Terrorism can be traced in history in different types and manifest. However, recently occurred certain incidents change the shape.
Terrorism can be traced from time in history, and it manifested in different forms and ways, however, terrorism has consistently changed with time adopting new ways, meaning, and forms. Despite the changes in terrorism, it has retained its original intention of causing terror and achieving different social, economic, and political agendas. Terrorism entails the illegal use of violence and intimidation against people, governments, and the destruction of property (infrastructure) with the view of intimidating different parties to adhere to certain social, political, and economical. People and groups behind terrorism fear that their grievances cannot be addressed when they follow the established societal and global procedures; thus, they opt for unconventional means. Consequently, terrorism can be traced from the first century when the Romans and Jews were terrorized by the Jewish Sicaris Zealost, during the French revolution from 1993 and in the recent terrorist acts such as the September 11th attacks on the twin towers. The historical period to recent times terrorism has gone through evolution and revolution experiencing changes in the form of attitudes, tactics, motives, operational range, and organization structure. Additionally, terrorism has had destruction on social groupings, faiths, and national, and thus there is a need to develop the best approaches and best practices to eliminate it. Terrorism has consistently changed since the historical times resulting in damage and destruction, and thus there is a great need to develop strategies towards eliminating it.
Changes in shape and meaning of terrorism
Goals
Terrorism has consistently changed from traditional times to recent times adopting new shape and meaning. The Assessment of terrorism from a historical context has resulted in changes in some aspects but retained its political phenomenon as opposed to a cultural phenomenon (Kurtulus, 2011). First, the changes experienced from the traditional to modern terrorism are the shif5ing of goals. In this case, traditional terrorism was defined on specific agenda such as politics, religion, or culture; however, recent terrorism is made up of a mixture of agenda and terrorist grouping keep on changing from one agenda to the other based on their different interests. Initially, terrorist goals were founded on religious doctrines that agitated for apocalyptic beliefs and religious transformation. The issues raised by terrorists were associated with Islam, although the issues present in other monotheistic religions. In recent times, terrorism is based on hate to the western, especially on their values, civilization, culture, and existence. The violence meted on the target is expressive, and destruction to the westerners and their properties or any group aligned to them is an end by itself.
Traditional terrorism was based on tangible such as territorial autonomy; thus, it was limited and negotiable as opposed to the modern terrorism that is founded on hatred and rivalry. The grievances and issues raised by terrorists in the past were tangible and understandable between the conflicting parties (Kurtulus, 2011). The terrorist would implement acts of terror targeted to the parties they are conflicting with, thus compelling them to settle and address the issues of contention. For instance, the revolutionary organizations in Italy and Germany raised valid issues of wanting to establish liberal democracies. On the contrary, the modern terrorist has no substantiated or valid demands that can be handled through a conventional means to an end hostilities. Therefore, the terrorist engages in unending terrorist activities against their perceived enemies.
Increased destruction
Traditional terrorism used reasonable force to cause deaths and destruction, while the new terrorism employs excessive power and capability to cause the highest number of fatalities and destruction to their perceived enemies (Lynch and Ryder, 2012). The modern terrorist use modern and sophisticated weapons since their success are dependent on the largest possible number of fatalities caused to their enemies. The terrorists go to the extent of sacrificing their own in the course of implementing terrorism activities such as suicide terrorism. The modern terrorists use weapons of mass destruction to implement terrorist activities, and their lethality is motivated by apocalyptic motivations. The terrorists aim at the destruction of lives and property, and they will be rewarded with paradise as opposed to having a political change. On the other hand, the traditional terrorists have specific targeting and are restrained such that they use reasonable force with the intention of achieving tangible results. It is viewed that early terrorists wanted people to watch acts of terror as opposed to killing them. The terrorist implemented their terror acts to be restrained as they worked to ensure that they could change the attitudes of people, thus incorporating them in their agenda. This approach brings people together, thus making it possible to achieve political, cultural, and social goals and objectives. The decisions taken by the traditional terrorist were aimed at ensuring that their goals were attained at all costs. For instance, in the French revolution, the French Anarchists discriminated against the bourgeoisie and bombed their joints, such as restaurants so as to show the working class who their real enemies were. Therefore, the modern terrorists have no specific agenda, and they are inclined to engage in maximum destruction of their enemies using weapons of mass destruction while the traditional terrorist engaged in reasonable terrorist activities with the intention of winning people and thus making it possible for them to achieve success in their operations.
