What is Terrorism?

HI 510: History of Terrorism

Summer 2005

Terrorists Motives

•      A long time ago, Terrorists had a distinct motives.

•      Sometime they harbored an ideological bent that explained their actions.

•      Throughout history, they murdered tyrants.

•      Were assassins of either religious or political enemies.

•      Or were nationalists who felt that they were oppressed by the prevailing majorities.

•      Thought that change could only come through “the Propaganda of the Deed.”

Seeking Political Objectives Through Fear

•      Liberation of Palestine.

•      Reduction of American power on the world stage.

•      Demonstrate the impotence of the victim to enhance the power of the terrorist.

•      Waging war by other means.

Terrorist Mind Set

•      It is impossible to develop a standard diagram of a terrorist.

•      The terrorists of the 1970s-1980s were of the left wing variety often students or members of the intelligentsia.

•      Right wing terrorists were members of the lower classes who felt that they lost out.

Terrorist Patterns

•      Most terrorists have been young.

•      Sometimes very young.

•      Mostly male.

•      With a token woman here or there.

•      Only among left-wing terrorists and rarely, if ever, of the Political Right.

•      Often the terrorists came from the middle class, but adopted lower class views.

•      Especially among the Basque ETA.

What is Terrorism?

•      In many ways it is over used.

•      Like Internet.

•      Many people have a vague idea of what terrorism is, but . . .

•      Lack something more concrete.

•      Even dictionary definitions are not fully complete.

The Oxford English Dictionary Definition

Terrorism: A system of terror. 1. Government by intimidation as directed and carried out by the party in power in France during the revolution of 1789-94; the system of ‘Terror’. 2. gen. A policy intended to strike with those against who it is adopted; the employment of methods of intimidation; the fact of terrorizing or condition of being terrorized.

Problems with the Standard Definition

•      The OED definition is anachronistic for modern usage.

•      Consequently is not very helpful in understanding what terrorism is all about.

•      Only the second usage is helpful at all.

•      Perhaps the definition of “Terrorist” would be more useful to the general public.

OED Definition of Terrorist

Terrorist: 1. As a political term; a. Applied to the Jacobins and their agents and partisans in the French Revolution, esp. to those connected with the Revolutionary tribunals during the ‘Reign of Terror’. b. Any one who attempts to further his views by a system of coercive intimidation; spec. applied to members of one of the extreme revolutionary societies in Russia.

What Then is Terrorism?

•      Terrorism is political.

•      It is also about power.

•      Both the use and acquisition of power.

•      Power to achieve political change.

•      Change through violence.

The Terrorism has Constantly Changed

•       The term was first used during the first French Revolution.

•       The way it was used then was to consolidate political power through the use of the Committees of Public Safety and General Security.

•       And the Revolutionary Tribunals.

•       At first it was linked to Democracy and Virtue.

Changes from the French Revolution Thru the Mid-Nineteenth Century

•      Robespierre and other Jacobins were swept up in a wave of reaction.

•      It also became associated with abuse of power and abuse of office.

•      One of the enduring repercussions was the impetus it gave to anti-monarchial sentiment throughout Europe.

•      With nationalism and the industrialization, the situation was altered.

•      In 1857, Carlo Piscane gave new impetus to terrorism though the concept of “Propaganda by Deed.”

Modern Organization of Terrorist Groups

Propaganda By Deed

•       Piscane argued that “propaganda of the idea is a chimera.”

•       Piscane wrote that “Ideas result from deeds, not the latter from the former, and the people will not be from when they are educated, but educated when they are fee.”

•       Violence was necessary to draw the people to the cause.

•       Pamphlets could never replace the power of violence.

The Answer Is Simple

•      The frequency and level of violence of modern terrorism keeps growing.

•      The likelihood of obtaining of weapons of mass destruction by modern is grows with each passing day.

•      The problem is not if, but when will it happen.

•      The subject is too important to be ignored.

•      Likewise, whether successful in their operations or not, terrorists and the process of terrorism have altered the way we look at the world around us. 

What do we mean by Weapons of Mass Destruction?

•      They include:

                            Nuclear Weapons

                            Biological Agents

                            Chemical  Agents

                            or Radiological Weapons

What would happen if a one kiloton nuclear device exploded near the Empire State Building?

Other Points to Consider

•      Terrorism provokes a fear and insecurity deeper than any other form of violence by striking at the innocent victims randomly.

•      Terrorists attempt to discredit governments by demonstrating the inability of their governments to protect them.

•      Terrorists use violence to generate sympathy for distinct political or religious agendas.

•      As a strategic weapon, terrorism always has failed, but counterterrorism is expensive.

Topics

•      The history of terrorism.

•      The evolution of terrorist movements.

•      The agendas of terrorist groups.

•      The different forms of terrorism.

•      The response to terrorism.

•      The dangers of WMD.

•      The operational art employed by terrorist groups.

•      The place of terrorism in film and literature.

•      The future of terrorism.

Design of the Class

•      Lectures based on PowerPoint Presentations.

•      Discussions based on readings and articles available to all students on disk.

•      Videos and DVDs will be shown in order to dramatize the issue of terrorism.

•      All students are expected to participate and are encouraged to do so.