Terrorism Waves In America - Research Paper Example

TERRORISM WAVES IN AMERICA Definition Terrorism has not had a singular universally accepteddefinition and thus has had to be defined in relation to the terror occurrence either in terms of international terrorism or in terms of domestic terrorism. According to the federal regulations code, terrorism is the use of force unlawfully against a person or property with a motive of intimidating and or coercing a sovereign government, the population of civilians or such a segment guided by an objective of political as well as social gain (Arson nd, 1). Based on the foregoing definition and depending on the origin of the terrorists, the FBI adopts the definition to terrorism by viewing it from domestic or international perspective. Carrying the basic definition as described by the federal regulations code, the FBI definition of domestic terrorism is explained by having the terror group of individual residing within the United States and its territories with no foreign direction. However, defining the international terrorism captures the act(s) which are dangerous to humans and which violate the US criminal laws or which would be interpreted as criminal violations when interpreted according to jurisdictions of the federal states or any state. Assassinations as well as kidnappings majorly characterize the international terrorism as described. It would therefore be justified to conclude that there lacks a universal definition of terrorism though the different definitions carry common perceptions. They allude to the use of force unlawfully against a person or property with intentions of intimidating and or coercing a government, the population of civilians or such a segment guided by an objective of political as well as social gain. Terrorism activities in the United States have nevertheless been very dynamic and this explains the evolution of the definitions accorded to terrorism in the states. There have therefore been notable changes, which span many generations with basic definition being attributable to certain events that happened (Garrison nd, 94-96). The purpose of this qualitative research study is to analyze comprehensively the evolution of terrorism in the United States over the different waves in history as depicted within the existing literature. Research question From the mission statement above, it is sure that terrorism has been characterized by evolution and the definition is dependent on the different waves that have been experienced. Therefore, the research question guiding this study is: what are the main terrorism waves that have been in use while defining terrorism in the US? Hypothesis This study is structured around the hypothesis that terrorism in the US lacks particular/substantive definition due to evolutionary forces experienced under different waves. The definition of terrorism is therefore multifaceted according to the various waves experienced. Review of literature Terror is a deep-rooted phenomenon in the modern world. Though having begun in the late nineteenth century in Russia, the modern terror has evolved to cover the whole world, with the US such a hard hit victim. The simplest definition of a wave is an activity cycle per a given period characterized by phases of contractions as well as expansions. According to the report, each wave as described had a particular predominant defining feature, which also would explain the naming. The anarchist terror wave set the pace for the rest of the waves, which followed. Assassination campaigns against high-ranking prominent officials was the basic feature that defined the wave of terror as referred to in the anarchist. The 1920’s saw the rising of the ant colonial terror wave, which span a period of about forty years. The new left wave gained roots in the late twenty century though the dominance of the wave declined in the transition into the twenty first century. However, some traces of the terror groups ascribed to the ideologies of the wave are still dominant in the United States. Nevertheless, the most predominant terror wave in the modern day US is the religious wave, which gained roots in 1979, and which is projected to command influence in international terror over the good part of the 21st century (Rapoport nd, 46-47). One paramount feature in the study in the field of terrorism as pertains to the US is the need to analyze the concentration of terror activity geographically. In a research study aimed at evaluating the hotspots of terror activity in the US over the years spanning from 1970 to 2008 LaFree and Bersani relied on the global terrorism database information to examine the country-level trends regarding attacks by terrorists over the stipulated time. The study focused on terrorist attacks concentration geographically, ordinary crime as well as terrorism as well as prediction of concentration of terrorist attacks geographically. Bottom-line findings from the study postulated that terrorism has much likeness to ordinary crime where concentration is prevalent to large and highly concentrated metropolitan areas. There is great variability notable with the terror hot spot areas though some areas remain key targets by the terror groups and individuals to execute their missions. The study also affirmed that motives and intentions of terrorists are variant over the different time spans in consideration in history. They confirmed that ordinary crimes as well as terrorism activities have tendencies of occurring at the same areas and this enabled traditional predictors rightfully predict occurrence of terror attacks as well as the ordinary crime. However, the report acknowledged some limitations in the comprehensiveness of the data as found from the database and hence formed the basis of the recommendation that the topic would require more studying. The report records that great attention in terror activity within the US has taken shape because of the historical September 11 terror attack early this century. However, a horrifying reality hits the US in knowing that little is known about the likely places to be targeted for terror attacks and there lacks records of the patterns of the terror attacks within the states, which would be instrumental in the analysis of the likelihood of the attacks. The study also held evidence that most of terror activities and ordinary crime tend to be concentrated in same locality in bid to increase