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Example research essay topic: Weapons Of Mass Destruction Violent Acts - 1,637 words

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Today, America is faced with a challenging question: What is to be done about terrorism? There are not easy answers to this question. There are many options and methods to dealing with terrorists that the United States has used in the past. At times we have been successful in our efforts and at others we have failed. In Sun Tsus book The Art of War, he writes know your enemy, this is the most effective strategy in battle.

But does America really know its enemy? Certainly, we have seen pictures of Osama Bin Laden and Yasir Arafat, and we associate them with terror. But these photographs are merely images of evil; they are not the basis of our struggle. To truly understand what we are dealing with we must understand the root of their motives: we must understand terror. To do this we must explore the definition of the word it self, what does it mean and what are the characteristics of terrorism. Then we can trace the historical evolution of terror throughout history starting with the French revolution and ending in the present day.

From there we can discuss the motives behind the violence, what leads these groups to such fanatical means and what was their desired goal. In doing this we can more clearly examine what terrorism is, how it came to be and evolved, and why it happens. Terrorism is an issue that is at the top of Americas agenda (Pillar 1). But terrorism is a difficult word to define.

Many scholars have made valiant attempts to define it, however there definitions have often been too broad or too shortsighted. Even the American State Department has a definition that is not all together agreeable. One must hesitate when calling any group who opposes the establishment or anyone who engages in violence a terrorist (Hoffman 13). The people themselves do not believe they are terrorists, they prefer freedom fighter or liberator. We tend to refer to acts that scare or terrorize us as terrorist. But it is far more specific than that.

We must break down the definition into its key elements in order to view it on a broader scope. First, the most easily recognizable characteristic of terrorism is that they employ violence or the threat of violence in order to incite intimidation or as a tactic (Hoffman 14). They assassinate individuals, use explosives, kidnap and commit many other violent acts in order to incite fear within their objective audience and to charge themselves about their cause. Terrorism usually emanates out of a group, small or large, with a common ideology (Laqueur 5). They are usually self-selected and willfully engage in terror. Another key element that most scholars agree on is that terrorism is unlawful.

In other words, on can be criminally penalized by their respective government for engaging in terrorist activities (Laqueur 5). This aspect cannot hold true to terrorism, which is practiced by states or that, is state sponsored because the state will not sanction itself or the people it employs. The next element is that terrorists have a distinct objective (Laqueur 79). Whether it is religious, political or economic, they plan to achieve a goal through their actions.

The next aspect is that the actions of the terrorists are premeditated (Pillar 13). There is very little random violence. Terrorists always have an objective target. Whether they are unarmed civilians or figureheads who they believe oppose them, terrorists always have a target. From these examinations of the elements of terrorism, we can create a working definition.

We might say that terrorism is a group of people with a common political, religious, or economic ideology who employ illegal violence or the threat of violence as a tactic to intimidate an objective audience in order to meet their goals. This definition may be slightly broader than some and slightly more precise than others, however, it utilizes the basic components of terrorism in order to create a workable idea of what terrorism is. Terrorism is not a new concept. It was not birthed in the events of September 11 th. It has a long and violent history that has taken many forms over the years. In order to fully understand the evolution of terrorism we must discuss a few of its key components from history.

First, the French revolution and the regime de la terror and how it influenced Leftist Marxism and State terror in the Soviet Union. Also, the evolution of religious fanaticism will be discussed. We will also discuss how terror itself has changed in the areas of strategy and tools of the trade. Let us not be confused by other violent episodes in history, which took the form of guerrilla warfare or civil war. These events, while they were bloody, were not terrorism (Laqueur 8). In early times, there have been instances of political and religious violence, which manifested itself in the form of assassinations and religious revolt.

But Modern terrorism began with the French revolution. The movement was known as the regime of the Terror and was led by Maximilien Robespierre. He insinuated that terrorism was virtuous in the time of revolution (Hoffman 16). His actions and the actions of his group, The Terror, were not unlike terrorists who would follow in his footsteps. They had a goal: to overthrow the monarchy in France, a proposed solution: early socialism, and a means to achieve it: violence. The deeds of this group were deliberate, systematic and very violent.

But Robespierre believed that this was the only way to ensure that his objectives would be achieved. The actions of this group would be echoed in the writings of Marx, The Bolsheviks and the German Red Army Faction. More importantly, Carlos Pisacane would illustrate the actions of The Terror when he wrote of Propaganda by deed (Hoffman 17). Pisacane implies that an organization should employ terror as a means of getting recognition, gaining support and as a negotiating tool. Many modern Terrorist groups comply with this idea.

The historical example of the regime de la terror has set the stage for other communist groups that employ terror such as The Red Brigade in Italy, Mao in China and even the Weatherman in the United States. All of these groups sought to destroy the existing capitalist system and replace it with one of socialism through violence. Another form of terror, which has evolved over the ages, is religious fanaticism. The Old Testament is a source that depicts the earliest forms of religious and political assassination (Laqueur 10). Other early religious terror campaigns include those of the Sicari, a Jewish faction that attacked other Jews, Romans and moneylenders and Ismailis, an Islamic faction that engaged in its share of violence at the time. Over the years religious violence has changed very little.

Religious ideology is always dominant and fanatical. The violence can stem from one religious group denying another one rights, as is the case in Ireland with the Protestants and the Catholics, disputes over property as is the case in Jerusalem between the Palestinians and the Jews, and for many other reasons. Religious terror today has manifested itself in many forms, notably the current religious jihad (holy war) being fought by Muslims against the rest of the world. The quarrel in Palestine over rights to holy city is equally notable. Here the Jews and the Muslims have been battling for quite some time without success. United states intervention has only created more acts of violence, some of which has been directed at America.

One can even find Christian Fanaticism in the United States in form of Christian identity groups who believe in resorting to violence to create a Christian America and in Millenarians who believe that their involvement in the final judgment must be procured through terrorism. Another change in the evolution of terror is devices by which terrorism achieved. Weapons have evolved over time and terrorists have evolved to suit the change. With advances being made in technology there are also advances being made in terrorism. In early days groups like the Sicari used daggers to assassinate their victims (Laqueur 11). Later, the Noonday Volga, a Russian resistance group, used a hand delivered bomb to assassinate Tsar Alexander II (Hoffman 19).

For many decades, The Irish Republican Army has been using car bombs and firearms to achieve its terrorist goals. While all of these examples are indeed frightening, there is something looming on the horizon that is far more dangerous, weapons of mass destruction. These include chemical, biological and nuclear weapons (Falkenrath 2). Many groups, which pose a terrorist threat, have tried to, or claimed to have acquired weapons of mass destruction but few have (Falkenrath 10). The instance of nerve gas in the Tokyo subway released by members of Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious sect, is one of few examples of the implementations of these devices. The final area to be discussed is the motives behind terror, why does it happen and what mentality is needed to implement it.

Terrorism is always used in the pursuit of power (Hoffman 183). Terrorists use violence to dominate and coerce their audience in order to gain political power. In searching for answers as to why terrorists commit these acts one must examine a few topics of interest. First, we will discuss whether or not terrorism is logical or psychotic behavior. Then, focus on some of groups and their ideological motives, namely religious groups, leftists groups and state terror in Nazi Germany. In doing this we will gain a better picture of why terrorists resort to violent acts.

There are two dominant theories in the psychological study of terror that must be discussed. One is that of Martha Crenshaw who believes that terrorism is political strategy that can be explained logically (Reich 8). Crenshaw states that even...


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