Has the Nature of Terrorism Changed over the Last Thirty Years?
Has the nature of terrorism changed over the last thirty years? Answer this question with reference to three specific examples of terrorist campaigns.
This essay will endeavour to give an historical analysis of contemporary terrorism and its changing nature by focusing on three specific terrorist campaigns over the last thirty years. The essay will begin by first presenting a definition of terrorism and will move on to provide a brief account of the geographical shift in terrorism by discussing the movement from territorial based terrorism to more ideological focused campaigns. In addition, it will give a concise discussion on the theory of globalisation in relation to terrorism and the impact it has had on the growth of international terrorism. The essay will then move on to discuss three separate but equally significant terrorist campaigns within the last thirty years and will highlight how each of these terrorist campaigns became turning points in the evolution of international terrorism and evaluate how each one played a significant role in the evolution of contemporary terrorism. The three individual campaigns this paper will focus on is the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Russian intervention in Afghanistan and the September 11 attacks instigated by Al- Qaeda; this essay will highlight the importance of each of the afore mentioned terrorist campaigns and also the scale of impact they each had on international terrorism. The importance of the question this paper will endeavour to address is that terrorism is a major issue of contemporary societal life; this paper will demonstrate how terrorism is a borderless, faceless threat and as the nature of terrorism changes so too does the extremity and lethality.
It is important to begin any discussion on terrorism by attempting to provide a definition of what constitutes terrorism. A crime such as car theft is somewhat simple to determine, terrorism however, is much more complex to classify in criminological terms
This essay will endeavour to give an historical analysis of contemporary terrorism and its changing nature by focusing on three specific terrorist campaigns over the last thirty years. The essay will begin by first presenting a definition of terrorism and will move on to provide a brief account of the geographical shift in terrorism by discussing the movement from territorial based terrorism to more ideological focused campaigns. In addition, it will give a concise discussion on the theory of globalisation in relation to terrorism and the impact it has had on the growth of international terrorism. The essay will then move on to discuss three separate but equally significant terrorist campaigns within the last thirty years and will highlight how each of these terrorist campaigns became turning points in the evolution of international terrorism and evaluate how each one played a significant role in the evolution of contemporary terrorism. The three individual campaigns this paper will focus on is the 1979 Iranian revolution, the Russian intervention in Afghanistan and the September 11 attacks instigated by Al- Qaeda; this essay will highlight the importance of each of the afore mentioned terrorist campaigns and also the scale of impact they each had on international terrorism. The importance of the question this paper will endeavour to address is that terrorism is a major issue of contemporary societal life; this paper will demonstrate how terrorism is a borderless, faceless threat and as the nature of terrorism changes so too does the extremity and lethality.
It is important to begin any discussion on terrorism by attempting to provide a definition of what constitutes terrorism. A crime such as car theft is somewhat simple to determine, terrorism however, is much more complex to classify in criminological terms
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