International Terrorism and the Four Waves of Modern Terrorism

International Terrorism
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International Terrorism
The concept of terrorism is hard to define due to the dynamic and evolutionary nature of its facets. Terrorism entails the utilization of violence or threats of violence to target civilians, property, or the government, intending to alter the status quo (Gregg, 2014). This generalized description allows for substituting any specific motive and every scope of operation. The intricacy of these aspects complicates the definition of the concept of terrorism. The broader categories of religious and secular terrorism further branch into multiple perspectives under the consideration of the stated facets. Ivancik (2020) indicates that the globalization of human society has promoted numerous aspects to the global stage. While some, like global trade, are positive, others, like terrorism, are not. According to Hoffman (2006), the advent of international terrorism rose to recognition during the hijacking of an Israeli commercial flight en route to Tel Aviv from Rome by three armed Palestinian terrorists. International terrorism has since evolved into a global menace that warrants highly strategic counter efforts.
One can analyze the evolution of international in terms of waves rather than isolated incidents. Trends indicate that multiplicity whereby similar events occur in several countries about the same period characterized a wave. The waves may represent either an expansion or contraction. According to Rapoport (n.d.), the world has witnessed four waves of international terrorism. They include the Anti-colonial, Anarchist, Religious, and New Left Wave. Each possesses a unique feature that distinguishes it from the rest. Rapoport (n.d.) reports that the name of a wave itself depicts its dominant feature. Interestingly, they have lasted about a generation each, an aspect naturally explainable by the fact the aspirations of the parents are less inspiring to their children.
The first wave germinated in an increasingly interconnected environment through entrenched transport and communication systems. Inspired by the inciting writings of the Russian writers, the Russian anarchists efficiently traversed the world in a popularization mission of their ideologies. Other groupings such as the KKK of Northern America were less willing to propagate their philosophies with rest, but their actions’ reports spread nevertheless (Rapoport, n.d.). The anarchist essentially believed that the perfect substitute for corrupted laws was no laws. The anti-colonial wave was a reaction to the precipitation of multistate empires by the victors of world wars. The rebels of established realms comprised backed losers in the battles whose former empires faced usurp threat from the victors in the wars (Rapaport, n.d.). Moreover, other nations such as the United States were ideologically against colonialism, and their stand was an inspiration to the international rebellion against colonialism.
The New Left wave highlighted the continued rebellion against the former colonialists by the extremist groupings even after the national uprisings that marked the previous wave had ceased. Although the United States was not a colonizer, it represented the supremacy of the West, making it a target for most of the terrorist groups (Rapaport, n.d.). Similarly, extremist groupings had also emerged in the West, rebelling against impunity in their respective governments through assassinations and considering themselves the vanguards for the third world nations. The religious wave embodied both the conflict between religious doctrines and secularism and interreligious conflicts. While religions in some parts of the world sought an ecclesiastical state, others in other parts of the world longed to overthrow each other from the seat of dominance. Rapaport (n.d.) argues that Islam dominates the wave marked by the infamous September 11 attack and many suicide bombings worldwide. This observation remains consistent because terrorism has become synonymous with Islam extremism.
The intellectual evaluation of the evolution of international terrorism has led to the projection of a possible fifth wave. The hypothesis is not farfetched given that each generation presents its triggers if one has to consider the history. Rapoport (n.d.) predicted that the fourth wave will likely disappear by 2025 if the former patterns hold. Admittedly, modernism and postmodernism have loosened the stranglehold of religion on the devotees. While religious worldviews will certainly not exit the stage, the extremist versions will undoubtedly dissipate. The religious worldviews are becoming more tolerant as every religion becomes acknowledged to contain nuggets of truth. States have also become more democratic, usurping the position of faith as the sole champion for human rights. The world is not encountering the fifth wave yet. However, I embrace Jeffrey Simon’s projection that the fifth wave will draw its energy from technological interconnectedness, enabling the possibility of lone operations (Lyon & Huang, 2015). These lone-wolf terrorists will channel their frustrations and hate through the internet and cybercrime.
All the waves of international terrorism have attracted counterefforts with the anticipation that an effective strategy formulation exist...