Learning Objectives

 To learn about the origin and definition of terrorism

 To learn about causes and consequences of terrorism
 To understand the relationship between
political/ethnic/religion/language-based conflicts and
terrorism (Case: Syria and Sri Lanka)
 Terrorism: Origin and definition
 Terrorism as a concept was first used by the British
statesman Edmund Burke.
 He used it in the context of the Reign of Terror during the
French Revolution> terror was understood to be a tool of
dictatorship & a symbol of power
 Immanuel Kant, a philospher in 18th century: Used the
term to define a destiny of humankind; a kind of loss of trust
& hope
 19th Century: The term assumed a revolutionary meaning. It
tried to identify both the perpetrators of violence and their
victims or objectives
 Terrorism: Origin and definition

 19th Century: Revolutionary terrorism involved the use

of a variety of violent means - starting from arbitrary
bombing, through politically motivated kidnappings,
assassination, and destruction of property, both
governmental and individual.
 2nd half of 19th Century: Terrorism was brought into the
fray of nationalism and nationalistic interests. Now it
began to symbolize a kind of desire to rid a country of
colonial powers through violent means.
 20th Century: Interwar years> methodologies of
Fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany could also be
called terrorism. They had definite negative undertone
 Review Question

Q. Terrorism as a concept was first used by

___________________.
1. Stephen Nathanson
2. Edmund Burke
3. Audrey Kurth Cronin
4. Immanuel Kant
 Review Question

Q. Nationalism and nationalistic interests were

associated with terrorism in the second half of
__________________.
1. 17th Century
2. 18th Century
3. 19th Century
4. 20th Century
 Terrorism: Origin and definition
 The Oxford Advanced Dictionary defines terrorism as
the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims
or to force a government to act.
 The Encyclopedia Britannica describes terrorism as the
systematic use of terror or unpredictable violence against
governments, public or individuals, to attain a political
objective.
 Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, terrorism is a method
whereby an organized group or party seeks to achieve its
vowed aims chiefly through the systematic use of
violence.
 What is terrorism?

 Can Terrorism Be Defined?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sio9kNnDXwc
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3XzlmwYnXE
 Terrorism
According to Stephen Nathanson (2010),
 They are acts of serious violence.
 They are committed in order to advance a political
goal.
 They generally target limited numbers of people in
order to influence
 Meant to influence a wider audience of ordinary people
and/or public decisionmakers.
 They intentionally kill and injure innocent people
 Categories of Terrorist Attacks &
Victimization
 Focused Attack: Target specific member of governments
or political actors for the purposes of attaining a particular
political aim

 Indiscriminate Attack: Contemporary terrorism is

characterized by an increasing frequency and magnitude
of indiscriminate violence
 Victims of terrorist attacks are not usually specifically
selected on the basis of their individual characteristics, but
are “chance” victims who happen to be in the wrong
place at the wrong time.
 Terrorist victimization
 Primary or direct victims
 Those who are killed by terrorist kidnappers, hostage-
takers, gunmen or bombers.
 Those who are injured, mutilated or mentally tortured by
terrorists but ultimately released or liberated.
 Those who are wounded or die in a counter-terrorist
rescue operation at the hands of terrorists or armed first
responders.
 Those who become mentally or physically handicapped
because of a terrorist event.
 Causes of Terrorism
 Persistent Disputes: Terrorism has its breeding ground in
conflicts. Reasons for conflicts, however, can vary widely.
Basically, it is the differences in objectives and ideologies
that create the way to conflict.

 Absence of Reasonable Redressal Procedure: The

absence of a systematic and proper redressal system can
cause continued terrorist activities. If such a system were to
exist, people will have recourse to it and thus solve
conflicting situations.
 Causes of Terrorism

 Misguidance: When children and youth are not brought

up responsibly by their parents or guardians, there is a high
risk for them to get involved with violent groups or
militancy.

 Influence of the Mass Media: The wide media coverage

given to terrorist events often motivates a terrorist
organization to go ahead with their attack plans. They
know that their action will be made known to the whole
world and thus draw greater attention to the cause.
 Causes of Terrorism
 Democratic State: Though in one sense democracy
diminishes the risk of terrorism by undercutting some of its
reasons, in another sense it often contributes to its
prevalence. The open nature of democratic societies makes
them vulnerable to terrorism.

