The History of Global Terrorism - Essay Example

Terrorism In the recent past, terrorism attacks have been on the rise targeting almost all nations randomly. There is seemingly massive spread of terrorism with almost every region or country has a group with ties to terrorism to deal with. For instance, the terrorism attack in Kunming, China in March 2014 that was linked to the Xinjiang militants in China. Although at first there were debates on who was responsible for the attack, the Chinese authorities confirmed that it was Xinjiang militants. The attack left about 29 civilians dead and143 injured. The attack took place at a railway station in Kunming where it is reported that a group of assailants emerged and started attacking passengers at random with swords and knifes regardless of age. Such incidences of random attacks have been on the rise in various regions of the world and this is regarded terrorism. However, police showed up and neutralized the threat where 4 assailants were killed and one apprehended. Reports came later on that the rest of the assailants were arrested moments after the attack. It is believed that the attacks were as a result of the group’s inability to leave the country. After several attempts to leave, the group grew desperate hence the attacks on innocent civilians. Motives of departure are quite unclear since some claim it was to participate in jihad activities while others claim the group was running from fears of being arrested by police. Nevertheless, whatever the reason there is no moral justification for attacking innocent civilians and this should be regarded an act of terrorism and those responsible ought to face the law. Terrorism has quite received significantly many definitions with scholars across the world debating on the real meaning of terrorism. The sparked confusion can arguably be attributed to the fact that even those responsible for committing attacks do not consider their actions acts of terror. Furthermore, increased rise of significantly many groups linked with violent attacks has sparked further confusion as to what ingredients really constitute terrorism. For instance in the modern day there has been increased rise of rebellions in different parts of the world most of whom use violence to pass their messages. As a result there is really a thin line between terrorism and rebellions and times the term terrorism is used to refer to violent rebellions. However, it is almost obvious that whenever the term is used it refers to attacks on innocent civilians regardless of the justifications given by the perpetrators. The first acts of terrorism can be traced back to the 1st century where the Zealots of Judea assassinated Roman forces along with supporters of Roman rule (Laqueur 2001, p.7). The Zealots claimed to be fighting for freedom from the rule of Romans whom they believed would hinder their allegiance to Judaism. However, still some dispute that the actions of the Zealots should be considered acts of terror. Later on there were traces of terrorism in the actions of the Nizari Islamis, the assassins, who were a disintegrated group of Shia Islam. The Nizari Islamis under Hassam-I Sabbah engaged in assassinations of leaders of their enemies by using one of their own member. Members would sacrifice their lives for the sake of the mission where each mission involved a single member of the group. This tactic was similar to today’s suicide attackers used by terror groups to perform their attacks. The first acts of terror can hence be attributed to the Zealots and the Nizari Islamis since their tactics correspond to the tactics used by modern terrorism groups across the world. However, use of the term terrorism was not until around the 17th century during the French revolution. The term was used to refer to the actions of the revolutionary government governing the revolutionary state such as in letter IV of Burke to Earl Fitzwilliam (Law 2009). The revolutionary government used violence and mass killings by guillotine to intimidate their resisting regimes and impact obedience to their rule. These actions were referenced to as acts of terror and to some extent have similarities to the actions of the Zealots and the assassins. This implies that actions of Zealots and assassins can also be referred to as terrorism acts and hence it is in order to say that terrorism started in the 1st century. After the French revolution there was no other real acts of terrorism up until the 19th century. During the period between the French revolution and the 19th century violence was mainly conducting in warfare and such actions do not arguably constitute terrorism. In the course of the 19th century, cases of terror were on the rise with formation of revolutionary groups that attacked different nations. This can arguably be considered to have marked the beginning of international terrorism since earlier on acts of terror were only prevalent within national borders. This period saw the rise of Anarchists who carried out massive attacks leading to killings of heads of states such as Inter Alia of France and William McKinley of United States (U.S) among others (p.36-37). Additionally, advancements in war techniques and weapons such as use of dynamite played a big role in advancing terrorism attacks. This is because carrying out attacks with massive casualties became easier. For instance a single explosion would result to deaths and injuries of several people within the proximity of the explosion. This was a great step in comparison to the past where individual members of terrorist groups had to carry out the attacks killing one person at time. However, Anarchists did not last a long period of time, which can be ‘attributed to disorganization and lack of cooperation. Nevertheless they made a huge mark in the history of terrorism and this can arguably be considered motivation to international terrorism acts that came in the following centuries. Increased nationalism during the 19th century can also be attributed to increased terrorism activity. Chaliand and Blin argue that nationalism brought ideological differences that gave terrorism a fertile ground (Weinberg 2007, p.176). With nationalism came introduction of national identity cards hence some people were forced to either get assimilated or struggle. For instance, the Irish nationalism struggle is not yet resolved up to date. A common terror group during this time was the Narodnya Volya of Russia. However, their terror activities can arguably be considered less terrorism like since at times planned terror attacks were called off in a bid to avoid hurting people who were not their intended target. Nationalism continued al through to the 20th century when it became even more intense. During the 20th century, violence was mainly directed towards colonial powers such as the British in a bid to seek freedom. This led to formation of several groups such as Zionist groups fighting for Palestine mandate and the Muslim Brotherhood that carried out bombings in a bid to free Egypt from British rule. During the 20th century acts of terror were mainly politically influenced hence assassinations mainly targeted high ranking officials in the government such as ministers. For instance the assassinations of Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo which was followed by a sequence of events that ultimately led to the First World War. The First World War was eventually followed by the Second World War and during this period there were many instances of violence. Modern terrorism can arguably be said to have started in 1968 with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacking an Israel aircraft and using passengers as hostages to make demands against Israel government. With the activities of PFPL having won large media coverage, they were followed by collaborations between terrorist groups to commit atrocities in order to advance their ideologies. Over to the 21st century significantly many terrorist groups were formed such as al-Qaeda, under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, with levels of terrorism attacks improving greatly due advancements in warfare weapons. For example, the September 11 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda on the U.S. all through to the recent day attacks. However, there have been fights against terror from almost all nations and the fight seems to be making huge steps in neutralizing terrorism. For example killing of Osama by the U.S marked a huge step towards crippling terrorism groups. Nevertheless the fight against terror is still far from over and therefore there is need to keep up the good fight. Conclusively, terrorism is still a great threat and challenge to the development of the world due to the massive destructions it causes ranging from deaths of civilians to destruction of property in bombings. Having started in the 1st century with Zealots and the assassins, terrorism has made great advancements in comparison with modern terrorism activities such as those advanced by al-Qaeda and ISIS. Works Cited Chaliand, Gerard, and Arnaud Blin. The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Print. Laqueur, Walter. A History of Terrorism. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction, 2001. Print Law, Randall D. Terrorism: A History. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009. Print. Weinberg, Leonard. Global Terrorism. New York: Rosen, 2009. Print. Read More