Terrorism: Staying Afloat

To our torment, terrorism has become one of the most destructive threats to the human condition. The perception of a terrorist has become more complex and livelier over the past two decades. They use calculated violence to generate an atmosphere of fear and alarm, which in turn is bound for innocent targets. These actions are intended to produce effects beyond the immediate physical damage they cause. Terrorists’ motivations are to obtain a political objective through intimidation or fear. No matter how violent or cruel the incident is, it is not a terroristic event unless political aim is evident. Ultimately, terrorism is a tool to change behavior. The aim of this paper is to examine and explain motivations for terrorism, as well as to explain the underlying desire to understand how acts of terrorism affect society. It is clear that terrorists have strong motivations, but the deep-rooted process behind the acts they commit is a much more complicated and convoluted topic, though the social impact is equally complex and should be analyzed first.

Terrorists’ Effect on Society

Over time terrorism has been used for several reasons to achieve various goals. According to James Carafano, “America has had over a decade of experience in battling both transnational and ‘home-grown’ terrorism” (2013). He was referring to the recent Boston bombings and the horror that ensued. Though this is a recent, possibly hard to discuss for some, terrorist attack in the United States, terrorism has been around for millennia. Terrorism in between the 1960s and the 1980s was about exposure to one’s cause. Many of the terrorists were lone-wolf assassins who constrained their attacks towards political leaders, particularly in the United States. The act of terrorism was followed by the guilty party taking credit, as well as a forewarning that if the United States didn't change its policies, there would be more to come. During this time, transnational terrorism was mostly motivated by separatism, nationalism, racism, and the desire for economic equality. The 1990’s produced unsystematic killing and high mass casualty counts. The number of violent pseudo-religious based groups increased during this time.

As these acts of terrorism continue to increase, it is evident that the crisis affects the political, economic, and social stability of the world. Terrorism has direct influence over what investors choose to invest in based on the economic risks, political risks, and monetary return. Though it’s not just investors that are having difficulty deciding what to invest in. Times of uncertainty will cause consumers to react irrationally. Nothing demonstrates the impact terrorist acts have on the airline industry more than the economic numbers. Prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the industry overall showed an overwhelming profit. Since that time, it has shown losses in excess of forty billion US dollars (IATA 2008, p. 1). When the airline industry was temporarily shut down, tourism—being closely connected to the airline industry—was especially hit hard.

Fear and the anticipation of fear have a remarkable effect on the human psyche when it comes to something as unpredictable as terrorism. Baker and Coulter noted, “Acts of terrorism strike fear into the public and lead to a change in regular travel behavior due to the natural human reaction to fear” (2007). Before the September 11, 2001 attack, tourism was the world’s largest industry. The public relies on media outlets for their daily information, which they utilize to go about their lives. The tourism industry has suffered drastically because of public reliance on media; the constant media attention has prolonged the process of restoring consumers’ confidence to travel. Destinations that are heavily dependent on international visitors suffered the most and, as a result, employment opportunities minimized. Revenues from tourism are especially important in developing countries with fewer options for financial gain. However, terrorism affects developed countries in the same way. Terrorism is not something most people factor into their daily lives.

Social Instability

Depending on where people live, there are several dangers that most people factor into their lives as a result of living in that city, country, or state. For example, people living in Los Angeles have factored in the possibility of fatal car accidents as a part of their daily commute to work, school, or other responsibilities they might have. On the other hand, people who live in New York City have factored in the possibility of a mugging or stabbing as part of daily life. Though in both cities, these dangers are not so prevalent to have an impact on whether people will live in New York or Los Angeles. Terrorism, conversely, is so unpredictable that it is not something that people expect to experience in daily life, at least in the United States. Therefore, people’s responses can be deeply emotional and have long-lasting psychological impacts. As a result of the mind’s inability to resolve and understand these issues or truths, it is not uncommon to see post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) that become apparent later in life.

These are the lasting effects of terrorism on cultures that are not used to experiencing it. On the other hand, similar factors may motivate terrorists. The unpredictable nature of the terrorist and his effect on society is what is truly terrifying.

