What is International Terrorism?
International Terrorism Powerpoint
I. Introduction
A. As the Ray and Kaarbo (p468) text makes clear, terrorism has been around for a long time. In fact they suggest that “terrorist acts were quite common hundreds of years ago”
1. Terrorism experts note that “terrorism is a tactic of the powerless against the powerful”
2. Harvard professor Joseph Nye suggests terrorism “is a method of violence with roots that stretch far back in history”
a. Nye (2001) notes that terrorism was used by anarchists and other revolutionaries in the 19th century; our text also suggests that WWI was in part sparked by an act of terrorism
b. Kegley & Wittkopf (p434) note that “terrorism was well known in ancient times, as evident in the assassination of tyrants in ancient Greece and Rome, and killings of zealots in Palestine and the Hashashin of medieval Islam”
B. Today we live in what Harvard Professor Ashton Carter calls “the age of catastrophic terrorism”…an era where terrorist orgs such as Al Qaeda want access to WMD in order to kill as many of its enemy (us) as possible: I would argue that the 9-11-01 al Qaeda attacks on US soil was just a small dose of al Qaeda’s capabilities…
C. Nye suggests that before the 1990s, terrorists tended to have scruples about the indiscriminate killings of innocent people…that’s NOT an issue today
D. Today, with terrorists willing to sacrifice their own lives, and with their stated desire to use WMD to kill as many of us as possible (bin Laden says millions) the game and the stakes have changed. Perhaps this is the case b/c most of the terrorist attacks that have affected Western countries have come from Islamic terrorist orgs. where religious fanaticism and intense hatred seems to drive this behavior
E. Ray and Kaarbo (p466-469) suggest that defining intl. terrorism isn’t as easy as it might seem at first blush largely, but NOT solely, due to the “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” debate…there are other problems as you will see when you read pp466-469…
1. As Ray and Kaarbo suggest, trying to define it can be tricky b/c many folks don’t agree on what it is…
a. Jews say that Palestinians who detonate bombs which kill innocent Israelis are terrorists
b. Palestinians say they are simply resisting Israeli occupation and brutality; they say responses by the Israeli govt. are the deliberate killing of innocent Palestinian civilians (i.e., they see it as terrorism)
c. This leads many to throw their hands up in the air and say “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”
A. There isn’t even a general consensus in the UN about a common definition: Arab states have blocked most efforts to do so b/c they want Palestinians groups exempted from being labeled terrorists…
B. Western states, like the US, block any efforts at labeling its allies, like Israel, as terrorists (or state sponsors of terrorism)
1. Title 22 of the US legal Code defines terrorism as:
“premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non- combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents…The term ‘international terrorism’ means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country”
2. FBI Definition:
“the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”
3. Department of Defense:
“Terrorism is the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological” in nature
a. According to terrorism expert, Bruce Hoffman (2006), there are actually 109 different, distinct definitions of “terrorism”
b. Another noted scholar in the field, Walter Laqueur (2004) notes that “it is impossible to define terrorism and fruitless to attempt to cobble together a truly comprehensive definition”
c. Hoffman (2006: 34) does note that “if we cannot define terrorism, then we can at least usefully distinguish it from other types of violence and identify the characteristics that make terrorism the distinct phenomenon of political violence that it is”
d. In other words, terrorism is distinct and discretely different than, say guerrilla war or insurgency (they aren’t synonymous)
C. My point: by distinguishing terrorists from other types of criminals and irregular fighters and terrorism from other forms of crime and irregular warfare, we can come to appreciate that terrorism is
-political in aims and motivates
- violent, or threatens violence
-designed to have far reaching psychological repercussions beyond the immediate target/victim
-perpetrated by a sub-national group or non-state entity
D. Rhetorical Question (don't answer it): given what we now know about terrorism, can states (ie countries) be terrorists?
E. Dictionary Definitions
1. The American Heritage dictionary defines terrorism as “the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.”
2. Worldnet defines terrorism as “the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear .”
3. The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (3rd Edition) defines terrorism as “acts of violence committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by some notable historical wrong. Although these groups have no formal connection with governments, they usually have the financial and moral backing of sympathetic governments. Typically, they stage unexpected attacks on civilian targets, including embassies and airliners, with the aim of sowing fear and confusion. Israel has been a frequent target of terrorism, but the United States has increasingly become its main target.”
III. Conclusion
A. The main point here is this: since the 9/11/01 attacks, American foreign policy has entered into a new phase against a different kind of enemy
B. The enemy is implacably hostile to our way of life, our actions around the world, and are willing to use “catastrophic terrorism” to achieve their goals (which are debatable though discernable).