Modern International Terrorism and International Terrorist Group - Essay Example

Terrorism Terrorism Terrorism is a relative concept which has entirely different meanings and value for different individuals living on the earth. For instance, oppressors define terrorism as deviation from government rules and regulations but on the other hand oppressed define it as a completely unauthorized use of power. Hence terrorism never had any particular definition in the criminal law. However, it does involve fear, violence, murder and other forms of physical and emotional harm. All of these acts are actually based upon personal and national goals. Although they can be defined as political, social or religious objectives but in greater perspective terrorism is associated with the idea of practicing power over the mass population while turning humans in to slaves. Here, if we closely analyze then it can be said with conviction that pessimistic use of power is not only done by social activists and influential religious groups rather terrorism is also practiced by powerful nations and governments. This can be substantiated on the basis of the fact that the last two World Wars were actually initiated due to political disagreements among government authorities. Moreover, the incidents which occurred during World War I and II are the prime examples of human rights violation, murder, violence, fear and inhuman acts such as rape. On the other hand the contemporary form of terrorism is largely affiliated with religious groups which negatively influence people to accept their ideologies. Although these people aren’t religious in the true sense but that is how they justify their violent acts. Hence in my opinion terrorism is violation of human dignity in the name of egotistic goals and it can be associated with government authorities or individuals. Modern International Terrorism There is no single event which can predict the exact starting time for the Modern International Terrorism since it is defined differently by a large number of scholars, politicians, historians, economics, sociologists etc. Weinberg argues that French Revolution played a significant role in beginning the Modern Terrorism. This revolution particularly set standards for events which occurred in the 20th Century. Most importantly it provided the means of using tyrannicide for confiscating the oppressive political authorities (Cameron, 2010). As activities against state leadership gained intensity and violence began the government also started taking actions and named the individuals participating in revolutions as terrorist. This actually gave rise to two different ideas including the concept that terrorists for one group are the freedom fighters for another group whereas on the other hand the government authorities restricted the notion of terrorism to certain social activists only. This further led to the development of an unspoken concept that the acts of government are always right and no one can disagree with the state rules and regulations. Modern International Terrorism also has its roots in the events which occurred in 1880s. Rapoport explains that modern terror initiated first in Russia which reached to the Western Europe within very short time period. Subsequently the terror activities which took place in Balkans and Asia actually strengthened the idea of Modern Terrorism (Cameron, 2010). Here, it is important to note that the Modern International Terrorism is called ‘modern’ because it was spread using the latest communication and transportation channels. The fast communication networks actually reduced the geographical distances which not only led terrorism to the international level rather it also made it a significant threat for modern human civilization. International Terrorist Group The first International Terrorist Group was identified in the late 19th and the early 20th Century when anarchist terror began. ‘The People’s Will’ also known as Narodnaya Volya initiated terrorist activities which were entirely different from traditional terrorism. It made the revolutionaries obsolete and an irrelevant idea to solve the problems of mass population. It was in this time period that books, pamphlets, meetings, revolutionary talks and demonstrations lost their value. These forms of uprising people were now considered as idle word spillers (Rapoport, 2002). Hence there was a need of such communication which cannot be ignored and which is also heard by the world population. Amazingly terror became the norm of the day and also the most significant form of communication since people were unable to avoid discussing its aftereffects. This generated a new idea that terrorism does not need any communication channel rather it is spread as some dangerous virus. Moreover, continuous acts of terrorism also polarized the need of revolution. Since the group and its terrorist activities also impacted the World War I and II therefore it is considered the first international terrorist organization according to some critics. The Anti-Colonial Period and the Modern Terrorism The Anti-Colonial Period has great significance when it comes to understanding the development of modern terrorism. When Britain was the ruling state of the world then it established several British colonies all over the globe. These colonies were actually maintained under the British authorities and Britain’s Law was practiced there. However, in the 19th Century people began to realize that British are violating their rights and subsequently different revolutionary campaigns started. Some of the religious and political groups also began to fight the colonizers. In order to understand the critical aspects of Anti-Colonial Period it is important to first reflect upon the colonialism. D’Souza explains it as a system through which the wealth and resources of colonized countries are actually transferred to the colonizers (Fish, 2012). Hence when people residing in those colonies realized that what they were losing their wealth then they began to fight for their preserving their resources and also to restore their fundamental rights. The anti-colonial period started in 1920 and continued until 1960s. This was the most critical period for the development of modern terrorism because of the World War II which was fought during 1939-45 and also because of the fact that the colonized people started participating in massive terrorist activities. Although from their perspective it was freedom fighting but the colonizers recorded it as the initiation of modern terrorism. Research indicates that anti-colonial movements dramatically increased during 1940 and 1950s (Rich, 2009) and it was the same time period when terrorist attacks also increased. Moreover, the communication and transportation channels became stronger which rapidly spread the impact of anti-colonialism all over the world. This simultaneously increased the scope of terrorism and governments were dealing with the outcomes of the two World Wars. Four Waves of Modern Terrorism David C. Rapoport has categorized modern terrorism into following four waves (Cronin, 2004): Doctrine Creation: During the first wave of modern terrorism ‘deed propaganda’ was deeply emphasized as the usage of pamphlets and books for uprising people was declared useless. The most significant terrorist group during this period was ‘The People’s Will’ which particularly used terror as its fundamental strategy. The first wave is also known as anarchist terror and it ended in the early 20th century. New Language: The second wave focuses on the anti-colonial violence and it started after the conclusion of World War I. Here, terrorism gained entirely different meanings as the victorious nations of the World War I determined to collapse the governments of defeated states. A group called Irgun changed the language used by terrorists and started calling its people the freedom fighters which changed people’s perception about terrorism. Internationalism: The third wave of modern terrorism started in 1970s which is known as leftist terrorism. This was actually initiated by the Vietnam War. The time period during 1970-80 witnessed large number of incidents including kidnapping and murders of government officials by different terrorist groups which belonged to the West and the Arab world. Religion: Religion and ethnicity played a significant role in the development of the fourth modern terrorism wave. Religion gained importance due to the establishment of secular states while on the other hand some religious groups also used terror so as to stop the incorrect interpretations of sacred books. References Cameron, G. & Goldstein, J. (2010). The Ontology of Modern Terrorism: Hegel, Terrorism Studies, and Dynamics of Violence. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy . Cronin, A. & Ludes, J. (2004). Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy. USA: Georgetown University Press. Fish, S. (2012). Obama, D’Souza and Anti-Colonialism. Retrieved Aug 6, 2014, from New York Times. Rapoport, D. (2002). The Four Waves of Rebel Terror and September 11. Anthropoetics. Rich, J. (2009). Savage Frenchmen: Masculinity and the Timber Industry in Colonial Gabon, ca. 1920-1960. Publié dans Afrique & histoire , 235-264. Read More