Current Trends in the Development of International Terrorism: A Current Understanding of the Problem
Keywords:
international terrorism, political extremism, periodisation, civil conflicts, asymmetric actions
Abstract
The study examines the development of international terrorism and the problem of its definition. Consequently, the objective of the study was to generate a systemic view of international terrorism and to identify current trends in its development. A structural and functional analysis of international terrorism as a political phenomenon was used. Based on the analytical model provided, the development of international terrorism was divided into periods based on political and geographical zoning. Three consistent principles determine the key characteristics of international terrorism as a rational strategy of unconventional political struggle: the transition to asymmetrical actions, attacks on symbolic objects, and influencing public opinion as the main objective. This triality of characteristics linked to a model of the political process defines the existence of international terrorism as a phenomenon and provides a key to understanding its dynamics. It is concluded that there are four periods in the development of international terrorism, divided into two cycles with breaking points, ascending, and descending phases. The proposed periodization of the development of international terrorism is based on the identification of the centers as political-geographical areas, where contradictions are configured and the political struggle that is part of the logic of the terrorist strategy.
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References
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MCCAULEY, Clark; MOSKALENKO, Sophia. 2008. “Mechanisms of political radicalization: pathways toward terrorism” In: Terrorism and Political Violence. Vol. 20, No.3, pp. 415-433.
MILLER, Gregory D. 2019. “Blurred lines: the new ‘domestic’ terrorism” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 63-75.
MOGHADDAM, Fathali M. 2005. “The staircase to terrorism: a psychological exploration” In: American Psychologist. Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 161-169.
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MUMFORD, Andrew. 2018. “Theory-testing Uyghur terrorism in China” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 18-26.
MURPHY, Dawn. 2017. “China’s Approach to International Terrorism” Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20167. Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
NORRIS, Maria. 2015. Contesting Identity and Preventing Belonging? An Analysis of British Counter Terrorism Policy Since the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Selective Use of the Terrorism Label by the British Government. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). London, UK.
PEARSON, Elizabeth; ZENN, Jacob. 2021. “A Gender Lens, Terrorism and Boko Haram”. Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/ resrep29499.5. Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
SANDLER, Todd. 2011. “New frontiers of terrorism research: An introduction” In: Journal of Peace Research. Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 279-286.
SCHMID, Alex. 2004. “Terrorism - the definitional problem” In: Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 375-419.
SCREMIN, Nicolò. 2020. “Why an agreed definition of terrorism matters.” In: International Counter-Terrorism Review, Vol.1, No, 2, pp. 1-11.
STENERSEN, Anne. 2017. “Thirty Years after its foundation – where is Al- Qaida going?” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 5-16.
SYSOEV, Sergei Borisovich. 2017. “Terrorism as a political violence: the formula” In: Journal of Applied Security Research. Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 407-414.
TILLY, Charles. 2004. “Terror, terrorism, terrorists” In: Sociological Theory. Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 5-13.
WANG, Tao; ZHUANG Jun. 2017. “The true meaning of terrorism and response to terrorism” Social Sciences. Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 160-168.
WHITE, Jessica. 2020. “Community and Gender in Counter-Terrorism Policy: Challenges and Opportunities for Transferability Across the Evolving Threat Landscape” Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/ resrep29447. Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
WILKINSON, Paul. 2011. Terrorism Versus Democracy. 3rd edition. Routledge. London, UK.
ZAHEDZADEH, Giti. 2017. “Containing terrorism: A dynamic model” In: Journal of Strategic Security. Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 48-59.
ZOHAR, Eran. 2016. “A new typology of contemporary armed non-state-actors: Interpreting the diversity” In: Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 423-450.
ANDERSON, Eric C. 2015. “Confusing a “Revolution” with “Terrorism”. Available online. In: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/confusing-a-%e2%80%9crevolution%e2%80%9d-with-%e2%80%9cterrorism%e2%80%9d. Date of consultation: 20/01/2021.
ARAN, Gideon. 2019. “Striking home: ideal-type of terrorism” In: Terrorism and Political Violence. Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 987-1005.
ASHOUR, Omar. 2020. “From Bullets to Ballots. Transformations from Armed to Unarmed Political Activism. Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies”. Available online. In: www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25870 Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
AUGER, Vincent A. 2020. “Right-wing terror: A fifth global wave?” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 87-97.
