S18G4

What is Terrorism? Part 2 In my essay I defined terrorism as “the premeditated act of violence to instill fear in order to promote or advance one’s own political agenda”. I continued to say that terrorists can be state and non-state actors who commit these acts of violence to endorse a self-interested belief that revolves around religion or politics. I also mentioned that terrorists are very calculated when they act because they will choose the environment that is the most effective in emphasizing their beliefs. Originally, I was most persuaded by Charles Tilly and Lisa Stampnitzky. After going through this semester studying the various examples of terrorism,   I have modified my opinion of what terrorism is.             I remain firm in my original definition other than the fact that acts of terrorism always revolve around politics and religion. I think that terrorism can be motivated by other factors l...

Taylor White Professor Shirk POL 357 25 April 2018 The Events that Led to ISIS Believing there to be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the US invaded the state in 2003, leading to the political and societal chaos that laid the groundwork for ISIS. The failure of the US to understand the history of the country through, a lack of planning for the conflict, and regional conflict such as the Syrian civil war, gave ISIS a base of marginalized Sunnis to submit to their ideology. As anti-Western sentiments grew in the region, disillusioned believed the best possible future would be with ISIS, who told its members to look towards the West to explain their plight. With a history of tension between the Sunnis and Shias in Iraq, the 2003 invasion and ousting of Hussein’s central government served to heighten these tensions further. After the invasion, the Iraqi government began to collapse, which destabilized society further. Inspired by this divide, ISIS stepped in to support the...

            Although both Islamic-based and in response to particular frustrations, HAMAS and Al Qaeda have stark differences. The starkest difference is the goals of the two groups. HAMAS was concerned with liberating the people of Palestine and getting rid of Israel. Al Qaeda had multiple goals but a main one was to expel Westerners from the Middle East. The two groups had different tactics as well.              Al Qaeda had many goals for their tactics. The of these was to globalize their version of Islam. This is present in Osama Bin Laden’s “Messages to the World.” In this he calls on Muslims from all around the world. [1] He wants to spread his ideals of Islam to the rest of the world. Another goal is to rid Westerners out of the Middle East and for Muslims to take back the land. This comes from a long history of Western nations like the United States and United Kingdom getting i...