HLSC 610: UNDERSTANDING TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY 1
Liberty University
Research Paper 1: An Examination of Terrorism
Professor Richards
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An Examination of Terrorism
Out of the various definitions of terrorism that different agencies provide, the Department
of Defense (DOD) is arguably one of the best. The DOD defines terrorism as “the calculated use
of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the
pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or ideological” (McEntire, 2019, p. 32). The
DOD’s definition specifies some of the key motivating reasons why individuals may carry out
acts of terrorism. Different motivating factors can contribute to the explanations of how terrorism
has existed in many different forms throughout the evolutions of society. This paper will examine
how the history of terrorism has developed over time, as well as highlight the definitional issues
of terrorism, terrorist ideologies and typologies, terrorists’ tactics and behaviors, methodologies,
and terrorist structure and operational issues. All these factors will then be discussed in regard to
a Christian Worldview of terrorism.
The History of Terrorism
Terrorism is one thing that has almost always existed throughout history but has
continually evolved over time. It can be argued that this concept of terrorism is seen as early as
66-70 AD when Jewish Zealots created a rebellion during Rome’s invasion of Palestine
(Shughart, 2006). Despite its undecided origin, some researchers believe that the beginning of
this concept started in 1605 when King James I and other members of the British Parliament
were targeted to be murdered by Guy Fawkes which is known as the “Gunpowder Plot”
(McEntire, 2019). The motives behind this attempted attack were largely political and religious.
These motives can be explained by how Catholicism was ultimately denounced by King Henry
which led to the creation of the Church of England (McEntire, 2019). While the Gunpowder Plot
can be seen as an act of terrorism, the word “terrorism” did not truly emerge until the
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Enlightenment period. During this period of time, the common people argued for certain
freedoms and political rights which ultimately led to the crown being questioned. This resulted in
the development of democratic governments and led way to independence becoming a
movement in other countries, such as the American Colonies (McEntire, 2019). This change was
at the start of the French Revolution in 1789-1795. The most notable time period within the era
of the French Revolution was the “Reign of Terror” which signified a period of time where
France’s Committee of Public Safety killed approximately 20,000 people (McEntire, 2019). The
state created and supported violence against its own people creating issues within the nation.
Since the enlightenment period, terrorism has significantly grown. There are key factors that
impacted the growth of terrorism and these were the formations of Nationalists movements,
fascism, communism, and Islamic fundamentalists. Nationalist movements are those efforts that
groups, or nations take in order to achieve political independence, as well as autonomy
(McEntire, 2019). For example, World War I started due to a diplomatic crisis that happened
between two opposing powers. This first world war was sparked in 1914 when a Siberian
terrorist organization, the Black Hand, carefully planned and carried out the assassination of the
Austro-Hungarian prince, Franz Ferdinand (Bakic, 2015). Then moving into World War II, the
rise of fascism only continued to contribute to the growth of terrorism. Fascism is an extreme
right-wing movement intended to encourage the unity of citizens in support of the government or
state (Shughart, 2006). Fascists leaders, such as Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of
Germany, carried out attacks against its own common people in order to make sure that the state
was unified and that government interests were supported based on their own agendas (Roberts,
2019).
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During the mid-1900’s when fascist organizations were involved in terrorism, communism
was also on the rise as a contributing factor. McEntire (2019) defined communism as “an
ideology that sympathizes with the poor and downtrodden attempts to do away with private
property” (p. 99). On example of communism is the emergence of the Soviet Union during the
Cold War. Russia’s political power was supported by the United States in efforts to stop the
communist leadership and this ultimately led to attacks on the government in the late-1900’s
(Makin-Waite, 2017).
However, researchers concluded that the formation of modern terrorism transpired after
World War II (Shughart, 2006). After the second world war, political and religious grievances
were on the rise and were centered around the Middle East and Israel. This led to the creation of
the Islamic fundamentalists groups that are seen in modern terrorism. Islamic fundamentalist are
Muslims that violently conflict with the United States and Israel (McEntire, 2019). This
extremist group is responsible for the attacks that happened on September 11, 2001 in the United
States (Shughart, 2006). The main mission of modern terrorism is to push for change based on
political or religious agendas by carrying out acts of destruction that will get attention. Overall,
even though terrorism continues to evolve, the motives behind terrorism relatively remain the
same.
Definitional Issues
Even though terrorism is one of the biggest threats to the nation, there is not one explicit
definition for terrorism. There are over a hundred different definitions that have been provided
by different government agencies, such as the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of
State (DOS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI). Among the different definitions, they all share a common factor of
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acknowledging that terrorism is seen as violence that is used to obtain a certain goal (Blocher,
2011). Therefore, it is important that definitions of terrorism are remaining neutral in terms of
recognizing the core cause of the term. One characteristic that has continued to remain
unchanged is the application of the term in regard to how it stigmatizes and delegitimizes an
enemy (Blocher, 2011).
Some researchers argued that the inability to establish a common conceptual definition could
be due to the continuing disagreement among various levels of understanding terrorism (Stevens,
2005). To define terrorism, it is essential that there is a specific understanding of its elements,
such as terrorism as a crime, politics, and a religion. Of the various definitions of terrorism, the
differentiations are typically political ones (Blocher, 2011). By assuming that terrorism is solely
a motive of political violence, it results in the reduction of significance about the act of terrorism
and its outcomes in regard to motives that terrorist organizations favor (Stevens, 2005).
However, by viewing terrorism as a crime, it can be “operationalized as a discrete act with clear
outcomes” (Stevens, 2005, p. 515). Overall, by not having one specific definition to define
terrorism, it limits the understandings of the act which negatively impacts how the threat of
terrorism is perceived and handled.
Terrorist Ideologies and Typologies
There are many different types of terrorism and some of these include domestic,
international, left and right. Domestic terrorism is terrorism that happens within one country and
accounts for the majority of terrorist activity (Ghatak & Gold, 2017). The outcome of domestic
attacks only impacts the one targeted country, its people, and the policies. The main factors of
economic development and discrimination within a nation or state are relevant to acts of
domestic terrorism (Ghatak & Gold, 2017). For example, a Japanese religious group, called Aum
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Shinrikyo, released nerve gas in a Tokyo subway against their own people in 1995 based on
religious means (Lifton, 2005). Unlike domestic terrorism, international terrorism is terrorism
that crosses over to at least two nations (McEntire, 2019). This type of terrorism is characterized
by unpredictable and powerful threats from nonstate individuals which is ultimately facilitated
by globalization (Cronin, 2003). The attacks that happened on September 11, 2001 is an example
of international terrorism. The terrorist group Al-Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist organization,
attacked the United States’ World Trade Center and Pentagon in reaction to the military actions
that were taken in Afghanistan (Cronin, 2003).
Left-wing and right-wing terrorism are centered around politics. Left-wing terrorism, also
referred to as Marxist-Leninist terrorism, can be described as those individuals that strongly
believe that the political and social structure of a government is corrupt (Windisch et al., 2019).
Many left-wing extremists put in efforts toward trying to restructure economic wealth and
assistance to the lower-class population (Windisch et al., 2019). Therefore, these groups take
direct action based on political tactics due to the perception that the governmental system is at
war against them. Right-wing terrorism is also associated with governmental issues. Right-wing
extremist are those individuals or groups that want to overthrow the government because they
want it to change to nationalist or fascist systems (Windsch et al., 2019). They ultimately
promote a rigid belief in religious and ideological authority. Violence emerges due to the
justifying actions of them defending factors of racial, cultural, and religious transparency
(Windsch et al., 2019).
Overall, types of terrorism and terrorist can be easily classified by the political, religious,
and ideological beliefs that the groups hold true to them. It is important to note that terrorist
groups can often fit more than one category and be carrying out multiple types of terrorism.
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Therefore, it is important to understand the different types of terrorism and how different
ideologies and behaviors play a role in specifying the type of terrorism.
Terrorist Behaviors and Tactics
Often times terrorist activities are shown to follow certain patterns and behaviors. Some
of these activities include “propaganda, recruiting, training, and financing” (McEntire, 2019, p.
78). Through propaganda terrorist are able to promote their ideas and goals. Terrorists
acknowledge that the internet and media platforms are an essential tool to utilize to advance their
agendas (Aly et al., 2017). The media allows terrorist to communicate and quickly spread their
views. For example, reporters typically will report stories while showing actual videos and
pictures of the attacks (McEntire, 2019). This is giving terrorist the publicity that they want. The
media is also utilized by terrorist in their recruiting and training activities. Terrorists seek out
individuals with similar values and ideas in efforts to recruit and grow their organization. When
recruiting, terrorist could use “well-developed websites” to share their ideas in hopes that it will
help connect with individuals who have the same visions (McEntire, 2019). Those individuals
who are recruited into terrorist groups typically join due to unmet needs, such as a lack of family
connections, lack of clarity in what their purpose is, and a lack of a clear values system
(McEntire, 2019). Even though the most popular way to recruit terrorist is through the internet,
they can also be recruited through prisons, universities, and other public places.
In regard to training, it is important that terrorist educate themselves and others about their
agendas and attacks to be successful. Training will allow terrorist to know which methods are
best to use in being successful of carrying out a violent attack (McEntire, 2019). Training can be
conducted through the internet and training camps. During training, new recruits will learn how
to recruit individuals, understand the secret communications they use, collect tactical
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information, blend into a foreign culture, and how to travel discretely (McEntire, 2019). They
will also learn how to help raise money for the organization. Financing is important in terrorist
organizations because in order to maintain their activities they need to meet financial means.
Terrorist groups can meet their financial responsibilities in numerous ways and some of these
include investing in businesses and stocks, getting money from governments or individuals, and
the involvement in illegal activities, such as drug trading and human trafficking (McEntire,
2019). Financing could be seen to be the major reason that terrorists are involved in certain
illegal activities.
