harsh counterterrorism measures, which may cause the population to oppose the government

Sound familiar?

4. Governments may use terrorist methods to force obedience from the general population (state terrorism)

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State Terrorism

• Terrorist acts carried out

by governments:

Political opponents are

murdered

Torture used to intimidate and

to gather information

Opponents ‘disappear’

• State terrorism has

declined with governments

showing more respect for

human rights

Myanmar

USA (Iraq, Afghanistan)

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State-Sponsored Terrorism

• Sometimes, a nation

doesn’t commit

terrorism, but

provides a safe haven

for terrorist groups

• (Al-Qaeda members spent

time in both Afghanistan

and Pakistan)

• USA has been accused of

supporting terrorist

regimes in Chile and

Argentina, among other

places.

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Rational Motivation

• Rational Motivation: Terrorism becomes the last

resort after other methods of

achieving goals were not

effective.

• Psychological Motivation

‘True believers’ in the

cause

Opponents are ‘evil’

Absolute beliefs and

disagreements lead to

smaller factions

• Cultural Motivation

Fear of culture and

religion coming under

threat

Terrorism becomes the

defense of one’s

culture or faith,

which is one’s DUTY

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Freedom Fighter or Terrorist?

• Depends on which side

you support.

• The US once considered

Nelson Mandela and the

African National

Congress to be

terrorists.

• As the politics of a

country change, so does

the label of

‘terrorist’ or ‘freedom

fighter’.

• Osama Bin Laden, when

fighting the Soviets in

the 1980s, was worthy

of moral and financial

support.

That changed, of course,

yet he changed very

little. Consider:

Fought for his faith

against powerful foreign

enemies, using whatever

methods he had at his

disposal.

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Changing Nature of Terrorism

• Not just guns & bombs anymore.

• Chemical Terrorism

Nerve gases

Anthrax spores

Bioterrorism

• Nuclear Threats

Acquisition of an atomic bomb

(Pakistan, India, North Korea)

Construction of a nuclear weapon

Construction of a hybrid (dirty)

bomb with nuclear wastes

Exploding a nuclear power plant

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‘War on Terror’

• It is difficult to

declare war on a

methodology – not an

enemy.

• Wars end in:

Negotiation

Surrender

Destruction of one side

• In wars against terror:

There is no country to

negotiate with

Catching/killing all

terrorists is impossible.

• Evidence suggests that

recent efforts in the

Middle East created

more terrorists than

they stopped.

• Counterterrorism

Networks of spies

Electronic surveillance

Invasions of privacy?

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Fighting Terrorism

• Arrests may be possible

for domestic terrorists

• Negotiated settlements

• Assassinations

There are legal and moral

complications in this for

governments.

• Invasion of a country

to disable the

terrorist group and the

government which

supports it.

Al-Qaeda & the Taliban in

Afghanistan

• Has led us to a lengthy

asymmetrical war

• Meanwhile, the allies

try to help rebuild the

country

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Fighting Terrorism

• GWB’s ‘axis of evil’

North Korea

Iraq (invaded in 2003)

Iran

Little evidence to support

the US invasion

• Who funds terrorism?

Expatriates

Governments

Sympathizers

Financial globalization

makes it easy to move

money; technological

globalization makes it

easier to track it

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Fighting Terrorism

• Better protect likely

targets:

Increased airport

security

Protecting nuclear plants

City water systems

Major sports facilities

• Problems

Can everything be

protected?

Will the public stand for

it?

• Some anti-terrorist laws

violate civil liberties

Being held without charges

Wire taps

• To eliminate terrorism,

we have to eliminate its

causes:

Economically

Socially

Geopolitically

Environmentally

Religiously

Culturally

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Images

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