Terrorism Essay ⋆ Sociology Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

This Terrorism Essay example is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.

The term terrorism derives from the Latin verb terrere, ”to cause to tremble or quiver.” It began to be used during the French Revolution, and especially after the fall of Robespierre and the ”Reign of Terror,” or simply ”the Terror,” in which enemies of the Revolution were subjected to imprisonment, torture, and beheading, the first of many modern examples of state terrorism.

Over the past two centuries, terrorism has been a highly contested and volatile category. Those accused of terrorism are vilified as enemies of the state and social order, but many labeled ”terrorists” insist that they are ”freedom fighters,” strugglers for national liberation, or mujaheddin (holy warrior) or fedayeen (”prepared for martyrdom”), ready to die for righteous causes. Many decry terrorists’ indiscriminate violence against civilians, while other critics like Chomsky (1988) and Herman (1982) document state use of violence and terror against its perceived enemies.

Sociologically, terrorist groups often recruit disaffected and alienated individuals, often motivated by strong ideologies like nationalism or religion to commit terrorist acts against innocent civilians. These in turn generate societal fear and exacerbate conflicts and hatred within the social fabric.

The term has also been associated in the twentieth century with indiscriminate or excessive use of state violence and has been leveled against actions of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States, Israel, and other countries. For instance, Chomsky (1988) and Herman (1982) document a wide range of US state terrorist actions in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and elsewhere, with Chomsky pointing out that the USA is the only country that has ever been convicted of an international act of terrorism by the World Court, which condemned US acts against Nicaragua during the 1980s.

From the 1970s to the present, terrorists have constructed spectacles of terror to promote their causes, attack their adversaries, and gain worldwide publicity and attention. Terror spectacle has become an increasingly significant part of contemporary terrorism and various groups systematically use spectacles of terror to promote their agenda.

On September 11, 2001, terror attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC became a global media spectacle. The September 11 terror spectacle was the most extravagant strike on US targets in its history and the first foreign attack on its territory since the war of 1812. The 9/11 attacks inaugurated a ”war on terror” by the Bush administration and was the prelude to highly publicized terrorist bombings in London, Pakistan, Bali, and elsewhere, and Bush administration military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq as ”preemptive” actions in the ”war on terror.” Many critics accused the Bush administration of state terrorism in its invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Terrorism and terror war have thus become defining features of the twenty-first century. Governments throughout the world have attempted to more precisely define and criminalize terrorism, while terrorist activities multiply. As weapons of destruction become more deadly and widespread, social divisions between haves and have-nots multiply, and conflict rages throughout the world, terrorism will likely continue to be a major issue and problem of the present era.

Bibliography:

Chomsky, N. (1988) The Culture of Terrorism. South End Press, Boston, MA.
Herman, E. (1982) The Real Terror Network. South End Press, Boston, MA.
Kellner, D. (2003) From September 11 to Terror War: The Dangers of the Bush Legacy. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD.