Walter Laqueur's The New Terrorism
The author of this text, Walter Laqueur, has produced written accounts of the history of terrorism, the origins of terrorism, modern terrorism, and the future of terrorism. Also included in this text among the smaller sections is the use of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist motives, and how terrorism is related to other outside influences.
The origins of terrorism were provided in early history through the acts of the sicari, a Jewish extremist faction. These were the first terrorist of history to use guerilla tactics that attacked other Jews. There were many groups to follow these pioneers of terrorism. Another group, the Order of the Assassins who spanned over the eleventh century. There were other groups around that time but they were considered secret societies.
The first to adopt the philosophy to use weapons of mass destruction were Karl Heinzen and Johann Most. These two men believed that killing was politically necessary. The odd thing is that they only wrote this and did not practice what they preached. Both these men were German radicals who moved to the U.S. to be able to publish their thoughts.
On to the early 1960’s terrorism was not limited to Europe. America and Japan experienced internal terrorism. Other countries that dealt with terrorism were Turkey and Palestine. Several other smaller Middle Eastern became involved with terrorist activities.
The U.S. terrorist problems came from the Black Panthers, a militant group comprised of young African-Americans, and the Weathermen, young middle-class whites. These two groups had very different motives behind their actions; The Black Panthers dealt with the struggles of the minority equality and advocated e...
... middle of paper ...
...was learned.
I think Laqueur’s thesis was that Terrorism can come from anywhere and that any type of motive can drive a person, group, or country into committing terrorist acts. This thesis statement is well supported throughout each chapter. Speaking of which I felt that each chapter could have been its own little book on terrorism because there was no fluidity in the text. By this I mean that the chapters were independent from one another and that the whole text did not flow like a novel would. I guess that was the purpose Laqueur had in mind while writing this book.
Once again I don’t feel that the text was terrible but I do feel that it is limited to being informative. This text has to be read and analyzed after each chapter in order to get the full comprehension of terrorism. Laqueur is a good author and he knows what terrorism is and how it functions.
Michael Walzer is an esteemed retired professor from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Walzer has written many books, essays, and articles. His essay, Excusing Terror, is one that best relates to the current events happening around the world. In this essay, Walzer talks about different reasons that people would want to resort to terrorism. In this essay I will argue Walzers view on Terrorism is correct in that terrorism is wrong because it is akin to murder, it is random in who it targets, and no one has immunity. I will also offer an objection to Walzer’s theory and explain why it is not a valid one.
The reason I picked this book is because I have always been curious about terrorism. Truthfully, I really didn’t expect the book to take the stance it did, which focused mainly on the religious implications of what influences people to commits acts of terror. I liked the fact that the book takes new angles in approaching the search for truth, by focusing on case studies and performing interviews with the people who have committed terrorist acts. This is like getting the insiders view of the inner workings and frame of mind people have before, during, and after they have unswervingly performed the acts of violence.
Terrorist is a novel by John Updike written in 2006. Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy, the main character in the story, was instructed in the Muslim faith ever since he was a child of eleven by the Iman Shaikh Rashid, originally from Yemen. The words and teachings of the Qur’an and his devotion to Allah become the centre of Ahmad’s young life which incidentally, lacks all parental guidance. After he graduates from secondary school he gets a job as a truck driver for Excellency Furnishing Stores where he meets Charlie Chehab and his father, from Lebanon and devoted Muslims too. From then on, the young man is manipulated by his elders to perpetrate a terrorist attack against the Lincoln tunnel, below the Hudson River that unites New Jersey with Manhattan, New York. The attack never comes true because Ahmad’s respect and love of a God given life prevail above the Iman’s mandate of hatred towards Americans and their way of life which he had also tried to generate in the boy.
My first secondary source is the book, “Blood and Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism” written by Michael Burleigh. In his book, he investigates the nature of terrorism, with its origins in the West to the current global acts of terrorism. Burleigh examines the roots of terrorism in the last 150 years such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Russian Nihilists, Red Brigades, Black International, Tamil Tigers and Al Qaeda. He also explores the political impact of those who cause violence and those who are affected by it. He shows that the groups are not only religiously motivated but are also motivated by ideological and separatist motives. He further shows how contrary to popular belief, terrorist are big fans of technology and much of their agitation is driven by the acts of Western Governments themselves. He towards the end of his book shows the positive side of his book and gives recommendations on how terrorism can be defeated.
Terrorism has been around since the first century. Terrorism is the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal. Though it wasn’t always in the United States. The first group of terrorists was known as the Zealots of Judea. The romans also knew them as the Sicarii or the dagger-men because sica means small dagger. They were motivated by the belief that they couldn’t stay faithful to the Jewish beliefs while still being Romans. They were founded by Hassan Al-Sabah. He was known as the mountain man because he ran his cult in the Mountain Fortress of Alamut. From 2000-2004 more than one thousand people died or were injured be the Palestine. In 9/11/2001
... can all tie in together yet still be their separate types at the same time. State, religious, and international terrorism are probably the three most common types of terrorism the world experiences. When you look at where they are conducted, a lot happens in developing countries, you can start to see the big picture. Terrorism is everywhere, though it may be labeled different things in different areas. But in the end, it is a group fighting for a belief that they feel is just and true, and they will fight by any means necessary to protect that belief from any perceived threat, real or not. History has shown us that terrorism has always been around, though it has been labeled many things. It has also shown us that it is an evolving tactic, which proves that those groups who feel threatened can and will use any means to protect or fight for what they believe.
