Combating International Terrorism

1. Beginnings

1.1. Highly theatrical, political motivated symbolic acts of violence performed by organized groups.

1.2. They justified violence with a deep belief in the necessity and justice of their cause.

1.3. Late 1960's: international terrorism became a pressing issue.

1.4. 1968: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacked an El Al Flight

1.5. 1972 Munich Olympics: Black September (Palestinian group) kidnapped and killed Israeli athletes.

1.6. The terms "Counterterrorism" and "International terrorism" were added to Washington's political lexicon.

2. Situation in 2003

2.1. Most fatalities from terrorist-related attacks happened in Middle East & North Africa, and South Asia.

2.2. Patterns of Global Terrorism reports said that 190 attacks happened in 2003, however it did not include attacks in Iraq because United States didn't considered them international terrorism.

2.3. Nations designated states sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, and Sudan.

3. Terrorism after 9/11

3.1. The deadliest terrorist incident in human history (3000 victims) marked the beginning of "War on Terror".

3.2. Terrorism before 9/11 was mainly concentrated in Latin America and Asia, but shifted to the Middle East after 9/11 as a result of radical Islamic ideologies.

3.3. War on Terror led to the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and of Iraq in 2003 as well as other operations in Yemen, Pakistan and Syria.

3.4. Some consider War on Terror has made us less safe and is the leading cause of terrorism.

4. References

4.1. Zalman, Amy, Ph.D. (2018, June 14). The History of Terrorism. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-terrorism-3209374

4.2. Max Roser, Mohamed Nagdy and Hannah Ritchie (2019) - "Terrorism". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism'

4.3. CNN.com - Worldwide terrorist attacks down in 2003 - Apr 29, 2004