Terrorism: A Constant Threat to Global Security - Research Paper

Introduction

For an extended period in the world, terrorism has been a significant cause of insecurity to both property and people. Notably, terrorist organizations are based on specific social or political agendas and normally target civilians. They can be classified into either religious, dissident, state-sponsored, international, or ideological extremism. The groups have existed for a significant period due to their clandestine nature, which makes it hard for government agencies to identify them. Despite terrorist organizations having different motivations and ideologies, they converge in their tactics, behaviors, financing, structure, force multipliers, and means of operations, which allow them to exist and spread retrogressive propaganda through social media.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Definition Issues

Terrorism has a broad definition depending on agencies tasked in identifying maintaining national security; however, its themes, such as causing suffering and fear, are the same. As a result, a global definition of terrorism does not exist. The United States Code defines it as any planned and politically influenced violence directed towards non-militants or civilian targets by clandestine individuals or subnational groups. Nevertheless, in contemporary usage, extremism is inherently and fundamentally political and comprises of the pursuit of regional, domestic, and international political goals.

History of Terrorism

The disputed definition of the term terrorism makes it challenging to identify most terrorist acts that have occurred in the world to date. Notably, most of the organizations termed as terrorist groups do not view themselves as such. However, according to Smith & Zeigler (2017), the earliest root of terrorism can be dated back to the Sicarii, a Jewish extremist group in the first century AD. The extremist organization aimed at overthrowing the Romans, who ruled the Middle East. Additionally, Zealot's leader, Judas of Galilee, believed that only God would rule the Jews; therefore, a militant resistant was necessary. The Zealots influenced the Sicarii in their religious terrorist activities.

On the other hand, in the eighteenth century, terrorism was evident through the French Revolution. In this case, the Reign of Terror started after the revolutionary government took over power from the monarch. During this period, the country faced attacks from foreign countries and internal conflicts. In 1793, the government, led by Robespierre, started to rule using terror to quench any rebellion towards the regime. Notably, in the twentieth century, the definition and tactics used in terrorism changed as the practice transferred from state institutions to organized cults and groups. For instance, after the United States civil war, the Ku Klux Klan emerged, which used terror, intimidation, lynching, and murder to push for its segregation philosophy. Moreover, other groups such as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Suffrage Movement, and Irish Volunteers also perpetrated terrorist acts in the Ottoman Empire, United Kingdom, and Ireland, respectively.

According to Smith & Zeigler (2017), modern terrorism emerged after the Second World War with various groups attempting to popularize themselves for multiple political and religious courses. The sprout of nationalist movements in Europe facilitated the emergence of terrorist groups. In this case, the extremists acknowledged the power of terror to gain global publicity and influence international policy. As a result, most groups around the world utilize terror to inflict fear upon nations and influence national issues such as the attack of US facilities in Benghazi (Alterman, 2014). Today, most of the terrorist acts are political and religion-oriented, which makes it challenging to end their existence.

Terrorist Ideologies and Typologies

Ideologies

Terrorism is mainly based on various ideologies such as politics, crime, or religion. Notably, each type of terrorism has its specific goals and factors in their areas of operations. Notably, religious terrorism is the most common today with the emergence of various extremist organizations such as Al Qaeda and Isis. On the other hand, rebel groups or governments occasionally orchestrate politically motivated terrorism towards their people. The central ideology behind terrorism is to attract attention to influence specific international and domestic policies and can be understood better by classifying the practice.

Typologies

Terrorism can be classified into five groups, which include dissent, state-sponsored, left and right, religious, and criminal terrorism. The above types differ in their ideologies but converge in their methods of execution, motifs, and outcomes. Notably, all terrorist attacks target innocent individuals intending to cause devastation and panic through death and destruction of property. Notably, in the United States, the Secretary of State is tasked with identifying and labeling most groups that are a threat to the country's security as terrorist organizations.

Firstly, state-sponsored terrorism comprises of terrorist acts perpetrated by a regime towards its people or other external enemies. Notably, this type of terrorism is common in nations led by tyrants, who utilize dubious methods to force compliance and quench opposition. On the other hand, countries can also sponsor non-state terrorists to spread terror and propaganda in the international arena. Notably, Gadarian (2010) notes that state-sponsored terrorism is more lethal than other types since it has a regime's support. The support can be in the form of weapons, funds, secured areas, and training (Robinson, 2015). Such extremist groups conduct their attacks on locals. Moreover, the rogue nations can export their habits to other countries leading to international terrorism. An example of a country that sponsors terrorism is North Korea, where its regime uses terror to eliminate its enemies and propagate propaganda about the western states. Others include the Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hamas, which solemnly depend on government support.

