Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Terrorism - Research Paper Example Terrorist attacks bring mass casualties, have a strong psychological pressure on the great mass of people, involve the destruction of material and spiritual values that are beyond recovery times, sow out a discord among nations, provoking a war, mistrust and hatred between social and national groups, which are sometimes impossible to overcome during the whole generation. According to Ronczkowski â€Å"The Department of Defense defines terrorism as â€Å"†¦the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.†2 To better examine the question we should speak a little about the history of terrorism. Over its long history, terrorism appeared as a variety of guises, terrorism and terrorists have been existing for more than fifteen hundred years - in many countries there were St. Bartholomew’s Nights and Sicilian Suppers, enemies - real or perceived - were destroyed by the Roman emperors, the Ottoman sultans, the Russian Tsars, as well as by many other, and each country has at least one ‘hero’. Terrorists always existed. ... A combination of religious fanaticism and political terrorism can be traced in the actions of sicarius: they saw something joyful in martyrdom, and believed that the Lord will come to his people and save them from the torments and sufferings after the overthrow of a hated regime.3 The representatives of the Muslim sect who killed caliphs, prefects, governors and even the rulers also adhered to the same ideology: they were destroyed by the King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat.4 The murder was a ritual for sectarians; they welcomed martyrdom and death for the sake of ideas and firmly believed in the advent of a new world order. It is important to continue that terrorism as a massive and politically significant phenomenon is a result of rampant ‘deideologization’, when certain groups begin to question the legitimacy and rights of the state in society, and this justifies their transition to terror to achieve their own goals. According to Lawless we see that â€Å"terroris m is an international crime and as such requires the international community to act in the prevention of terrorism and the sanction of individuals perpetrating acts of terrorism†.5 Various criminal groups commit terrorist acts to intimidate and destroy rivals to influence political powers in order to achieve the best possible environment for their criminal activities. Everyone may become a victim of a terrorist act - even the one who does not have the slightest relation to a conflict that spawned a terrorist act. The level of terrorism and specific forms of its manifestations are, on the one hand, the measure of public morality, and on the other hand – the measure of effectiveness of state and society to address the most pressing issues, in particular for the prevention and suppression