ANTI-TERRORISM

Anti-Terrorism

Anti-Terrorism

Terror And Fear

Although not a new phenomenon, the incidence of terrorism in the present age has several elements that make it distinctly different from previous experiences. Contemporary terrorism generally has several expected elements: It is egregious violence, perpetrated against innocents, for a political agenda. Furthermore, contemporary terrorism is typically staged before an audience for maximum multiplication of psychological effect. As former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher noted, publicity is the oxygen of terrorism. It is often being undertaken by a non state actor (NSA). Terror and fear are the intended result. Globalized mass media and the Internet greatly magnify these results.

State-level actors do use terror for their interests and may be the invisible forces behind transnational terrorist groups doing their bidding. But state sponsors of terror run the risk of international opprobrium and sanctions, and can have state-centric remedies applied against them, including war. The disastrous example of Serbia and the Black Hand's assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1914 is a prime example. States that employ terror as a matter of policy—as in ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses—are subject to the aforementioned sanctions and perhaps war crimes proceedings. The application of terror by NSAs has garnered the most attention (Bakker, 2008).

Terrorism

What is terrorism? There exists no particular definition of the term because it has got myriad of dimensions, which are interlinked and complex in nature. It is a phenomenon rather than a practice that develops under certain circumstances, triggering an abnormal reaction from an individual or a group of people or even countries. We cannot single out one or two factors responsible for influencing violent behavior among the so-called terrorists and their supporters. In this paper, terrorism is discussed in connection with political, social, psychological and religious perspectives.

Political Perspective

Terrorism can be loosely defined as the use of illegal and unfair means to implement the principles at will, thus subjugating the affected to agree to them despite their inappropriateness. Most of the historians hold the point of view that terrorism is essentially a political phenomenon. Historically, powerful nations, including, Britain, France, Portugal etc. were involved in using terrorism as a tool to strengthen their unjustified rule over the colonial states. The two World Wars in 1914 and 1939 gave further impetus to the concept that terrorism is characterized by the use of force, which resulted in colossal loss and suffering to the mankind. The ongoing atrocities in the Middle East and Kashmir testify to the political nature of terrorism. Both Palestine and India are involved in State Terrorism, a modern offshoot of the political concept (Hoffman, 2006).

Social Perspective

The greatest consequence of terrorism is human suffering. Terrorism has had a profound negative impact on the society as a whole. Rapid industrialization and globalization have caused a major damage to the society. The prevalence of social stratification, ethnic differences, poverty, diseases, hunger, unemployment, homelessness and other factors have all contributed significantly towards intensifying a feeling of hatred that prevails among the under-developed and developing countries ...