THE EFFECTS OF TERRORISM

The Effects of Terrorism

The Effects of Terrorism

Thesis Statement

International terrorism has important consequences for international relations, even though their numbers of victims (for example in comparison to deaths or the deaths caused by firearms in the U.S.) are rather low. The reasons lay in its relationship with other political factors, for example, violent regional conflicts or the policies of nation states, such as the U.S. and its "war against terrorism".

Even if the "new terrorism" after 11 September 2001 many characteristics of its predecessor, bears, he and the international fight against him but has become an important factor in world politics. Despite its size and its significance because of its emotional power and symbolic significance often overestimated.

Introduction

More than five years after the devastating terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 it is time to take stock of how these and international terrorism have affected the overall international relations. In the first two or three years after the attacks generally prevailed a tendency, 11 September to be regarded as a historic watershed in international relations after the would hardly be the same again.

The reports and images were of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center from such a strong emotional force that most observers and analysts found it difficult to maintain a sober distance. Added to this was that the U.S. government their entire foreign policy is now in the context of combating terrorism and class it a "war on terrorism" declared that the rhetorically and politically dominated the stage of international politics. Thus there were two defining factors of politics, perception and policy analysis: the question of "new" terrorist threats and the civilian and military responses to terrorism (Frey & Simon, 2003).

If you imagine today the question of the impact of terrorism on international relations, then different levels of analysis are distinguished: one, the direct consequences of terrorism, second, the fight against terrorism (or the "war on terrorism"), as they indirectly resulting from terrorism, and thirdly, discursive shifts that resulted either from the first two points, or by their communicative-political instrumentalization. It is obvious that the resolution of such questions raises considerable methodological difficulties. In the context of the close linkage of numerous factors and variables (both on the causes as well as the impact side) and the equally numerous feedback processes between these, it is hardly ever possible to identify simple causal chains (i.e. the reduction of a single effect on a single cause) but will have to be content with the analysis of causality coarser trends. In international relations, it will hardly ever be possible to isolate specific variables, such as in a laboratory "chemically pure" and to analyze.

The starting point of an analysis of the consequences of terrorism must be its definition and a brief inventory of the current and medium-severity, as there is a risk that the uncertainty and political charge of terrorism analysis falsifies the notion.

Definition of International Terrorism

On definitions of terrorism, there is no ...