Ideological, Nationalist, and Religious Terrorism - Term Paper Example

Day Month Year Ideological, Nationalist, and Religious Terrorism Introduction For as long as there have been people, there has been evil in the world. For whatever reason, groups have formed over the years in nearly every part of the planet whose sole purpose is to wreak havoc on individuals who do no think, act, or look like them. While there are many shapes and forms of terrorist organizations, scholars generally study ideological, nationalist, and religious terrorist groups. Ideology refers to a particular way of thinking. When an extremist group is formed, they may begin to perpetuate terrorist activities against other groups that think and act counter to their own stated ideologies. This is often political in nature, but can also be the result of simply refusing to embrace difference ways of life or thinking. Nationalist organizations have also crept up in popularity through the years. These terrorist groups are traditionally based and stake a claim to a particular region or territory within a country. If their demands and claims to certain land are not met, they often strike out violently against the dominant group or government present in the area. Finally, religious terrorist groups have been around for centuries, but have recently enhanced their physical activities. Religious extremists will go to any length to strike out at people of a different faith. In the end, these three types of terrorist organizations cannot be ignored, but rather must be studied in order to determine the best way to deal with them moving forward. That is the focus of this essay. Case Studies Ideological Terrorism The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, otherwise referred to as the PKK, is a terrorist organization formed by a group of rogue Kurdish people. They have been fighting an armed resistance against the Turkish regime since 1984. Their objective is to fight for the autonomous region of Kurdistan. In addition, they have been fighting for their own ideology, namely cultural and political rights, for all Kurds residing in Turkey. While terrorist attacks did not begin to be perpetuated until the mid 80’s, the organization actually was formed in 1978 in a small village near Lice and their ideology became a mix of revolutionary socialism and Kurdish nationalism. This is an interesting organization to study from an ideological standpoint, and it must be mentioned that the PKK has long been listed as a terrorist organization internationally, including the United Nations, NATO, America, and the entire European Union. Since its inceptions, the PKK have used many different terrorist acts to strike against the government and civilians of Turkey and Northern Iraq, in addition to various countries of Western Europe. In Turkey alone, they have taken part in demonstrations, riots, kidnapping, assassinations, acts of sabotage, chemical warfare, and various bombing attacks on areas central to society, and armed attacks. They have targeted civilians as well by taking part in kidnappings, assassinations, hijackings, and bomb attacks. Through it all, the organization is also involved in various organized crime activities related to extortion and drug trafficking (Yilmaz 143). This particular terrorist organization began their efforts by targeting other predominately Kurdish organizations in Turkey. They began to recruit people in prisons as a way of eventually gaining the support of the general population, eventually leading to a military coup in 1980. The attacks continued in subsequent years, turning increasingly violent, and even leading to the hijacking of a Turkish Airlines plane heading to Istanbul in October of 1998. In the end, the PKK is still a terrorist organization, but Turkey has been largely able to repress its headway for more than 30 years. Most, if not all, of the inroads that the PKK hoped to make have not been actualized and with their de facto leader in prison for life, their demands will likely never see the light of day. Nationalist Terrorism In Russia, Chechnya has long raged a fierce opposition to control by the Mother Land. The Chechen people are ethnic minorities and live mostly in the Northern Caucasus region of Russia. For over 200 years, Moscow has been in charge of them and they alone have formed the basis of government, but Chechnya has been afforded a certain level of autonomy. When the Soviet Union fell in the early 1990’s, separatists within the region began to advocate for their own independence. This fight resulted in two major and bloody wars for independence, but in the end Chechnya still remains an autonomous region of Russia. It appeared that the movement was weakening somewhat, but 2008 bought about renewed terrorist activity, culminating in an attack on a school in Beslan, Russia. Beslan is a small town of about 35,000 people. It resides in the republic of North Ossetia-Alania, which in the Caucasus region of Russia. The school that was attacked is one of seven schools in the town. September 1st is the traditional first day of school in Russia, and this is the day that the terrorists decided to strike the school. Armed with explosives and firearms, the attackers seized the school by forcing everyone into one area. Some did escape, and there was a brief shootout that resulted in several people being killed on both sides, the terrorists were eventually able to seize control of the school. The standoff lasted three days and eventually resulted in Russian troops storming the school. In the end, nearly 400 people were killed and over 1,000 inured. In was a horrible event in Russia’s storied history to say the least. In the aftermath of this tragic event, Chechan separatists did claim responsibility for the attack and that they were aiming to gain recognition of the independence of Chechnya and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the region. These aims were obviously not met and it was just another horrible terrorist event undertaken by this organization. To this day, the situation remains volatile, with the separatists threatening more violence at any given moment. Religious Terrorism Religious terrorism has been a problem plaguing civilization for centuries now. There are countless horrible atrocities committed every year by terrorists in the name of religion. Such groups typically strike out at a government or at groups of individuals that do not submit to there particular religious views. Many people wrongly assume that all such terrorist groups are rooted in Islam. Consider the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in Japan that occurred on March 20, 1995. The controversial group, Aum Shinrikyo, was at the center of this particular attack. The leader of the religious cult believed that he was ‘Christ’. This particular terrorist attack involved five coordinated attacks on various metro lines around Tokyo. Sarin gas was released into the subway trains, creating a sense of chemical warfare. In the end, 13 deaths were reported as a result of the attacks, and more than 1,100 were reported to have been injured, with 50 of them being severe. The aftermath of this attack bought about various results. The Japanese government had difficulty finding all of those responsible, with two of them being apprehended in that last two years alone. It was not entirely clear what goal the terrorist group was attempting to accomplish through this attack. Some felt that the organization was trying to bring about the apocalypse. They believed that such an event was their destiny to create and that it would hasten their trip to the afterlife. Others in the government felt that the group was trying to