Terrorism Essay Example

Terrorism Essay Example Terrorism Essay Terrorism Essay Terrorism Name: Course: Institution: The contention encompassing terrorism has been prevalent over the past few years, especially within the international community. Much of the controversy involved in this topic arises from the legal definition of terrorism and the prejudices behind it. In the legal sense, terrorism does not possess any legal requisite. With that said, it is apparent that terrorism is undefined under criminal legislations. Regardless, terrorism has garnered various definitions based on its effects on society as well as social or political motivations. For instance, terrorism refers to violent activities devised to exude fear from people, carried out for ideological, religious or nationalist reasons, and intentionally ignore the safety of civilians. Nonetheless, such definitions are partial since other organizations engage in the same tactics but do not fall under terrorist groups. Regardless of these contentions, terrorism is indeed a recurrent factor in the contemporary age. Researchers have developed various assumptions or hypotheses that establish the motives behind various acts of terror in different parts of the world. Motives for Terrorism Ideological Terrorism: Baader-Meinhof in Germany Ideological terrorism focuses on promoting or furthering a specific belief system by committing acts of violence and terror against governments and civilians. Specifically, it involves certain factions that engage in acts of terror in order to impose their political principles on other system. This form of terrorism arose from revolutionary terrorism, which was mostly in the form of guerrilla warfare. Nonetheless, ideological terrorism originated from anti-colonialism. This type of terrorism arose from the ideology within urban terrorism and urban guerrilla. According to White (2012), such ideas derived from Frantz Fanon. Fanon alleged that the Western influences dehumanized non-Western people leading to the destruction of their cultures and substituting them with Western standards. As a result, the people began experiencing exasperations from their perpetual identity predicament. This predicament asserted that for them to succeed, it was vital to reject their heritage. One of the modern terrorist groups practicing ideological terrorism is the left-wing terrorist group, the Baader-Meinhof. The Baader-Meinhof faction was one of the significant European leftists during the 1970s. At this time, most European leftwing groups as well as the nationalist factions adopted the Marighella Model based on the South American revolutionary leader, Carlos Marighella. The Marighella Model provided specific tactics for engaging in acts of terror based on the practical proposals of Marighella himself. Based on the model, Marighella sought to relocate violence to the urban centre from the rural areas. This strategy focused on initiating a terror campaign via small factions comprising urban guerillas. As such, violence was urban-based. Marighella focused on this strategy in order to reveal the oppressive and exploitive nature of the government to the unaware public. The Baader-Meinhof received inauguration in 1970. The perpetrators of this group were its founders, and they comprised Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Mahler and Ulrike Meinhof. Also known as the Red Army Faction (RAF), the group portrayed itself as a communist urban guerrilla faction fighting against fascism in Germany. The main objective of the Baader-Meinhof gang involved eradicating the anti-imperialistic and conservative role that the German government played at that time. Furthermore, most German citizens expressed dissatisfaction with the government based on problems such as racism, sexism as well as anti-imperialism, which the government failed to address during the 1970s. Such reasons led to the terrorist attacks against government officials and conservative big heads from 1970 to 1998 leading to 34 deaths including secondary personnel. However, in 1998, the leftist group ceased its operations after delivering a communique to the press announcing its disbandment. Religious Terrorism: Iran’s State-Sponsored Religious Terrorism Religious terrorism embraces most aspects of ideological terrorism. This is because religious terror groups use religion as an ideology to perpetrate such acts. Nonetheless, there is still significant disparity between both classes of terrorism. Religious terrorism is the performance of acts of terror or violent acts against civilians and governments because of motives and objectives that possess a domineering religious temperament or influence. Specifically, religious terrorism is a category of political aggression influenced by an unconditional belief based on the assumption that a greater power has commanded such acts for the magnificence of the faith. Usually, violent behaviors based on faith will receive forgiveness from the greater power and may even incur gratification in another life. In the real meaning, a person’s religious faith justifies violence as long as the act expresses the will of the person’s deity. One of the main examples of religious terrorism involves state-sponsored religious terrorism. The sponsorship of terrorism is unlimited to facilitating ethnic or ideological movements. It also inculcates the funding of religious radical movements. An example of this is the case of Iran. In 1979, the republic of Iran assumed the role of a religious terror sponsor after overthrowing Shah Muhammed Reza Pahlavi’s monarchy and creating the Islamic Republic of Iran afterwards. The country has sponsored several factions famous