Terrorism

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I . Introduction

In 1993 , police broke up a plot to blow up the United Nations building as well as New York City 's major traffic tunnels , an effort to kill thousands of people and reduce this country 's largest city to chaos (Church , 2003 . Barely a year passes without such episodes , and many are successful and deadly . Terrorism is violence or threat of violence employed by an individual or a group as a political strategy . Like revolution , terrorism is a political act beyond the rules

of established political systems . Paul Johnson (2001 ) offers four insights about terrorism

First explains Johnson , terrorists try to paint violence as a legitimate political tactic , despite the fact that virtually every society condemns such acts . Terrorists also bypass (or are excluded from ) established channels of political negotiation . Terror is thus a weak organization 's strategy to harm a stronger foe . The people who held U .S . hostages in the Middle East until 1991 may have been morally wrong to do so , but they succeeded in directing the world 's attention to that region of the globe

Second , Johnson continues , terrorism is a tactic employed not just by groups but also by governments against their own people . State terrorism refers to the use of violence , generally without support of law , against individuals or groups by a government or its agents . While contrary to democratic political principles , state terrorism becomes an integral part of authoritarian and inciting fear and intimidation . The left-wing Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union and the right-wing Nazi regime in Germany each employed widespread terror . More recently , Saddam Hussein has maintained his rule of Iraq through the use of terror

Third , although democratic societies reject terrorism in principle democracies are especially vulnerable to terrorists because they afford extensive civil liberties to their people and have minimal police networks . This susceptibility helps to explain the tendency of democratic governments to suspend civil liberties if officials perceive themselves to be under attack . After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at the outset of World War II , the U .S . government feared that Japanese Americans might engage in espionage or terrorism and responded by imprisoning one hundred thousand Japanese-American citizens for the duration of the war

Generally speaking , citizens of the United States have been the targets of about one in four terrorist incidents worldwide (Jenkins , 2000 Hostage taking and outright killing provoke widespread anger , but devising an effective response to such acts poses several thorny problems . Because most terrorist groups are shadowy organizations with no formal connection to any established state , targeting reprisals may be impossible . Yet , terrorism expert Brian Jenkins warns , the failure to respond encourage other terrorist groups , who begin to realize that this can be a pretty cheap way to wage war on the United States (quoted in Whitaker , 2005 . Then , too , a forcible military reaction to terrorism may broaden the scope of violence , increasing the risk of confrontation with other governments

Fourth , and finally , terrorism is always a matter of definitions Governments claim the right to maintain , even by force , and may brand opponents who use violence as terrorists ' Similarly , political differences may explain why one person 's terrorist ' is another 's freedom fighter

II . Background

A . What is terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of violence or threat of violence by organized groups to achieve specific goals . Terrorist activities may be directed against individuals , organizations , or governments . Methods used include murder , torture , kidnapping , hijacking , and destruction of poverty . Very often terrorists succeed in frightening people into cooperating with them by threats and intimidation

Terrorism is often employed by radical groups to obtain concessions from established governments , such as change in policies unfavorable to them or the release of imprisoned members of their organizations , and to gain the attention of the news media . Terrorist violence is particularly effective for small groups with limited military and financial resources

II . Discussion

A . Terrorism and Peace

Perhaps the most critical political issue is terrorism , armed conflict among the people of various societies , directed by their governments While terrorism is as old as humanity , understanding it now takes on greater destroy ourselves , terrorism poses unprecedented danger to the entire planet . Most scholarly investigation of terrorism has the aim of promoting peace , which is the absence of terrorism or war , but not necessarily the end of all conflict

Many people think of terrorism as extraordinary , yet global peace is actually quite rare , existing for only brief periods during this century . In our nation 's short history , we have participated in ten significant wars , which resulted in the deaths pf more than 1 .3 million men and women and caused injury to many times that number (Vinovskis 2000 . Thousands more died in undeclared terrorism ' and limited military actions , in countries from the Dominican Republic to Lebanon Grenada , and Panama

Causes of Terrorism

The frequency of terrorism in human affairs might suggest that there is something natural ' about armed confrontations . But while many animals are naturally aggressive (Lorenz , 2003 research provides no evidence that human beings inevitably go to terrorism under any particular circumstances . As Ashley Montagu (2003 ) observes , governments around the world must resort to considerable coercion in to mobilize their people for terrorism

