The first terrorists early zealots and assassins such as the sicarii and the hashhashin frightened their contemporaries but were not really terrorists in the modern sense. Although hezbollah operates mostly in the middle east, it has a global. Berger international centre for counter terrorism the hague william braniff start consortium, university of maryland cole bunzel incepr ton univ ersity. Despite withdrawal of us forces from iraq, kuwait along with qatar has remained an important regional hub, with. The 21st century has been a volatile period, beginning with the 911 attacks, the boston marathon bombing and the great recession. An empirical analysis of terrorism in the middle east and.
Pdf this paper interrogates the role of the middle east in international terrorism and the spillovers of this on global security. Last january, after returning from a trip to the middle east to visit our brave men and women serving in iraq and afghanistan, i issued a white paper, iraq. Project muse islamist terrorism and democracy in the. A variety of future regional conflict scenarios may stem from terrorist action. This book examines and explains the nature and sources of terrorists beliefs, actions, goals, worldviews, and states of mind. The concept has a complex and contested history evident in quran and the hadith. When examining the drivers of terrorism the presence of armed conflict, political violence by governments, political exclusion and group grievances remain critical factors. Efraim inbar is professor emeritus of political studies at barilan university and a fellow at the middle east forum.
The middle east and the new terrorism ucl discovery. As the war on terrorism moves beyond alqaida, it is clear that the american focus remains almost entirely on the middle east. The light at the end of the tunnel, assessing the state of affairs in iraq and placing it in the context of. In march 2016, soutchom commander admiral tidd estimated that some 100150 foreign fighters had. Understanding politics and terrorism in the arab middle east by samuel helfont center on terrorism and counterterrorism at the foreign policy research institute.
State sponsored terrorism in the middle east 37 inspiration from the iranian revolution and the teachings of the late ayatollah khomenei united states department of state 2010, 216. The seemingly sudden rise of the islamic state of iraq and the levant isil, also known as the islamic state of iraq and syria, isis in the summer of 2014 to be come the middle east regions most dangerous threat has shocked and puzzled most western observers. The largest numbers of incidents and fatalities caused by islamic terrorism have occurred in places like iraq, afghanistan, nigeria, pakistan, yemen and syria. Caveats and a larger global and historical context. Evolving terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures. An attack can be rooted in religious, social, or political conflicts such as when one community is oppressed by another. Is terrorism a useful term in understanding the middle east and the palestinianisraeli conflict. Terrorism significantly affects the middle east s economy, to a far greater extent than it does in europe. On the eve of the 1995 elections, the most fraudulent in egypts recent history. There was much terrorism in catholic and freethinking latin american for a long time and the first terrorism in the middle east since the creation of israel was carried out by christians. Yes, one should avoid making an exception for the middle east when explaining terrorism. Origins of terrorism in the middle east notes on liberty. In the context of the middle east, new terrorism no doubt stems from a collective sense of historical injustice, political subservience, and a. Kuwait is a major non nato ally and the country served as a base for over 20,000 us troops during the iraq war.
Such disruptions could resort in increased levels of political unrest, including outbreaks of terrorism. The jihadi threat united states institute of peace. Terrorism in the middle east chapter 9 terrorism and literature. Terrorism in the wake of the cold war order a thesis. Origins of terrorism in the middle east 030420 05282015 brandon christensen books, history, religion eugene rogan, islam, islamism, judaism, terrorism, war and peace, zionism i just recently came across a very, very good book on the history of the middle east. Globalisation and terrorism in the middle east lutz. See also crs report r44563, terrorism and violent extremism in africa, by lauren ploch blanchard and alexis arieff, and crs report r44501, terrorism in southeast asia, by ben dolven et al.
The evolution of islamic terrorism an overview target. In fact, tehrans support of terrorism includes both the sponsorship of middle eastern. The manhunt for the killers behind the 1972 olympics massacre by michael barzohar, caucasus. The narrative traces the roots of terrorism to the middle east, noting the volatility. Widely designated a terrorist organisation by the west and its allies in the middle east, hezbollah is a major political force in lebanon. What you must know about the schisms fueling todays violent upheavals. It is common for opponents in a violent conflict to. Answers stating that there is more terrorism, in terms of deaths, outside the radius surrounding the middle east, including central asia and northern africa, are incorrect. The history of terrorism is a long one, and defining it is not a straightforward matter. The lebanonbased hezbollah has a long history of executing terrorist attacks against american targets in the middle east at irans direction and could be activated to launch attacks inside the. According to dalacoura, this idea developed into an academic and public policy. We can sustain interminable skirmishing in the middle east due to geography and military prowess.
Asymmetric warfare refers to the use of randomunpredictable violence by a weak group i. Perhaps this is why some believe that of all irans proxies, none is more important to tehran than the lebanese hizballah byman, 2005. Tahrir institute for middle east policy charles lister middle east. Local banks, fearful for their correspondent relationships with us financial institutions, have embraced us sanctions on the organisation but it has long managed to work alternative funding channels.
Modern political violence in the contemporary middle east has its roots in the. Scholars agree that terrorism is a disputed term, and very few of those labeled terrorists describe themselves as such. It perpetrated the two deadliest terrorist attacks in the history of south. Eastern and central asian affairs july 25, 2012 chairman casey, ranking member risch, and distinguished members of the committee, i thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss irans support for terrorism in the middle east. The american approach to fighting terrorism in the middle east suffers from three related flaws. Besa center perspectives papers are published through the generosity of the greg rosshandler family.
Muhammad said that the jews had been rejected by allah and cursed. This paper attempts to measure the effects of this collapse on terrorism, focusing specifically on the west and the middle east. Using data on terrorist incidents as well as national demographic and socioeconomic conditions, i find a strong and unambiguous increase in. The narrative traces the roots of terrorism to the middle east, noting. Every group mentioned by president bush in his state of the union.
Islamist terrorism and the middle east democratic deficit. The term middle east is used here in a restricted sense with a special emphasis on the. Why is there more terrorism in the middle east than in. Islamic terrorist tactics spread beyond the middle east to places like libya, east africa, the sahel zone of africa, pakistan, thailand, indonesia, and the philippines, largely following the model of middle eastern jihadists. Terrorism can take multiple forms and have many causes, often more than one. Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence to achieve political gains, and its history is as old as humans willingness to use violence to achieve political power. Origins of terrorism addresses, with scholarly responsibility as well as necessary urgency, one of the most vexing intellectual and political challenges of our time. Evolving terrorist tactics, techniques, and procedures ttp migration across south asia, caucasus, and the middle east introduction in the last thirty years, south asia, caucasus and the middle east regions have seen an increase in the number of theaters of terrorism and insurgency. This paper interrogates the role of the middle east in international terrorism and the spillovers of this on global security. However the dominant trends of terrorism in the 21st century are the profound impact of terrorism on the middle east, north africa, and south east asia, as exemplified by the number of terrorist.
The history of terrorism is a history of wellknown and historically significant individuals, entities, and incidents associated, whether rightly or wrongly, with terrorism. Why we should measure the economic impact of terrorism in. Fanack is an independent media organisation, not funded by any state or any interest group, that distributes in the middle east and the wider world unbiased analysis and background information, based on facts, about the middle east and north africa. It touched on the issue of individuals from south america and the caribbean leaving the region to fight with the islamic state. But if history is any guide, isis will resort to more terrorist attacks in the west as it loses ground. Terrorist organisations in the middle east, north africa, and central asia have distributed. So it seems a critical oversight that studies have not attempted to estimate the total cost of terrorism in the middle east, given that this region has seen the sharpest increase in terrorism pdf. The rand center for middle east public policy cmepp brings together analytic excellence and regional expertise from across the rand corporation to address the most critical political, social, and economic challenges facing the middle east today. Of the 17,958 people who died in terrorist attacks in 20, 82 percent wer. Terrorism is not and never has been exclusively or primarily islamic. Islamic terrorism, islamist terrorism or radical islamic terrorism are terrorist acts against civilians committed by violent islamists who claim a religious motivation. Coronavirus israel news opinion middle east diaspora u.
In her ambitious and challenging book islamist terrorism and democracy in the middle east, katerina dalacoura seeks to debunk the idea that islamist terrorism is the product of a democratic deficit in the region, a form of the exclusionradicalization hypothesis. A biblical perspective on death, terrorism, and the middle. Joel beinin the middle east is commonly considered a region especially vulnerable to terrorism and the chief exporter of terrorism to other parts of the world. This report does not cover al qaeda affiliates outside of the middle east, afghanistan, and africa. Needless to say, that occupation was itself among the most destabilizing events to befall the middle east in its modern history and has led to tens of thousands of deaths from terrorism. Most of the countries consist of open terrain, deserts and plains devoid of vegetation. Is terrorism a useful term in understanding the middle. The territories of historical palestine not constituting the state of israel after 1948.