Terrorist Attacks Causes and Effects

Terrorist Attacks Causes and Effects Introduction In recent years, terrorist attacks have increased enormously. According to Paul Wilkinson in his book â€Å"Terrorism Versus Democracy: The Liberal State Response† (2011), terrorism still remains a serious problem for the international community; during the years 2006 to 2009 over 60% of the countries in the world experienced terrorist attacks. Defining terrorism has been an intimidating task to do, over hundreds of definitions were made across a number of academic fields, and still there has been no progress in providing an internationally accepted definition. Terrorism can be defined as the threat or usage of violence for political, religious or ethical purposes that influence the attitudes and behavior of a certain group of people to accomplish their objectives (Rapoport and Alexander, eds.1982). This definition was generated by David Rapoport and Yonah Alexander in their book â€Å"The Rationalization of Terrorism† which was published in the year 1982 as a simple definition of terrorism. Throughout the years, terrorism has been a highly complex phenomenon that is constantly changing, and that is affected by many factors, as the word itself is a very broad topic which is associated with a wide variety of groups, and I believe that this is the reason why the international community was unable to come up with a com bined definition. Wilkinson (2011) writes that some people ban the word terrorism and would rather call people who use terrorism as a weapon as â€Å"freedom fighters†, â€Å"holy warriors† or â€Å"revolutionaries†, depending on the cause they are fighting for. Even according to the Scholar Dr.Dipak Gupta, terrorism is nearly impossible to define. In this literature review, I will first present an overview of the existing literature on the topic of causes of terrorist attacks, underlining the main positions and sources of disagreement. Building on this, I will then identify gaps in the literature on the topic in order to see how my future research could have an added value. Finally, after narrowing down the topic, I will present specific research questions that I believe would be fruitful to explore further. Overview of research by key scholars I aim to investigate and analyze the root and trigger causes of terrorism, by providing an overview of the main literature on this topic, and based on this literature review, a comprehensive list of concrete factors is presented to demonstrate the causes of terrorism. It is always a necessity to search for the causes and causality in every social science, because of the need to understand a particular phenomenon. Moreover, when we deal with undesirable occurrences and incidents, we usually seek to understand the why and how questions in order to develop appropriate measures and variables. In this section, I will try to differentiate between root causes and trigger causes, which according to Martha Crenshaw (1981) root causes (or preconditions) are the factors that occur over the long run, and trigger causes (or precipitants) are factors that occur immediately in a specific event. Terrorism is a study that has extended across several fields including political science, sociology, crim inology, psychology and history, and what researchers have tried to do is to build our awareness to further develop our understanding of this phenomena. Unfortunately, the only outcome of this awareness was to raise more questions than to provide answers. The root causes of terrorism Although studies of this phenomenon have been taking place since the 1960’s, the number of publications that directly talk about the root causes or the preconditions are very limited. In his book â€Å"Terrorists, Victims and Society: Psychological Perspectives on Terrorism and its Consequences† (2003), Andrew Silke states that although there have been numerous publications about terrorism, its research has not reflected any improvements in quality, and despite proliferation of academic studies in the field, there have been no improvement or progress in this area. Andrew Silke (2001) also pointed out that although there has been recent research on terrorism, only 20% of the published articles provide new knowledge on the subject, while the rest of the published articles are repeating and reworking old data. It is said that countries with intermediate range of political freedom are usually more prone to terrorism than countries that have high levels of political freedom (Alberto Abadie, 2004). Many geographic factors also affect and are important to endure terrorist activities. According to Abadie’s dataset on terrorist risk and attacks worldwide, it has been estimated that political freedom has a non-monotonic effect on terrorism. He therefore observed that there is an increase in terrorism for countries in transition from authoritarian regimes to democracies (Alberto Abadie, 2004:11). One of the most cited publications on the causes of terrorism is the article written by Martha Crenshaw under the title of â€Å"The causes of terrorism† (1981), highlighting the difficulties of finding general explanations for terrorism and distinguishing different types of variables. Crenshaw distinguishes and separates the variables into 3 groups: strategic, structural and psychological, and she emphasizes that the main idea of terrorism is an invention of rational political choice. According to Crenshaw, terrorism is the result of a decision made by an organization to oppose a government; it is seen as a logical way to fulfill desires (Crenshaw, 1981: 385). Despite the fact that Crenshaw’s article offers a lot of ideas to further research, and that her article was cited by others, only few scholars have been challenged to bring our main understanding of the causes of terrorism to a more advanced and higher level. Twelve years after Crenshaw’s article, Jeffrey Ian Ross wrote another influential article under the name: â€Å"Structural Causes of Oppositional Political