International Terrorism

The final decades of the 20th century were filled by periodic encounters with terrorism. These spilled over, massively, to the 21st century when on September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists commandeered four commercial airplanes in the United States and flew three of them into landmark buildings, the World Trade Center in New York, and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.

Terrorism is not easy to define or explain. It often involves discriminate use of violence by groups who believe their cause is just but who face opposition from a superior force. The violence often targets civilians, who are seen as legitimate victims as part of a larger effort to challenge and disrupt society seen as oppressive. Terrorist methods often depend on relatively modern technologies such as car bombs or hijacking airplanes.

A large number of modern protest movements have used terrorism. A radical wing of the labor movement used methods that could be called terrorist early in the 20th century. Various small nationalist groups, such as those associated with the struggle over Northern Ireland, used terrorism. Extreme Catholic nationalists used terrorism against England, while Protestant nationalists did much the same against Catholic neighborhoods. European student movements in the 1970s spawned extremist groups that employed terrorism against the established order.

The most widespread terrorism of the late 20th century emanated from extremist Muslim groups, protesting Western activities in the Middle East and Israeli treatment of Palestinians in and around Israel. Pro-Western or simply repressive Middle Eastern governments were also targets. Attacks within Israel, killings of tourists, and acts of violence in Europe, Russia, and the United States made this wave of terrorism a truly international threat. Terrorist groups were typically small and loosely organized. Specific grievances varied widely. But there were some common elements. Use of a radical version of Islam was one, and many terrorists believed they were engaged in holy war. A revulsion against Westernized international styles, including consumerism and new freedom for women, was another. While many individual terrorists came from educated backgrounds, they drew on the widespread poverty and sense of powerlessness of masses of people in and around the Middle East.

The methods terrorists used were scary and widely condemned. But many analysts urged that terrorist motives deserved attention nevertheless, as they reflected real grievances about the power alignments in the Islamic world. It was not clear how terrorism could be dealt with, and some understanding of underlying issues might be crucial in that connection as well. Certainly, international terrorism is one of the leading issues on the global agenda early in the 21st century.

The two documents I would like you to read offer starkly different view of radical terrorism. The first is a 1998 decree, or fatwa, issued by Osama bin Laden, widely regarded as the most significant terrorist leader by that date (you can read the fatwa by clicking here). Osama bin Laden was a member of a wealthy Saudi Arabian family, who had broken with his background to lead radical Muslim resistance. By 1998 he was based in Afghanistan, where a new regime, the Taliban, gave him shelter and support while pursing an extremely intolerant version of Islam. The whole context built upon the disruption of Afghanistan by the failed Soviet invasion of the 1980s, by the ongoing attacks on Iraq and military presence in the Arabian Peninsula by the United States and Britain after the 1991 Gulf War, and by the longstanding tension between Israel and the Palestinians. The 1998 fatwa, a terrorist declaration of war, explains some of the thinking behind this new, unorthodox, and frightening military movement. The fatwa was widely publicized on the Internet, a tool that bin Laden’s organization used adeptly, and clearly struck a chord among a minority of Muslims, particularly in the Middle East.

The second document comes from an October 2, 2001 speech to the Labor Party Congress by Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister (you can read it by clicking here). In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, widely attributed to bin Laden’s organization, Blair emerged as the West’s most articulate spokesperson. [Note that casualty estimates at this point were higher than what turned out to be the case.] Blair explains a widespread reaction to mounting terror, and what might be done against it. As he anticipated, Britain and the United States launched a vigorous attack on terrorist activities in Afghanistan in early October. The war was initially backed by many nations around the world, including, though with a number of cautions, moderate Muslim leaders and most Muslim Americans.

The clash between terrorism and the West is an ongoing chapter in contemporary world history. What is the likely outcome? How much would understanding both sides help in containing this new threat to world peace? What did terrorism and Western response have to do with broader processes of globalization?

Additionally, after reading both documents, I would like you to consider and discuss the following: What was bin Laden’s interpretation of Islam? How did it relate to basic Islamic principles? How can international terrorism be best defined? What results did bin Laden expect from terrorist methods? Why did he single out the United States? How do bin Laden’s views relate to the 20th century history of the Middle East? How do they relate to the wider processes of globalization? How did Tony Blair define the West’s position against terrorism? What were Blair’s views of Islam? Can you think of reasonable alternatives to Blair’s approach, in the wake of a truly unprecedented act of terrorist violence? Was 2001 a turning point in world history, as Blair claimed? How does one assess claims like this concerning very recent developments? Your thoughts…