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Terrorism: Will it End?

Terrorism: Will it End?. Ted Goertzel. What is Terrorism?. A method used by groups that feel powerless and marginalized Deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian targets because they are vulnerable Goal is to extract concessions from the powerful or just to take revenge.

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Terrorism: Will it End?

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  1. Terrorism: Will it End? Ted Goertzel

  2. What is Terrorism? • A method used by groups that feel powerless and marginalized • Deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian targets because they are vulnerable • Goal is to extract concessions from the powerful or just to take revenge

  3. What do Terrorists have in Common • “Us versus Them” view of the world • Collective, not individual psychopathology • Individual subordinated to the group • Extreme commitment to cause

  4. Social Movement Stages • Begin when generalized discontent is mobilized by charismatic leaders - “forming” • Sharpening of Objectives and Strategies - splits and factionalism - “storming” • Formalized Organization, become more bureaucratic - “norming” and “performing” • Termination - “adjourning”

  5. Some Examples • These illustrate different varieties of terrorism • Many of their movements have ended or at least greatly declined • The ones that are based on ethnic or religious discontent tend to be the most persistent

  6. Weathermen • Outgrowth of student movement in the sixties • Lasted a short time and disbanded • Based on a theory of youth revolt that did not work out

  7. Baader-Meinhoff • Part of anti-Vietnam War, Anti-Capitalist Movement in West Germany • Declined and died out when war ended and capitalism triumphed • Bommi Baumann wrote revealing memoir

  8. Shining Path • Maoist Group in Peru • Started by Abimael Guzman, a Marxist philosophy professor • Flourished when the army tried to suppress its social base • Guzman found by thorough detective work

  9. The Unabomber • Worked alone, very atypical for terrorist • Anti-industrial, anti-urban ideology • Eventually caught when turned in by his brother.

  10. Liberation Tigers • Rooted in the Tamil minority on Sri Lanka (Ceylon) oppressed by Sinhalese • Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran loved violence • Currently negotiating a settlement

  11. Latin American Urban Guerillas • Response to military regimes in Latin America • Successfully repressed because of lack of worker or peasant support • Democratization followed end of movement

  12. Osama bin Laden • Claims to be speaking for God and for Muslims oppressed by the West • Discussion: will this movement decline? Was the invasion of Iraq a help?

  13. How to End Terrorism • Address “root causes” on their own merits. • War on states that support terrorism. • Effective, professional police work. • Avoid attacks on non-combatants. • Provide an escape for militants who drop out

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