Why Terrorist Networks Maintain Viability within Today’s Modern Society.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science, Nov 2015

Common concepts of terrorism refer to acts which are intended to create a system of fear. The ideological argument for terrorism relates to a politically and emotionally charged scenario in which terrorism is necessary. The development of a terrorist organization requires an environment that is ripe with social degradation and has idealistic minded people who are able to believe in a cause. The organization utilizes a social system to maintain its own stability and to retain the people who are involved within its self-contained community. Suffering oppression from its own government or an-other nation is a crucial component in fostering the development of terrorist organizations. The system of development is entrenched within the culture of a people who feel separated from the traditions and cultures of societal expectation. The perceived oppression is vital for creating blame for the current status of the surviving people. Furthermore, oppression allows for the development of hate to occur, which in turn creates a psychological opportunity to develop a terrorist narrative. This paper seeks to discuss how terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Al Qaeda are developed around an oppressed society which has found its voice through aggression and violence. Their cause is said to be for the benefit of a societies which is enveloped into the ideological word of God. Terrorist organizations have targeted different types of nations for their continued existence; yet, these organizations still use the primary focuses of psychological influence of world view and prejudice theories to maintain their existence.In understanding terrorism, the characteristics of involvement must also be evaluated from a lens of world view understanding in combination of prejudice and psychological theories.

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Why Terrorist Networks Maintain Viability within Today’s Modern Society.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science W hy Terrorist Networks Maintain Viability within Today's Modern Society. Amy Guimond Ph.D Nova Southeastern University 0 1 2 Shawna Resnick M.S. 0 1 2 0 Cade Resnick Ph.D. Stetson University 1 Part of the American Politics Commons, Comparative Politics Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Models and Methods Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, and the Political Theory Commons 2 Nova Southeastern University Follow this and additional works at; https; //nsuworks; nova; edu/jics Introduction The use of terror as a strategy for wielding power is as old an idea as power itself. For thousands of years, rulers have used terror as a tool to coerce others to comply with their demands. Two recognizable examples of leaders who used terror as a governing tactic are Genghis Khan, leader of the fierce Mongol Horde, and Maximilian Robespierre, the leader and inspiration behind the Reign of Terror (1793-94), which occurred midway through the French Revolution. What exactly does it mean to use terror as a tool for power? For Khan and Robespierre, terror meant nothing more than to instill fear in others, or to refer back to the original Latin, “to make [them] tremble.” However, in today's political arena, the concept of terrorism is harder to define. The term terrorism is subjective; it has a variety of meanings to different groups of people (Merari, 2007) . Governments, academics, and the media all define terrorism differently depending on the defining institutions purposes. What further complicates the definition of terrorism is that the term itself has become derogatory in its usage detracting from the notion of terrorism as simply a tool to achieve political ends (Merari, 2007) . In the academic community, there is a lack of consensus about how to define terrorism (Terrorism, 2008). Though there are a variety of working definitions regarding terrorism, for the purposes of this paper, when the term terrorism is used, it is in reference to a tool used by individuals or groups who are trying to achieve a political or ideological outcome (Merari, 2007) . Terrorist movements are as varied as academics’ definitions of terrorism. The two most common forms of terrorist movements are those focused on political terrorism and those that are based in religious fundamentalism; it is important to note that these two forms are not the same thing but often both religious and political aspirations are found within the same terrorist movement (Blin, 2007) . Al Qaeda is a prime example of a terrorist movement that combines political aspirations with a distinct religious undertone in its methods and ideologies (Blin, 2007) . For example, one of Al Qaeda’s primary goals is to destroy Israel and the United States, a goal that is both political and religious in nature (Blin, 2007) . The governments of these two states are considered to be the antithesis of Al Qaeda’s beliefs; Al Qaeda is opposed to both of these states’ political democracy as well as their social and religious values which stem from their JudeoChristian foundations. Hezbollah is another example of an organization that combines religious and political motivations. Hezbollah considers itself the “Party of God” and operates under what it claims is a literal interpretation of the word of God. To that end the organization sees its mission as eliminating all non-Muslims from Muslim lands. Through the execution of this mission, Hezbollah has moved from a guerrilla organization to a mainstream political organization (Harik, 2005). Through an examination of the theories of worldview and prejudice and by examining the psychology of terrorism, it becomes clear how through different methodologies Al Qaeda and Hezbollah have developed into successful organizations. While the methods the groups use are different, they pull from the concepts of worldview and prejudice development to impact the psychology of their target populations and to successfully implement their missions and create terror in their enemies. Analysis of a Terrorist Perspective: World View Perspective Worldview theory explains how and why people's perceptions and beliefs change over time. According to Docherty (2001), each culture has its own unique worldview; however, the act of developing worldviews and using them during decision making processes is universal. In understanding worldviews it is important that we recognize that worldviews are composed of four interrelated components: 1) ontology (our understanding about nature and our interrelatedness with the universe); 2) a theory of world order (our understanding and beliefs of what exists and how it is relative to the rest of the world); 3) axiology (an understanding of the universe based on how important some parts are in relationship to others); and 4) epistemology (philosophy about the extent we are able to know wha (...truncated)


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Cade Resnick Ph.D., Amy Guimond Ph.D, Heather Wellman Ph.D., Shawna Resnick M.S.. Why Terrorist Networks Maintain Viability within Today’s Modern Society., Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science, 2015, pp. 59-82, Volume 1, Issue 1,