Modern Global Terrorism - Essay Example

Global Terrorism Terrorism remains one of the greatest threats to global stability and world peace. Terrorist acts threaten governments, weaken economies and effectively destabilize societies. Terrorism thus has important ramifications for the nation-state as well as for the international system. Increasingly, modern terrorist groups and networks have global aims with international reach. This essay will define the term terrorist, discuss the phenomenon of the international terrorist network and show the impact terrorism has on society. What is a terrorist and how does one define terrorism? The age old adage that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” (Bergesen & Lizardo 39) remains true and the term terrorist has been notoriously difficult to define. Seeking to address the difficult definitional questions surrounding these terms, this essay will compare and contrast the definitions offered by Chailand and Hoffman, scholars at the forefront in the study of the terrorist phenomenon. Taking a comprehensive look at global terrorism, we will define and address state terrorism as well as religious terrorism with an eye to the historical antecedents for the modern terrorist phenomenon. We look at the implosion of empires and state authority and how the end of empire has precipitated the growth of terrorism. Finally, we turn to the internationalization of terrorism and will describe both the causalities and consequences of terrorism in the twenty first century? Despite the definitional challenges surrounding the terrorist phenomenon, a definition of “terrorism” is integral to this essay and this term must be defined so as to provide our theoretical basis. Bruce Hoffman, world renowned terror scholar and expert of the use of terror as a political tool, understands the slippery nature of defining the term and argues that first and foremost, terrorism is a political concept. Secondly, terror is about power and the use of this power to enact political change (Hoffman 14-15). Another prominent international terror theorist, Gérard Chaliand, terror is a tool which targets the mind. From this perspective, terror is “the most violent form of psychological warfare” (Chaliand et al. viii) and terrorism is a means to power and control through violent means. While both of these definitions shed insight into the terrorist phenomenon, Dr. Mia Bloom, the world’s foremost expert on the suicide terror phenomenon, defines terrorism in a different fashion. According to Bloom, terrorism is “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetuated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience” (Bloom 3). Taken together, all of these definitions are comprehensive enough to guide this essay and complement our analysis of the global terrorist phenomenon. As it can be demonstrated, terrorism is inflicted by state as well as by sub-state actors. Although sub-state terror, terrorism which is perpetuated by non-state groups like insurgency organizations is the most commonly referred to type to terror, states are also prone to engaging in terrorism to achieve their political ends. State terrorism is perpetuated by governments or state actors and involves the use of violence and terror as a political tool. Recent examples of state which engaged in terror include Augusto Pinochet’s Chile and the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin (Chaliand 198). State terror differs from sub-state terror in that violence perpetuated by state actors is common conceived of as “legitimate” violence whereby violence produced by insurgency groups or militants (sub-state actors) is far less readily condoned and is often seen as illegitimate (Hoffman 75). There a many historical antecedents for the modern terrorist phenomenon and they are prevalent among major religious faiths. Sacred terrorism is political terrorism which is primarily motivated by religion. Religion sometimes provides a justification for the act and scriptures may be used to justify the engagement in violence or to recruit members into the organization. Accordingly, religious leaders and clerics are often involved in leadership roles with religious terror organizations. For example, Hezbollah, a Shi’a militant organization in Lebanon is often described as a religious terrorist organization. Historical antecedents for terrorism today include the Hindu Thugees who used violence including robbery and murder to intimidate during the British colonial period in India. In ancient Isreal, the Zealots engaged in terrorist violence while the Assassins, a Shi’a Muslim sect known as the Hashshashin, also used violence as a political tool and whose name we have misspelled for centuries, gave us the terms assassin and assassination. The Hashshashin murdered in the name of their faith and subsequently wreaked havoc. From a historical perspective, terrorism has been particularly successful while empires are on the verge of collapse because it has proven to be an effective tool in the destabilization of governments and has also provoked governments to overreact in times of crisis, thereby generating sympathy for the terrorists and further destabilizing the central authorities (Chaliand 198; Hoffman 76-96). Terrorism – and the threat of terror - can have political, social, and economic ramifications. Politically, terror can sow fear, destabilize governments and provoke various forms of retaliatory measures. States of all stripes – including modern liberal democracies – have responded to terrorist threats through the curtailment of civil liberties (United States post 9/11), the imposition of martial law (Canada during the FLQ crisis of 1970) and the wholesale destruction of communities (Iraq’s genocide of the Kurds in Halabja, 1988). Full-scale retaliatory measures, such as that which was practiced at Halabja using chemical weapons (between 3,000 and 5,000 people were killed one March afternoon), often indiscriminately target, kill and maim entire populations. In addition to eliciting violent and often disturbing political responses, terror can also have important repercussions for the economic well-being of a country (Chaliand 101-240). Bruce Hoffman describes the PLO first international terrorist organization and terrorists today are no longer hindered by national boundaries. Al-Qaeda provides perhaps the best and the most frequently sited example of the “new” global terrorist. Terrorism is now transnational with the Al-Qaeda network spawning both adherents and imitators from Jakarta to Kabul and from London to Vancouver. The Al-Qaeda network has reportedly been responsible for a myriad of attacks beginning with Yemen in 1992 and continuing today as part of the Iraqi insurgency. The Al-Qaeda network, headed by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, has mastered the use of modern technology, including the internet as well as the Middle Eastern television network Al-Jazeera, to gain adherents to their global jihad. While their demands vary – from Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories to the overthrow of the conservative monarchy in Saudi Arabia – Al-Qaeda has engaged in terror in countries as diverse as Indonesia and Britain, the United States and Tanzania, as well as the United Kingdom and Morocco, just to name a few. Its reach truly is global. In fact, this particularly insidious network of jihadists represents the most pronounced threat to global peace and international security in modern times (Hoffmann 96; Chaliand 255). Terrorism can have dramatic social, economic and political consequences. Terrorists today are unencumbered by geographic boundaries and are able, through the use and abuse of modern technology, to sow damage and fear on a global scale. The terrorist of today is transnational and Al-Qaeda today provides perhaps the best example of a global terrorist network. Terrorism is also inherently destabilizing and wreaks havoc both politically and economically. It remains one of the most sustained and important threats to global security and world peace. Works Cited Bergesen, Albert J. and Omar Lizardo. “International Terrorism and the World-System.” Sociological Theory 22:1 (Mar., 2004): 38-52. Bloom, Mia. Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. Chaliand, Gérard et al. The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda. Berkley: University of California Press, 2007. Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. Columbia University Press, 1999. Read More