Anwar al-Awlaki – أنور العولقي‎‎

1971-2011

Anwar al-Awlaki was born in 1971 in New Mexico, the children of Yemeni Immigrants. Al-Awlaki spend most of his childhood in Yemen, but returned to the United States in 1990 to attend university, where found a passion and talent for preaching while a student (Reuters 2009). From 1994 to 2002 he worked as an imam in various mosques across the country (Shane 2015). In the weeks and months after the 9/11 attacks, al-Awlaki, an Imam at one of the nation’s largest mosques, quickly became the most visible face of moderate, American Islam. The American media, struggling to explain Islam to their viewers, were draw to this young, charismatic, American-educated Imam with perfect English, who the New York Times called “A new Generation of Muslim leader capable of merging East and West” (Goodstein 2001). After discovering two of the 9/11 hijackers had frequented his sermons, He was interviewed by FBI agents, who concluded that he knew the men, but was likely unaware of their plot (Reuters 2009). Despite this, extensive FBI surveillance of him and his family continued (Shane 2015).

Upon discovering the existence of his FBI file and the fact that the agency was aware of his habit of soliciting prostitutes, al-Awlaki traveled to London with his family for a scheduled speaking engagement in 2002, and never returned to the United States (Shane 2015). After living for a brief time in the UK he reportedly returned to his childhood hometown in Yemen, where he would live for the rest of his life. (BBC News 2011).

While his actions outside of the United States are not as clearly documented, several facts are clear. Al-Awlaki continued to preach, often in sermons delivered via YouTube. His message became increasingly militant. When Inspire, the English-language online magazine published by al-Qaeda, first appeared in 2010, it contained a number of articles by al-Awlaki (Lemieux et al. 2014, 354-371). Evan Kohlmann, a prolific counterterrorism researcher has said “Al-Awlaki condenses the al-Qaeda philosophy in to digestible, well-written treatises. They may not tell people how to build a bomb or shoot a gun, but he tells them who to kill, and why, and stresses the urgency of the mission” (Shane 2009).

In 2010, the United States placed al-Awlaki on the ‘kill list’ of suspected terrorists against whom lethal force was authorized (al-Awlaki 2013). On September 30^th, 2011. Anwar al-Awlaki was killed by a Predator Drone missile in an unidentified location in rural Yemen (BBC News 2011).

After his death, al-Awlaki’s legacy has been twofold. As the first American citizen killed by his own government without conviction or trial, his case has become a hotbed of legal and moral debate. In 2014, a court ordered that the Department of Justice release the memorandum containing their legal justification for al-Awlaki’s killing. In this document, the D.O.J argued that the “United States is engaged in a non-international armed conflict with al-Qaida.”, and because of that, the international laws about who can be targeted and where do not apply in the same way. (American Journal of International Law 2014, 550-555) This memorandum, has been used as the legal justification for further targeting of U.S. citizens in drone strikes and military actions. The same attack that killed Anwar al-Awlaki also killed American citizen Samir Khan, al-Awlaki’s primary collaborator on Inspire, although the United States denies intentionally targeting him. (Mazzetti 2015), and two weeks later, Anwar al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki became the third American citizen killed by a drone strike in Yemen (al-Awlaki 2013).

Al-Awlaki’s death is legally contentious at best, but it also seems to have been ultimately ineffective. Viewed throughout the radical Islamist movement as a martyr, his message has lived on, primarily on YouTube, where some estimates say his sermons have been viewed as many as 20 million times (Shane, Perez-Pena and Breeden 2016). His messages have been linked to a majority of the Islamic terrorist attacks committed in the United States (Ghosh 2010). Nidal Malik Hassan, who killed 13 and at Fort Hood in 2009, had corresponded with al-Awlaki, as had Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. who attempted to Northwest Airlines Flight 253 later that year (Shane 2015). Death seems to have done nothing to stop his influence though, the perpetrators of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, 2015 San Bernardino attack and the 2016 Orlando Nightclub shooting were all followers of al-Awlaki’s sermons (Shane, Perez-Pena and Breeden 2016).

Anwar al-Awlaki is dead, killed by his own government, in a controversial action that has reshaped the discourse on government power and what is allowed in the name of ‘peace and security’. Yet his message lives on as strong as ever, as perhaps the first great martyr of the Internet era, where information can be spread across the globe instantly, and in ways that are very difficult for governments to control or even monitor, Anwar al-Awlaki’s message has found an immortality he himself could not. The debate his death created, and the violence his words inspired, have both profoundly affected the modern world, and they will continue to for years to come.

