Abstract
Terrorism can be defined as the use of violence to cause widespread panic and to instill fear in the public and to pressurize the governments to meet their ideological goals, political, or economical demands (Bandyopadhyay and Younas 13). Terrorists usually execute their orchestrated attacks in places such as restaurants, train and bus stations, schools, shopping centers, and nightclubs where members of the public always feel comfortable. Additionally, they also often conduct surprise attacks on buildings and facilities such as military bases, trading centers, and embassies that represent strong political or economic symbols. Terrorism often threatens humanity through violence, kidnappings, bombings, and killings thwarting citizens' sense of security in environments perceived to be more secure.
Numerous terrorist movements are existing globally, however, they can be broadly classified under three main categories that distinguish their activities: sub revolutionary, revolutionary, and establishment terrorism. Revolutionary terrorists usually seek the transformation of the contemporary regime to a completely new political system with new leadership structures. They include the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria [ISIS], the Peruvian Shining Path, and the Basque separatist group ETA. Sub revolutionary terrorism, on the other hand, is usually being utilized to reform initial sociopolitical systems, unlike other terrorism which are being used by other states to overthrow existing governments. However, these reformations are usually made by using threats to dethrone the government. Establishment terrorisms are usually covert groups sponsored by the government to frustrate foreign states, groups, or other agencies within the government. They are not often identified easily because they are usually kept secret by the state. Major causes of these terrorism and radical groups include contagion and media effects, demographic and socio-economic tensions, absence of political representation, political instability and transformation, cultural clash and identity, and civil liberties and human rights among others (Bandyopadhyay and Younas 12). They do infringe public human rights and have adverse economical effects among others. Therefore, both regional and international governments should always strive to find viable counter-terrorism measures to minimize terrorism.
Introduction
Definition of the term terrorism is often controversial and complex, and, due to the intrinsic ferocity and violent nature of terrorism, the word in its prevalent usage has over the years developed extreme stigma (Philip Jenkins). There is no universal agreed and inclusive definition of terrorism. However, the term can be widely understood as a technique of coercion that uses or threatens to use violence to establish widespread panic in a population and therefore, to accomplish specific ideological goals, political, or economical objectives (Margariti, 173). The act of terrorism has been executed by revolutionaries, by different religious and nationalistic groups, political organizations, and sometimes even government institutions like the police force, armies, and even intelligence services. What distinguishes modern terrorist violence in statutes from the normal violence is their use of attacks to coerce or convince third parties like organizations or governments to modify their policies, actions, or position as desired by the orchestrated attacks. Contemporary terrorists use different models of violence that randomly target military facilities, civilians, and State dignitaries. Given the nature of terrorist activities in most parts of the world, it is, therefore, very imperative for governments and international security agencies to identify different types of terrorism, root causes of terrorism, and the potential effects of terrorism to the civilians, economy, and the human rights.
Causes of Terrorism
Identifying root causes of terrorism and eliminating some of the factors leading to it provides a basic ground for fighting it. It is believed that political and social measures and changes at foundational levels can eliminate or mitigate the emergence of violence as the only viable option for transformation and ultimately participate in terrorism (Krieger and Meierrieks, 3). Discerning why and manner in which terrorism occurs are very imperative in preventing future terrorism campaigns. Additionally, understanding the root causes of violence that escalate to terrorism will be very vital in identifying credible solutions to contemporary violence and provide rational advice and procedures for stopping the on-going violence.
Prevalence and incidents of terrorism in different parts of the world are majorly attributed by preconditions that provide suitable ground for the rise of terrorism. Such prevalence conditions promoting the advent of terrorism include the absence of democracy, corrupt national authorities who get foreign government support, civil liberties, social injustice, and ethnic and religious discrimination (Newman 751). Additionally, participants play a vital role and can be considered to be particular situations and incidents that directly influence the outbreak of terrorism. They are made up of macro and micro factors. Macro factors that may lead to the emergence of terrorism include civil war, economic underdevelopment, annexation, and domiciliation by foreign military forces, corruption and bad governance, rapid technological development making terrorism practices very fast and easy (Krieger and Meierrieks, 3). On the other hand, micro factors influencing the emergence of terrorism include interactions of individuals in small groups, especially on how cliques of friends and individuals are radicalized and participate in extremism and violent activities (Newman 750). The following are the main factors influencing the emergence of terrorism in different states.
