Warming-up.

How do terrorist groups operate?

What methods/tactics do terrorists use?

Why do people commit terrorist acts?

How much do you know about the Catholic/Protestant/Islamic religions?

Is religion to blame for the increase in world terrorism? If so, how much?

Which countries have been accused of harboring terrorists?

Which countries have been victims of terrorist plots?

     Read the following text. Find out the main forms of the modern terrorism.

Make sure you understand the meaning of the following words and word-combinations:

to achieve limited goals

a vexing problem

coercive aspects of state institutions

a violation of the criminal laws

to distinguish different types of terrorism

to counter and deter it terror

the intentional release of toxic biological agents

to attack civilians and draw attention

to disrupt networked services

purchasing nuclear weapons

Forms of terrorism

Terrorism is one of the oldest forms of human conflict. Before societies organized to wage war against each other, individuals and small bands engaged in terror tactics to achieve limited goals–to overthrow existing leaders, toward off potential rivals, or to frighten opposing groups from lands they wished to claim for themselves.

Although the means and ends have evolved throughout history, the central elements of terrorism–fear, panic, violence, and disruption–have changed little through time. As the world enters the 21st Century, terrorism remains a vexing problem–an anachronistic fixture of human relations as paradoxically human and inhuman in the third Millennium as it was before the dawn of recorded history.

1. State-Sponsored Terrorism. Some nations and states often resort to violence to influence segments of their population, or rely on coercive aspects of state institutions. National governments can become involved in terrorism or utilize terror to accomplish the objectives of governments or individual rulers. Most often, terrorism is equated with non-state actors or groups that are not responsible to a sovereign government. However, internal security forces can use terror to aid in repressing dissent, and intelligence or military organizations can perform acts of terror designed to further a state’s policy or diplomatic efforts abroad.
2. International Terrorism. International terrorism involves violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any state. These acts appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping. International terrorist acts occur outside the United States or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.
3. Domestic Terrorism. Domestic terrorism is the unlawful use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States or Puerto Rico without foreign direction committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives.

Researchers in the United States began to distinguish different types of terrorism in the 1970s, following a decade in which both domestic and international groups flourished. By that point, modern groups had begun to use techniques such as hijacking, bombing, diplomatic kidnapping, and assassination to assert their demands and, for the first time, they appeared as real threats to Western democracies, in the view of politicians, lawmakers, law enforcement and researchers. They began to distinguish different types of terrorism as part of the larger effort to understand how to counter and deter it.

State Terrorism. Many definitions of terrorism restrict it to acts by non-state actors. But it can also be argued that states can, and have, been terrorists. States can use force or the threat of force, without declaring war, to terrorize citizens and achieve a political goal. Germany under Nazi rule has been described in this way.​

Bioterrorism. Bioterrorism refers to the intentional release of toxic biological agents to harm and terrorize civilians, in the name of a political or other cause.The U.S. Center for Disease Control has classified the viruses, bacteria, and toxins that could be used in an attack. Category A Biological Diseases are those most likely to do the most damage. They include: Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin), The Plague (Yersinia pestis), Smallpox (Variola major), Tularemia (Francisella tularensis), Hemorrahagic fever, due to Ebola Virus or Marburg Virus.

Cyberterrorism. Cyberterrorists use information technology to attack civilians and draw attention to their cause. This may mean that they use information technology, such as computer systems or telecommunications, as a tool to orchestrate a traditional attack. More often, cyberterrorism refers to an attack on information technology itself in a way that would radically disrupt networked services. For example, cyber terrorists could disable networked emergency systems or hack into networks housing critical financial information.

Ecoterrorism. Ecoterrorism is a recently coined term describing violence in the interests of environmentalism. In general, environmental extremists sabotage property to inflict economic damage on industries or actors they see as harming animals or the natural environment. These have included fur companies, logging companies, and animal research laboratories, for example.

Nuclear Terrorism. Nuclear terrorism refers to a number of different ways nuclear materials might be exploited as a terrorist tactic. These include attacking nuclear facilities, purchasing nuclear weapons, or building nuclear weapons or otherwise finding ways to disperse radioactive materials.

Narcoterrorism. Narcoterrorism has had several meanings since its coining in 1983. It once denoted violence used by drug traffickers to influence governments or prevent government efforts to stop the drug trade. In the last several years, narcoterrorism has been used to indicate situations in which terrorist groups use drug trafficking to fund their other operations.

Questions to discuss:

1. What specific terrorist acts can you recall?
2. Who's winning the war on terrorism?
3. What do you believe is the best way to deal with terrorism?
4. What can governments do to eradicate world terrorism?
5. What kind of power could be given to special terrorist operations task-forces?
6. Would you ever consider committing suicide for the sake of a cause you believe in?
7. What cause would you fight for?