Grace Michael

 

Works Cited

“United States’ legal justification for drone strike on Anwar al-Awlaki released” American Journal of International Law 108.3 (July 2014): 550-555.

“Obituary: Anwar al-Awlaki” BBC News, September 30, 2011.

“FACTBOX – Who is Anwar al-Awlaki” Reuters, December 24, 2009.

Al-Awlaki, Nasser. “The Drone That Killed My Grandson” The New York Times, July 17, 2013.

Ghosh, Bobby. “How Dangerous is the Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki?” TIME Magazine, January 13, 2010.

Goodstein, Laurie. “A NATION CHALLENGED: THE AMERICAN MUSLIMS; Influential American Muslims Temper Their Tone” The New York Times, October 19, 2001.

Lemieux, Anthony, Jarret Brachman, Jason Levitt and Jay Wood. “Inspire Magazine: A Critical Analysis of its Significance and Potential Impact Through the Lens of the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills Model.” Terrorism & Political Violence.  Vol 26 Issue 2 (June 2014): 354-371.

Mazzetti, Mark. “Killing of Americans Deepens Debate Over Use of Drone Strikes” The New York Times, April 23, 2015.

Shane, Scott. “Born in the U.S. a Radical Cleric Inspires Terror” The New York Times, November 18, 2009.

Shane, Scott. “The Lessons of Anwar al-Awlaki” The New York Times, August 27, 2015.

Shane, Scott, Richer Perez-Pena and Aurelian Breeden “’In-Betweeners’ Are Part of a Rich Recruiting Pool for Jihadists” The New York Times, September 22, 2016.

Taylor, Adam. “The U.S. keeps killing Americans in drone stakes, mostly by accident” The Washington Post, April 23, 2015.

Sergei Gennadiyevich Nechaev

September 20^th, 1847- November 21^st, 1882

Sergei Nechaev: nihilist, revolutionary, anarchist and precursor to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Growing up in Russia Nechaev became deeply imbued with ideals of militant revolution. As a revolutionary Nechaev is considered “A fantasist of revolution, a tireless conspirator, and a master manipulator.” It was his view that any means were justified if they served the revolutionary end. As a staunch Nihilist Nechaev felt a disenchantment with the world that he found himself in, through this vision of the world he worked to establish a revolutionary group in Russia under the title The People’s Retribution or Society of the Axe. In this association, Nechaev and his followers practiced the belief of Catechism or the unquestioning loyalty to the leader. His belief in Catechism made his power absolute, thereby forging Nechaev into an extremely dangerous radical. Having written the “Catechism of a Revolutionary” with Bakunin’s help, though there is debate as to which of the two men wrote the text Nechaev began practicing his own version of revolutionary terrorism. The text itself was considered one of the most notorious and extreme justifications for terrorism ever written. Nechaev and Bakunin released pamphlets that fell in “favour of destruction, for violence ‘now’ and ‘immediately’” making them some of the most prolific spreaders of destruction. These violent tendencies were not only practiced against the outside world as a means of revolution. Steeped in his own values of Catechism Nechaev refused to be party to insurrection or questioning within his own movement. When I.I. Ivanov, a fellow revolutionary, began to question both Nechaev’s authority and his method’s Nechaev was merciless in his response. With the help of other members of the People’s Retribution Nechaev “beat, strangled, and shot [Ivanov]” then dumped his body in a frozen pond. When the murder was discovered 67 members of Nechaev’s conspirators were brought to trial while he fled to Switzerland. He would later be arrested by the Swiss police and extradited back to Russia to stand trial for his crimes. Quickly convicted for his part in this horrific crime Nechaev was sentenced to 20 years hard labour, however, the tsar of Russia considered Nechaev so dangerous that he secretly sentenced him to solitary confinement for the rest of his life. He died in the dungeons of Peter-Paul fortress.