Change in structure
The traditional and modern terrorists have different organizational structure achieved through regrouping and restructuring operations. The traditional terrorist was based on single groups with commands based on the cellular and hierarchical structure, while the modern terrorism was decentralized and networked with functions across the globe (Gofas, 2012). In this regard, a traditional terrorist used to occupy specified regions and jurisdiction with the intention of pushing for different tangible political, social, and cultural agendas. On the other hand, modern terrorists are found across the globe and interconnected, thus making it possible to conduct terrorist activities on a wider scale. Additionally, different terrorist grouping join hands to enhance terrorism approaches. Therefore, modern terrorist groups are wide and spread across the globe while the traditional terrorists were based on small groups that operate within their areas and jurisdictions.
Impacts of terrorism
Terrorism has negative impacts on people’s lives as it results in the destruction of life and property as well as other undesirable impacts. First, terrorism has been found to have a negative impact on the economy and business (Waheed and Ahmad, 2012). Terrorism results in the destruction of businesses, reduction of investment, and increased government spending on matters of security. These facts make the economy to decline these reducing business operations. Consequently, terrorism has adverse social conditions, thus disrupting people’s lives. Terrorism breaks the web of connectivity and increases the poverty and unemployment levels. Social lives are disrupted, making people turn to crime or other illegal means to get food and meet their day to day expenses. Furthermore, acts of terrorism result in the destruction of the environment. Terrorism damages the environment through bomb damage, damage to museums and memorials, depletion of wildlife and forests, and alterations of rural and urban environments. Therefore, acts of terrorism have a wide range of negative activities that result in unbearable life to the victims and other related parties.
Measures to eliminate terrorism
Terrorism has negative impacts on the lives of people, and thus there is a need to develop and adopt the best practices and approaches to eliminate acts of terrorism. First, global agencies and law enforcers need to control and eliminate the funding of terrorist and terrorist activities (Perera, 2014). In this regard, the agencies prevent the transfer of funds and activities aiding terrorists and their related activities. Consequently, there is a need to control access to weapons, tools, and equipment to be used in terrorism activities. The control needs to be implemented by controlling the sale and transfer of arms and weapons from one place to another. Furthermore, there is a need to punish terrorists and nations that cooperate and aid terrorist activities. The terrorist arrested need to be subjected to the judicial processes in line with international laws and policies on antiterrorism. The nations in support of terrorists need to be sanction or subjected to any other relevant punishment to deter them from engaging in terrorism or supporting acts of terrorism. Additionally, nations need to enhance control in their borders to ensure that terrorists do not have access to their jurisdiction. This approach ensures that terrorists are barred from implementing acts of terrorism on innocent citizens.
Conclusion
The aspect of terrorism is a problem that has negatively affected most parts across the globe leading to loss of lives and property, and thus there is a need to eliminate terrorism. It is important to note that traditional terrorism is different from modern terrorism on the bases of terrorism goals, structures, and increased destruction. Consequently, terrorism has had negative impacts on social lives, economy, environment, and cultural lives among people across the globe and especially the victims. Lastly, terrorism needs to be eliminated and reduced through cutting the funding, cutting the source of weapons, preventing radicalization, controlling border points, and punishing terrorists as well as nations supporting terrorism.
References
Gofas, A. (2012). ‘Old’vs.’New’Terrorism: What’s in a Name?. Uluslararası İlişkiler/International Relations, 17-32.
Kurtulus, E. N. (2011). The “new terrorism” and its critics. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 34(6), 476-500.
Lynch, O., & Ryder, C. (2012). Deadliness, organisational change and suicide attacks: understanding the assumptions inherent in the use of the term ‘new terrorism’. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 5(2), 257-275.
Perera, A. R. (2014). The draft United Nations Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. In Research Handbook on International Law and Terrorism. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Waheed, A., & Ahmad, M. M. (2012). Socioeconomic impacts of terrorism on affected families in Lahore, Pakistan. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 21(2), 202-222.
