Terrorism - Political, Economical and Social Implications

Arguments for choosing the theme

We have obviously managed to achieve progress in almost all ways and we have built up a global society whose standards of living are higher that anyone living a century ago could have imagined. In the same tie we also managed to make this whole world not so safe a place any more, since some of the nations have suffered large losses because of acts of extreme violence like the acts of terrorism. Since first seeing the themes, I have decided myself for this one because it concentrates, to my mind, the most dangerous and harmful issue that justice is confronted with nowadays.

Taking a close look to a flagellum with such a complex structure is interesting and attractive in the same time. Furthermore, I chose this theme because it also allows me to select the representative features of this issue and to make a more realistic impression of how things have evolved up to this point. Lastly, I do believe that we should all put more emphasize on this kind of project themes that inform us more and make us more conscious of the surrounding reality we sometimes neglect. I personally consider terrorism the best example it has various implications and irremediable effects.

The concept of terrorism

Terrorism does not have a precise definition or a widely accepted one, in spite of the growing significance of terrorist attacks. The difficulty in defining terrorism is a problem of cultural, political and social perception of violence and of the terrorists’ political goal, emphasized by the emotional meaning of the term. Some governments tend to label as acts of terrorism any violence committed by the members of the opposition, while political sociologists assert the idea that a proper definition can’t be given because the elaboration process itself is part of a larger context that questions the political ideologies and objectives. Everybody agrees though that there are two general types of terrorism: national terrorism (exerted by specialized agencies) and the political terrorism (practiced by well trained and strongly motivated groups, at an international or intercontinental level). The definitions maintain the argument that the perspectives change considering the time and place of the attack.

Terrorism is a moral problem also and, when giving a definition, one must have in mind the supposition that some types of political violence are amenable, while others are not. Consequently, terrorism has been defined in many ways, implying the idea of force, coercive power, authority and legitimacy. Violence is exerted in many ways, such as kidnapping, taking hostages, murdering, explosions, destruction of public buildings, the sabotage of railways or industrial installations, the producing of infectious disease. Here are some definitions that have been given to this harmful phenomenon:

- Terrorism is the ensemble of actions and/or threats which represent a public menace and damage the national security, having the next features: they are made by terrorist groups which are motivated by extremist attitudes and conceptions, hostile to other groups against which they act using the violence; they have as purpose the achievement of political objectives; they hint at human and/or material factors from the area of public authorities and institutions and at the civilian population; they have a strong psychological impact on the population, destined to draw attention over the goals the terrorists had in view.

- ‘Terrorism means using or threatening with using extreme political violence in order to provoke fear, terror, panic among a group of people that is more numerous than the group of the immediate victims.’ (Heyman – 1980)

- The British law’s definition of terrorism is so wide that it includes not only the using of violence to achieve political, ideological or religious goals, but also the ‘perturbation or the serious interference in the function of an electronic device’. This law is highly criticized and the ones who are against it have also given some examples to show its exaggeration. For example, if an ecologist would threaten to use a shotgun to destroy his own computer as a sign of protest, he would be considered a terrorist.

The purpose of terrorism is affecting not only the social structure, but the individual also, through the distortion of the society’s image, which is trusted by all the civilians. In order to be as harmful as it can, a terrorist act must provoke a psychological and emotional disconnection between the society’s leadership and its members; it must generate an explosion of comments in the mass-media, having a paralyzing effect on the population. Politically motivated, terrorism always requires an acute sense of frustration, of a political or social injustice, which can only be solved through violence. That is why its self-definition is ‘the tactic of the last solution’. More eloquently, Xavier Raufer defines the terrorist phenomenon as ‘the weapon of the weakest pointed at the most powerful or the attack of the wasp against the elephant.’

There are different types of terrorism, classified according to the purpose of the terrorists or to their ideologies. There is a wrecker terrorism, which tries to damage the relation between the state and the citizens, and a coercive terrorism, whose goal is the despondency of the population. If we talk about their ideologies, the terrorist groups can be religious or ethnic, radical, anarchistic, individual (do not have clear goals), neo-fascist (in some countries they are secretly supported by the government) or groups of ideological mercenaries.

The ideological syncretism of terrorism should be considered also, because it is a mixture of anarchism, communism, syndicalism, guerilla warfare, Nazism and Islamic fundamentalism. The terrorists make no difference between different types of governing, for them the enemy is everywhere.

The history of terrorism – causes

The terrorist phenomenon appeared at the beginnings of the mankind. The term was used for the first time though in 1798, in the Dictionary of the French Academy.

One of the first forms of organized terrorism at a worldwide level recorded by history was the Zealot’s movement and the Messianic terror. They were a religious sect of the Siccars who acted in Palestine in the first century. They had the belief that their salvation was possible only if they proved their true faith, no matter the ways or the practices they used, and this is why their violence was justifiable for them. They managed to realize a rebellion of the Hebrews against the Romans, but after that their terror spread in the middle of their own people.