destroy the Japanese government and then they would bring in their founder, Shoko Asahara, to be the new emperor of Japan. Needless to say, neither of these two aims was achieved. The religious organization itself lost its status in Japan, but through a series of court decisions, it is now back in existence, just under a different name. They still claim about 2,400 members today, which is roughly the same as back in 1995. Processes, Circumstances, and Causes of Each Terrorist Event Each of the three terrorist organizations presented in the case studies represent just a small fraction of the numerous groups, both domestic and foreign, that threaten regional stability in the world today. The tragedy from each of these three events is that the groups who perpetuated each event truly felt their voices were not being heard. Because of this fact, and because of the members deep ideological, religious, and nationalistic philosophies, they felt that violence was the only way to get their message across. In essence, terrorism is hate. To commit these dastardly acts of violence, the terrorists themselves had to have built up a hatred for the government or other social institutions the precluded them from living in peace any longer. This caused them to lash out at various organizations and make the world aware that they were a voice that needed to be heard. The three events portrayed in this essay were caused by a fractured society. In the case of ideology, the PKK felt that they had legitimate reason to fight for the Kurdish people and to further their own political agenda. These are certainly facts and the secular Turkish government had little choice but to squash the rebellion time and time again. In the end, scores of innocent civilians got caught in the cross fire, and the economy suffered irreparable damage as a result of a group that went rogue. Nationalism is something stronger. Humans feel the need to belong, and one way we do that is through our national identity. When this is threatened, we can feel isolated, alone, and angry. In such instances, the group may rally around a leader and succumb to his or her wishes. The Chechens have fought for decades for their independence. Their voices had been largely ignored, we are lead to believe, be respective Russian governments. It is difficult for us to know how much validity there is to those claims, but it is clear that many Chechen separatists feel strongly enough about their cause that they are willing to go to any length to get the world to listen. In the end, this terrorist event proved largely ineffective for all involved, but particularly for the Chechen cause. To target innocent school children in order to provide a platform and access to the world is unthinkable. Yet, this is exactly what occurred with the seizing of the school. People have debated, and likely will continue to debate, the eventual response of the Russian authorities and how deadly the event ended. That is actually beside the point however. This one event illustrates the destructive power of terrorism and it also demonstrates why they rarely get their way. Society as a whole is not ready to embrace or condone acts of violence simply because a government or an organization is not listening to your demands. Society demands and expects a certain structure and order, and terrorist organizations reside outside of these boundaries. Terrorist Theory Terrorism is obviously a serious topic. As such, there have been numerous theories presented through the years that attempt to help us better understand the mindset of terrorist organizations and to help us work from within to put a stop to these acts of violence. One such theory is the rational choice theory of terrorism. This line of thinking would have us believe that terrorist acts usually originate from rational, calculated, and conscious decisions (Victoroff 5). Instead of assuming that all terrorists are evil individuals at heart, this theory actually presents the idea that such people are not always pathological or illogical. Rather, terrorist acts themselves should be seen as the best means to fulfill the needs of the individual in certain circumstances. Interestingly enough, this theory actually rose out of the game theory, which discusses situations in which the choices of one person or group actually depends of the decisions made by other people or groups (Morrow 1994). This lends credence to the rational choice theory in each of the three case studies presented in this essay. While the theory itself does not excuse, in the least, any of the actions undertaken by these terrorists, it does help to explain the mindset of the organization at the time of each event. Usefulness of the Stated Hypothesis In Each of These Three Cases In the case of the PKK terrorist organization, the actions of the Turkish government, while justified, went counter to the ideology of the organization itself. Upon its formation in the 70’s, the PKK began to see out alternative for the Kurdish people. Over time, it became clear that their way of thinking was completely contrary to the Turkish and North Iraqi governments. The game theory explains what occurs in the minds of the leader of movement. Every decision that was made by the other group (in the case, the Turkish government in most cases) simply reiterated the strength of the PKK cause in their minds. Over time, the rational choice theory explains away their actions by showing us that, in their minds, they had no other alternative left but to initiate violent acts as a way to accomplish their purposes. Similarly, the Chechan separatists had tried time and time again to get the Russian Federation to grant them complete independence. Their wishes and desires were never realized. The rational choice theory demonstrates that certain terrorist do reach their nationalist or philosophical goals as a result of their actions. The Chechan terrorists likely considered this history of other gaining recognition of their stated demands as they considered various terrorist acts, including the siege on the school in Beslin. Regardless of how it happens, terrorist organizations are only interested in the end result. They end up with a sort of tunnel vision where only their objectives matter. In their view, the only rational course of action becomes the violent acts that they hope will achieve their eventual intended purpose. Acts of terrorism carried out in the name of religion seem to have the strongest support of the rational choice theory. Many religions in and of themselves teach their believe is the only ‘right way’. As such, believers can become convinced that entire world should be comprised of people who adhere to their particular belief system. In the case the religious sect in Japan, they truly believed that Apocalypse was near and that it was their duty to bring it to fruition. Religious groups who do not gain acceptance by certain parts of society may use terrorism as a way to get others to listen to them. They are willing to use violence as way to accomplish the ‘greater good’ and they do not consider their acts to be irrational in the least. In the end, they think that their acts of terrorism are justified given the state of the society that they are attacking and that, in the end, the world will be a better place in the end. Works Cited Fictoroff, J. (2005). “The Mind of the Terrorist: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49.1, 3-42. Morrow, J. (1994). Game Theory for Political Scientists. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Yilmaz, Sait. “Question of Strategy in Counter-Terrorism: Turkish Case”. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2.1 (2011): 140-151. Read More