Terrorism in Human History from the Antiquities

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George,
Hi. I have divided your solution into 2 parts for the purpose of uploading in the brainmass system as well as to make them 'easy to academically ingest' since the solution prepared for your purpose is rather extensive. This is part 1, tackling terrorism as a social agency - the creation of the concept by discourse and how it is viewed in todays world. It goes on to present the history and rise of terrorism as a quasi political-religious tool in advancing ideologies and beliefs going back into antiquity to its rise as a human solution to royal tyranny and oppression. This is written in MLA style. The 2nd part will also contain the final installation plus a full attachment of the entire solution presented as a full paper document including title page, table of contents and abstracts. I'll upload part two before the deadline tomorrow.

Sincerely,

OTA 105878/Xenia Jones
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Part 1 of Terrorism Paper
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Situating Terrorism

Introduction
'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.'
- Anon

War and violence as a way of forwarding personal, tribal, political and religious agenda, among other things, is older than the human concept of nation-states. The History of terrorism is actually part of the history of human civilization, just as democracy and communism and all our existing philosophies & social order systems are. It is also its product just as democracy and equality are. What is terrorism? What defines a terrorist act? What does history tell us about terrorism and civilization? Since 9-11 through global discourse the world that we know has defined terrorism by way of the visual (through a globalized media) and actual experience and it cannot be denied than when we think of terrorism, we think of Al Qaeda, Bin Laden & the Taleban. We also think of the isolated nation of North Korea or the enigmatic nation of Iran. Over and above all that we think of the currently fought out 'Global War on Terror' in Iraq, Afghanistan and in the varied cities and locations that radicalized Islamic fanatics have targeted to 'spread their message', to 'coerce' and 'terrorize' nations for the purpose of being heard to meet their demands of what they see as a world unacceptable to their increasingly radical & volatile faith. Most of the world's modern impressions of the terrorist notion involve suicide bombers willing to blow themselves up seemingly blinded by the 'glory of dying' for Jihad to overcome and fight the 'infidels'. All these seems, to so many the direct consequence of 9-11 when the Al Qaeda, the radical Islamic group led by one Osama Bin Laden, now the most wanted man on Earth led coordinated attacks throughout key US targets including the New York landmark, the Twin Towers. For Professor Sir Adam Roberts of Oxford University, "What happened on September 11 was a sinister new twist in an old story of fascination with political violence"( The BBC, 2002).Terrorism is defined by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS via FEMA, 2008) as such -

"Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom."

The Department of Homeland Security's creation was a direct response to 9-11 for the purpose of securing the American homeland and preserving national interest. So was the Global War on Terror headed by the US supported heavily by its NATO allies especially the United Kingdom and Australia? Sociologist Michel Foucault proposed that discourse establishes accepted knowledge, the process of meaning creation. The increased activity of Islamic radical groups around the world post 9-11 that resulted to significant media coverage and public alarm (Bali Bombings, London Underground bombings, Madrid Train bombings, and the very recent Islamabad & Mumbai Attacks) has defined public consciousness of what terrorists are and what terrorism is. This is of course in line with the DHS definition. Any use of terror or violence to coerce, intimidate and force a nation to agree to an idea or an action as a form of ransom is terrorism. These acts are criminal and unlawful and are done to achieve the following:

? Create public terror and panic.
? To create an image of weak and powerless governments.
? Get immediate publicity for their causes via the interest the act generates.

Terrorism as a Discourse-Constructed Concept

The public has now unconsciously 'stereotyped' terrorists as 'Islamic radicals' and, however unfair this might be to a quarter of ...