Table of Contents
Terrorism is one of the most contested definitions in the field of international relations. There are many definitions of terrorism, but it still becomes a challenge to agree upon what classifies a terrorist and acts of terror. Scholars have and continue to debate what is terrorism, as well as what causes terrorism. It can however be defined as the use of violence and intimidation to achieve an objective that is usually but not always political. The targets may be a member of government or an organization who are known to be antagonists to the terrorists cause. It is a technique through which groups seek to provoke a military or political response as a form of recognition. Terrorism may also seek to demoralize the citizens of a state and so undermine support for the regimes they oppose.
Old and new terrorim
In terms of targeting, many of the tactical means and methods of modern terrorism have, until relatively recently, followed those utilized between States in their armed conflicts inter se (UNODC, 2018). This has been described or often referred to by scholars as “old” terrorism, where by terrorist codes on targeting victims closely resembled professional military codes, meaning that they respected the distinction between soldiers and officials and innocent civilians. The term “new” terrorism was coined however to refer to or in order to describe what is believed to be fundamentally new ways for terrorists to operate and express their violence (Neumann, 2008). It is argued that the ‘new terrorism’ had resulted from the forces of late modernity and, in particular, globalization, which had manifested themselves in three areas.
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The first being terrorist groups continue to be relatively small organizations, but their structures have become more diffuse and their reach has extended into transnational space (Neumann, 2008). These groups are often referred to as terrorist groups are often described as networks, because hierarchies have been replaced with personal relationships. Peter R. Neumann contends that the second area in which significant change has taken place is that of terrorists’ aims and ideologies and that ideologically, the rise of religiously inspired terrorism can be traced back to the so-called ‘religious revival’ which began in the 1970s. Third and lastly, terrorism has evolved as a method. It used to be that terrorists often killed civilians and occasionally their operations were aimed at producing large numbers of casualties, however in the new era of terrorism mass-casualty attacks against civilian populations mass seem to be the aim rather than a mistake.
Forms and Nature of Terrorist Groups
There are a number of terrorist groups categories and terrorism in general. They include Religious, Separatists, Ethnocentric, Nationalistic, Revolutionary, Political, Social, Domestic, and International or Transnational. people are mostly familiar with the religious terrorism category due to the widespread media coverage of Islamic extremism. The major danger with religious terrorist groups lies in the rigidity of their beliefs. Religiously motivated terrorists see their objectives as holy and therefore infallible and non-negotiable (ONAMU, 2013).
There is International and Transnational terrorism, terms which more describes the operational influence, reach, and support of these groups. International groups operate in multiple countries, but usually focus on a specific geographical region for their activities whereas transnational terrorists operate and focus on multiple countries. Hezbollah is considered to be an international terrorist group in that they are primarily concerned with ongoing events in Lebanon and Israel, whereas Al Qaeda could be considered a transnational terrorist group (Razaaq, 2003).
