NCJ Number
193135
Date Published
2001
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This objective of this chapter is to provide a historical framework of terrorism in the international and domestic political arenas. It includes information on the history of terrorism, its cyclical nature, revolutionary ideologies, terrorists operating from positions of power, and terrorists operating with little or no power.
Abstract
Contemporary terrorists are not radical new actors, but their actions, goals, and grievances have evolved from their historical mentors. What has changed is not the terrible violence inflicted by terrorism or the perpetrators themselves but the grievances of the terrorists, the political philosophies of their mentors, the technological sophistication of their tools, and the acceptance of violence as a legitimate and moral way to achieve political goals. These are not revolutionary changes, but represent evolutionary changes along a historical time line. Terrorism is cyclical in nature, originating from those in power or the poor and dispossessed, and increasing when the targets of terror respond in kind with terror, and recycling with the use of counter terrorism. In addition, it is not unusual for a group of terrorists to overthrow a terrorist regime, and then once in power resort to the use of terrorism to suppress opposition to their new regime. During the course of history, terrorism most often originated from those in power who institutionalized and used political terror against those who threatened their power base. Terrorists who challenged the power structure (revolutionaries, zealots, and traitors) rationalized their use of terror as a defensive struggle to overthrow a corrupt leadership. Throughout the last 200 years, terrorists have been influenced by revolutionary ideologies: Marx, Bakhunin, Mao Tse Tung, Che Guevara and Carlos Marighella, for example. References