The book “How Terrorism End; Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns”, written in 2011 at the height of Al-Qaeda, the most well-known international terrorist group of our time. The author of this work, Audrey Cronin, at the time of print, served as a professor of strategy at the United States National War College in Washington D.C., and a senior associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Program. Both positions allowed her to impact strategic policy making in the execution of the Global War on Terror by allowing her access to senior military and civilian policymakers. Her previous area of her prior work has been mainly focused on international terrorism with an emphasis on al-Qaeda. She has authored …show more content…
By analyzing the relationship of these three groups, she argues that the endings of a terrorist campaign can be examined (Cronin, p.7-8).
Cronin’s work is laid out as comparative case study analyzing multiple terrorist organization in their final months of existence. Her research has identified six possible pathways that a terrorist campaign will end. In the first six chapters of the book, she examines these six pathways. In the final chapter, she attempts to figure out which lessons from the ending of previous terrorist campaigns can apply to a possible ending for the al-Qaeda terrorist campaign. Most of the book outlines specific case studies of terrorist groups from around the world. Each case study directly supports one of her six pathways for the end of a terrorist campaign. These case studies provide an overview of the demise of multiple terrorist organization and provide what she believes is a consistent interlocking pattern that can be utilized in dealing with current and future terrorist group threats and how they can be directed to an end. The six pathways or patterns that Cronin has identified are decapitation, negotiation, success, failure, repression, and reorientation (Cronin, p.8).
Starting with chapter 1 the pathway of “decapitate”, covers two possible solutions. First one is to capture and arrest and second is to kill the leader of the terrorist
Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern
Terrorism has become popular among extremists who are employing different dynamic strategies to thrive in their agenda. Understanding the terror groups is fundamental principle to overcome them or counter the sects. Modern terrorism has additionally advanced. Today 's assaults are less incessant, however all the more savage. Terrorists beforehand acted like renegades trying to connect with the foe (Miller, 2013. This was trailed by a period of kidnappings and plane hijackings. States create first class counter-terrorist strengths, extraordinarily prepared at prisoner transaction and salvage. Like the youngster 's amusement - paper-scissors-stone the following phase of advancement was the appropriation of bombings as the favored strategy (Roberts, 2014). Bombs can be delivered from basic materials, put and exploded remotely, with generally okay to the planes and little open door for counter-terrorist strengths to catch them. Terror groups like the IRA, Al-Qaida, ISIS and Boko
To understand the convoluted events of Al-Qaeda’s reign of terror on America I had to delve into the history of Al-Qaeda’s origins and
Caleb Carr is stressing that terrorism is never the answer throughout this chapter and I presume, the rest of the book. This is clearly shown in him saying "for just as meeting the tactics of terror in kind will only perpetuate the cycle of terrorist violence.." As for whether or not the affect of Roman warfare can be applied to today's governments in training people that are not of their own, it can be. Carr begins to explain this when he says "There is an irony concerning most of those rebel leaders that also holds enormous implications for our present experience..." (p. 37).
With the emergence of the 21st century the necessity for a broader understanding of security have said present. The world has experienced a variety of new security challenges that have put at stake human safety and have made policymakers all around the world rethink their approach and strategies when it comes to the decision making process. The rise of terrorist organizations in the international arena as well as the development of extremist groups has offered extreme significance to the quest for power and the search for peace, while requiring us to look back and examine our achievements and failures in the analysis of terrorism, extremist groups and our counterterrorism efforts since 9/11. It is essential for all Americans to understand
Before 2001, al-Qaeda, an Islamist militant organization founded by Osama bin Laden, had proven itself a security menace to both the West and the Muslim world. Achieving its height of power in 2001, the group and its Taliban allies were on the verge of taking over Afghanistan (Longest, 7). Then the group made a central mistake: It choose to wage an offensive jihad attack against the United States on American soil. For a time after 9/11, al-Qaeda appeared largely victorious from the devastation left behind of their ruthless exploit; but instead, the craven act would prove to be the beginning of the terrorist organization’s demise.
