What is most likely is that any certain form of terrorism is the result of a combination of factors. Since the collapse of super power rivalry, the united states acts when and where it sees such action as fitting its interests. Civil wars and ethnic conflicts continue to torment the continent and killed more people than reported. Causes of terrorism most definitions of terrorism recognise that terrorists dont just pursue violence for the sake of it but have a specific purpose for carrying out their attacks. Thus it is the larger developments, changes in the international political structure, and expansion of globalization throughout the world that explains this trend in. Causes and consequences of terrorism in africa oxford. The course takes a theoretical and historical approach, attempting to nest contemporary challenges within the broader global and political context of terrorism as a phenomenon.
Compared to other forms of violence such as homicide, armed conflict, and military expenditure, terrorism is a small percentage of the total global. There is a growing cosmopolitan, universalist sense of solidarity in the world now and this solidarity of citizens urges leaders to do something when the media reveals unfairness and violence against. Other suggested causes of terrorism are western imperialism and apathy. Terrorism may also be used as a foreign polic y tool to.
Terrorism was originally theorized in the context of insurgency and guerrilla warfare, a form of organized political violence by a nonstate army or group. This chapter examines the causes and consequences of terrorism in africa, and considers the extent to which existing evidence rationalizes the various explanations for it, and its implications for counterterrorism policy in africa. I will attempt to analyze the causes of terrorism in general and, specifically, the causes of terrorism in the middle east. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence during peacetime or in the context of war against noncombatants mostly civilians and neutral military personnel.
It examines the empirical evidence on the causes of international terrorism from the late 1960s to the early 2000s and discovers that, while religion has had a part to play, explanations based on economics and politics appear to be consistent with the facts. The gini coefficient is coded so that zero means there is. In some countries, such as bangladesh, it is the top mortality cause for children under 15 years old. This has added to the resentments of the people of that part of the world.
With the input of two hundred of the worlds leading scholars and expert practitioners, they represent the most informed judgement on the issue of democracy and. Terrorism may also be used as a foreign policy tool to. Loosely defined, terrorism is the use of violence to further a political or ideological goal at the expense of the general population. Causes and consequences of terrorism in africa start. The terms terrorist and terrorism originated during the french revolution of the late 18th century but gained. After 11 september 2001, the analytical literature on terrorism grew rapidly. Research has shown that there are a number of possible causes for terrorist activity. Causes of terrorism in arab world by col nasser alsulaiti qatar emiri air force col christopher r. There are still many unknown causes that would lead to terrorism. Pdf on jan 1, 2004, brynjar lia and others published causes of terrorism. Below are the most common causes cited by leaders in the counterterrorism field. Occasionally, dramatic events dominated global headlines to seeming exclusion of. The study focuses primarily on theories that seek to explain why some societies are more exposed to terrorism than others, i. Today, terrorist activity can be found in israel, indonesia, united kingdom, sri lanka, colombia, and the united states, to name a few.
World war, and the tremendous suffering of millions of people. These are some of the questions that i will be looking to answer throughout this paper. Based on policy relevance, my survey article identifies five key areas of intense research interests. Paparone project advisor the views expressed in this academic research paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the u. Social and political injustice some people turn to. It presents generalizations about terrorisma form of political violence by, for, and against the stateand politics and violence based on the theories of. Counter terrorism strategy central intelligence agency. Only the little part of the world remained untouched and unharmed by the contemporary beckon of terrorism. Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentional violence for political or religious purposes. What are the most effective ways to combat terrorism. Terrorism existed in 18th century revolutionary france during the reign of terror, as well as among the zealots of palestine in opposition to roman rule some 2000 years ago.
This writeup was first published on everything here d. An attack can be rooted in religious, social, or political conflicts such as when one community is oppressed by another. Terrorism has become a major security issue and world problem. Social inequality measured by the gini coefficient was also obtained through the world bank. Dealing with terrorism has become the centerpiece of u. The causes of terrorism have been under much debate. Terrorism happens in both poor and rich countries, and regardless of the type of government bjorgo 2005. The root causes approach it was noted that some authors believe that an approach to counterterrorism based on addressing the root causes of terrorism may be counterproductive. In general terms the terrorist group will make use of these tactics, rather than nonviolent methods, as they may. Ro o t ca u s e s o f a n in t e r n a t i o n a l ac t o r re d e f i n e d 77 how diverse the causes, motivations, and ideologies behind terrorism, all attempts at premeditated violence against. Sensible people are discouraged from thinking about the root causes of islamic terrorism, because of the routine nonsense from the left, including the obama administration, about poverty.