efficiency and reduce risk of discovery and capture or disruption. With this kind of non-random distribution of criminal activity or terror attacks, the report concludes that there is the high likelihood that the structure of targets terror attacks is equally not randomly distributed. Moreover, terror activities are resource intensive and in the light, all efforts by the terrorists would be geared to lowering the costs incurred and thus lowering the likelihood of dispersing wide and far (LaFree and Bersani 2012, 1-8). The GTD defines terrorism to be actual or threatened use of force illegally by non-state players aiming at getting economic, social or political and religious goals by exerting coercion, fear as well as intimidation. Scholarly journals in have been shown to reserve much attention towards the subject of terrorism in the United States over the past couple of decades. However, in one such an issue that sought to give insights to terrorism and the modern day US, Gage writes that it remains mystical to many historians a decade after the pivotal terror attack of September 11, 2001, to have a definite definition of terrorism. Moreover, they lack an accurate historical background of the same or even the capacity to quantify the effect of terror activities to the US. He notes that unlike normal crime that may be associated with all range of causes, terrorism is highly associated with politics in many instances. The anarchists in the anarchist wave described terrorism as ‘propaganda by deed’ implying that it targeted the effect on the audiences away from the actual target. He sought to understand the perceptions of guerrilla warfare and terrorism from the historians besides establishing whether a formal state can become a terrorist. Historians have it that about a century ago, terrorism was understood to be a resultant of anti-capitalist revolt and so, the labor radicals as well as anarchists formed the terrorists of the time. However, merely six decades down the line, the revolutionaries movements resulted to the third and fourth waves of terrorism through anti-colonial guerrilla as well as the new left militants. These groups therefore formed the basis of destabilization of world regimes hence interpreted as terrorists. Besides the existence of terrorism by the various groups as discussed, history revealed the origin to terror as being from the governments who used the expression of guillotine for terror as against modern day bomb. In definition therefore, terrorism stood for government by intimidation though this definition later changed slowly to have a different meaning in the later decades of the mid 19th century. This era was characterized of frequent riots as well as boycotts as civilian reacted to the slavery institution and war (civil). However, the terms ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ got a distinct definition in the later years of the nineteenth century in regard to particular form of violence which would be distinctively studied in own right, be inspected and also be claimed. However, the twenty first century definition is largely characterized of well-organized, anonymous international attacks aimed at masses of innocent civilians. An illustration to this was the September 11 attack, which has ever since revolutionized the perceptions and the understanding of many concerning terrorism. Bottom line to the twenty-first understanding of the ‘terrorism’ is the mass harm and property destruction from the organized and calculated moves to evoke terror to innocent civilians for personal gains either politically, economically or even religiously. The new dimensions in relation to the way terrorism is seen currently explains the adoption of the term ‘modern terrorism’ which would explain the discourse between what traditional views were over the subject to the modern day aspects as currently perceived. Gage therefore confirms the evolutionary stages that the definition of terrorism has had until the modern day concept came to be adopted. Such events as revolts towards detrimental human practices as slavery and colonization explains the emergence of such waves as the anarchist wave, the anti-colonial wave, the new left wave as well as the religious waves that have been shaping the discussions on defining terrorism in the US (Gage 2011, 73-88). The process of defining a term is interpreted to be an art through which a person can concretely and abstractly a conceptualized or observed matter in order to yield a distinctive character or meaning. Through the art therefore, a person is able to communicate personal opinion or thoughts to others as pertains to a specific subject. In a journal of American behavioral sciences, Cooper carries out a survey into the art behind definition of ‘terrorism’. The report has it that defining terrorism has characteristically been troublesome and as such suffers lack of a universally accepted definition. It is thus in this understanding that cooper acknowledges and adopts the art of definition in the pursuit of getting a universally and comprehensively acceptable definition to terrorism. He employs and analogy of a discussion in which fruits are discussed and holds that varying perceptions regarding an apple and an orange would be clarified in due time but unlike such a discussion, the one of terrorism has been there and no commonly accepted definition has come by. His definition of the concept is thus the massive generation of terror intentionally by a people to maintain or secure control over a group of other human beings. However, his definition has not been constant but in the contrary has been evolving over time. In his bid to come up with the simplicity of definition of terrorism, criticisms would arise from class discussions, which would alter the perception completely. This therefore would bring a sophisticated dimension to the definition but a common consensus have it that terrorism evokes some negative perception and thus, no justification would serve to ‘sanctify’ it. Any ambiguous definition to terrorism has thus always ridden on the notion that there exists no ‘good’ terrorism. Impartiality in adoption of a common definition arises where some definitions would be thought of as applying some degrees or levels of evil in terrorism as against others. The report notes the impossibility of fully dealing with terrorism as a crime while at the same time having not a definite definition. This