In this paper, the principles of distinction, proportionality and military necessity will be defined and discussed in relation to the event of 9/11. As well as, the legal constraints that are associated with the conduct of hostilities under the new conditions imposed. The term “terrorism” and “terrorist” were included following the events of 9/11, identifying a new type of enemy. Narratives of who the enemy was changed towards individuals who were or seemed like a Muslim. Muslims were perceived as the new enemy. This subsequently led to major legal constraints such as
The al-Qaeda of today is a vastly different entity from the al-Qaeda formed by Osama bin Laden towards the end of the Afghan war against the Soviets in 1988 (Alexander and Swetnam, 2001: 37). The evolution, or as Burton (2006) has termed it “devolution”, of al-Qaeda, is partially linked to its terrorist acts, and, in particular, the counter-terrorist measures employed by governments to deal with them. This is most evident in reference to the single most expensive, in terms of life lost and economical impact, terrorist act in modern history, the destruction of the World Trade Centre, and the subsequent declaration of a “war on terror” by George Bush’s United States and its Allies. It is the actions in response to terrorist acts that has
There are several terrorist groups throughout the world today. All the terrorist groups have one common goal and that is to rid the world of Americans and western influence from the Muslim world. There is one organization that has ties to most of all the terrorist groups in the world and is the most infamous group in the world today and that is the group called Al-Qaeda The word Al-Qaeda means “the base” in Muslim. As an international terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden. The group seeks to rid Muslim countries of western influence and replace them with fundamentalist Islamic regimes. Al-Qaeda grew out of the of the ashes of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1988, after it helped expel the Soviet
When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred the United States responded in a manner which was seen as a traditional reaction to such an attack; it used its overwhelming superior military to invade the nation of Afghanistan. As Afghanistan was the operating base of the terrorist group responsible for the attacks, Al Qaeda, the invasion all but destroyed the group's operating capacity. But in response to the United States' apparent victory the terrorists have re-organized themselves into a looser confederation and turned to alternative methods of finance and operation. One could say that the success of the American military's answer to the September 11th attacks have created a new environment in which terrorists currently operate. This includes the use of the internet, unconventional alliances with international criminal organizations, as well the inception of the "lone wolf" terrorist. Faced with these new type of threats, the United States and its allies must find a way to identify and deal with them.
an extent that most of us have now become immune to it. We hear about
Walter Laqueur’s book, “The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction”, is empowering readers with the entire spectrum of terrorism. The reasons behind terrorism are not easy to understand, but Laqueur goes into great detail to try and bring the reader to an understanding of what the terrorist is thinking in order to justify the means to the end.
As a direct consequence of September 11, a number of substantial challenges lie ahead in the area of counter-terrorism.. The most prominent of these is the changing nature of the terrorism phenomenon. In past years, when terrorism was largely the product of direct state sponsorship, policymakers were able to diminish prospects for the United States becoming a target using a combination of diplomatic and military instruments to deter potential state sponsors. Today, however, many terrorist organizations and individuals act independently from former and present state sponsors, shifting to other sources of support, including the development of transnational networks.
The history of terrorism can be traced back as far as the French revolution. Some of these acts of terrorism only seem as distant reminders of our past, but at the same time, are not a far cry from today’s brutal acts; and although these acts seem distant, it doesn’t also mean they are no longer in the thoughts of individuals in today’s time.
Differing accounts on either pole focus on al-Qaeda’s continued relevance as the premier terrorist network, whether it is any longer effective or not. From there, the natural conclusion comes around to asking how effective al-Qaeda is, and by which mechanisms does it project that effectiveness. Aside from this, both parties agree that al-Qaeda has an uncanny habit of surviving in the turbulent international dialectic that spawned radical Muslim distress, vicariously.