Nechaev is also an important figure because of the relationships he fostered among other influential Russian revolutionaries. The first being Mikhail Bakunin. As previously stated these two men wrote “Catechism of a Revolutionary” but they did much more. In a correspondence written by Bakunin to Nechaev, he discusses the importance of the “collective dictatorship of the secret organization.” They believed that power should reside in the hands of the few not the many, that leadership should be through dictatorship and the ruler’s methods and authority should be unquestionable. The two revolutionaries played off each other’s desire for violent and extremist revolution with their values fixated on the power of Catechism. In contrast, Fyodor Dostoyevsky held a very different view of the militant radical revolutionary. Dostoyevsky called Nechaev a “rebel, his ideal is insurrection and destruction” he saw Nechaev as a force of deceit and destruction, someone who did not hold at his core the desire to properly help the revolution. To reinforce his dislike of Nechaev, Dostoyevsky used him as a character model for two of his works Demons and The Possessed. In both texts, the character associated with Nechaev is deceitful, cruel, uncaring of his other revolutionaries and demands unwavering loyalty. For example, in The Possessed the character based on Nechaev was Pyotr Verhovensky. Dostoyevsky explains how members were “fanatically devoted to… Pyotr” and yet he “he treated them in general with great sternness and even rather casually.” Dostoyevsky cherished the brave revolutionaries that argued alongside him and disparaged Nechaev for his perceived delusions of grandeur. In the eyes of Dostoyevsky Nechaev was a radical that deserved no place among the good, honest, hardworking revolutionaries that actively supported his vision of the Russian Revolution. Sergei Nechaev was an extremist of the highest caliber. He spread ideas of terrorism in the support of revolution and killed those that called into question his authority or his ideas. He was a hallmark character of the future Russian Revolution and while dangerous was extremely effective in the dissemination of his ideology.

Graeme Moore

Bibliography

Anemone, Anthony. Just Assassins: The Culture Of Terrorism In Russia. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 2010.

Bakunin, Mikhail. A letter to Nechayev. Locarno, Encounter, 1972.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Possessed. Global Grey, 2014.

Pomper, Philip. “BAKUNIN, NECHAEV, AND THE “CATECHISM OF A REVOLUTIONARY”: THE CASE FOR JOINT AUTHORSHIP.” Canadian-American Slavic Studies 10, no. 4 (Winter1976 1976): 535-551. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed November 9, 2017).

Verhoeven, Claudia. “Time of Terror, Terror of Time On the Impatience of Russian Revolutionary Terrorism (Early 1860s – Early 1880s).” Jahrbücher Für Geschichte Osteuropas, Neue Folge, 58, no. 2 (2010): 254-73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41052430.

Abu-Musab al-Suri

Abu-Musab al-Suri was born in Aleppo, Syria in November of 1958 and is still alive today, although he is no longer able to spread his radical ideas as his whereabouts are a secret to those outside of the U.S. government agents holding him in captivity. The name Abu-Musab al-Suri is not actually the name he was given at birth, it was a name that he adopted through war; his real name is Mustafa bin Abd al-Qadir Setmariam Nasar. He is a Syrian jihadist who has had a great influence on the plans for Al-Qaeda to move forward after the incidents of 9/11. His ideas are the backbone of what has continued to give power to Al-Qaeda after these attacks.

It is stated that al-Suri is “the most important strategist for the Islamic jihadist movement of the last 20 years.” (Boyle, 2). Al-Suri’s ideas were predominantly used after the attacks of 9/11 however his sharing of his ideas about how Al-Qaeda should be handling certain situations goes back to long before 9/11 occurred. For example, at the end of the 1980s he offered his opinion to Osama bin Laden that Al-Qaeda was not using enough force and violence against Saudi Arabia. While many of his ideas are tied to Al-Qaeda, al-Suri gathered his opinions and concepts from multiple different “radical islamic organizations and networks” (Boyle, 2). This denies a kind of devotion to one specific group and rather accepts whatever ideas he sees fitting, regardless of their source. His ideas about furthering Al-Qaeda and how that should be done differ from those of Osama bin Laden’s, creating a competition for an active sense of leadership. After the dissolution of the taliban, al-Suri travelled to Pakistan where he was able to spread his ideas online, as well as work on the book that he wrote, expressing his notions about the future of Al-Qaeda. This book was entitled, Global Islamic Resistance Call , and it was published and shared at mass through the internet in the transitioning months from 2004 to 2005. In this book, he discreetly wrote about his belief that the force of Al-Qaeda and other organizations of the like were not strong enough to undermine the forces of the western countries which in turn explains his ideas about there being a change in Al-Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks. Prior to this book being written, al-Suri gave talks in Afghanistan which were recorded and also widely spread, to influence more people and to gain more power for him. Al-Suri was also a main suspect in the London bombings, and while it turned out that he was not directly affiliated with these attacks, his ideas helped influence the people who were behind them. After the attacks, al-Suri, himself, said; “I swear to God that I have in me a joy stronger than the joy of the farmer who sees the harvest of his fruits after a long planting and efforts and patience throughout decades of building.” This quotation reinforces the notion that he supported these forms of extreme violence and believed in the necessity of these aggressive actions against other, western, countries, therefore having faith in terrorism. Al-Suri’s objectives were essentially realized through the “islamic militants” creation of multiple groups used for different methods of attack. These methods include smaller groups positioned to perform random attacks as well as larger groups who are in constant warfare. In November of 2005, al-Suri was arrested in Pakistan, this being a very significant arrest because it was uncommon for someone who was a post 9/11 influence to be arrested, as many of the people caught by the government had ideas predating the attack in 2001. Abu-Musab al-Suri’s ideas are still being put into motion today as many of the people he personally influenced are now in power positions in numerous different islamic groups. Due to how widely his perceptions were shared and how dedicated he was to a life of terrorism he belonged to, his influence will continue to be perpetrated through his followers.