is the position of the US with the advancement of technology and the evolution of the known aspects of terrorism to modernized technological terror crimes. Cooper evaluates the inclusion of debates of weapons of mass destruction as well as cybercrime terrorism as complex ideologies that equally contribute to the complexity of defining the term. Prior to the 1980s, terrorism had wide perception among Americans to have characteristic phenomenon of cold war and resulting from the east as a form of surrogate warfare. However, as cooper asserts, little is the influence that these new dimensions as are brought about by the nature of weapons in use and application of technology towards the basic definition of the concept. However, they have definite and very essential roles to play in assisting the policy makers in devising counter measures as well as alter the way we think about it. The notion that modern day living is relatively wholly dependent of computer applications, there is equally the need to understand the perspective of cyber terrorism as it would equally have adverse consequences and hence the need to have it captured within the definition. In conclusion, cooper is undermine to support great steps having been taken towards adopting a universally acceptable definition of the term as much remains contradictory even in the wake of millennium (Cooper 2001, 881-892). In a report concerning ‘changing faces of terrorism’ Hirschmann defines terrorism to be the sub-state application of threatened violence with intentions to sow fear and panic in a society in view of weakening the incumbents in order to instigate change in political arena. Thus, he reiterates the opinion of other persons that it is a weapon adopted by the weak to stand against the apparent strong. There is however heavy reliance on modern communication as well as press coverage. However, with wide notable changes in matters of tactics of terrorism over the ages, perceptions and threats currently in use are relatively changed. Moreover, the modern day terrorist activities have become capital intensive; hence utilize higher resources than previously. The fundamental motive in terror acts has been identified as public attention and not merely killings as often seen. The report records other motives as being ideological, ethno-political, religious, the single-issue terrorism as well as the one-person terrorism. The ideological motive relies on the revolutionary mission in matters of political or social infrastructures in a country. Ethno political terrorism explains how minorities in a society may adopt terror acts to command their respect and appreciation. Terrorism on religion explains the perceptions adopted by certain systems of believe in order to impose religion-based norms within the society. Government action or inaction may also trigger terrorism activities from extremists groups who would be protesting their grievances. Rational factors and reasons explains the terror activities by single persons (one-person terrorism) as explained by the report. Therefore, the report by Hirschmann affirms that terrorism activities remain to have more or less similar motives and ideologies as were in application in the yester years despite the slight changes notable in tactics and adoption of technology and a necessary tool. However, the report also confirms the lack of a universally accepted definition to terrorism as there exists varying conflicting ideologies and perception from the aspects to be included. Living in the technology era or the information age complicates the perceptions the more as reiterated by former US President Clinton who affirmed the ‘global problem’ in terrorism (Hirschmann 2000, 299-309). Methodology: This chapter describes the procedure adopted in testing the hypothesis and the mechanism used in answering the research questions guiding the research. However, it is worth noting that the research adopted a qualitative analysis methodology and would rely on findings from literature reviewed for findings and analysis. Findings and Analysis: Terrorist activities are normally directed to harm innocent civilians in a state by the terror groups whose motives may vary from a terror attack to another. There lacks a universally accepted definition of terrorism ever since the adoption of the term in the 18th century within the United States through various schools of thought has had some perceptions towards the same and which defines them. The terrorism waves are ‘anarchist wave,’ ‘anti colonial wave,’ ‘new left wave’ as well as ‘religious wave’. The Rapoport report discussed above affirmed that the distinct features that characterized each wave influenced the naming of the waves. For instance, the anarchist wave represented terror activities that were specifically aimed at particular political elites as a tool to communicate grievances of the weak segment of the society to the strong segment. The anti-colonial wave had roots and basis on the freedom movement, which sought terror to communicate their determination to be independent as against the forces of colonialists. Guerrilla militants and warfare described the terrorism that characterized the anti-colonial wave. The new left wave succeeded the anti-colonial wave, had similar motives with the anti colonial wave and strongly advocated for liberty against such vices as slavery. Religious wave on the other hand characteristically illustrates the modern terrorism. This explains the terror activities perpetuated by groups of persons and or individuals with a motive of invoking feral and coercion for gaining for religious sake. For instance, much of the late 20th century and early 21st century terror activities leveled against the US had origins and motive traced to the Islam religion from the East. However, the four waves do not refute the emergence of another wave of terrorism as insurgent and militia groups are continuously taking roots in the wake of technology and communication development. Terrorism activities in the United States have thus been very dynamic and this explains the evolution of the definitions accorded to terrorism in the states. There have therefore been notable changes, which span many generations with basic definition being attributable to certain events that happened. The definition of terrorism is therefore multifaceted according to the various waves experienced. Different opinions and perceptions as ascribed