Reich, W. (1998). Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Washington, D.C.: The Woodrow Wilson center Press.
Terrorism can be specifically classified as asymmetric conflict, or a ”war between political actors of equal strength, in which the weaker party tries to neutralize its opponent’s strength by exploiting the opponent’s weaknesses” (A16, Glossary, Mingst.) Terrorist groups pose a great security threat, on an international scale (278, Mingst.) As terrorist groups increase in size and influence, the threat on security grows as well. The question then arises as to how to eli...
Over the past 20 years terrorist had committed extremely violent acts. In the Middle East they have used religion as their excuse. But in the western part of the world they have used political issues for their excuse. And the main goals of many terrorist groups are like producing widespread fear, satisfying vengeance, setting prisoners free and acts like that. Beside that we can define 9/11 as the largest terrorist act because is a coordinated attacks to the.
Models help to explain the evolution and practice of contemporary terrorism. They embody the philosophy behind particular types of terrorist movements.Three models represent general trends from 1945 to the present are theRural, Urban, and Insurrection model.A rural model is associated with anticolonial guerrilla war, and an urban model emerged from ideological terrorism. The insurgent model combines both approaches and associates them with networks, technology, and globalization.After 1945, the first wave of terrorism appeared in Africa and Asia, the nationalistic and the struggles for independence. However, after 1965, a more urban model emerged. The model for modern urban terrorism was intellectually championed by Frantz Fanon. A Martinique-born
Likewise, Goodwin illustrates how the use of categorical terrorism can be seem being used by Al-Qaida during the attacks of 9/11. Nonetheless, it is evident that Al-Qaida is unusual in terms of using terrorism to influence the rise of unity rather than trying to overthrow a standing state. For the purpose of instigating a pan-Islamic revolutionary movement, Al-Qaida tries to unite all Islamic people under one state to develop umma, or Muslim community. The logic of Al-Qaida remained that if their “revolutionaries” could illicit a reaction from the powerful US state, resulting in oppression of the middle-eastern region, that Al-Qaida could, as a result, unite all Muslims to counter this suggested oppression. Although the end goal of Al-Qaida clear failed, it does suggest the organization’s attempt at implementing categorical terrorism.
The concept of terrorism is exceedingly difficult to define. Author Gerald Seymour first said in his book Harry’s Game that, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. Each individual may view terrorism in a different light. Because of this, there is currently no universal definition of terrorism. However in recent years, it has become increasingly more important to form a definition of terrorism, especially while working in the media.
Terrorism has been around for centuries and religion-based violence has been around just as long. (Hoffman, 2). The violence was never referred to as terrorism though. Only up to the nineteenth century has religion been able to justify terrorism (Hoffman, 2). Since then, religious terrorism became motivated and inspired by the ideological view (Hoffman, 3). Therefore, it has turned against the main focus of religion and more towards the views of the extremist and what is happening politically (Winchester, 4).
Political violence is the leading cause of wars today. Personal agendas have led to many of the political objectives that cause violence today this has caused many problems throughout the world and will continue to do so until a solution to this issue is found. Political objectives have been advanced involuntarily dependent upon the kind of government a nation exercises. For instance, in a democratic nation political groups must worry about convincing the majority in order to advance ethically. Those who try to influence the majority through acts of violence are considered today as “terror” organizations. Though perhaps if it were not because of the recent 9/11 terror attacks that maybe such warrants would not be seen as terror attacks, but instead the result of partisan advancement. Acts of terrorism have been around throughout the evolution of mankind. Terror attacks have even been traced back as far as the religious roots of an ancient middle east (Ross, Will Terrorism End?, 2006). However as man evolved, so did terrorism. Today’s extremism involves some of the main characteristics of ancient terrorism, but much more developed. Political advancement is no longer the root cause of terrorism acts. Instead influxes of “holy” wars have been appended the prior definition of terrorism. Mistakably modern terrorism has been confused for Political violence with political objectives, but research will establish that the nature of terrorism is fundamentally different from other forms of political violence.
The word terrorism was first used during the French Revolution from the reign of terror inflicted by the French from 1784-1804 ("International Affairs"). It was used to describe the violent acts perpetrated on the French that inflicted terror on the various peoples and instilled fear within them. However, at the time it had a more positive connotation than the term that instills fear today. During the French Revolution this was because it referred to state-sponsored terrorism in order to show the need of state instead of anarchy, sometimes promoted by other groups (Hoffman 2). Therefore, even though terrorism has taken a new nature, terrorism can refer to official governments or guerrilla groups operating outside national governments ("International Affairs"). In order to encompass terrorism’s various sectors and explain it to the public, in both positive and negative aspects, many analysts have tried to put it into a few words. Terrorism is a method used by tightly of loosely organized groups operation within states or international territories that are systematic in using deliberate acts of violence or threats in order to instill...