Secondly, international terrorism arises from the exportation of state-sponsored terror to other nations. In this case, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) defines international terrorism as any terror action perpetrated by a group or an individual supported by a specific sovereign state (Emerson, 2014). Moreover, international terrorism can involve non-state groups working independently or states utilizing their agents to spread terror. Notably, a nation may use terrorist violence against another as an alternative for conventional war. The increased intensity of state-sponsored and international terrorism influenced the US to declare five states as sponsors of terrorism. The countries include Iran, Sudan, Libya, North Korea, and Cuba. Such countries often face economic and trade sanctions from concerned nations and the United Nations.

Thirdly, Dissident terrorism consists of non-state groups or movements that direct their terror towards the government, other ethnic groups, or religions. The focus of dissident terrorism is to create fear among people or coerce a state into accepting their demands. Noticeably, this type of terrorism has made most of the African countries ungovernable (Asongu & Nwachukwu, 2017). They are often in the form of ethnic cleansing, rebellions, and guerillas. One example is the South Sudanese Liberation Movement-in-opposition, which initiated attacks on government supporters and forces after a fallout within South Sudan's ruling party (Rolandsen, Glomnes, Manoeli, & Nicolaisen, 2015; Okegbile, 2014).

Fourthly, criminal terrorism is influenced solemnly by profits, where specific organized groups accumulate wealth from illegal activities for their benefits. The groups engage in such activities to support their operations and activities. However, such organizations may also participate in black market arms deals or other illegal activities such as drug trafficking (Clarke, 2016). Fifthly, ideological extremism is concerned with changing the economic, political, and social structures of a nation to the extreme left or right (Koehler, 2016). They are more common in most capitalist states where they aim to change the countries to communist or socialist societies. Examples include the Red Army Fraction and the Red Brigade in Germany and Italy, respectively.

Sixthly, religious terrorism is the most common and devastating type of extremism in the world. In this case, the practice is supported by the belief that spiritual power has commanded or endorsed the use of terrorist violence for the glory of supreme faith (Perliger & Pedahzur, 2016; Saiya, & Scime, 2015). Therefore, individuals with such mentalities are capable of conducting genocides and jihads, believing that they are making God happy and will be compensated in the after-life. Religious terrorism has affected most of the states in North Africa and the Middle East, making some regions inhabitable. Extremist groups such as Al Shabaab, ISIS, and Al Qaeda are based on religious ideologies (Stollenwerk, Dorfler, & Schibberges, 2016). Notably, it is challenging to end religious terrorism since it is impossible to know when the Supreme being is pleased or satisfied (Ramsay, 2015). However, many religious groups, such as Islam have been on the forefront to curb religious terrorism by clarifying their doctrines. Notably, most people misinterpret or use literal meanings from holy books, which endorse their terrorist activities. Proper education and elimination of infrastructure that support religious zealots can aid in eliminating them.

Terrorist Tactics and Behaviors

Terrorists use diverse techniques, such as the cultivation of fear, bombings, suicide attacks, rocket and motor attacks, hijacking, kidnapping, cyber-attacks, and biological attacks to propagate their activities. Firstly, state-sponsored terrorism is conversant with biological weapons, where a state may gas a specific region comprised of opposition. Secondly, due to internationalization, extremist groups have had easy access to chemicals utilized in manufacturing explosives. As a result, the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has intensified in the last four decades. In this case, the bombs are set on the roadside or in cars where they detonate when the target nears (Gadarian, 2010).

Thirdly, suicide attacks involve an individual fitted with concealed explosives aimed at causing devastation towards innocent people in large gathering or public spaces. Notably, it has become one of the most aggressive tactics since the bombers do not anticipate surviving, and they can access places that other mechanisms cannot infiltrate. Fourthly, hijacking and motor bombings are popular methods terrorists use to frustrate others. In this case, terrorists hijack aircraft, kill people, or crash them (Gadarian, 2010). One example is the 9/11 attack where the Al Qaeda hijacked an American plane and clashed it into the World Trade Organization's Twin Towers in the United States. The situation led to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security to enhance home security.

Notably, most of the terrorist actions remain secret to avoid discovery by international forces tasked with eliminating global terror. Nevertheless, some find sanctuary in rogue states such as Iran, where they have adequate space and resources to plan for their activities. On the other hand, religious or political fanaticism provides a suitable opportunity for extremist organizations to recruit their members through radicalizing the youth.

Terrorist Force Multipliers

Terrorists use the media as their main force multiplier to spread propaganda concerning their activities. The extremists use messaging...