Unpredictability and Clarity

Terrorism rises out of a desire to cause destruction and fear in the very nature of society itself. That is what is so terrifying to most people. The unpredictability of where or when a terrorist may strike is a cause of alarm for most people because most people have accepted predictable patterns as part of their daily routine. Many people believe that violence and terrorism are weapons of the weak according to Violence in Terrorism, but it also states, “the use of violence in the framework of terror is also common between sovereign states, and not only between illegal groups operating against certain other groups or states” (2008, p. 628). It is imperative to understand that many people have been labeled terrorists over the years by many different groups, but that may not necessarily be the case. The article also explains that some may consider violence of the state against its own people, modern-day Libya for instance, a form of terrorism. The definition of terrorism itself is called into question here because while one entity or state may declare someone or a terrorist group, others would call them freedom fighters or a liberation movement (Weigand, 2008, p. 330). Clarity is key at this point in understanding terrorism and terrorism is anything but clear.

Ernesto “Che” Guevara was labeled a terrorist by the CIA and then assassinated by the CIA for his attempts to liberate Cuba and Argentina. For many, Che is considered heroic, though almost no one would equate that statement to Fidel Castro. Though they both started out as freedom fighters to liberate Cuba, Castro became an overbearing dictator and Che was assassinated. In a case like this, it’s unclear who the terrorist is. Was Che a terrorist for helping Castro liberate Cuba and then allowing Castro to become the leader? Was Castro a terrorist during his time in the liberation movement of Cuba? Were the CIA operatives that assassinated Che acting out as terrorists? Here, the viewpoint is a crucial factor in understanding terrorism. Though in current American and South American culture it appears that Che was the only virtuous member of the liberation movement in Cuba and the subsequent fall-out, but while he was alive the CIA considered him enough of a terrorist threat to assassinate him. In order to understand terrorism, the actual word must be defined. Such a lack of clarity exists in understanding terrorism that it is impossible to analyze the motivations without understanding the terminology being used.

Terrorism: Defined

Now that there has been a clear need to establish a definition of terrorism, the definition needs to be established. Krista Weigand writes “The term terrorist is pejorative and implies that persons so-labeled are immoral, evil, and criminal” (2008, p. 330). This understanding of a terrorist is clear to most people, but in the next sentence, Weigand writes “criminals are considered innocent until proven guilty…” (2008, p. 330). The understanding that a criminal has the right to be considered innocent until they are proven guilty seems like it would make for a rather rational argument that terrorists should have that same right, except that terrorism is so unpredictable that there is no clear definition of who is or is not a terrorist until after the act of terrorism has been committed. Even after the act of terrorism has been committed, there will be others that argue it wasn't an act of terrorism but justified in some way or another. The problem with labeling someone a terrorist or an organization a terrorist group remains the same problem that has been analyzed, which is that of clarity.

It appears essentially impossible to label an individual or a group a terrorist entity because of the lack of clarity in the definition, which is virtually always the case. There is always going to be an opposing argument that doesn't satisfy everyone. No matter what the example, whether it’s the attack on September 11th, 2001 or whether it’s liberation movement in Libya or the state-sanctioned killings that happened in Egypt, one group is going to call it terrorism and another will call it liberation, freedom fighting, or some other analogous term. This leads back to the unpredictability of terrorism. Because there is no clear definition of a terrorist, there can also be no predictable pattern for a terrorist or terrorist group to follow, which is what makes them so fear-inspiring. When viewing terrorists like this, it makes sense to understand the methodology of why they do what they do and how they became that way; essentially, it’s imperative to understand what motivates a terrorist.

Terrorists’ Motivations

Due to the fact that terrorism is not clearly defined and so unpredictable, it is incredibly difficult to understand the motivations of a terrorist, such as why they have chosen violent methods to achieve their purpose and what has brought them to this point where they feel that violence is the only logical answer. When living in an unsafe environment or one that is perceived to be unsafe, it is easy to develop fear, which manifests itself differently for different people. As stated above, the psychological impacts of terrorism on society are like those that may affect an individual and their desire to become a terrorist or have terrorist fantasies. For instance, the long term effects of a prolonged suspicion and mistrust of the government can lead to paranoid disorders. If these concerns or problems are left untreated, they can have a terrible impact on not just the individual, but the society at large as well.