BAKKER, Edwin. 2012. “Forecasting terrorism: the need for a more systematic approach” In: Journal of Strategic Security. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 69-84.
BJØRGO, Tore; RAVNDAL, Jacob Aasland 2019. “Extreme-Right Violence and Terrorism: Concepts, Patterns, and Responses”. Available online. In: https://icct.nl/publication/extreme-right-violence-and-terrorism- concepts-patterns-and-responses. Date of consultation: 20/05/2020.
BOWIE, Neil G. 2017. “Terrorism events data: An inventory of databases and data sets, 1968-2017” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 50-72.
CHOMSKY, Noam. 2013. The Definition of Terrorism. In: AKSAN, Cihan; BAILES, John (Eds.), Weapon of the Strong, pp. 32-46. Pluto Press, London, UK.
COMAS, Jordi; SHRIVASTAVA, Paul; MARTIN, Eric C. 2014. “Terrorism as formal organization, network, and social movement”. In: Journal of Management Inquiry. Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 47-60.
CRENSHAW, Martha. 1981. “The causes of terrorism” In: Comparative Politics. Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 379-399.
FINN, Melissa; MOMANI, Bessma. 2017. “Building foundations for the comparative study of state and non-state terrorism” In: Critical Studies on Terrorism. Vol. 10, No.3, pp. 379-403.
GANOR, Boaz. 2018. “MIA: An International Definition for Terrorism” Available online. In: https://www.eng.arenajournal.org.il/single-post/ Ganor-Terrorism-ENG Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
GARRISON, Arthur H. 2004. “Defining terrorism: philosophy of the bomb, propaganda by deed and change through fear and violence” In: Criminal Justice Studies. Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 259-279.
GLOBAL TERRORISM DATABASE. n.d. Available online. In: https://www. start.umd.edu/gtd/ Date of consultation: 20/05/2020.
HANLEY, John T. 2017. “Planning for the kamikazes: toward a theory and practice of repeated operational games” In: Naval War College Review. Vol. 70, No. 2, pp. 29-48.
HOLBROOK, Donald; HORGAN, John. 2019. “Terrorism and ideology: Cracking the nut” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 2-15.
HONIG, Or; YAHEL, Ido. 2019. “A fifth wave of terrorism? The emergence of terrorist semi-states” In: Terrorism and Political Violence. Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 1210-1228.
HOWCROFT, James. 2018. “The future of terrorism: The practitioners’ view” In: Connections. Vol.17, No. 2, pp. 77-81.
IBRAHIM, Azeem. 2020. «Rise and Fall? The Rise and Fall of ISIS in Libya”. Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep26531. Date of consultation: 20/05/2020.
JENKINS, Brian M. 1978. “International terrorism: trends and potentialities” In: Journal of International Affairs. Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 115-123.
KANE, J. Robert. 2018. Terrorism Defined and Why It Matters. Available online. In: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/terrorism-defined- and-why-it-matters. Date of consultation: 20/05/2020.
KARIPEK, Asena. 2020. “Portrayals of Jihad: A cause of Islamophobia” In: Islamophobia Studies Journal. Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 210-255.
KHALIL, James; HORGAN, John; ZEUTHEN, Martine. 2019. “The attitudes- behaviors corrective (abc) model of violent extremism” In: Terrorism and Political Violence. Available online. In: https://doi.org/10.1080/09 546553.2019.1699793. Date of consultation: 20/05/2020.
KRUGLANSKI, Arie W; JASKO, Katarzyna; CHERNIKOVA, Marina; DUGAS, Michelle; WEBBER, David. 2017. “To the fringe and back: Violent extremism and the psychology of deviance” In: American Psychologist. Vol. 72, No. 3, pp. 217-230.
KUDINOV, Serhiy S.; BROVKO, Nataliia I.; STOLBOVYI, Volodymyr M. 2020. “International Experience of Legal Service Relations in the National Security Sphere: Issues of Implementation in Ukraine” In: Cuestiones Políticas. Vol. 37, No. 65, pp. 156-168.
KUNST, Jonas R; MYHREN, Lisa S; ONYEADOR, Ivuoma. N. 2018. “Simply insane? Attributing terrorism to mental illness (versus ideology) affects mental representations of race” In: Criminal Justice and Behavior. Vol. 45, No. 12, pp. 1888-1902.