 

Sarah Kirkwood

Works Cited

1. Boyle, Michael J. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) 84, no. 5

   (2008): 1054-055. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25144948 .

2. Cruickshank, Paul and Mohannad Hage Ali. 2007. “Abu Musab Al Suri: Architect of the New Al Qaeda.” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 30 (1): 1-14. doi:10.1080/10576100601049928. http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/1057610x/v30i0001/1_amasaotnaq .

Extremism

Extremism is the “advocacy of extreme measures or views.” It is seen all throughout history and exists today in the modern world. An example of extremism in history is Adolf Hitler and his actions to wipe out an entire race of people through extreme measures such as burning mass crowds alive or gunning down thousands. This is such a key example because it shows the extreme measures that Hitler put in place to enforce his view, that Jew’s were nothing but vermin. Having a certain view point and acting on it is one thing but when you implement extreme measures to convey your point and force your views on others through violence then you cross into the realm of extremism. Another example of extremism from history is the Tiananmen Massacre which consisted of peaceful Chinese protestors being gun downed in the streets because the Chinese government did not agree with their protests and believed their views were more important than the peoples. Instead of letting the protestors protest, the Chinese government used extreme measures to make sure that their view point was not corrupted. Both of these examples from history show that if someone has a strong enough view and the power to control, they will stop at nothing to make sure that everyone falls in line, even if it resorts to extreme measures. A more recent example of extremism in today’s society was the 9/11 terrorist attack which consisted of 2 commercial air planes being hijacked and crashed into the twin towers. This event was set in motion by a man named Osama bin Laden and the group he was a part of called Al-Qaeda. They had certain views that America was evil and they would stop at nothing to see them burn, so they resorted to extreme measures killing thousands just to make sure that they clearly convey their views. Extremism is taking your view point and forcing it on other people through violence and extreme acts of terror and stopping at nothing until your view point is seen throughout the world.

Matthew Holk

 

Bibliography:

Kazin, Michael. “A Kind Word for Ted Cruz: America Was Built on Extremism.” New Republic, 29 Oct. 2013, newrepublic.com/article/115399/history-american-extremism-how-unpopular-opinions-became-mainstrea.

Brueckner, Jan K, and Amihai Glazer. “Urban Extremism.” Jstor, Jstor, Oct. 2008, www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/pdf/40058168.pdf?refreqid=excelsior:a1d7ef2e46c792b73d2cc54426c29acd.

 

Extremism

Identification

Extremism was first recorded in 1848 and describes the tendency to support the extreme or non-neutral sides of issues such as religion, politics, and any issue that has conflicting perspectives. One who exhibits the characteristics of extremism is known as an extremist. The word extremism is often used by an observer that does not consider themselves as an extremist, but they identify those with very different views than themselves to be an extremist. Extremism has become a part of the common language in the Western world to refer to the actions and beliefs of those who strongly oppose its culture. Extremists, according to the West, come in the form of radical religious groups that violently fight back Western culture.