Terrorist’s motivations affect everyone in one way or another. Terrorism impacts society, government, and political regulations, as well as the economy. Terrorism is a frequent matter in society and is advancing due to the multiplied number of terrorist groups and the volume of resources they can acquire. Terrorism has been called the ugliest word in the English language, an unsurpassed weapon of psychological warfare, and a disease of modern society. Though terrorism has changed over the past couple of millennia, it is hard to argue that it is a disease of modern society because it has been around for as long as people have been living in society. The rational argument is to say that terrorism has mutated with the progression of technology into something different, like high jacking airplanes and crashing them, suicide bombers, chemical weapon attacks, and cyber-terrorism. These are all modern uses of the terrorist, but it is much simpler to examine terrorism from the human psychological perspective.

The terrorist perspective has always been the same, which is to induce fear, panic, and pain in the overall population of society for political and socio-economic means. That is why terrorism is so terrifying. The need to create panic and fear, violence and hatred, malevolence and obscurity in a society is one of the scariest aspects of humanity. Though obviously, most people have no such need to create any of this, some feel the need to do so and will if given the right motivation. Hudson and Majeska identify three separate forms of how a person becomes a terrorist as such, “the frustration-aggression hypothesis, the negative identity hypothesis, and the narcissistic rage hypothesis” (1999, p. 17). These three separate hypotheses are the primary focus of what might motivate a terrorist. The frustration-aggression hypothesis argues that as people become more frustrated with politics, economics, or personal needs, their aggression takes on a new form and they begin to have violent fantasies, which are ultimately acted out as the person becomes a terrorist (Hudson and Majeska, 1999, p. 17). The negative identity hypothesis is similarly explained by its name where a terrorist becomes so out of being oppressed or feeling as though they are a minority (Hudson and Majeska, 1999, p. 17). Lastly, the narcissistic rage hypothesis argues that the “grandiose self” is not easily accepted in rational culture and therefore takes on sociopathic tendencies or a complete disregard for others (Hudson and Majeska, 1999, p. 17).

These examples of how a person becomes a terrorist may provide insight into the psyche of the terrorist mind, but they don't answer the original question posed, which is what motivates a terrorist? For that, deeper intellectual understanding is needed and Hudson and Majeska are happy to provide it by saying that trying to explain a terrorist psychologically, “ignore[s] the very real economic, political, and social factors that have always motivated radical activists, as well as the possibility that biological or physiological variables may play a role in bringing an individual to the point of perpetrating terrorism” (1999, p. 19). They actually argue that though trying to understand the psychological and social effects of what motivates a terrorist is largely impossible currently because doing so requires prolonged exposure to a terrorist, which researchers are either not allowed or uninterested in studying a convicted a terrorist and the psychology behind their actions (Hudson and Majeska, 1999, p. 19). This results in very little information about the psychology behind terrorism, which is another reason why the concept of terrorism is so malicious. If there is little research as to what motivates a terrorist, then it is essentially impossible to reach a reasonable conclusion about their motivations.

In conclusion, though the answers behind the social effects of terrorism and the motivation of a terrorist may not be fully uncovered yet, there have been many aspects discussed and analyzed of both areas. The effects of terrorism on society are vast, spreading fear and panic to those who have not been attacked but are afraid they might be, as well as fostering a social state that is unpredictable and lacks clarity because of the different understanding of who is and is not a terrorist based on viewpoint. The lack of clarity and unpredictability of terrorism is a prevalent problem in both understanding the effect on society and the motivations of a terrorist. The terrorist may be motivated by rage, narcissism, frustration leading to aggression, being a part of a minority, being oppressed or feeling oppressed, or even being afraid of the state government where a person lives. In order to truly understand these factors, researchers must organize themselves and find a way to scientifically analyze the psychological and social impacts of terrorist and terrorism, which will eventually happen, but for now, it must be clear that there are still many unanswered questions about terrorism.

References

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