Finalpaper
Matthew Chatarpal
PSCI 104
Final Paper
What are the causes of terrorism? It is a loaded question that has plagued even the highest intelligence agencies in the world. Before we answer that question though, let us get some background on what terrorism is. Terrorism has been described as both a tactic and strategy. A crime and a holy duty. It is often described as a justified reaction to oppression. Obviously, a lot depends on whose point of view is being represented. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict. As an asymmetric form of conflict, it aligns coercive power with many of the advantages of military hard power at a fraction of the cost. Due to the way they operate and the relatively small size of terrorist organizations, they often offer opponents no clear organization to defend against. Putting this question into context, we probably need no introduction as to why the causes of terrorism are so important. Terrorism threatens our very lives and poses a huge threat to anyone not aligned with these radical extremists. They have proven that they will resort to the deadliest of tactics and stop at nothing, even if that means killing themselves in the process, to achieve their goal. That very attitude is what makes terrorists so deadly. We need to know what creates these monsters so that we can hopefully put an end to them and protect the ones that we care for. Aforementioned, the way the operate can make it very hard to pinpoint who we should be fighting against. So if we can pinpoint the root causes, we can have a greater advantage in dealing with them. Now to answer this question, I will be taking a look at some articles that will shed some light on this issue. Those articles being Brigitte Nacos' “The Making of Terrorists: Causes, Conditions, Influences”, Peter Bergen and Swati Pandey's “The Madrassa Scapegoat” and lastly, Richard D. Connerney “ Islam Promotes Terrorism and Violence”. They offer different
PSCI 104
Final Paper
What are the causes of terrorism? It is a loaded question that has plagued even the highest intelligence agencies in the world. Before we answer that question though, let us get some background on what terrorism is. Terrorism has been described as both a tactic and strategy. A crime and a holy duty. It is often described as a justified reaction to oppression. Obviously, a lot depends on whose point of view is being represented. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict. As an asymmetric form of conflict, it aligns coercive power with many of the advantages of military hard power at a fraction of the cost. Due to the way they operate and the relatively small size of terrorist organizations, they often offer opponents no clear organization to defend against. Putting this question into context, we probably need no introduction as to why the causes of terrorism are so important. Terrorism threatens our very lives and poses a huge threat to anyone not aligned with these radical extremists. They have proven that they will resort to the deadliest of tactics and stop at nothing, even if that means killing themselves in the process, to achieve their goal. That very attitude is what makes terrorists so deadly. We need to know what creates these monsters so that we can hopefully put an end to them and protect the ones that we care for. Aforementioned, the way the operate can make it very hard to pinpoint who we should be fighting against. So if we can pinpoint the root causes, we can have a greater advantage in dealing with them. Now to answer this question, I will be taking a look at some articles that will shed some light on this issue. Those articles being Brigitte Nacos' “The Making of Terrorists: Causes, Conditions, Influences”, Peter Bergen and Swati Pandey's “The Madrassa Scapegoat” and lastly, Richard D. Connerney “ Islam Promotes Terrorism and Violence”. They offer different