Why Is There More Terrorism Today: An Examination of Old Versus New Terrorism - Coursework Example

Efforts to elicit fear, to achieve political goals and general victimization of society members also appeared in these definitions. The most widely accepted legal definition of terrorist activities include using violent tactics to achieve specific political goals and creating a sense of fear within a community or region being targeted for this violence (Merari 1993).Terrorists maintain a particular political view or religious ideology which conflicts with an established, normative societal perspective and therefore condones engaging in violence as a means of forcing others to recognize this disparate dogma.

Terrorists also work to de-legitimize certain political ideologies that violent perpetrators maintain disagreement with, thereby using force against opponents to coerce a society or government to accept and recognize the self-perceived legitimacy of a terrorist’s specific ideology. Terrorists work to achieve their objectives by conducting religiously or politically-motivated violence with the intention of creating psychological fear within a state that is manifest through citizen victimization or even destruction of certain non-combatant targets that represent iconic symbols with social significance (Bockstette 2008).

Non-combatant terrorism was manifested in the September 11, 2001 annihilation of the World Trade Centre in the United States.Terrorism has been a problem in global society for centuries, but has come into the forefront of public consciousness in recent decades as a result of global media services and rapid distribution of knowledge regarding global events through multiple channels. Since the mid 1990’s, terrorism has evolved from its traditional violent characteristics to a new form with significantly different connotations.

New terrorism is recognized as having a more lethal implication to society than that of traditional terrorist activities (Hoffman 1998).