Terrorism An Introduction
In the contemporary world, where change is the only constant; different sets of moral rules were implemented in past. Interchanged with previous ideologies, misconstrued, misrepresented, thus a moral deficiency prevailed throughout the time. In this ever changing scenario, people started brutalizing each other through various means, using mechanized methods or a verbal discourse to strike fear in the hearts.The universal language of Terrorism was born.
Terrorism An Introduction
In the contemporary world, where change is the only constant; different sets of moral rules were implemented in past. Interchanged with previous ideologies, misconstrued, misrepresented, thus a moral deficiency prevailed throughout the time. In this ever changing scenario, people started brutalizing each other through various means, using mechanized methods or a verbal discourse to strike fear in the hearts.The universal language of Terrorism was born.
What is Terrorism?
Terrorism is derived from the French word la Terreur (The fear) as a reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the French revolutionaries in 18th century.It is primarily a psychological tool used to incept fear in the general populace, by a group of people, to enforce a particular agenda that is contrary to the writ of the establishment.
Referred as propaganda by deed, terror attacks are carried out by disillusioned individuals or a group, who aspires to bring in radical change that has a certain political element. According to historians, the timeline of terrorism stretches back to Zealots, a Jewish group that resorted to terrorism tactics for the first time against Roman authorities. Recent examples in this regard are of Boston Bombing etcetera.
The drivers that leads a person towards terror tendencies, varies globally. Primarily focused by counter terrorism researchers, the root causes identified are ethno-nationalism, religion, political grievances and socio-economic issues. To successfully counter terrorism, these root causes needs to be addressed by policy makers instead of quashing those who are radicalized.
Terrorism creates anxiety in the masses. It disrupts the norms that inhibit a person day to day dealing with others. Sensational depiction of it by media has aggravated it to such an extent that fear is bought thesedays. Corporate media competes with each other to provide most wanted terrorists free air time, in which they share their tactical goals and fiery ideologies. The rule is that the power of terrorism increases in the same proportion as the repetition of attack broadcasts.
Consider this fact: Nearly 1.3 million people around the world die in road accidents each year. Thousands of people breathe their last due to different ailments each day, many commits suicides etcetera. However how much disturbing it may seem, asymmetrically the body counts of people affected due to terrorist activities daily doesnt even constitute 0.5% of the total deaths yearly, but still legislative bodies of different countries, especially in post 9/11 scenarios made different laws to counter the terrorism issue. The obsession of legislators in Anti Terror laws development stems from the psychological aspects of terrorism discussed earlier.
Terrorism is derived from the French word la Terreur (The fear) as a reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the French revolutionaries in 18th century.It is primarily a psychological tool used to incept fear in the general populace, by a group of people, to enforce a particular agenda that is contrary to the writ of the establishment.
Referred as propaganda by deed, terror attacks are carried out by disillusioned individuals or a group, who aspires to bring in radical change that has a certain political element. According to historians, the timeline of terrorism stretches back to Zealots, a Jewish group that resorted to terrorism tactics for the first time against Roman authorities. Recent examples in this regard are of Boston Bombing etcetera.
The drivers that leads a person towards terror tendencies, varies globally. Primarily focused by counter terrorism researchers, the root causes identified are ethno-nationalism, religion, political grievances and socio-economic issues. To successfully counter terrorism, these root causes needs to be addressed by policy makers instead of quashing those who are radicalized.
Terrorism creates anxiety in the masses. It disrupts the norms that inhibit a person day to day dealing with others. Sensational depiction of it by media has aggravated it to such an extent that fear is bought thesedays. Corporate media competes with each other to provide most wanted terrorists free air time, in which they share their tactical goals and fiery ideologies. The rule is that the power of terrorism increases in the same proportion as the repetition of attack broadcasts.
Consider this fact: Nearly 1.3 million people around the world die in road accidents each year. Thousands of people breathe their last due to different ailments each day, many commits suicides etcetera. However how much disturbing it may seem, asymmetrically the body counts of people affected due to terrorist activities daily doesnt even constitute 0.5% of the total deaths yearly, but still legislative bodies of different countries, especially in post 9/11 scenarios made different laws to counter the terrorism issue. The obsession of legislators in Anti Terror laws development stems from the psychological aspects of terrorism discussed earlier.
Unfortunately due to its controversial nature, no proper definition of terrorism based on mutual consensus between the state actors of different countries has been formulated yet. Angus Martyn statedthat,
The international community has never succeeded in developing an accepted comprehensive definition of terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations attempts to define the term floundered mainly due to differences of opinion between various members about the use of violence in the context of conflicts over national liberation and self-determination.
In spite of the inherent limitations in defining Terrorism, this article is a foreword of a series that aims to briefly highlight the all encompassing narrative related to historical evolution, tactical progression, behavioral, root causes and the future of terrorism.
