International terrorism is an eminently modern phenomenon and more specifically of the last 50 years. As a consequence of the post-war and especially the Cold War nexus of international relations and developments, with various causes and different objectives from region to region and from system to system, the phenomenon of international terrorism, with its very serious effects on international security and peace as well as on the global economy and development in general, dominates today nightmarishly as one of the most critical problems of our time that seriously concerns the United Nations, but without yet being addressed collectively and effectively.
September 11, 2001 is a stark proof of this tragic aspect of human decline, which vindicates, among others, Hemingway when he wrote that we are all in the same boat and that we should not ask for whom the bell tolls because it may toll for us too... The cost, tragically, of international terrorism in human lives alone, in addition to the most disabled and other dramatic effects, runs into the hundreds of thousands. But in a religiously, politically, socially and culturally decadent global society, where the numbers in some coffers count more than human lives, terrorism is also its image, an image reminiscent of the tragic portrait of Dorian Gray.
Terrorism is as old as human history. Ancient Rome and the Inquisition used methods that are classified as terroristic. In modern history, terrorist acts were used in the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Ku Klux Klan, and later by anarchists in Western Europe, Russia, and America. In the 20th century, terrorism experienced "glorious" days in Great Britain with the IRA as well as with the protagonists of the totalitarian regimes, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco, but also others in Asia, Latin America, Africa, etc. However, terrorism as an international phenomenon, which has affected and affects seriously and sometimes crucially international relations, is focused on the Middle East, where two of the most prominent categories of terrorism clash deadly: state and group terrorism.
But before we continue, it is appropriate to give the definition of terrorism, which is considered to be the most tentative unofficially, since it has not yet been officially defined by either the UN or any other international organization.
The International Conference on the Suppression and Financing of Terrorism on December 9, 1999 defines terrorism as “Any act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian or any other person not actively participating in hostilities in the event of an armed conflict. When the purpose of such an act, by its nature or general context, is to intimidate a population or to compel a government or an international organization to do or refrain from doing something." And according to international experts it is "the systematic use of fear or unexpected violence against governments, groups or individuals with the aim of achieving some political goal". According to the US Department of State, terrorism is: "The use or threat of use of violence for political purposes, to create a state of fear that will help blackmail, coerce, intimidate, or otherwise influence individuals or groups to change behavior."
We can classify terrorism into the following categories based on its purpose:
1) Politics: power struggle, national liberation and independence, reform, secession, defense, retaliation, revenge, subversion, destabilization, insecurity, etc. 2) Strategy: directly or indirectly linked to politics, but with primary emphasis on key strategic objectives, political, military, economic. 3) Economic: to protect or expand special economic interests. 4) Religious: for purely religious purposes due to the fanaticism of certain religious denominations and groups. 5) Pathological: for personal reasons related to ambitions etc. pathological individuals or groups.
Also, based on its origin or organization, we can classify terrorism in the following categories: 1) State: where the state is the initiator and organizer of terrorism mainly for political and strategic purposes. 2) Para-state: where groups collaborating with the state or substituting it (legally or illegally) and on whose behalf or for their own benefit commit terrorism. 3) Group: where groups of power (maintaining or acquiring or fanatical) acting outside the state framework, for or against it, commit terrorism. 4) Religious: where religious fanatic groups commit terrorism to protect their religious beliefs, thinking that they are serving their "god". 5) Individual: where fanatical, pathological people (political or religious, etc.) commit terrorism.
In any case, there is no absolute dividing line between all the above categories. In cases e.g. self-defense, where does "terrorism" begin and where does it end, and who decides? Also in the cases of strategic objectives, each case has its own characteristics. The question of correct interpretation and evaluation is of considerable importance and generalizations should be avoided. Each case must be evaluated separately according to its own characteristics. As for pathological terrorism, it can also occur in groups or even states when it is imposed by totalitarian regimes, political or religious. Terrorism, unlike other acts of violence such as war, has no legal basis, principles or rules of conduct. It has its own principles and rules as well as its own strategy. It is said that terrorism "is the strategy of the weak to weaken the strong". This is true, but the opposite can also happen, being the strategy of the powerful to prevent the powerless from gaining power or to increase their own. Examples of "terrorism" linked to liberation movements can be found in India, South Africa, Algeria, Palestine, Cyprus, Ireland, Spain, Great Britain, etc.
Goes on
photo kalhh / https://pixabay.com