to by the various schools of thought would be therefore the basis of arguing that efforts of comprehensively adopting a universal definition face the challenge. However, there are basic features that are universally accepted while analyzing terrorism. These include the adoption of fear and coercion as a tool for communication, immense pain and loss in the event of attacks such as experienced in the memorable September 11, 2001, use of terror to communicate grievances as well as the general acceptance that there is no ‘good’ terror. The pursuit of a common definition has failed to bear fruits for the reason that incorporation of the outlined aspects has not been possible. However, it is worth noting that there is great correlation to the various definitions postulated by different players in the discipline. Terrorism just as is the case with most other criminal activities tends to have some observable traits which when learnt comprehensively lead to better understanding of the vice. Concerning distribution and concentration, studies have shown that it is possible to analyze and project the likelihood of terror activity within a territory or a country as US through keen observation of the occurrences. The terrorists tend to concentrate their acts in a locality for ease of costs as well as in order to minimize the likelihood of their capture or disruption to their activities. This therefore show that a sovereign country as the US which has repeatedly been a victim would have the capacity to study and project these crimes for the purpose of adequately preparing and averting the effects towards the civilians who are the basic targets of the terror attacks. The September 11 terror attack in the US has become pivotal in reference to many of the 21st terrorism studies in the US. This has given birth to an almost new dimension of terrorism ‘the modern terrorism’ whose main characteristic is seen in the target of mass populations and economic losses to a nation (Morgan 2004, 29-30). This therefore reveals a continuity of evolution of the concept where the effects of modernization are then being incorporated to the terror acts. Gage writes that this then complicates the more the definition of terrorism and the actual understanding of the concept. Terror activities in the US have had various motives among which have been communication of political motives, religious motives as well as social economic motives. Literature shows that terrorism has therefore been in use for such motives in the past and can thus be seen as a tool, which the weak adopt to communicate to the strong. However, the arguments of how ‘bad’ terrorism is remains critical where some form of political liberation by individuals and states would be cited to be the god face of terror. However, sound reasoning refutes any claim of good of terrorism because as the US would cite, great are the losses suffered from the activities. This lack of consensus would therefore equally explain the availability of conflicting definitions of terrorism. Conclusion: According to the federal regulations code, terrorism is the use of force unlawfully against a person or property with a motive of intimidating and or coercing a sovereign government, the population of civilians or such a segment guided by an objective of political as well as social gain. This definition serves as the basis of the paper with the understanding that it is not wholly universally accepted but that it has common features that are ascribed to terror activities in general. Terrorism activities in the United States have nevertheless been very dynamic and this explains the evolution of the definitions accorded to terrorism in the states. The terrorism waves are ‘anarchist wave,’ ‘anti colonial wave,’ ‘new left wave’ as well as ‘religious wave’. However, a new evolution to the waves is slowly taking shape and is referred to as ‘the modern terrorism’ whose main characteristic is seen as terrorism targeting mass populations and economic losses to a nation. The waves would have distinct definitions to terrorism, which is characteristically shown by the motive and the period in history. The anarchist wave would define the terrorism activities that adopted assassination as a mode of communication concerning their dissatisfaction with certain political elites in the society in the late 18th century within the US. The anti-colonial wave followed the anarchist with revolts and boycotts to communicate disregard of colonial activity within the territories. The new left wave had more or less alike characteristics in reaction to slavery practices within the US in the 19th century. Finally, the late 20th century saw the rise of the wave of religion and terrorism, which is associated to the various attacks, directed to the US civilians especially by groups from the East. The main reason that would explain the changing of definitions to terrorism as shown by the waves would be the purposes of the terror attacks, the periods in history as well as the technological aspect incorporated in the terror activity. References Arson Elf. nd. Terrorism in the United States 1999. Thirty years of terrorism. http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror_99.pdf (accessed September 9, 2013). Cooper H. H. A.2001. Terrorism. The Problem of Definition Revisited. American behavioral scientist, 44(6), 881-893 Gage, Beverly. 2011. Terrorism and the American Experience: A State of the Field. The Journal of American History (June). Garrison, Arthur H. nd. How the World Changed: A History of the Development of Terrorism. http://cjc.delaware.gov/PDF/part%201.pdf (accessed September 9, 2013). Hirschmann Kai. 2000. The changing face of terrorism. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/ipg/ipg-2000-3/arthirschmann.pdf (accessed September 9, 2013). LaFree, Gary, and Bianca Bersani. 2012. Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1970 to 2008. Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science And Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. START. http://start.umd.edu/start/publications/research_briefs/LaFree_Bersani_HotSpotsOfUSTerrorism.pdf (accessed September 9, 2013). Morgan, Mathew J. 2004. The Origins of the New Terrorism. Parameters (spring). Rapoport, David C. nd. The four Waves of modern terrorism. http://www.international.ucla.edu/cms/files/Rapoport-Four-Waves-of-Modern-Terrorism.pdf (accessed September 9, 2013). Read More