Sam Mullins

Domestic terrorism has been a major threat in the US since the catastrophic event that took place during attack on 9/11. Following the aftermath of the terrorist attack, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies emphasized heavily on combating terrorism on global scale as international terrorism was views as the major threat to the public security of the US which caused the issue of domestic terrorism to be overlooked. We have seen many terrorist attacks since the attack on 9/11 that were planned and executed by individuals and groups born and raised in America. Some of those attacks include the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston marathon bombing. There has also been increasing number of mass shooting by individuals that were identified as to be radicalized by terrorist groups abroad, the most recent mass shooting that was identified as a terrorist act was in Orlando where more than 50 people were killed (Alveraz, p.1). The cases mentioned above will be discussed in detail later in the essay. Although, American law enforcement agencies are actively conducting intelligence and operational missions to prevent international terrorism, however, the US needs to develop efficient tactics to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the United States may face a danger of the unfailing growth of domestic terrorism similar to some of the European countries; such as the United Kingdom. Consequently, law enforcement agencies should concentrate on the preclusion

Although there is no one single fingerprint that defines the psychological makeup of a terrorist, there are several broad characteristics that indicate a person’s vulnerability toward radicalization. Terrorists willing to carrying out a suicide operation, as a subset of the larger radicalized group, are certainly no exception. Indeed, dedication to the point of self-extermination requires a deeper degree of radicalization than to merely fight for one’s chosen cause.

Sheehan also fails to consider the many factors which collectively contribute to create a radical or terrorist. While he does acknowledge that Michael Adebolajo was a thug long before he gravitated to ‘Muslim Fundamentalism’, he ignores or overlooks the other issues, such as psychological problems, soci-economic issues and political agendas, which can contribute towards fundamental leaning.

This excerpt from Silke’s Becoming a Terrorist aims to determine what causes someone to become a terrorist. Silke argues that simply labeling terrorists as mentally unbalanced or psychotic prevents us from achieving a fuller understanding of the phenomenon. As it turns out, there is no one factor that determines whether a person will become a terrorist. Instead, it is a combination of any number of factors from economic circumstance to vengeance and these factors vary widely depending on the culture, social context, terror group, and individual involved.

The study of terrorism is a growing field, primarily due to the world’s interest in the subject matter. Although death by terrorist attack is rare in the United States, as common as death by asteroid or comet (Jackson 2011: 132-133), many citizens view it as a primary concern that threatens the nation. Because of the world’s fear of terrorism, it has gained a huge budget of its own and has become a primary topic/focus. Terrorism: A Critical Introduction, written by Richard Jackson, Lee Jarvis, Jereon Gunning, and Marie Breen-Smyth, examines the orthodox study of terrorism. While analyzing the orthodox scholarship they find and discuss a few key issues. Their critique includes methods/research, emphasis on non-state actors, Western

Throughout the world, there have been many terrorist attacks that have been all in the name of Islam. All of the attacks have shocked the world, but the most shocking ones are the ones that are carried out by the youth. Mark Knight released a cartoon (Herald Sun, 6/10/15) illustrating that the influence ISIS has over people is similar to someone being brainwashed. The second article is a letter to the editor (Herald Sun, 9/11/15) called “Teen Terror a school issue”, which demonstrates how the youth is being targeted for recruitment inside schools, raising awareness for the schools and youth to not be ISIS recruitment centres. The third article is an opinion piece written by Tareq N. Hasan (20/11/15) that demonstrates how Muslim Communities should do more to prove ISIS is not Islam. These opinion pieces share the same contention and link with each other one way or another.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks many have sought to argue that a ‘New’ paradigm of terrorism exists and therefore that the nature of modern terrorist threats has changed. However, terrorism itself has never been clearly outlined, and as such both Copeland and Duyvesteyn argue current threats to be a continuation of older trends of traditional terrorism. More so terrorism is subjective and therefore current threats depends upon who the target is and who is reporting the attack. On the other hand, Hoffman focuses on deconstructing specifically the 9/11 attacks and in assessing potential future threats and as such is of greater use to governments seeking to deploy stringent countermeasures. The evolution of terrorist groups motivations and

Alex P. Schmid (2011), ed “The Routledge Hand Book of Terrorism Research” is a compilation of the analytical findings and reference resources on terrorism and counterterrorism resources. This study is based on empirical research, such as compiling biographies of terrorist operatives in order to generate insights into what types of Individual become a terrorist. Another useful insight to terrorism is provided by “Critical terrorism studies” Richard Jackson, Lee Jarvis, Geroen Gunning and Marie Breen Smyth. In this textbook, the Counter Terrorism Studies scholars outline their critique of orthodox terrorism studies, by providing a counter narrative to the nature and dynamics of terrorism. Richard Jackson, Eamon Murphy and Scott Poynting (2010),

“If one identifies with the victim of the violence, for example, then the act is terrorism. If, however, one identifies with the perpetrator, the violent act is regarded in a more sympathetic, if not positive (or, at the worst, an ambivalent) light; and it is not terrorism.”

