What Drives Terrorism?

What Drives Terrorism?

 There have been countless terrorist attacks all over the world for years. Terror attacks have a long history and are still a current threat. In a span of one year, one cannot count how many terror incidents have occurred. The use of violence, killings, and intimidation is a form of terrorism as it brings terror to the society. It can be considered terrorism when an violent act has a psychological repercussion and spreads fear that is far-reaching. Perpetrators perform bombings and suicide attacks in order for this violent act to ensue.

There have been portrayals of terrorism in films and books. One known author of novels that tackles on terrorism is Paul Shemella. Paul was Navy Seal and a longtime terrorism lecturer. With his knowledge, he has written novels about white nationalist terrorism like Jungle Rules Trilogy and A More Perfect Union. His books were made for readers to learn more about terrorism. Terrorism is not an easy topic to discuss, one must have deep knowledge and views to understand this issue.

A deeper understanding of terrorism is essential before one can identify whether it is a terrorist act or not. It is more than just a random act of violence. It is rather a designed and well-planned attack ensuring to emit fear and chaos. A terrorism attack can happen when you least expect it. It can be hard to identify when a terrorism occurs.

There are two different types of terrorism: the domestic and international terrorism. Domestic terrorism are those performed by civilians of a state of a country. While an international terrorism usually happens in another country. It is a threat not only the specific country of origin but to the overall human life.

Terrorism ensues over numerous reasons. Reasons that may be unclear or undefined for anyone. Terrorists became terrorists for a cause they strongly advocate.It is crucial to understand what is going inside the terrorists mind and their plots to reduce these terror incidents in the future. This article will introduce you to the cause or reasons as to what drives terrorists to create terror.

Injustice

 One root that cause these terror attacks is the perpetrators notion of injustice. Injustice in both social and political aspects. Political, social, and economic factors are what usually drives terrorists, especially the domestic terrorists. These terrorists have a belief that the poor governance of the current administration drives them to execute unlawful ways as a means of salvation for their countrymen. This need for salvation may not start out as a terror attack at first but will soon shift to do so especially when desperation for this advocacy commences. This advocacy allows them to recruit many people with the same notion in mind. These perpetrators only think of the achievement of their advocacy and not considering the unlawful means they set out in order to achieve this goal.

Religiously Motivated

Some terrorist attacks are motivated by the perpetrators’ religious beliefs. This is the most common terrorist goal. They made use of terrorism as a tactic to achieve the causes of their religion. Countless terrorists are religious people who strongly believed in their religions’ beliefs. The religion itself did not cause the terror attacks but rather motivated by it. Terrorist incidents motivated by religion usually fights for the belief on which there should be punishment for an “ungodly” act or behavior. The perpetrators conceive that this is their divine duty to punish and avenge their god through the attacks. Suicide bombings or martyrdom are usually executed when terror attacks are motivated by religion.

Political Ideology

Another root of terrorism is the political ideology. There are terrorist movements that came to be as a political tool. This cause aims to try and further the political ideology they strongly believe in. Ideology is a powerful concept that it often drives people to perform action may it be unlawful or not. Terrorists who are recruited in movements have a cause on how the government should be administered. These ideological causes can vary from racism to anti-capitalist ideologies. More studies are needed to identify whether an ideology is a determinant of a terrorism movement.

Socio-Economic Factors

Poverty, corruption, and oppression are the main causes as to why some terror incidents occur. These socio-economic factors are what drove people to do unlawful deeds due to desperation and hopelessness. The perpetrators of this movement are usually civilians who are affected by these socio-economic issues. These socio-economic factors have an emotional component. The anger, frustrations, and hopelessness of the civilians are what urged them to join this movement.

Social and Psychological Rewards

There are terrorist groups that are motivated by their ideology regarding ethnic nationalism. They have the goal of gaining recognition. These terrorist groups hope to gain attention from other countries. The perpetrators believe that they gain rewards from doing terror attacks such as camaraderie and an identity.