Terrorism and Religious Conflicts - Essay Example

? HISTORY Introduction The two major global problems the the society is grappling with areterrorism and religious conflicts. Terrorism is a global problem with adverse social, political and economic effects to the society. Despite the frantic measures by various governments and global organization to address terrorism, it remains prevalent in the society. The reason for this is that anyone is an easy target and can fall victim of tourists attack. It is therefore critical that the globe comes up with better strategies to address this tragedy. On the other hand, the issue of religious conflicts is also on the rise. Historical Perspective of Terrorism and Religious Conflicts 1. Terrorism Terrorism refers to the acts of warfare staged by a group of enemy combatants who usually targets a clique of people or institution in a bid to make the victim to give in to certain demands (Cole 2011). Take a case of the September 11, 2001 attack; the al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attack and demanded that the United States desists from attacking Iraq. In the past, terrorists’ actions were quite predictable and as such, it was easier to thwart, there acts. However, terrorists have taken a new twist; they have gone viral to say the least. Terrorist of the 21st centuary have the most sophisticated weapons, which makes it hard to fight them. The Middle East has been the traditional territory of the terrorist where all the plans of terrorists are executed. Lutz & Lutz (2011) say that lately, the terrorists exits everywhere even in the place you least expect them. It is no longer a surprise to find that Native Americans have been assimilated into terrorism. Moreover, they execute terror attacks against their own country. Take a case of the September 11 bombing; some of the culprits were the Americans. The terrorist have taken terrorism a notch higher. They have incorporated nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and chemical weapons. Several attempts through both diplomatic and military intervention have been put in place to thwart the growth of such dangerous weapons (Cole 2011). These weapons are very dangerous and possess threat to the entire humanity. The nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons can wipe out man out of the surface of the earth. 2. Religious Conflicts Religious conflicts are rife in the society today owing to the religious intolerance among the various religious groups. A perfect example of religious conflict is the one pitting Christians against Muslims. Arab-Israeli conflict has dragged on for decades and there is no end in sight. The Arab nations are at war with the Israeli and as such, they use Islam as an avenue to mobilize the Arabs against non-Muslim nations such as Israel. The Islam religion commenced around the 7th centuary in Middle East (Lutz & Lutz 2011). Mohamed, who would later introduce the concept of Jihad, started the religious outfit. The idea of Jihad was to spread Islam religion by the use of force. To date almost all Arab nations in the Middle East and Northern Africa profess the Muslim faith. The Islam have always been associated with the issue of violence popularly known as Jihad which champions for aggression against other religious groups such as Christians. It is worth noting that Islam extremists have gone to an extent of staging war against Christians through terror related attacks. In fact, the September 11 attacks show the extent to which Muslim extremist have taken the conflict between Christian and Muslims. Effects of Terrorism and Religious Conflicts It is worth noting that terrorism and religious conflicts has adverse social, economic and political effects to the society today. The aftermath of terror attacks or religious conflicts is always greeted with loss of lives, injuries, and loss of property. The September 11 attack was an epitome of the adverse negative impacts to the society. Several people lost their lives resulting to untold metal torture and agony to their friends and relatives. Losing a loved one is not always something pleasant and the damage it causes to one mental state is a scar that will take a long time to erase. Terrorism and religious conflict have also instilled fear amongst citizens of America to an extent that people avoid some social places for the fear of attack by the terrorists (Lutz & Lutz, 2011). This vulnerability of America to terror attack has adversely affected the levels of social interactions. People no longer move around freely as they used to before when terrorism level was still low. During terror attacks or religious conflicts, the ordinary citizens suffer the most. They lose their properties, their lives and loved ones yet they have nothing against the terrorist. When the problem of terrorism is addressed amicably, the society will be more cohesive and free to go about their daily undertakings without the fear of falling victim to terror attacks. Terrorism and religious conflicts have adverse economic impact to the society; economic growth can only be realized in areas where there is peace and tranquility. With terrorism on the rampage, there can be no peace or tranquility (Cole, 2011). Primarily, fighting terrorism is a very expensive affair judging by the sophisticated equipment and the skills that the terror lords possess. Fighting terrorist means, that America has to boost the capacity of its intelligence, train more soldiers, purchase state of the art equipment, and finance the various government security agencies. Terrorism also scares away potential investors who feel that their investment is at risk if invested in economies, which are vulnerable to terrorists. Immediately after the September 11, 20001 attack in America, the levels of new investment both at local and international level dropped by 10% as compared to the previous years. The level of investment has started to rise only in the last three years. The rise can be attributed the fact that the investors feel that adequate measures have been taken to address the issue of terrorism Conclusion It is important that measures be put in place to address the religious conflicts and terrorism to the society owing to the fact that they have adverse effects to the globe. Such measures should take into consideration ways of ensuring that there is religious tolerance among various religious groups. The various religious leaders from across the various religious divide needs to preach tolerance to ensure so that the issue of religious conflict is addressed comprehensively. With regard to terrorism, it is in order that all nations come together to develop vibrant strategies that can address terrorism. Such strategies include freezing the assets of terrorist, military intervention against terror attacks, and border surveillance to keep terrorists at bay. References Cole, B. (2011). The Changing Face of Terrorism: How Real is the Threat from Biological, Chemical and Nuclear Weapons? New Jersey: I. B. TAURIS Lutz, B. & Lutz, J. (2011). Terrorism: the basics. New York: Routledge Read More