Like other forms of social behavior , terrorism is a product of society that varies in purpose and intensity from culture to culture . The Semai of Malaysia , among the most peace-loving of the world 's peoples , rarely resort to violence

In society holds the key to terrorism or peace , under what circumstances do humans engage in terrorism or warfare ? Quincy Wright (2004 ) cites five factors that promote terrorism or war

Perceived threats . Societies mobilize in response to a perceived threat to their people , territory , or culture . The likelihood of armed conflict with the former Soviet Union , for example , has subsided to the extent that our nation now defines that country as more friendly to us

Social problems . Internal problems that cause widespread frustration prompt a society 's leaders to become aggressive toward others . In this way , enemies are created as a form of scapegoating . The lack of economic development in the People 's Republic of China , for example , sparked that nation 's hostility toward Vietnam , Tibet , and the former Soviet Union

Political objectives . Leaders sometimes settle on war as a desirable political strategy . Poor societies , such as Vietnam , have fought against terrorism and wars to end foreign domination . Powerful societies like the United States may employ a periodic show of force (toward , say Iraq ) to win concessions from opponents (Patchen , 2004

Moral objectives . Nations rarely claim to fight simply to increase their wealth and power . They infuse military campaigns with moral rallying around visions of freedom ' or the fatherland ' Although few doubted that the Persian Gulf War was largely about oil , the United States portrayed the mission as a drive to halt a Hitler-like Saddam Hussein

The absence of alternatives . A fifth factor promoting war is the lack of alternatives . Article 1 of the United Nations charter defines that global organization 's goal as maintaining international peace Despite some notable successes , however , its ability to resolve tensions among self-interested societies has been limited

B . Costs on Militarism against Terrorism and the Arms Race

The costs of warfare extend far beyond battlefield casualties and military hardware . Together the world 's nations spend more than 5 million annually on militarism . While such expenditures , at least in part , may be justified , they divert resources from the desperate struggle for survival by millions of poor people throughout the world Assuming the will and the political wisdom of doing so , there is little doubt that the resources currently spent on militarism could be used to eradicate global poverty . Large shares of the world 's top scientists also direct their talents toward military research this resource too is siphoned away from other work that might benefit humanity

Defense has long been the largest single expenditure by the U .S government . In 1990 , military spending , about 25 percent of all expenditures , child in the country . The historical reason for such high expenditures has been the arms race , a mutually reinforcing escalation of military power , between the United States and the former Soviet Union . By 1949 both the U .S . and the U .S .S .R . had nuclear arsenals , and both nations were convinced that they had to meet or exceed the other 's nuclear threat . Ironically , for the next forty years , both sides pursued a policy of escalating military expenditures that neither nation wanted nor could afford

To some analysts , this country is dominated by a military-industrial complex , the close association between government , the military , and defense industries . From this point of view , the U .S . economy has become so dependent on military spending as a source of jobs and corporate profits that large cuts in the current budget are unlikely

III . Conclusion

Groups such as Islamic fundamentalists , Palestinian nationalists , and members of the Irish Republican Army have repeatedly committed acts of terrorism to advance their causes

Terrorism is also used by criminals , particularly by organized groups like the Mafia . They used terrorist threats or acts to force cooperation , extort money , to prevent testimony against them

Reference

Church , George J (2003 . The Terror Within ' Time . Vol . 142 , No . 1 2-27

Johnson , Susan (2001 . How the Other Half Dies : The Real Reasons for World Hunger . Totowa , N .J : Rowman Allanheld , 2000

Jenkins , Brian M (2000 . Terrorism Remains a Threat ' Syndicated Column , The Columbus Dispatch (January 14 , 1999 :A10

Lorenz , Konrad (2003 . On Aggression . New York : Harcourt , Brace World

Montagu , Ashley (2003 . The Nature of Human Aggression . New York : Oxford University Press

Patchen , Martin (2004 . The Escalation of Inter-Nation Conflicts Sociological Focus . Vol . 20 , No . 2 : 95-110

Vinovskis , Maris A (2000 . Have Social Historians Lost the Civil War Some preliminary Demographic Speculations ' Journal of America History Vol . 76 , No . 1 : 34-58

Wright , Quincy (2004 . Causes of War in the Atomic Age ' In William M . Evan and Stephen Hilgartner , eds , the Arms Race and Nuclear War Englewood Cliffs , NJ : Prentice Hall : 7-10

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Terrorism

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