Discussion - Psychology Of Terrorism - Coursework Example

Psychology of Terrorism Psychology of Terrorism By saying, "He who fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does notbecome a monster,” (Faber & Holub, 2013). Friedrich Neitzsche meant that when one is fighting against a bad activity, they should not be swayed into joining it in the long run. Instead, they should remain focused and fight against it up to the bitter end. For instance, when a government wages war against terrorism, it should not succumb into any form of terrorist act.

Otherwise, it would lose the essence and credibility of taking such an action. On the other hand, “When you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you" can be interpreted to mean that a long exposure to a dangerous truth might compel one to engage in such dangerous acts. In other words, when a person spends a lot of time advocating against certain perceived bad activities, they might be involved in such actions in the long run. Indeed, these assertions can be used to shed more light on the concept of psychology of terrorism.

When a country is fighting against terrorism, it should be too careful not to attempt to practice what it is fighting against. By doing this, it would be contradicting itself. Surprisingly, a continued exposure to terrorism might compel them to engage in acts of terrorism. This can be used to justify the actions of the Federal Government of USA which, despite being in the forefront for fighting against world terrorism, has been accused of engaging in it (Fried, 2007). This has been seen in several occasions when it has been supporting, funding and protecting terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and other outlawed ‘jihadists’ in Afghanistan and Syria.

According to the psychology of terrorism, people become terrorists due to their extremist religious and ideological beliefs, personal frustrations, perceived financial gains and unending urge for socio-economic and political revolution (Stout, 2009). This is what motivates them to even offer their lives as ransoms for the sake of advancing their agenda, tormenting the ‘dissents’ and achieving their ultimate evil goals. ReferencesFaber, M. & Holub, R.C. (2013). Friedrich Neitzsche: Beyond Good and Evil.

New York: Tribeca.Fried, R. (2007). ‘The psychology of the terrorist.’ In B. M. Jenkins (Ed), Terrorism and beyond: An international conference on terrorism and low-level conflict (pp. 119-124). Santa Monica, CA: Rand. Stout, E. (Ed) (2009) The psychology of terrorism: A public understanding (Vol. 1pp. 143-157). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.