Terrorism on the Rise?
Terrorism has always been present in society. Even in ancient times, religious fanatics resorted to terrorist tactics such as assassination to incite widespread fear and invoke an uprising. It is easy to say that the most well-known and effective terrorist attack took place on the eleventh of September 2001 when terrorists under the Al Qaeda terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden hijacked and flew four planes into the world trade centre. The destruction of this symbol of democracy and freedom shook the entire world and put the problem of terrorism into the spotlight. Within less than a month, a US led coalition invaded Afghanistan in an attempt to weed out and eradicate the terrorist threat of Al Qaeda and send a message to other terrorist groups worldwide. Security measures in airports were increased in an attempt to reduce the chance of future attacks like the ones on 9/11. Even today, more than ten years after the tragedy, we are seeing more and more security measures that are supposed to prevent future attacks and deter groups from attempting them. No fly lists, supposedly random screenings, and increasingly probing search procedures that border on infringing our rights as humans are just a few measures that have been implemented to put a stop to the supposedly increasing terrorist threat. The question is: has terrorism actually increased since 9/11? Are we truly in more danger now than we were ten years ago?
This paper argues that contrary to what the government and media would have us believe, the threat of terrorism has neither increased nor decreased since 9/11. Rather, terrorists have just adapted to stay relevant with all the security measures that have been put in place. In order to fully understand and answer this question one must understand the origins and definition of terrorism. In particular, terrorist activities from the 1970s to today will be looked at. After doing so it will become apparent that the frequency of terrorist attacks
This paper argues that contrary to what the government and media would have us believe, the threat of terrorism has neither increased nor decreased since 9/11. Rather, terrorists have just adapted to stay relevant with all the security measures that have been put in place. In order to fully understand and answer this question one must understand the origins and definition of terrorism. In particular, terrorist activities from the 1970s to today will be looked at. After doing so it will become apparent that the frequency of terrorist attacks
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