Civil Liberties and Human Rights
Terrorism is more likely to emerge in states that are often more oppressive. Authoritarian states are mostly characterized by loss of civil liberties, abuse of human rights, limited freedom of expression. Therefore, such states that are more repressive frequently experience an upsurge of terrorist violence within their borders. Furthermore, infringement of human rights is also the main cause of terrorism as diverse social movements are likely to be formed to fight for their rights.
Demographic and Socio-Economic Tensions
Contemporary increasing terrorism can also be attributed to modernizations which composed of economic transformation, the new lifestyle and ways of communication, and increasingly new ideologies. Elements of demographic strains such as increased population and socioeconomic tensions like low education achievements may cause outrage among losers of modernization in the society due to differences in factors such as employment, lifestyle, opportunities, and an unbalanced distribution of resources (Krieger and Meierrieks, 7). Additionally, modern techniques of communications are likely to cause social conflicts in some instances, however, terrorists are prone to use such new methods of communications to circulate their opinions and ideologies in more effective ways. Since most protestation mostly occurs during traditional to modern society transformation, terrorist groups are most likely to capitalize on the resentments among modernization losers who are mostly not satisfied with new societal patterns, economy, and alienated new lifestyle(Krieger and Meierrieks, 7). As a result, financing, recruitment process, and other forms of assistance to the terrorist groups are more likely when terrorists capitalize on conflicts associated with both demographic and Socio-economic transformation (Newman 753).
Absence of Political Representation
Representation plays a very vital role in recognizing the essence of public participation in different activities within society. Therefore, political representation is very imperative as it allows citizens to participate in universal policy-making procedures when their elected leaders act in their best interest. However, states curtailing democratic politics are more likely to influence the emergence of internal terrorism (Krieger and Meierrieks, 7). The number of political parties represented in government's law formulating institutions determines the possibility of a future eruption of terrorism in such particular countries. Lower representation of the political parties is much more likely to cause future domestic terrorism. Additionally, the absence of representation in platforms such as employees’ trade unions provides a strong connection with future violent extremism (Newman 754). Wherefore, the more a state severely truncates democratic politics within a society the more likelihood of future domestic terrorism eruption.
Political Instability and Transformation
Political instability and transformation provide a suitable ground for terrorism to flourish. Countries that often experience political instability and transformation usually encounter terrorism due to the established and existing political vacuums that terrorists find suitable to further their motives (Krieger and Meierrieks, 7). Such a political vacuum provides a suitable environment for radical groups to thrive as they are unlikely to be confronted by unstable regimes. Additionally, such political vacuums make terrorism an inexpensive venture to radical groups. Besides, most youths find it easy with no restrictions to support and join these terrorist organizations during political instability within the state to fight for their rights as this may prove to be the only cheap opportunity costs of ferocity with perceived benefits of ferocity. Political transformation and instability within a failed state may amplify terrorist activities and the establishment of other radical groups resulting in upsurge terrorist activities (Krieger and Meierrieks, 7).
Cultural Clash and Identity
Exhibition of different identities such as ethnicity and religious views are more likely to cause violence among different groups within a state or different states, for instance, Islamic states versus Western culture and religion (Krieger and Meierrieks, 7). Therefore, terrorist groups often offer support for the minority groups identified by their religion or ethnicity by majoring in identity associated doctrines that underline the significance of their identity. As a result, these groups will perceive terrorism as the only effective way to express or voice their opinions, impel their recognition, and shift the desired result in their favor (Krieger and Meierrieks, 8).
Contagion and Media Effects
The eruption of terrorism in one state increases the chance of terrorism to erupt in other neighboring states. The eruption of terrorism in one state is more likely to motivate terrorists in neighboring nations to engage in violence, making presence and closeness to terrorism activities a major risk element for bordering countries (Newman 750). Additionally, radical groups may prefer to utilize the experience and resources of other existing groups as they collaborate to reduce their cost of operations. Such collaboration may occur between radical groups within neighboring nations thus, encouraging generations of barbarism making some countries to be victims of their actions (Newman 750). On the other hand, the current 24-hour news coverage, numerous channels, and the presence of the internet and social media have been linked to increasing terrorist attacks. Terrorists often like to draw the attention of the public and cause panic, therefore, they currently find it easy to execute numerous attacks that receive more media attention and coverage (Krieger and Meierrieks, 8).
