IAFF 1005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Al-Qaeda, Dirty Bomb
26 Mar 2020
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Who: perpetrators are non-government actors ( a few definitions include state actors) Who: targets are innocents/civilians/non-combatants (sometimes include military targets) Why: must have a political agenda (not criminal) How: the threat or use of violence (not necessarily lethal) Terrorism is a policy instrument, a policy tactic. It is not a tangible thing, not an ideology. Goal is to intimidate/coerce populations/governments to change policies/behavior/political systems/ways of life. War on terror and terrorism problematic phrases. Terrorism has been around for thousands of years. Will be around as long as weak amoral leaders see it as effective. By calling it a war you"re giving your adversary legitimacy. Terrorist criminal orgs (cartels), criminal terrorist orgs (taliban), terrorists. Ideological (leftist, rightist, nihilist), governance (anti-colonial, ethno- national), religious (isis), environmental. Weak states (power vacuums), political grievances, economic distress (can contribute, but don"t blame poverty), globalization (disruptive, aggravates relative deprivation) Anarchist wave, anti-colonial wave, new left wave, religious wave.
