The four waves of modern terrorism
Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern terrorism each following in chronological order with periods of overlapping. The first was the Anarchist wave followed by the Anticolonial, then the New Left and now the Religious wave. This summary will give a brief history of each of the four waves then the similarities and differences would be discussed.
The Anarchist wave which was the birth of international terrorist activity started in Russia. It resonated at the time of revolt against the Czar Alexander II lead government who could not deliver on his promise to provide funds for the serfs to buy land. There were other social and politic issues that left people dissatisfied with the governance. As a result there was a spate of assassinations against prominent officials which eventually lead to the death of Alexander. The justification of such acts was that it was necessary to liberate humanity for its oppressors. As enshrined in their philosophy anarchist believed that their (terror) actions would eventually force those in support of the government to undermine the said doctrines they support then causing society to become polarize making way for a revolution. The anarchist doctrine spread to other states, primarily to those with established Russian diaspora. They
The Anarchist wave which was the birth of international terrorist activity started in Russia. It resonated at the time of revolt against the Czar Alexander II lead government who could not deliver on his promise to provide funds for the serfs to buy land. There were other social and politic issues that left people dissatisfied with the governance. As a result there was a spate of assassinations against prominent officials which eventually lead to the death of Alexander. The justification of such acts was that it was necessary to liberate humanity for its oppressors. As enshrined in their philosophy anarchist believed that their (terror) actions would eventually force those in support of the government to undermine the said doctrines they support then causing society to become polarize making way for a revolution. The anarchist doctrine spread to other states, primarily to those with established Russian diaspora. They