Terrorism: Towards a Causal Model† (1993), he also identified three variables that causes terrorism similar to the ones of Crenshaw, namely structural and psychological causes, and rational choice. Another scholar, Dipak Gupta (2005), has tried to understand and research why people engage in terrorist actions in the name of groups that represent a certain ethnicity, ideology, religion or nationalism. His arguments are basically rooted in economic and socio-psychological dimensions of human motivations, where he states that the link between economic factors and socio-political factors such as poverty†¦etc and terrorism is weak. Gupta also states that â€Å"political violence takes place when a leader gives voice to the frustration by formulating a well-defined social construction of collective identity and paints in vivid colour the image of ‘us’ and ‘them’† (2005:19). This means in other words that the political, economic and religious frustration are not alone the causes that lead to terrorism, there must have been root causes that remain hidden until a trigger mechanism is activated, which then leads to outbreak of violence and terrorist attacks. We have seen that scholars have expanded the research on root causes to terrorism, building on what Crenshaw has found, but yet not produced any new approaches towards terrorism, but expanded the elements of socio-economic causation and other factors, especially Gupta. After giving an overview for some of the scholars about theoretical approaches, I will be listing here some of the concrete root causes of terrorism. The list that I am about to present is not an inclusive list of the root causes, and is not to represent a comprehensive set of the root causes, but to identify the multiplicity of causal factors that usually contribute to terrorism. The causes are derived from the publication by Randy Borum (2003) under the title Psychology of Terrorism. First cause could be that lack of democracy, rule of law and civil liberties are conditions for many forms of domestic terrorism. We therefore identify that the most democratic states and societies have the lowest level of oppositional violence. As Crenshaw states â€Å"Democracy and terrorism are not polar opposites: saying yes to democracy, unfortunately, does not mean saying no to terrorism† (Club de Madrid, 2005: 14) Second cause is rapid modernization and urbanization in the form of high economic growth has also been found to correlate strongly with the emergence of ideological terrorism, but not with the ethno-nationalist terrorism. An example of this cause given by Borum is when a country faces sudden wealth, e.g. from oil, and they experience changes from tribal to high-tech societies during one generation or even less sometimes (Borum, 2003:5). Third cause is historical antecedents of political violence, revolutions, civil wars, dictatorships or even occupation may lower the threshold for acceptance of political violence and terrorism and obstruct the development of non-violent norms among all the segments of the society.an example of this could be, when children are brought up in a society that believes in and celebrates martyrdom, revenge and hatred of other ethnic groups, then it is likely to increase their willingness to commit or support a terrorist act when they grow up (Borum, 2003:5). Fourth cause is the repression by foreign occupation or by colonial powers; this has given rise to many national liberation movements that have pursued recourse in terrorist strategies and other political means (Borum, 2003:5). Last but not least, the fifth cause is the experience of discriminating people on the basis of their ethnic origins or religious backgrounds, is the chief root cause of ethno-nationalist terrorism. When minority people are being deprived from their basic social and economic rights, such as not allowing them to use their language or practice their religion, this can make them commit terrorism and other forms of violence. Psychological research on the causes of terrorism Many scholars have tried to identify different causes of terrorist attacks by focusing on the psychological factor of each individual or the groups itself. A researcher named Jerrold Post was one of the few who analysed the psycho-logic thinking of the individuals who were involved in terrorist attacks, in his article under the title â€Å"The Radical Group in Context: 1. An integrated framework for the analysis of group risk of terrorism† (2002). Post was able to criticize those who think of terrorism as a course of action, and he also argued that the political terrorists commit terrorist crimes or acts of violence because of psychological factors, and that their psycho-logic is created to justify acts they commit psychologically (1990:25). The scholar Marc Sagemen also contributes to the research on psychological causes in his book â€Å"Understanding terror networks† (2004). Sagemen contests the conventional causes often given to explain why a person participates in terrorism, such as poverty, trauma and ignorance, and highlights the importance of social bonds and networks in inspiring individuals’ terrorist activities. His research is unique as such as it is based on personal meetings with Islamic fundamentalists and it therefore brings some new understanding to the field. If we want to talk about empirical analyses of the causes of terrorism, we can refer to a very interesting study by Alan Krueger and Jitka Maleckova under the title â€Å"Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is there a Causal Connection?