Researchers have discussed how certain characteristics and behaviors have contributed to
why individuals decide to join terrorist groups. The majority of terrorist are typically socially
isolated and have little to no education (Gill et al., 2014). Some researchers have also found that
mental disorders could play a role in individuals becoming a part of a terrorist organization. Gill
et al. (2014) concluded that about less than a third of individuals apart of a terrorist organization
have had or still have some type of mental illness or disorder. Therefore, it is important to
understand the behaviors and tactics of terrorist in order to prevent attacks from happening. If
individuals feel like they are not being heard, then it will only contribute to this growing problem
of terrorism. Through propaganda, recruiting, training, and financing, terrorist organizations are
becoming more developed and are able to carry out their agendas.
Force Multipliers and Terrorist Methodologies
Force multipliers are resources that help individuals accomplish more without having to
put in more energy (Emery et al., 2014). These multipliers allow terrorist to expand in regard to
their power without necessarily having to increase the size of the organization. The main force
multipliers that terrorist organizations utilize are technology, the media, weapons, and funding
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(Emery et al., 2014). As mentioned above, terrorist rely heavily on the media and technology to
expose and share their ideas and agendas. The method of using technology allows for terrorist
groups to grow and connect with individuals around the world within minutes. By utilizing
technology and the media, it has allowed for improvement among opportunities for terrorist to
influence and manipulate the perceptions of others (Emery et al., 2014).
Weapons are used by terrorist groups to create fear and carry out attacks. The use of
chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons is used by terrorist organizations and only increases
the threat to the United States’ modern security (Campbell et al., 2018). Weapons are often seen
in shootings, bombings, and suicide attacks within these organizations. Even when there is
minimal risk for an attack to happen, weapons allow the ability for attacks to leave more of an
impact and cause more harm to a larger number of individuals (Campbell et al., 2018). Fear and
damaging effects can be seen as an explanation as to why weapons are heavily attained and
utilized in attacks and within these extremist organizations.
Lastly, funding is an extremely important method that terrorist organizations rely on in
order to achieve their goals. Without funding, there is no ability to have access to weapons, as
well as pay for their actives. By having the proper funding, weapons, and accessibility to
technology and the media, terrorist organizations are able to get their messages out which
ultimately causes fear among the population. Overall, relying on certain methods is essential for
terrorist groups to be successful.
Organizational Structures
The organizational structures of terrorism groups, like all illegal organizations, rely
heavily on secrecy. Terrorist group structure is mainly motivated by the need to “maximize
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concealment (to mitigate risk) at the expense of maximizing efficiency” (Kilberg, 2012, p. 811).
In order for terrorist organizations to be successful and not get caught, secrecy is an essential
factor within building an organizational structure. Kilberg (2012) concluded that structures of
terrorist organizations can be separated into four different groups: bureaucracy, hub-spoke, all
channel and a market.
Out of the four structures, bureaucracy is a structure that holds the greatest hierarchal
power (Kilberg, 2012). They have clear outlined boundaries within departments, an identifiable
chain of authority, and practical decision-making guidelines (Kilberg, 2012). Hub-spokes are
structures that can be described as franchises. These structures typically have one leader but do
not necessarily have a developed central command area (Kilberg, 2012). For example, Al-Qaeda
was a hub spoke system previous to 2001. Unlike hub-spokes, all-channels are those structures
that have a specific leader but lack a chain of command, as well as lack functional
communication among groups within the organizational structure (Kilberg, 2012). Lastly,
market structures are the most unorganized and have no clear separate functions or distinctive
leadership patterns. Overall, the most effective structure for terrorism is a bureaucratic structure
due to the prominent and relevant organizational guidelines it presents.
The Bible and Terrorism
There is not a specific section where terrorism is discussed in the Bible; however,
violence is discussed in detail. Terrorism is a form of violence, and therefore, the Bible can help
guide individuals on the perceptions of this concept. Romans 13:4-states “for the one in authority
is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword
for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer”
(New International Version, 2011). Punishment will be given to those who do not follow the laws
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and cause intentional harm to others. Citizens should entrust in the government to do their job
properly and carry out the laws to protect us. The duty to protect the nation is essential and God
will not let those who have caused destruction get away with it. However, it is unclear whether
God will develop and carryout the only consequences for these individuals.
Conclusion
Terrorism is the biggest threat to the United States modern day security. This concept is
complex and doesn’t not have an explicit definition that is used. This leads to issues of agreeing
on what the motivating factors and causes are behind terrorism. However, researchers have
concluded that acts of terror are typically caused by behaviors of distorted ideologies and beliefs
that individuals have against the government or nation as a whole. As the world continues to
change, counter-terrorism practices will need to adjust and change along with it. Terrorism
ultimately sparks fear among citizens and technological advancements have only contributed to
this problem.
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