What do you think drives people to commit acts of terror?
Is it a sign of genuine commitment to a political cause or devotion to a religion?
Or is it more of an unfocsed attack driven by poverty and hopelessness? Or a reaction against genuine oppression?
I don't think there is any one answer to this, and in most cases I think racist historical indoctrination, religious bias, political disenfranchisement and poverty are all key elements. To end terror, we would have to address all of those factors.
Wat we do know is that terror occurs around the world, apparently regardless of skin colour, religion or nationality. There have been terror movements everywhere from Macedonia to South Africa, from Peru to Congo, from Mozambique to Pakistan.
But what most of these countries do have in common is poverty.
While there have been terror cells born out of middle class ennui (Germany, Japan), by far the overhelming majority of terror movements are born out of the slums. They are driven by rage, and a sense of bitterness that others have it better.
Having spent a bit of time in the worst parts of cities like Jakarta, Soweto, Beirut and Kigali, I can understand this.
It can not be easy to grow up amongst the rocks and desert of Southern Lebanon and look south across the well-watered fields and beautiful homes of Northern Israel. And while better educated people might look to themselves to do better, I can understand that many young people just feel anger.
I'm not a big believer in aid projects and even less in just handing out money, but I do think the ultiate solution to poverty lies in improving living standards in places like Gaza, Uganda and the Sudan.
Do you agree?
btw. I put this into thr ME sectio, but consider it a global topic.
This OP is all over the place.
First of all, it is of course completely ridiculous to say that terrorism is something universal and to try to throw together all sorts of very different things under the heading of terrorism. The old-style terrorism of the PLO and various Palestinian nationalist organisations is completely different from the jihadi terrorism of Al Qaeda, Hizbollah, etc. And both are different from the urban guerilla terrorism of the RAF or Red Brigades. To group all of these things together is simply stupid.
Second, the idea that terrorism has anything to do with poverty is really completely ridiculous. The poor are far too busy trying to survive. And I have yet to hear about any terrorist movement of the homeless in Western countries or the truly poor in for example the Congo. If it was true that terrorism had anything to do with poverty, then most global terrorist movements would be based in Central Africa. Quod non.
Obviously terrorist movements sometimes prey on poor people to recruit them for their cause. But that is something completely different from seeing poverty as the root cause of terrorism.
Overal there are 3 strands of terrorism:
1) Some terrorist movements are primarily political in origin: anarchist, far left or far right. They seek to affect political change through destruction and terrorism. They are - in essence - local police and security problems, usually confined to one country. Examples: RAF, Red Brigades, GRAPO, FARC, etc. These groups are usually also relatively small. Effective repression can destroy them.
2) Some terrorist movements are nationalist movements, trying to use terror to advance the cause of a certain etnic group or nation. These movements are very diverse. Some have a fairly broad base and develop into quasi-armies. Sometimes these movements also strike internationally to gain attention for their cause (Palestinians are an obvious example). Because they usually have more definite goals than the political movements, a compromise is sometimes possible. Examples: IRA, ETA, PKK, PLO, Tamil Tigers, Corsican nationalists, etc.
3) The jihadi terrorist movement is in a class all of its own. Its motivation is not political or national but fanatical religious and global. Its aims are to destroy everyone standing in the way of its global vision. It has been raging now for about 35 years. It is bound to remain one of the major global challenges for the coming decades.