† (2003). Based on their article, Krueger and Maleckova disprove the presence of a causal link between poverty or low education and terrorism in Israel/Palestine and in Lebanon. They also state that although the rational choice of participating in a terrorist attack can produce valuable insights, it does not produce a clear answer to the question whether more education and higher income would reduce participating in terrorist attacks (2003:120), their results that were tentative and exploratory, suggest that neither poverty nor education has a direct, causal impact on terrorism. Moreover, the study shows that the level of education of the individuals involved in terrorist attacks is higher than average, those who are wealthier and more educated ma y generate such feelings more intensely. Additionally, the background of the suicide terrorists covers all socio-economic layers of society, further reiterating that â€Å"economic theory is unlikely to give a very convincing answer one way or the other as to whether poverty or low education are important root causes of terrorism† (2003:123). The Trigger Causes of Terrorism We spoke earlier about the root causes of terrorism; in this section we will discuss the trigger causes of terrorism. The very first condition that could be considered as a direct cause of terrorism is the existence of concrete grievances among an identifiable subgroup of a larger population, example is ethnic minority discriminated against by the majority. Second cause terrorism is the lack of opportunity for being engaged politically (Borum, 2003:41). The trigger causes are usually unpredictable; it is usually due to certain government actions that a common pattern emerges for terrorism. Terrorist revenges can thus occur as a result of unexpected use of force by the government, a so-called â€Å"action-reaction syndrome† (Crenshaw 1981: 385). Generally speaking, some provocative events that call for revenge or action may trigger terrorist action, such as contested elections, peace talks, and police violence. The root and trigger causes I have mentioned above are just the most relevant causes that were based on scholarly literature, and with what we mentioned have been ranked from the most general or broad aspects to more specific factors. Gaps in literature on the topic In this section, I will try to identify some gaps that scholars have failed to discuss or identify, and that was missing in the past research on terrorism. One of the main and most important gaps to start with is the definition of the word terrorism, as I mentioned in the introduction, scholars have failed up to this date to come up with an international definition of terrorism, failure to develop a universally acceptable definition. I believe that if scholars fail to have a definition used by all, this will cause other scholars and countries to define terrorism according to the acts and violence attacks they experience. One other unsolved dilemma is whether the concept of political violence should be reserved for destructive harm intended to influence politics, or whether the concept should include any violence that has a political impact.

Being A Wise Consumer

Research reports provide additional insights to an already established knowledge. However, it is more important to critically analyze the components of the report in order to identify the degree of its credibility. The story in reference is Newsweek’s report titled ‘The Price of Pain’. Basically, the report provides an understanding of how back pain treatments are perceived today as to whether these procedures are actually effective.The increase of medical technology apparently has not alleviated the pains suffered by the patients both physically and financially (Springen, 2008).In terms of theoretical underpinnings, the report provided an elusive understanding that not all medical advancements are beneficial. Seemingly, the interviewed individuals in the article affirm that less complicated treatments are ideal for today’s younger generation of back pain sufferers. It is also a good notion to analyze the technical aspects of the article’s research p rocedures to critically understand the report. In the aspect of research design, the study proponent conducted an informal survey among health and insurance institutions which provided the year to date reports of back pain treatment cases.These reports also provided gross amounts of equivalent thousand dollars worth of back pain treatments. The main methodology of the article report was to integrate available publications such as those coming from Journal of the American Medical Association. This procedure also enabled the Newsweek report to do data collection procedures by retrieving numerical figures of medical service inflations and the percentage of adults which had back problems from 1997 to 2005. In any case, this type of data gathering is more ideal since it took the publication less time and effort to present credible results.In terms of analysis and the reporting of findings, the article didn’t’ actually provided additional insights apart from the delegated in fo retrieved from the third party agencies. Although the complete presentation of data related to the concern was provided, the report lacks the essence of inputting at least an unbiased opinion or secondary analysis method. As a way to improve the report, it is suggested that the article incorporates a structured analysis of the problem instead of just giving examples.Of course, it should not be too technical in presenting more logical reasoning since this type of media publication do not actually follow scholarly research. But adding some more factors to induce decisions for the readers would have been more appropriate. Apparently, the most evident errors the article committed are its redundant use of examples from outside resources, becoming subjective of what is expensive and what is not and the lack of segmented citations which made the article hover randomly from book authors to government institutions to school researches.Being able to critically analyze a public report can p rovide greater personal ability of decision making. This empowers the readers to take advantage of the available data which can be very useful for personalized decision making tasks. References Springen, K. 2008. The Price of Pain. Newsweek-Health. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from http://www. newsweek. com/id/110767/page/1.