Historical Significance

Extremism, as Liebman explains in Extremism as a Religious Norm, is an essential part of any religion to allow it to function. From his statements, it becomes clear that extremism allows religious bodies to seclude themselves from society; to protect its beliefs and to survive in the Western world by preventing other ideologies from conflicting with its own. Gutmann in The lure & dangers of extremist rhetoric, hypothesises that extremism and its ideologies will always exist to comfort and unify like-minded people who harbor beliefs that are contrary to the norm. In the present day, we can see that this hypothesis is supported by videos of ISIS sympathizers, far-right and far-left movements, and with feelings of resentment around the world, everyone is being unified by their differences in belief. Those that feel isolated from a mainstream society feel they must seek out those who understand them; motivating groups of young men and women throughout history to join extremist groups. The book, Choices for America in a Turbulent World, outlines that extremist ideologies lead to extremist actions, such as the events of 9/11, which leads to retaliation, such as The War on Terror. Extremism in human history serves to divide people by creating tribalism and an “us versus them” mentality, where each side believes the other to be the uncompromising extremist group, and therefore justifies violence.

Key Historical Proponents

The 1960s were characterized by extreme actions and events. During 1955 to 1975, The Vietnam War was fought; its participants were divided into anti-communist nations, such as the United States, and pro-communist nations, such as China; both sides with different ideologies in an uncompromising conflict with each other. Two political figures were assassinated; John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Both men were the leaders of democracy and black rights respectively, and were killed because of the opposing extremist views of others.  The next surge of notable extremism began right after the events of 9/11 in 2001. Immediately after this attack, The War on Terror was initiated by George W. Bush and was fought on the soil of other countries against Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups such as ISIS. The book More Freedom, Less Terror? Explains that the United States’ “Draining the Swamp” tactic of spreading democracy to terrorist containing countries have caused a backlash from its peoples. It is clear that extremist ideologies become strengthened when opposed and threatened to be replaced. The fight by the US has been passed on to Barrack Obama and now to Donald Trump, as well as other westernized nations and their respective leaders. On the other side, some in the East view the West as being the extremists and terrorists, so they too continue to fight.

Shariful Sakib

 

 

Bibliography

Liebman, C. (1983). Extremism as a Religious Norm. Journal for the Scientific Study of

Religion, 22(1), 75-86. doi:10.2307/1385593

Gutmann, A. (2007). The lure & dangers of extremist rhetoric. Daedalus, 136(4), 70-78.

Kaye, D., Wehrey, F., Grant, A., & Stahl, D. (2008). “Democracy” and Terrorism in the Arab

World: A Framework for Analysis. In More Freedom, Less Terror?: Liberalization and 

Political Violence in the Arab World (pp. 1-28). Santa Monica, CA; Arlington, VA;

Pittsburgh, PA: RAND Corporation. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg772rc.9

Dobbins, J., Solomon, R., Chase, M., Henry, R., Larrabee, F., Lempert, R., . . . Shatz, H. (2015).

Counterterrorism. In Choices for America in a Turbulent World: Strategic Rethink (pp. 49-56). RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt17mvhfj.11

Religious Extremism

Identification 

Throughout the 20^th and 21^st century, there has been a noticeable surge in identification with religion. As this surge progresses, the number of religious extremist groups naturally rises. The term extremist often includes those who advocate for aggressive and violent actions to enforce their group’s ideologies upon others. Religious extremists are radicals who tend to follow their scriptures in a literal manner and are intolerant of other interpretations either within the same religion or of other religions. They are often willing to reinforce these in a violent and oppressive manner denying gender equality, access to liberal education, access to certain medical treatments, and forced conversions of members of other religions. Examples of current popular religious extremist groups are ISIS, and the West Bureau Baptist Church.

Historical significance 

Modern religious extremism doesn’t illuminate on past actions, beliefs or motivations. While historical religious conflicts were prevalent globally, they were led by whole countries and governments.  However, after The Era of Enlightenment, secularist ideologies spread throughout the modernising world, and religion began to separate from state. Religious conflicts became more personal rather than national, ultimately causing the formation of religious groups to occur.

Throughout the last few decades, religious extremism has been a prevalent problem. The beliefs and acts of radical groups have threatened the “rights to liberty and security of a person” (United Nations). Religious extremists have a narrow view of how individuals must conduct their lives, often based on factors such as gender and sexuality. They have attempted to exert their beliefs through extreme acts of violence, such as the ISIS terrorist attacks throughout Europe, North America, and the Middle East. These attacks have instilled fear in individuals throughout the world which lead to military reaction from countries like France and the United States.

Key historical proponents 

Al- Qaeda was notably one of the most active and horrific Islamic extremist groups in recent history. Their actions such as the Madrid and London bombings of 2004 and 2005, and the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers, led North America and European Nations to enhance law enforcement to combat Islamist terrorism. Examples of these include, increased airport security, and criminalising the glorification of terrorism. However, many governments encountered several difficulties when trying to counter terrorism without corroding civil liberties.

The media tends to associate religious terrorism with the Islamic religion, leading to Islamophobia. Extremists exist unfortunately worldwide, whether referring to religion or secular ideologies (Kristin Archick). For example, Kahane Chai, West Bureau Baptist Church, Army of God, and so on.

The West Bureau Baptist Church is not violent like many of its counterparts, however, they proudly protest, disrupt peace, and forcefully advocate their beliefs upon others. For instance, after the Orlando, Florida shooting at a gay nightclub, they disrupted the funerals of the victims, claiming that “the shooter was sent from god”. They protest contraceptive measures, such as birth-control, and abortion. Ultimately, they deny people their rights to liberty and security.

Gassia Tatikian 

 

Bibliography

Alrassi, Abulrahman. “Fighthing Against Religious Extremism and Islamophobia – The Pillar for a Sstainable Harmony Between West and Islam.” Practical Application of Science (2014): 9.

Aslan, Reza. Beyond Fundamentalism . Random House, 2010.

Kristin Archick, Paul Belkin, Christopher M. Blanchard, Carl Ek, and Derek E. Mix. “Muslims in Europe: Promoting Integration and Countering Extremism.” Current Politics and Economics of Europe (2011): 68.

Nations, United. “Universal Decleration of Human Rights.” n.d. http://www.UN.org.

Terrorism

Identification: The term “terrorism” has many different and broad meanings, with one definition being the usage of violence by a person or group against civilians and use their fear in order to achieve a political or ideological gain. Another way to define terrorism is the deliberate killing of innocent people to spread fear through a whole population and force political leaders to go against them. Terrorism has been used by groups such as Al-Qaida, Taliban, ISIS, and the Tamil Tigers, and it has been used in most places around the world. The first recorded use of terrorism was around 1 A.D, and was said to be committed by the Sicarii (a group of Jewish zealots) against the Romans, with their objective being to becoming independent from the Roman Empire.

Significance: Terrorism has had a significant impact on modern history. For example, after the September 11^th attacks, America underwent a dramatic social and political change. There has been more government intrusion into our lives (from air travel regulations to internet surveillance), and there has been negative social consequences for anyone who is Arab or appears to be one (such as physical and verbal abuse just for having a different skin tone). You must also remember that the main reason terrorism is important is because it is used to achieve some sort of ideological purpose. For example, groups with secular ideologies and beliefs will often attempt acts of violence with little to no causalities, and this is done to avoid damaging the group’s reputation and make it look like they have legitimate grievances, so that the public will sympathize with them and support their cause. Their targets are highly symbolic of authority (e.g. government offices, banks, corporations) and will usually only conduct attacks on people who they believe to be representative of social injustices. Another example you can use is religious terrorism. Religious terrorism is the exact opposite of secular terrorism, with the primary goal being to kill as many people and cause as much mayhem and destruction as they possibly can. The reasoning behind this is that they believe that they will reap the benefits of the afterlife.

Key Historical Proponents: Whenever someone talks about terrorism, most people would instantly think about Islam and the growth of many Islamic terrorist groups from the late 1960s to the 1990s. Islamic terrorism came to prominence during the late 1960’s, when Palestinian organizations (e.g. PFLP, Black September) began a campaign against Israel through a campaign of hijackings, kidnappings, bombings, and shootings. This culminated in the 1972 Munich Massacre, which was the kidnapping and deaths of most of the members of the Israeli Olympic team at the 1972 Munich Olympic games. Soon after, the Soviet Union would invade Afghanistan and stimulated the rise and expansion of terrorist groups since there were many volunteers from various parts of the middle east that fought in Afghanistan. Also happening around this time was the rise of Hezbollah, an Iranian and Syrian backed terrorist group that were known for their anti-West and anti-Israel views. They became infamous for launching a suicide bombing at the U.S embassy and barracks in Beirut, which claimed the lives of over 300 people. After the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989, the lack of governance in Afghanistan helped make it become an ideal location for jihadist groups. One of the groups that came to prominence after the war was the Taliban, which became the de-facto ruler of Afghanistan in 1996 after they took over a large majority of the country until the U.S invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Baljinder Minhas

 

Bibliography

Warraq, Ibn. The Islam in Islamic terrorism: the importance of beliefs, ideas, and ideology. Nashville, TN: New English Review Press, 2017.

Cohn, Marjorie. “UNDERSTANDING, RESPONDING TO, AND PREVENTING TERRORISM.” Arab Studies Quarterly 24, no. 2/3 (2002): 25-59. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41858411.

Fereidoun, Amir. “Terrorism: Radical Islamic Terrorism.” Harvard International Review 7, no. 6 (1985): 45-46. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42765357.

D’alessio, Stewart J., and Lisa Stolzenberg. 1990. “Sicarii and the Rise of Terrorism.” Terrorism 13, no. 4/5: 329. Complementary Index, EBSCOhost (accessed October 13, 2017).

Religious Extremism

Religious Extremism is a set of fanatical values that are based around the beliefs and principles of a certain religion. Often religious extremism calls for violence and extreme action to be taken against greater society, or any established system, that may hinder their goals or beliefs. A religious extremist’s views, though based on the outline of a certain religion, usually stray far from the established beliefs of their religious institution, and very rarely reflect the beliefs of any large number of people. Religious extremism can be carried out both in small numbers, as well as in organized groups, and can be driven by anything from economic and political dissatisfaction, to ethnic tensions and conflict. Usually, in present day, when religious extremist actions become violent it is viewed as being in direct affiliation with terrorism.

Religious extremism has occurred as long as organized religion has existed, and instances of it can be found in any religion, anywhere from millennia ago, to the present day. Religious extremism can be seen in many forms throughout history, anywhere from cases like mass organized conquest, forced conversion, and ethnic cleansing, to small groups carrying out acts of violence all over the world. Despite the fact that in recent history Islam has been labelled as religious extremisms largest proponent, largely due to a magnified focus from media outlets, Christianity has been what can probably be accurately characterized as the biggest origin for religious extremism in history. Examples such as the Crusades or the attempted forced conversion of all of the America’s native populations are just some examples of Catholic sponsored, fanatical values. This is not to say that other religions have not also been represented by religious extremism as well. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has become the embodiment of Islamic Extremism in recent years due to their global attacks on innocent people, and their self-proclaimed caliphate, a territory in northern Syria and Iraq that uses skewed concepts of traditional Islam to impose tyrannical rule. Buddhist monks in Myanmar have started a violent and forcible ethnic cleansing, forcing an exodus of the majority Muslim Rohingya population. And the whole concept of Zionism is a religiously extremist, forcible creation of a Jewish homeland in current day Israel and Palestine.

In the past few decades there have been many more prominent thinkers and individuals speaking about Religious Extremism due to its arrival on the public spotlight following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Leaders of state such as George W. Bush, Barrack Obama, and Vladimir Putin have been proven to be proponents fighting against certain types of Religious Extremism, enacting new legislation over its influence, and taking military action. Ashin Wirathu, on the other hand, is a Burmese Buddhist monk helping to lead an anti-muslim movement throughout Burma, providing a modern example of a religious extremist. Another example of a leader of religious extremism is the ISIL leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, whose leadership has brought forth one of the most destructive religious groups in recent history. Neil J. Kressel has added important insight into the psychological beginnings of religious extremism, and, in light of its recent interests to politics and the public, how it has evolved since the beginnings of Christian fundamentalists in the United States.

George Hope-Fraser

 

Bibliography

Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the mind of God : the global rise of religious violence. Prometheus Books, 2007.

Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives. URGING MEMBER STATES OF THE UN TO STOP SUPPORTING RESOLUTIONS THAT UNFAIRLY CASTIGATE ISRAEL AND TO PROMOTE MORE CONSTRUCTIVE APPROACHES TO RESOLV- ING CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST; THE EDUCATION CUR- RICULUM IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA; HONORING THE LIFE OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN; AND THE 2005 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN EGYPT. U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006.

Korejo, M.S. A testament of Sindh : ethnic and religious extremism a perspective. Oxford University Press, 2002.