Psychology Of Terrorism Book Review

In Afghanistan, there is a divide between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras; the Pashtuns are upper class citizens who are treated with respect while the Hazaras are lower class, minority citizens who are treated poorly. Because of the contrasting history of the two groups, their responses to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul were complete opposites. The Pashtuns “danced on [the] street,” (Hosseini 200) while the Hazaras cried “God help the Hazaras now” (Hosseini 213). The conflict between the Pashtuns and Hazaras in “The Kite Runner” directly reflects the real life issues in Afghanistan starting in the late 70’s and continuing on past 2001.

political and social circumstances; that is, terrorism involves variables that can be measured on a criminological scale. The measurable by-product can be examined through psychological factors that vacillate with political circumstances. Ross's conclusions lead to two practical considerations.

In the past weeks we have explored what makes up the mind of a terrorist by considering various psychological and behavioral factors of terrorism. Another factor we discussed was Osama Bin Laden: Terrorist CEO and the evolution of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. I will summarize categorizing the means of communication and influence they have upon advancing terrorist narratives, the psychological and behavioral factors within Al-Qaeda leadership and affiliate groups, compare and contrast his ability to communicate and exert influence upon these various audiences from the years preceding 9/11 until his death. All these factors play a part with one another in order to understand the big picture.

A multitude of factors contribute to any type of reasoning or psychological makeup of an individual; whether it is a person’s history of behavioral problems, inability to maintain a functional relationship, or in this case becoming part of a terrorist organization. In Sarah Kershaw’s “The Terrorist Mind: An Update”, we are able to see what drives a person to commit acts of terror where it is praised in a given community.

Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, takes place in Afghanistan during two different wars. The first war takes place from the nineteen seventies until nineteen eighty-eight, but a part of it has rolled into present day, two thousand fourteen. This war originally involved Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, but is now a civil war in Afghanistan (“The Afghan War”). In 1978, “Afghanistan changed forever,” (Hosseini 34). The power in Afghanistan was overthrown and handed to Marxist-Leninist political parties until the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in 1979 (“The Afghan War”). The Soviet War with Afghanistan was responsible for ripping apart families and the country of Afghanistan. During this time, 4.3 million Afghan citizens

The vice of gambling is not an addiction that I indulge in, luckily. That said I would venture a guess, or better yet place a bet that you have never read a book titled “Inside Terrorism” written by Bruce Hoffman. In his book Bruce Hoffman defines terrorism as “the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change.” The United States does not have the luxury of kicking back and watching from the sidelines the war against terrorism take place. Currently the USA is not only involved in but is one of the prime combatants against terrorism in the following wars: War in Afghanistan, War in North-West Pakistan, and the War on ISIL. The effects of war are not ones that US citizens should continue to live with and permit if technology can be implemented to reduce and effectively combat terrorism. Some of the more severe effects of war are first and foremost lives of American soldiers being cut short, soldiers acquiring Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and a monumental economic impact and drain of the hardworking American citizens’ tax dollars. What were once yester year’s dreams and subjects of science fiction novels has materialized into reality for the US and its arsenal to fight terrorism. Drones are an effective weapon against terrorism, and their use when justified save lives of American soldiers, reduce incidences of PTSD, and decrease the economic impact of war.

Background information about the War in Afghanistan is absolutely necessary in order to discuss the withdrawal of United States ' troops from Afghanistan. The history intertwining the United States and Afghanistan is a long and complex chronology. For full transparency I

(5) Terrorism is far more devastating today, than in the past because of the effects of mass media. Today's media influence multiplies the fear effect of terrorism by vividly conveying its horror. This greatly increases our collective sense of vulnerability, and terrorists seek to exploit media coverage to put us and our government on the psychological defensive. The belief that, in some instances, the brilliance of scientists and engineers is no match for the suicidal motivations of terrorists is now a conviction of many Americans who witnessed the September

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a story about an individual by the name of Amir who has experienced many changes within his home state of Afghanistan. The experiences forever changing him, and the story reflects on that. One of the underlying issues the author demonstrates within this novel is the treatment and view of the ethnic minority within Afghanistan and Pakistan. The second issue that sets the background of the novel is the ever-changing system Afghanistan is challenged with, transitioning from various systems and facing de-stabilization as of result, starting from the coup and then to the Soviet incursion. Due to the large amount of information, stemming from the transitions Afghanistan has gone through.

Terrorism is a difficult issue to understand and grasp for many people. What is even more difficult to understand is what drives an individual to become radicalized to the point of joining a terrorist organization and committing terrorist acts. While there is not specific criteria or a “cookie cutter” approach to understanding what motivates and radicalizes an individual to participate in such atrocities, there are however, several psychological and behavioral factors that have been common among these individuals. The following paper will outline some of the psychological and behavioral factors that attribute to an individual’s radicalization and eventual willingness and even perhaps

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 1979, the goal was to help Afghan communist forces set up a communist government. The Soviet Union felt Afghanistan had key resources and a foothold in the Middle East to spread communist ideas. The result would be a war that the Soviet Union wishes it never got involved in and likened to their “Vietnam War”, meaning winning a number of battles but not the war like what happened to the U.S. in Vietnam. The background of the war, outcome of the war, and impact on the United States are key to understanding the Soviet-Afghan War.

There are many things can be seen in the psychology of terrorism. Unfortunately there is not good science on psychological factors of terrorism; there are theories and educated opinions (DeAngelis, 2009). The one overarching factor is the fear with which terrorism is based. By definition, terrorism is acts that cause terror by one group on to another, usually for political goals (“Terrorism”, n.d.). Why people suffer from these fears is related to their psychological behavior. Terrorist activity can be described as “fostering a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, in demonstrating the incompetence of the authorities, destroying a sense of security and safety, and in provoking inappropriate reactions from individuals and authorities.” (Alexander & Klein, 2005). Terrorists themselves are affected by psychological behavior; their own and that of others around them. They may even be affected by the behavior of victims and potential victims. Osama Bin Laden has even been known to admit that in the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, his

This essay will describe the psychological, and behavior factors in terrorism, while listing the motivating factors behind them. The means of communication, and influence behind the narratives that would inspire future acts of terrorism. The factors of the psychology of the Al Qaeda leadership from Osama Bin Laden. This paper will also compare and contrast the radicalization models that would explain terrorist motives. And finally the factors of the disengagement of terrorism, and the processes behind them.

Source: CNN
Synopsis: According to the online article, The psychology and neuroscience of terrorism, director of forensic psychiatry at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences stated that, “Fear is the primary psychological weapon underlying acts of terrorism. It is this fear, or the anticipation of future acts of terror, that can have serious effects on our behavior and minds,” such as the way we think, change the production level of hormones with our body, as well as alter the decisions we make. As a result, chronic stress begins to affect our ability to reason, problem solve, as well as how to respond to a fight-or-flight moment; therefore, human beings become desensitized

Afghanistan was a peaceful and civilized country. However, within a century it became a disastrous mess, but the question is how? The Kite Runner follows an Afghani boy’s life, from childhood to adulthood. Within his life, he experiences Afghanistan in peace under their own government rule, and Afghanistan in chaos under either USSR or Taliban rule. With differing relations between countries at the time, The Kite Runner provides a creative approach to the retelling of those. Throughout The Kite Runner, Hosseini thoroughly criticizes improper foreign policy worldwide. He depicts this through: symbolism, relationships between the characters, and a main overarching conflict.