Aristotle notes

Virtue ethics are ethics which focus on choosing virtuous courses of conduct rather than in adhering to duties.   Aristotle articulates a virtue ethic in the Nicomachean Ethics.   Aristotle reasons that the end of any actions or choice is a good.(Aristotle, I, ch 1)   He finds that happiness is the ultimate good to which all things are directed.   Of course, different people seek different kinds of happiness, some seeking sensual pleasure, others wealth, others glory.   He finally reasons that â€Å"happiness . . . comes as a result of virtue and some process of learning or training, to be among the most godlike things; for that which is the prize and end of virtue seems to be the best thing in the world, and something godlike and blessed.†Ã‚   (Aristotle, bk. I, ch. 1)  Ã‚   This same statement explains the ingredients of a good life: living according to virtue and contemplating the godlike things.   (Aristotle, bk. I, ch. 9)In considering what is virtue, Aristo tle notes that some activities are ends in themselves.   We eat to satisfy our hunger.   Other activities are means to other ends.   We practice various sports to better our chances in competition.   From this, he divides virtues between intellectual virtues and moral virtues. Intellectual virtues belong to the rational element of the soul.   These virtues consist of understanding, the acquiring of wisdom, an awareness of the beautiful.   Moral virtues reflect the need to address the irrational elements of the human soul.These virtues consist of curbing and directing the appetites and desires, so that they remain under the control of reason.   Appetites in human nature are not inherently bad, but if they get beyond the control of reason, creating either an excess or a deficiency, they are harmful to the soul. Such appetites must be regulated by achieving the â€Å"golden mean,† so that these appetites can offer a positive contribution to the good life. Reflectin g his own outlook, Aristotle found that intellectual virtues can never be excessive, for they inherently enhances the welfare of the soul (Aristotle, bk. I, ch. 9)Aristotle does not give a precise definition of virtue, but develops it more as a negative concept: it is the avoidance of vice or excess.   Virtue is attained by achieving a â€Å"mean,† a middle ground among any possible excesses.   The mean is the point between competing virtues and vices which reflects the best balance of these.   â€Å"Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it.† Aristotle II, ch. 6)However, because conduct must deal with individual cases, a determination of the mean must lie with each individual case.   While a philosophical system can enumerate or describe the competing excesses,, it will be for the individuals in each such case to find the mean.(Aristotle, II, ch. 7)   â€Å"But this is no doubt difficult, and especially in individual cases; for or is not easy to determine both how and with whom and on what provocation and how long one should be angry; for we too sometimes praise those who fall short and call them good-tempered, but sometimes we praise those who get angry and call them manly.   Aristotle, bk II, ch 9)For Aristotle, the final attainment of the happiness is difficult.   â€Å"Happiness is among the things that are prized and perfect. It seems to be so also from the fact that it is a first principle; for it is for the sake of this that we all do all that we do, and the first principle and cause of goods is, we claim, something prized and divine.†Aristotle, I ch. 12.   Further, Aristotle accepts one of the premises of the Greek outlook, that is it best to call no man happy as long as he lives, so that true happiness requires a lifetime.   (Aristotle, bk. I, ch. 12)That Aristotle was a brilliant thinker cannot be disputed.   He also came from a prosperous background, and was widely regarded for his brilliance during his lifetime.   His philosophy in many ways reflected this, as he believed that what he did in being a thinker and teacher aimed at the ideal life.   (Durant 1939, pp. 324-37) By contrast, Epictetus came from a more humble background, and his Stoic philosophy reflects his life.He was a slave for much of his life, and while he does not appear to have been subjected to terrible, he retained in all of his work a sense of limitation, that life was given and could be withdrawn at a moment’s notice and without valid reason.   (Durant 1944, pp. 490-93)

Trumps Presidency Sparks the Womens March - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1148 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/04/05 Category Politics Essay Level High school Tags: Donald Trump Essay Did you like this example? How Did Trumps Presidency Spark the Womens March? On Donald Trumps first official day in presidential office, hundreds of thousands of raged Americans crowded the streets of the nations capital for the Womens March on Washington. This colossal movement was directed towards the Trump Administration and the threat it characterized to civil, human and reproductive rights. Simultaneously, over 3 million citizens in cities across the United States occupied their own similar protests to display their backing for the resistance movement. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Trumps Presidency Sparks the Womens March" essay for you Create order What triggered the outrage leading up to this march was in the 2016 presidential campaign, when a 2005 video clip went viral of Trump mentioning in vulgar conversation, about how his fame let him inappropriately touch women, which later urged various other women to address allegations about his previous inappropriate sexual harassment. The release of this tape outraged many women across the country, rightfully so. Hence, the objective of the Womens March which was to promote the political strength of diverse women and their communities in efforts to construct social change (Womens March). This march was a female-led demonstration, that informed participants on an assorted range of basic human rights. Since the start of Trumps campaign, he has mentioned on multiple occasions about making reproductive resources such as testings, birth control and abortion less accessible for Americans. taking away President Trumps alleged accusations of sexual harassment and appalling views on human rights directly targeted a variety of minorities, encouraging a forceful group of empowering women to create this movement. This march also generated entry points for participants to educate their communities on these basic human rights at stake by creating outreach programs and events. This movement supported the conclusion that Womens Rights are Human Rights and that women of all ethnicities, religions and gender/sexual identities are free to live in a protected environment supported by fundamental rights. Did Trump getting elected give women in America a wakeup call about their rights (Trump Administration to Strip Mention of Reproductive Health and Rights in State Department Human Rights Report)? The motivation to this movement all started in the beginning of Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. During this campaign a video of Trump inappropriately talking about women was leaked to the media, shocking people across the country. This video showed just a taste of Trumps true character and his attitude towards women. Not only did this video shock many women across the country, but it was a gateway to multiple women opening up about past allegations of sexual misconduct involving Mr. Trump. The President of the United States on trial for sexual misconduct, does this not sound ridiculous to anyone else? The idea that a majority of Americans put these allegations past Mr. Trump and voted for him anyways, concerned a group of angered women creating this monumental movement (Womens March). Additionally, President Trump has made several statements about remaking policies in efforts to limit access to birth control and abortion, both basic human rights. What would an old white man from the upper-class know about the female reproductive system? Trump pled when he ran for office that he claims to be pro-life. In support of that belief, some of the changes Trump has put into order under the administrations authority include adjustments such as, attempting to get rid of government financed family planning facilities from alluding women for abortions and supplying birth control free of charge. Birth control and abortion have been a staple in human rights for decades now, and many individuals would suffer if these rights were withheld and the women behind this march were not having it (Trump Remaking Federal Policy on Womens Reproductive Rights). Furthermore, this movement was created to motivate Americans to come together. After the damage Trump informed to propose among the women of this country, he fueled a fire in the hearts of citizens across the country that would not go out. These citizens are coming together to fight for the rights for their mothers, daughters, sisters and more importantly themselves. The objective among these marchers is to educate and fight for the basic human rights that women and minorities deserve. Hence because after all, Womens Rights are Human Rights (Our Mission). On the other hand, not all Americans were for this movement. Many pro- life or Trump supporting conservatives were not in support for this movement. Whether it was for social or religious reasons, they did not believe that this march was beneficial to society. In response to that, a handful of non-supporters had their own protests outside of the Womens March against the mission of this movement. Most of these conservatives had their beliefs against the womens rights and reproductive rights because of social or religious values, but how could one be against something that affects your family and friends (Trump Remaking Federal Policy on Womens Reproductive Rights)? Putting aside religion and social beliefs, although everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it should not deprive others from living in a healthy and safe environment. Trumps negative history and attitude and towards women and their rights has brought the uneducated and prejudice Americans out of the woodworks, and this movement is fighting against that. Between actions he has made before his presidential campaign and comments he has made during his campaign for president, he has ignited a fire within angered women that they are not going to put out. Trump has brainwashed a handful of Americans into thinking that women are objects and not capable of having basic human rights that have been in their possession for decades and that triggered the women behind this march to stand up and fight against taking those rights away (Womens March). Lastly, due to the outrage in women across the U.S. due to President Trumps blasphemous comments and beliefs on women and womens rights, there was a spark that was lit in a group of empowering women leading to the Womens March on Washington. The Womens March was a movement that was meant to educate and empower women on the basic rights that they deserve and how to fight for them. This movement was demonstrated on the first day of Donald Trumps presidency in efforts to make a statement that the women of this country are not in support for his outrageous plans to take away Womens rights and his feelings against women (Womens March). Works Cited Alonso- Zaldivar, Ricardo. Trump Remaking Federal Policy on Womens Reproductive Rights. U.S. News and World Report, U.S. News and World Report, 30 May 2018, https://www.usnews.com/news/news/articles/2018-05-30/trump-remaking-federal-policy-on-womens-reproductive-health Our Mission. Womens March, Womens March, https://www.womensmarch.com/mission/ Trump Administration to Strip Mention of Reproductive Health and Rights in State Department Human Rights Report. Center for Reproductive Rights, Center for Reproductive Rights, 22 February 2018, https://www.reproductiverights.org/Trump-Administration-Strip-Mention-Reproductive-Health-Rights-State-Department Womens March. History, AE Television Networks, 5 Jan 2018, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/womens-march