LOHLKER, Rüdiger. 2017. “Excluding the other: Wahhabism, Salafism, Jihadism, and political Islam” In: Totalitarianism and Democracy. Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 265-290.
LORENZANA DEL VILLAR, Erika Mae. 2018. Our Holy Grail: States, Power, and Networks in the Stymied Global Quest to Define Terrorism. Doctoral dissertation. University of Connecticut. Storrs, USA.
LYKHOVA, Sophia Ya.; LEONOV, Borys D.; LYSKO, Tetiana D.; SHAPTALA, Natalya K.; MAKSYMOV, Sergiy I. 2021. “Criminal-legal ensuring of freedom of religion in modern conditions: A comparative analysis” In: Cuestiones Políticas, Vol. 39, No, 68, pp. 620-649.
MARGARITI, Stella. 2017. “A definition of terrorism in the making: balancing state interests with cosmopolitan ideals.” In: Defining International Terrorism. International Criminal Justice Series. Vol. 15, pp. 145–175.
MCCAULEY, Clark; MOSKALENKO, Sophia. 2008. “Mechanisms of political radicalization: pathways toward terrorism” In: Terrorism and Political Violence. Vol. 20, No.3, pp. 415-433.
MILLER, Gregory D. 2019. “Blurred lines: the new ‘domestic’ terrorism” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 63-75.
MOGHADDAM, Fathali M. 2005. “The staircase to terrorism: a psychological exploration” In: American Psychologist. Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 161-169.
MONAGHAN, Rachel; ANTONIUS, Daniel; SINCLAIR, Samuel Justin. 2011. “Defining ‘terrorism’: moving towards a more integrated and interdisciplinary understanding of political violence” In: Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression. Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 77-79.
MUMFORD, Andrew. 2018. “Theory-testing Uyghur terrorism in China” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 18-26.
MURPHY, Dawn. 2017. “China’s Approach to International Terrorism” Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20167. Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
NORRIS, Maria. 2015. Contesting Identity and Preventing Belonging? An Analysis of British Counter Terrorism Policy Since the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Selective Use of the Terrorism Label by the British Government. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). London, UK.
PEARSON, Elizabeth; ZENN, Jacob. 2021. “A Gender Lens, Terrorism and Boko Haram”. Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/ resrep29499.5. Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
SANDLER, Todd. 2011. “New frontiers of terrorism research: An introduction” In: Journal of Peace Research. Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 279-286.
SCHMID, Alex. 2004. “Terrorism - the definitional problem” In: Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 375-419.
SCREMIN, Nicolò. 2020. “Why an agreed definition of terrorism matters.” In: International Counter-Terrorism Review, Vol.1, No, 2, pp. 1-11.
STENERSEN, Anne. 2017. “Thirty Years after its foundation – where is Al- Qaida going?” In: Perspectives on Terrorism. Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 5-16.
SYSOEV, Sergei Borisovich. 2017. “Terrorism as a political violence: the formula” In: Journal of Applied Security Research. Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 407-414.
TILLY, Charles. 2004. “Terror, terrorism, terrorists” In: Sociological Theory. Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 5-13.
WANG, Tao; ZHUANG Jun. 2017. “The true meaning of terrorism and response to terrorism” Social Sciences. Vol. 6, No. 6, pp. 160-168.
WHITE, Jessica. 2020. “Community and Gender in Counter-Terrorism Policy: Challenges and Opportunities for Transferability Across the Evolving Threat Landscape” Available online. In: http://www.jstor.org/stable/ resrep29447. Date of consultation: 20/05/2021.
WILKINSON, Paul. 2011. Terrorism Versus Democracy. 3rd edition. Routledge. London, UK.
ZAHEDZADEH, Giti. 2017. “Containing terrorism: A dynamic model” In: Journal of Strategic Security. Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 48-59.
ZOHAR, Eran. 2016. “A new typology of contemporary armed non-state-actors: Interpreting the diversity” In: Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 423-450.
Published
2021-07-15
How to Cite
Svoboda, I., Loskutov, T. O., Severinova, O. B., Shulha, A. O., & Peresada, O. M. (2021). Current Trends in the Development of International Terrorism: A Current Understanding of the Problem. Political Questions, 39(69), 581-604. https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.3969.36
Section
Derecho Público
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