7/30/2019 Terrorism and Its Perpetrators

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Terrorism and its perpetrators

Terrorism is a special type of violence. It is a tactic used in peace, conflict, andwar. The threat of terrorism is ever present, and an attack is likely to occur when leastexpected. But who are those people who resort to such violent actions? Beingconcerned to explain this pitfall, several analysts and experts have labeled them asterrorists. They are inspired by many different motives and are classified into threecategories: rational, psychological, and cultural. A terrorist sometimes may be shaped

by combinations of these.First, a rational terrorist thinks through his goals and options, making a cost-

benefit analysis. He seeks to determine whether there are less costly and moreeffective ways to achieve his objective than terrorism. To assess the risk, he weighsthe target's defensive capabilities against his own capabilities to attack. He measureshis group's capabilities to sustain the effort. The essential question is whetherterrorism will work for the desired purpose, given social conditions at the time. Theterrorist's rational analysis is similar to that of a military commander or a businessentrepreneur considering available courses of action.

Next, psychological motivation for terrorism derives from the terrorist's personaldissatisfaction with his life and accomplishments. There is a nearly universal elementin them that can be described as the "true believer." Terrorists do not even considerthat they may be wrong and that others' views may have some value. Terrorists tendto project their own antisocial motivations onto others, creating a polarized "we versusthey" outlook. They attribute only evil motives to anyone outside their own group. Thisenables the terrorists to dehumanize their victims and removes any sense ofambiguity from their minds. The resulting clarity of purpose appeals to those whocrave violence to relieve their constant anger.

Finally, cultures shape values and motivate people to actions that seemunreasonable to foreign observers. Americans are reluctant to appreciate the intenseeffect of culture on behavior. They accept the myth that rational behavior guides allhuman actions. Even though irrational behavior occurs in their own tradition, they seekto explain it by other means. Fear of cultural extermination leads to violence which, tosomeone who does not experience it, seems irrational. All human beings are sensitiveto threats to the values by which they identify themselves. These include language,religion, group membership, and homeland or native territory. The possibility of losingany of these can trigger defensive reactions.

In conclusion, terrorists are common people who may be motivated by political,religious, or ideological objectives. Combating terrorism requires a continuous state ofawareness and involves two sets of actions to oppose terrorism: antiterrorism(defensive measures) and counterterrorism (offensive measures). However, politicalviolence will characterize the near future, and one prominent form will be the practice

of terrorism.