Level Analysis of Terrorism

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When talking about terrorism, it’s first important to define just exactly what terrorism is. Terrorism can be defined as violence carried out by individuals, non-governmental organizations, or covert government agents or units that specifically target civilians. Terrorists are known for using stealthy attack methods, such as car bombs and hijacked airliners to influence politics. The objective of terrorism isn’t to kill and wound innocent people; it’s to target the emotions of those who see or ready about the act of violence and become afraid or dejected. The book defines two forms of terrorism, domestic and international. For example, 9/11 would classify as an act of international terrorism whereas the OKC bombings of 1995 would be an example of domestic terrorism. There are two forms of terrorism, state and transnational. State terrorism is terrorism that’s carried out directly by an established government’s covert operatives or by other who have been specifically encouraged and funded by a country. The US has on more than one occasion listed countries such as Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria as counties guilty of state sponsored terrorism. On the other hand, we have transnational terrorism, which can be attributed to the increasing numbers of INGOs. The best way to define what transnational terrorism is by saying that it’s an organized and internationally operated organization that commits worldwide terrorism, and most well known of these groups is Al Qaeda. Over the course of about twenty-five years or so, Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for 9/11 as well as the 2005 rush-hour attack on the London bus and subway system. One could ask the question of just how exactly are terrorist groups different today then they were during the Cold War period between roughly 1968-1989? When looking at the International Terrorism Data, the first thing that
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