The terrorist acts have become more dangerous with the advancement of technology. There are many reasons why people have chosen to resort to terrorist tactics over the years. The events of 11 september 2001 showed that organisations motivated by religion are equally as willing to use violence in pursuit of their goals. What are the causes of and solutions for terrorism. In the contemporary world, indiscriminate weaponry e. Terrorism is too important a subject for us not to be interested in what causes it.
In this article, we investigate public opinion about the root causes of terrorism. Yet terrorism, its definition, causes, and methods of dealing with it, has rarely. The fear is that tackling the grievances which causes terrorism. Terrorism is an issue that affects the world and incidents have drawn much more attention since 911. Over the years, terrorism has caught international attention as it has destructive goals that would bring casualties and economical impact around the world. Even if the immediate costs of terror ism are marginal, its indirect political and economic costs may be substantial. Could the organizations of this world pinpoint the causes of terrorism and reduce the number of incidents.
Each year, more than a million people lose their lives, and many more suffer nonfatal injuries, as a result of selfinflicted, interpersonal or collective violence. These include analyses of terrorist attack trends, the economic consequences of terrorism, the study of counterterrorism effectiveness, the causes of terrorism, and. This essay challenges assumptions about the root causes of jihadist terrorism that prioritize political, religious, or economic factors. Terrorism is conducted in the pursuit of different visions. President bush states these terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life. Terrorism as a manifestation of conflict could be a historically persistent phenomena with roots in the past.
The manner, in which the terrorist attack was launched, had shaken the entire world in general and united states of america in particular. Im not saying that violence is the best method to resist stateterrorism, but the world needs to realize where these people are coming from. Although people resort to terrorism for many reasons, experts attribute most acts of violence to three major factors. When you enter terrorism in the search engine of one of the worlds largest scholarly multidiscipline databases, academic search complete, it lists 91,839 hits1 from various levels and fields, 90% of which have been written since september 2001. An examination of the mindanao problem would help us then to understand that the causes of terrorism are complex, and cannot be boxed in alignments of we versus they. Definition of terrorism terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against person or property to intimidate or coerce o government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. Drawing on the authors anecdotal experience interviewing hundreds of accused jihadist terrorists, along with survey data collected from subject matter experts in countering violent extremism cve, the essay offers an interpretation for terrorisms. In an effort to assist teachers in helping their students identify and understand terrorism, the. The world health organization who emphasises that drowning is one of the most overlooked, preventable causes of death across the world. There is evidence for and against every reason on this list however, more often than not, it is a combination of several that lead to terrorism.
June 12 2003 and is a shorter and easiertoread version of a paragraph of my ma dissertation terrorism and game theory. Public opinion on the root causes of terrorism and objectives of. In november 2004, a unite nations secretary general report described terrorism as any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or noncombatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an. The terrorist attack on world trade center and pentagon has given a new dimension to terrorism. As terrorism is a form of conflict, the extent to which particular historical events drive current conflicts could render history as a cause of terrorism in africa. Overall, violence is among the leading causes of death worldwide for people aged 1544 years. Including political and economic modernization, deprivation, and class structure bjorgo 2005. Terrorism can take multiple forms and have many causes, often more than one. The world must respond and fight this evil that is intent on threatening and destroying our basic free doms and our way of. This paper examines and juxtaposes discourses about terrorism, violence, and political leadership. The past decade alone has seen considerable progress in identifying the role and significance of a range of factors. Here the objective is to outline an approach to the analysis of the causes of terrorism, based on comparison of different cases of ter. Taken together, they are the root causes for african terrorism.
The study of terrorism can be organized around three questions. The power of america and its foreign policy may be seen causes of terrorism. Individuals or groups may use terrorism because they dont like the current organisation of society and they want to change it. Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the united states for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom. In a region that has seen nations built from recently ended. This report presents a critical survey of the academic literature on the causes of terrorism. The research on terrorism was insufficient and the data is not fully complete yet. Asymmetric warfare refers to the use of randomunpredictable violence by a weak group i. Terrorism as a force in social and international relations appears to some as a relapse into barbarism, a peculiar and dismal aberration of civilized life, and a step backward in the conduct of war. History of terrorism factsheet causes of terrorism ready scotland. The focus of this research paper will be on the roots of terrorism and what i believe are the causes of terrorism. Their involvement in the middleeast, forming partnerships with dictatorial governments to get their hands on oil resources are only a few of the causes of your terrorism. An introduction for the last thirty years, the threat of terrorism has been multiplied manifold. The objectives are to 1 provide information to students about terrorism in general, 2 to show that terrorism has had a long history, 3 to demonstrate that terrorism has taken place in all areas of the world and 4 to demonstrate that terrorism although scaring many people is very rare.
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