Criminal Justice
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Write (3) pages, double-spaced) essay based on one of the following topics:
1- What are the main problems with defining the term “terrorism”?
2- Why are the current notions of defense and intelligence redundant in the new security environment?
3- What is the role of law enforcement in preventing terrorism?
4- What are the six contributions of the Department of Homeland Security Strategic Framework?
5- How is the face of terrorism changing?
ANSWER
The Changing Face of Terrorism
Introduction
Terrorism is considered as a threat or use of violence to create fear within victims and among a wide audience. Terrorism has been conducted by terrorist groups that are organized to commit crimes by political organizations (Nacos, 2016). Terrorist groups engage in high-profile attacks and dramatic violence in order to generate and maintain publicity which leads to widespread fear. Terrorism activities include car bombings, suicide bombings, mass shootings, kidnappings, hostage-taking, and hijackings. There has been a great change in terrorism character if not a revolution. Ideally, the face of terrorism has change over the last decades with bring about new terrorism. This paper will focus on the change in the face of terrorism that includes the proliferation of political and religious terrorism, loosely organized terrorist groups, funding, new motives and opportunities, mass destruction weapons, and interdependency of terrorist groups and how they have influenced change in the new face of terrorism.
The changing face of terrorism has brought about terrorist groups that are shaped by ideology, culture, media, and politics. These individuals innovate, rely on new technology and communication devices, connection and network of different terrorist groups as well as produced manuals on the targets, tactics, and instructions based on experience (Weimann, 2014). Terrorists have been stronger, bloodier, and have developed new financial resources where they have been less reliant on state sponsors. Terrorist groups have been able to develop new models of organization.
In the early years, terrorism was conducted by a group of individuals that engaged in the most discriminating and highly selective acts of violence. They bombed different symbolic targets, assassinated and kidnapped specific individuals that were blamed for political repression and economic exploitation in order to attract their attention and their activities. In contrast, the new generation of terrorists has essential organizational changes that have influenced targeting and decision-making. For instance, the hierarchical structure has shifted to more loosely connected groups that indirectly connect through networks that have comprised of amateurs, professionals, and full-time terrorists.
Ideally, the striking development of terrorism has grown bloodier in terms of activities and the sum of victims. As compared to the old terrorism that focuses on selected targets, the new face of terrorism has been indiscriminative thus leading to many causalities (Smith and Zeigler, 2017). Terrorists have been able to develop new forms of financing their activities. Considerably, due to the changes in the new security environment, the terrorist groups have been unable to openly hold territory and collect taxes. For instance, terrorist groups previously held hostages and kidnapped victims. However, they have avoided such acts since their criminal implications will tarnish the group. However, they have engaged in activities such as fraud, legitimate investments, and drug trafficking which has large returns.
The new era of terrorism has led to new approaches to the organization. Terrorism groups have more ambitious operations with groups having a functional specialization. For instance, the terrorist groups have individuals that are devoted to training, recruiting, planning, logistics, social services, and intelligence. International terrorism has been one of the new approaches in terrorism. Terrorists have been seen crossing national frontiers to conduct attacks and acquire international attention. Additionally, the development of a mass weapon of mass destruction has contributed to the revolution of terrorism. The confluence of new weapons for mass destruction has led to new capabilities and opportunities that have compelled these groups to employ biological, chemical, and nuclear weapon devices (Kurtulus, 2011).
The face of terrorism has changed due to the paradigm shift where terrorism has identified strict adherence to religion. The new face of terrorism has advocated for an inflexible and categorical world view that is consistent with the belief of the religion. For instance, Violence extremism has been on the rise with many terrorist groups enacting violence with deliberate or ideological intent such as political or religious violence (Pratt, 2010). Advanced communication and technologies have also influenced the new forms of terrorism. In the current forms of terrorism, technology and innovation are not about weapons but better communication. Technological developments have allowed terrorists to connect and reach a larger audience.
With the growth of interdependency in the current globalized world, activities in one state have the potential of influencing the other as well as altering the policies of the other state. The current security environment has changed profoundly since the end of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The new security challenges such as regional conflicts, international terrorism, and proliferation of mass destruction weapons have led to new forms of terrorism and terrorist threats. The 21st century has brought about new security dangers which have greatly transformed the new security environment (Radil and Castan Pinos, 2019). These include the rise of security threats that are not limited to national boundaries, shifting of regional alignments, military and weapon technology proliferation, and globalization which has led to changing demographics and global economic transformations. In the past, most individuals had restricted roles that were passed in the circulation of power, knowledge, and capital. However, in the current world, knowledge, and power are no longer preserved for states and a handful of individuals.
In summation, the proliferation of political and religious terrorism, loosely organized terrorist groups, funding, new motives and opportunities, mass destruction weapons, and interdependency of terrorist groups has influenced the face of terrorism change. Terrorism has changed over the years and may be difficult to predict the actual evolution of terrorism in the next few decades. The new age of terrorism has focused on committed acts and the number of victims involved.
References
Kurtulus, E. N. (2011). The “new terrorism” and its critics. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 34(6), 476-500.
Nacos, B. L. (2016). Terrorism and counterterrorism. Routledge.
Pratt, D. (2010). Religion and terrorism: Christian fundamentalism and extremism. Terrorism and Political Violence, 22(3), 438-456.
Radil, S. M., & Castan Pinos, J. (2019). Reexamining the four waves of modern terrorism: A territorial interpretation. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1-20.
Smith, M., & Zeigler, S. M. (2017). Terrorism before and after 9/11–a more dangerous world?. Research & Politics, 4(4), 2053168017739757.
Weimann, G. (2014). New terrorism and new media (Vol. 2). Washington, DC: Commons Lab of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