 In democratic countries/societies, civil liberties are

protected. Government control and constant surveillance of
the people and their activities are kept to the minimum.
Taking advantage of such restraints by the government,
terrorists have stepped up their activities in such countries.
 Causes of Terrorism

 Psychological Factors: Many psychologists believe that

the key to understand terrorism lies in understanding
people. According to this perspective, terrorism is purely
the result of psychological forces, not a well-thought-out
strategy aimed at achieving rational, strategic ends.

 Globalization: Globalisation is not direct cause; but

integration of global economy and other geo-political
factors (international politics) can indirectly contribute to
terrorism
 Conflict and terrorism in Syria

 Conflict began with anti-

government protests before
escalating into a full-scale civil
war.
 Many Syrians were complaining
about high unemployment,
corruption and a lack of
political freedom under
President Bashar al-Assad,
who succeeded his father, Hafez-
al-Assad, after he died in 2000.
 Conflict and terrorism in Syria
 The beginning: In March 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations
erupted in the southern city of Deraa, inspired by uprisings in
neighbouring countries against repressive rulers.
 When the Syrian government used deadly force to crush the
protesters, protests demanding the president's resignation erupted
nationwide.
 The violence rapidly escalated and the country descended into civil
war.
 Hundreds of rebel groups sprung up and soon after other parties got
involved.
 Foreign powers began to take sides, sending money, weaponry and
fighters.
 The chaos worsened when extremist jihadist organisations with
their own aims, such as the Islamic State (IS) group and al-
Qaeda, became involved.
 Multiple Involvements

 The US, UK and France initially

provided support for what they
considered "moderate" rebel groups.

 At a later stage (2014), an US-led global

coalition also carried out air strikes and
deployed special forces in Syria to help
an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias
called the Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF).

 They were able to successfully capture

territory once held by IS militants in the
north-east.
 Multiple Involvements
 Russia - which had military bases in Syria
before the war - launched an air campaign in
support of Mr. Assad in 2015. This campaign
was crucial in turning the tide of the war in
favour of Mr. Assad and his government.
 The Russian military said its strikes only target
"terrorists" (Islamic State Terrorists) but
activists say they regularly kill mainstream
rebels and civilians (especially the Kurdish
rebels).
 Iran is believed to have deployed hundreds of
troops and spent billions of dollars to help Mr.
Assad.
 Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who wanted to
counter Iranian influence, armed and financed
the rebels at the start of the war.
 Multiple Involvements
 Turkey is another major supporter of the
opposition. However, its focus has been on
using rebel factions to contain the Kurdish
YPG militia that dominates the SDF.
Turkey claims that the Kurdish rebels of
Syria are an extension of a banned Kurdish
rebel group in Turkey.
 Turkish troops and allied rebels have
seized stretches of territory along Syria's
northern border and intervened to stop an
all-out assault by government forces on the
last opposition stronghold of Idlib.
• Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, and make up between 5 and
10 percent of the Syrian population.

• The Kurdish population in Syria is relatively small in comparison to the

Kurdish populations in nearby countries, such as Turkey (14.4–
16 million), Iran (7.9 million), and Iraq (4.7–6.2 million).

• The majority of Syrian Kurds speak Kurmanji, a Kurdish dialect spoken in

Turkey and north-eastern Iraq and Iran.

• Syrian Kurds live mainly in three Kurdish pockets in northern Syria

adjacent to Turkey.

• Even though some Kurdish communities have a long history in Syria, most
Syrian Kurds originate from Turkey and have immigrated during the 20th
century to escape the harsh repression of the Kurds in that country.

• The government has used the fact that some Kurds fled to Syria during the
1920's to claim that Kurds are not indigenous to the country and to justify its
discriminatory policies against them
What is Syrian Refugee Crisis ?

• Refugees of the Syrian Civil War are citizens and permanent

residents of Syria who have fled the country over the course of
the Syrian Civil War.

•More than 6.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee their
country since 2011 and another 6.7 million people remain internally
displaced.

