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Psychological factors that motivate terrorist organisations
Psychological factors that motivate terrorist organisations
Psychological factors that motivate terrorist organisations
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Terrorism is not synonymous with extremism. One can be an extremist, hold and voice extreme political or religious views, and justifiably not be considered a terrorist. Extremists hold opinions that are either to the “extreme” right or the “extreme” left on a spectrum and are only open to ideas that confirm their beliefs. It is an issue of either black or white. Moving from simply espousing extremist views to joining a terrorist group or committing a terrorist act is facilitated by several psychological and behavioural factors that are different for each individual. Through their roles as educators and facilitators, the leaders of Al Qaeda and its affiliates leverage the psychology of defeat, generational and transnational transmission, Religious leaders preach with such zeal and assuredness that their interpretations do not leave any room for questioning. This can be a reassuring factor to somebody who is scrutinizing their place in society. According to Hofmann and Dawson, the violent acts are acceptable under the teachings of these charismatic leaders because they are professed to be divinely inspired and acted upon by God’s will (Hofmann & Dawson 2013?, 350). These teachings performed by clerics can be distributed around the world via the internet and have become an effective strategy in recruiting people to their cause. This strategy forms the basis of a terrorist cell which can work independently of the organization while still maintaining its overall goals. This “leaderless resistance” is a term coined by a preeminent figure in the white supremacist movement (Hoffman 2006, 115). It has been adopted by many of the existing terrorist organizations including al Qaeda and has proven an effective tactic. Ironically, it has provided the leaders of terrorist groups an avenue to expand their jihadist movement to an ever increasing global
In his essay, Rodriguez believes that the diplomatic affairs we see on the evening news are merely being disguised as a religious war. The fight over oil or land when in reality it is the fight between whose side God is on, the attacks under the control of Al Qaeda when perhaps it’s the greed for power or world domination. According to Richard, these religious wars are allowing terrorism to become prevalent; often times within the same culture (147).
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 Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts Jihad in the same manner—as a vicious clash between two very different peoples, each of whom believes that righteousness, and in many cases God, is on their side. From this interpretation and our daily media intake, one may reasonably assume that Jihad refers to nothing more than violent acts, or “holy wars.”
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
What are terrorist attacks? Terrorist attacks are unexpecting attacks using violence against innocent people. Terrorists Cause harm to others in a cruel manner or kill people in cold blood giving them no mercy or feeling no pity for people who sit hopelessly begging for their lives.Terrorists also destroy many infrastructures or civilian population to prove they are high in political and social strength. Terrorists attack people to attain political or religious aims.
In Arthur Miller’s classic play The Crucible, the true events of Salem, Massachusetts in the late seventeenth century are written down with marginal changes to the original story. The witch hunt and witch trials that occurred during this time reflect many of Miller’s personal beliefs on certain themes. One such theme was extremism. Due to Miller’s own personal witch trial where he was unfairly tried and jailed as a communist during the Red Scare, his perspective on extremism is a valuable insight into the historical examples such as the Holocaust or other genocides, and what is happening in modern day with extreme religious groups willing to terrorize other nations. Throughout his play, Arthur Miller argues through certain events and characters that extremism is caused by unaddressed
some try to reach their goals through violence, the majority work through political parties within the electoral process. People like Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network are only at fringes. Even if fundamentalism is to encompass such aberrations, such brand of fundamentalism is a characteristic of all (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism) the religions. This paper by citing episodes of fundamentalism in leading religions substantiates the theseis that fundamentalism is not specific to any particular religion. Beginning with Judaism, the bombing of Hotel King David in July 1946 is an incident that starkly explifies the Jewish Fundamentalism.
Over the past century, terrorism has advanced from random killings to enormous plans for terrorist groups. To understand terrorism, you must first define it. Terrorism as we all know it is hard to define and understand, and has many different definitions as it is used widely. The word "terrorism" stems from the word "terror", which means to instill fear in. People become terrorists when they take the actions towards instilling fear and terror upon people to prove a certain point or agenda.
Extremism manifests itself dangerously in the Islam religion (Palmer, Monte, and Princess Palmer, 37). The Muslim religion has some laws and believes that no one should question their design, origin or application. Good people should punish immoral people in Islam religion without showing mercy to them. In Islam, human beings have no right to offer forgiveness to others that can easily lead to and create peace to oneself in the society. The unforgiving nature makes human rights groups in many ways try to change and support governments that try to overthrow Muslim extremist governments. Such an approach creates a war never ending between the Muslim governments and other governments that fight the extremist ideals. In East Africa, Somalia presents a case example by observing how the Government is not able to control the ever fighting and dreadful Al-Shabaab. The “Al-Shabaab” is an Arab name for Muslim youth who over the years try to use enforce extremist rulers in governing the country and hence controlling the resources. Muslim fighters and rebels arm themselves with arsenals they use to fight groups that oppose them by killing and torturing them. The al-Shabaab launches attacks that kill people and openly claim responsibility for the losses and the deaths they cause. They also punish members who commit sin using the retrogressive laws of the Quran on the people they label sinners. Other extremist
There is a strong belief that Islam and politics are directly tied. They are tied in the sense that the building blocks of the religion dictate how they ought to behave in the political environment. Through this mandatory follow up behavior that the religion delineates, many have come to believe that its teachings are a form of terrorism. Mandaville argues that what has challenged the Islamic link between politics and religion was the emergence of secularism, which went against the belief that politics and religion could go together. Islam has been a religion that has been accused of supporting terrorist activities in the world. Different assumptions have been brought up to understand better the linkages between what really lies behind the Islam religion and politics. Peter Mandaville argues that Islam is dynamic and that it has changed over time; situated within time and politics.
Extremists, as they have been labelled, perform acts that is seen gruesome by the world, but in the name of their religion they do it. They wage war against the strongest nations, despite their minuscule size in comparison to the beasts they have enraged. In the name of religion, they have performed public executions. In the name of religion, they have killed masses of innocent people. All for the sake of religion. It is in the human mind, that religion has found its anchor. We embrace religion, interpret it, and practice what it preaches. Through this has many wars sparked in the past, and has haunted the most devoted of
The U.S. Department of State defines terrorism as, “The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological”. Whereas the Belgium Red Cross says that terrorism is committed “for the purpose of intimidating the population, forcing a third party to act or destablishing or destroying the fundamental structures of a country or of an international organization”.
Can ISIS be stopped? The one thing world leaders agree on is that ISIS must be crushed. This terrorist group is behind the 400 people who have been killed just this fall. Recently after the attacks in France, ISIS sent the warning: The events were merely the “first of a coming storm.” The day after these attacks, representatives from 17 countries met in Vienna, Austria, in hopes of coordinating their efforts and uniting to take down ISIS.
“The trauma of the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., which were quickly interpreted as religious as well as political phenomena, provoked yet another body of studies. On the other hand, general studies of the relationship between religion and violence are rare, and they often appear to be somewhat one-sided...
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).