Section one will provide a survey covering a span of a decade since the September 9/11 attacks. It provides an overview of Terror Trends, 40 Years’ Data on International and Domestic Terrorism and how the data provide critical information that could be utilized by agencies engaged in counterterrorism formulation of policy and possibly help enhance homeland security policies for future preventions.

She speaks about vague concepts such as “vengeance” and perceived “unjust persecution” while speaking of the rationality of these actors (Crenshaw 1981). Her claim that motivations such as “vengeance” and group dynamics result in continued involvement in terrorist organizations is speculative (Crenshaw 1981). The argument that psychological factors can motivate individuals to participate in these organizations is put forward without the necessary supporting evidence to validate her claim. It is interesting that while she continually asserts the rationality of terrorists that she devotes so much time to the psychological factors that may color individuals choices. I would argue that while groups and individuals have a degree of rationality individuals in large part are just as compelled to act out of irrational motivations as rational ones. It would be interesting to see research that studies what individuals who carry out acts of terrorism(not the organizations and leaders themselves) identify as the primary motivation out of which they elected to take such drastic

The word terrorism can be defined in many ways, therefore, there is no universal definition because another person’s terrorist is another individual freedom fighter and to use a universal definition could cause issues. In this paper the term terrorism is used as a deliberate act of violence to inflict terror in order to accomplish a political, religious, or ideological point. All acts of terrorism are used to create terror amount the mass so an individual or group can cause panic in order to force government officials to surrender to their demands. There are five forms of terrorism- domestic, nationalist, religious, state, and global terrorism- and each have a tendency to overlap, however, they do vary in their actions and affect people differently. In this paper, I will be investigating the different forms of terrorism and providing examples of terroristic acts globally.

Is there really such a concept as a “typical terrorist,”? Our society has many ideas and stereotypical descriptions of a terrorist. Some people presume that terrorists are either Muslim or Islamic, and they reside in the Middle East. However, it is not true and fair to label people who live a certain area of the world as a terrorist. After the tragic events on 9/11, the “pejorative use of ‘terrorism’ can be seen everywhere.” (Jackson and Sinclair, p. 18) Millions of dollars were poured into attempts to control and research terrorism. The current term of terrorism often makes assumptions about the act of violence and response of those involved including the observers and the society. Furthermore, terrorism has also become a term that is difficult to articulate in academic research. Therefore, the argument I pose is the term terrorism should be abandoned because it is not an useful analytical tool, especially for academic research, which should focus on the meaning, motivation and relationships regarding the acts of violence.

The world is witnessing a rise in terrorist activities in various parts of the world. The terrorist tactics of many extremist organizations around the world show that terrorism is an international phenomenon. The number of extremist organizations is increasing. Some of these groups are fighting for control of some land plots, while others are fighting to spread their own ideologies or religious philosophies. The practice of terrorism from year to year became more sophisticated and ironic. In the last century, the main forms of attacks were hostage taking an explosion in a public place. They do not hesitate to commit the worst crimes, including the killing of innocent citizens, the looting or burning of property, the abduction of people, the hijacking of aircraft or the creation of terrorism in one way or another.

For the past two decades, there has been an increase in international and domestic terrorism in the world. Due to major attacks such as the Oklahoma bombing and 9/11 has been the cause of this increase. Many other attacks had raised concerns about the use of modern technologies and the reality of radicalization of terrorism. Terrorism is one of the oldest tactics in history and yet one of the hardest to define. In a plenty literature, it points out that terrorism is constantly evolving and it has been passed through different groups of terrorists. Schelling (1996) explains that the use of violence to terrorize the enemy is as old as human warfare. But there is a difference between more forms of terrorism and older forms of this phenomenon. This would include a preeminent depth of modern terrorism, which plenty individuals sees it as a reflection of its more radical nature. As Borum (2011) states, terrorism has a long history, and the outcome of this type of violence has given individuals motivation for new development in the post-World War II period.