• The vast majority of refugees have found refuge in neighboring

countries, primarily in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

• Many refugees have found or claimed asylum in Western

European countries.
 Syrian Conflict

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e_KpYIfZAY
 Review Question

 In 2011, Syrian conflict started from which of the

following cities?
A. Homs
B. Damascus
C. Aleppo
D. Deraa
 Conflicts and Violence in Sri Lanka
 Violence between majority Singhalese and minority
Tamils
 Ethnic tension involves language and religion
 Majority Singhalese are Buddhists and Tamils are
Hindu
 Tamil speaking Hindus represent only 18% of the total
population
 Half of these Tamils are living in the country since the
13th century and British government brought other half
from Southern India to work in tea plantations
 After Independence in 1948, Singhalese was made the
official language
 Tamils plantation workers were denied the right to vote
and descendents of earlier plantation workers were
deported
• This led to the emergence of “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam” in
1970s

• A Civil war erupted in Sri Lanka in 1983 between the Sri Lankan
government and LTTE.

• The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil

Eelam in the north-east of the island.

• After a 26-year military campaign, the Sri Lankan Armed

Forces militarily defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, bringing the
civil war to an end.
 Right: Percentage of Sri Lankan Tamils per
district based on census 2001 and 1981 (italic)
 History of the Civil War in Sri Lanka

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlN_copvSmg
 Consequences of Terrorism

 Environmental Consequences
 Every terrorist attack is a way of demeaning the environment
 Defoliation and ecosystem destruction
 The dumping of the machinery and the destruction of
resources such as oil fields also occur
 Pollution
 Loss of Life and severe injury Victims of terrorism can
suffer severe injuries and even loss of life. They can also
suffer from severe psychological trauma.
 Destruction of property, even entire urban landscape can
be devastating for the people caught up in conflict zones
 Militant attack on Iraqi Oil Wells, Kirkuk
Province, Northern Iraq, May 2021

In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh/ISIS by reclaiming all territories

previously controlled by the terrorist group (since the summer of 2014) which was
estimated to be about a third of the country’s territory.
The group, however, still maintains sleeper cells in large areas in Iraq and
occasionally launches sporadic attacks.
 Consequences of Terrorism
 Political Consequences
 Terrorism builds up both direct and indirect pressure on the
government to weaken it physically and psychologically.
 The function of terror can also be to discourage the people
from cooperating with or giving information to the
government.
 The deepest anxiety amongst ordinary people arises when
they fear a collapse of law and order.
 Terrorism works towards a collapse of the social order and
terrorists exploit this situation by trying to project them as a
better alternative.
 Consequences of Terrorism

 Economic Consequences
 Bifurcation of national funds to combat the network of
terrorism
 Deterioration of economy> all forms of wealth are affected
(e.g. human resource, natural resource, aesthetic power,
creativity etc.)
 Terrorism and Ethics

 Terrorism has turned out over the years to be a method

of dehumanizing the entire spectrum of human beings.

 Terrorism violates human rights, including the basic

right to be treated as a moral person. Art. 3 of the
United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human
Rights states, among other things, that everyone has the
right to life.
 Terrorism and Ethics

 The growing hate campaigns against groups, regions and

countries affect the normal morale of the society.
 Terrorism can thus be a threat to the civilization of the
world. For, behaving ethically is a part of being civilized.
 Every community has the freedom to fight for their rights.
But they also have the responsibility to establish and follow
ethical codes which should govern the conduct of their
struggle.
 Individual Activity: Reflection

 Write your own definition of terrorism along with its

four-five characteristics.
 https://padlet.com/pghos2/9bezi3kygwqi0aae
 Learning Outcome

 Gained knowledge of origin and definition of terrorism

 Learned about causes and consequences of terrorism
 Comprehend the relationship between
political/ethnic/religion/language-based conflicts and
terrorism (Case: Syria and Sri Lanka)
 Additional Resources

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/10/epic-failure-of-our-age-
how-west-failed-syria
 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/civil-war-ruin-raging-p
overty-but-assad-is-guaranteed-to-win-syrias-fake-election
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFpanWNgfQY