Is Terrorism Becoming an Effective Strategy to Achieve Political Aims?

Year 2018, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 93 - 100, 13.06.2018

Nihat Ali Özcan

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.322740

Abstract

Terrorism is the method of changing policies of decision-makers and behaviors

of the wider society by instigating fear through violent acts. Terrorism can be

categorized based on several criteria, such as political aim, timing, context and

the target of the violent acts, as well as tools and tactics. Although terrorism

might sometimes show aspects similar to other types of conflict, such as guerilla

warfare, urban warfare, irregular warfare, civil war, and insurgency, it is

different from them by its reliance on shock in instigating change. Nevertheless,

since 9/11 the nature of terrorism has itself changed to some extent. Rather

than focusing on symbolic power, the emphasis for terrorist organizations has

shifted from the action’s symbolic meaning to more calculable consequences,

like the territory gained, weapons accrued, the financial damage inflicted and

most commonly the number of the dead and the injured. In the future, we may

also see shift towards more knowledge-intense strategies as both terrorists and

states adapt to current age of knowledge.

Keywords

Terrorism, ISIL, jihadism, separatism, drone warfare

References

• Kydd, Andrew H., and Barbara F. Walter. "The Strategies of Terrorism." International Security 31, no.1 (2006): 49-80.