for engaging in terror attacks. For instance, the Revolutionary Guards Corps’ member, Qods Force, endorses Islamic revolution globally and the emancipation of Jerusalem from Islam non-believers (O’Hern, 2012). Additionally, the officials of Iran have insinuated the creation of martyrdoms specifically designated for suicide terror acts against Israelis and Americans. A significant illustration of the nation’s support for politically sensitive factions comprises the benefaction and aid Iran provides for the Hezbollah Movement. The relationship between Hezbollah and Iran is vital since the faction played a crucial role in the political surroundings within the region. As a Shia movement, Hezbollah (Party of God) arose in order to support the Shia populace in Lebanon. The organization originated at the time of the Lebanon Civil War and the 1982 incursion of Israel as a sturdy symbol for Lebanon’s independence and a justice platform for the Lebanese Shia (Fattah Fierke, 2009). The group is accountable for numerous political terror acts in the 1980s and 1990s comprising kidnappings, suicide attacks and terror acts against Israelis. Iran also sponsors other terror groups in other regions such as Palestine in order to attack the Israelis dwelling in the West Bank and Gaza. Such groups comprise religious movements such as Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement). Nationalist Terrorism: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Nationalist terrorism is the use of violent acts because of motives based on nationalism. Usually, nationalist terrorists attempt to search for self-determination, which ranges from attaining significant autonomy to the creation of a fully independent and sovereign state. Based on this reason, nationalist terrorists also gain definition as ethnic separatists. Furthermore, nationalist terrorists frequently resist the notion of imperialism and other unlawful powers embraced by the government. Nationalist terrorism originates in the form of national, racial, devout or other classifying groups that feel that the government is oppressing them or denying their privileges, especially the privileges usually awarded to other people within the same state or nation. Based on such reasons, nationalist terrorists usually deem themselves as freedom fighters. They justify their acts of violence against the immediate government as acts of liberation especially for the minority or the larger populati on that possesses limited recognized national rights. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is an illustration of nationalist terrorism. Materializing from a history of violence sponsored by the state and ethnic discrimination, the LTTE are at the front of the modern Tamil nationalist movement. Their objective for this focuses mainly on the development of a segregated state within the eastern and northern regions of Sri Lanka. Based on their commitment towards armed struggle, the Tamils taking part in the faction receive a description by the state of Sri Lanka as terrorists. Regardless, the LTTE is indeed one of the most violent nationalist factions in South Asia. This is according to the considerable attacks it has committed against the Sri-Lankan government. In 1991, the LTTE assassinated the Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, in 1993 and 1994; the group also assassinated the state’s President, Ranasinghe Premadasa and the former Prime Minister, Dissanayake respectively (Hussain, 2010). The group is also responsible for the deaths of other prominent military and political persons. The LTTE is also a result of the ethnic dispute between the minority ethnic tribe, Tamils and the majority populace, the Sinhalese. Because of the government actions that encouraged violations of the privileges of Tamils from 1948 and 1977, a significant pool of unemployed and educated youth retaliated in 1972 under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran (Hussain, 2010). The Tamil militant factions and the Tigers recognized the significance of developing a unique and separate Tamil northern province. This region would be significant based on security provisions and an unchallenged platform for supporting and directing LTTE attacks in the island. Additionally, the 1983 Sinhalese-Tamil riots polarized both tribes forcing half a million Tamils to seek refuge in Western nations and India. Because of this, the LTTE became able to support one of the most successful international terrorist networks. The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis Usually, the main assumption for terrorism involves whether terrorists are born or created during their lifetime. This assumption simply outlines terrorists are born and not configured by society. As such, the motives for their acts arise from the influence of natural endowments such as wealth. Nonetheless, the general hypotheses originating from terrorism allege that the society creates terrorists. Based on this, there are various hypotheses that seek to answer the reason behind the actions portrayed by different terrorists. One of the main hypotheses applicable to these cases is the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis is one of the most extensive approaches towards understanding terrorist acts. Ted Robert Gurr reformulated the proposition in 1970 based on the Relative-Deprivation hypothesis. Additionally, the assumption underwent reformulation in 1973 by J. C. Davies based on the effect of the gap between increasing expectations and satisfaction of needs (Hudson, 2010). The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis asserts that most incidences of frustration originate from a certain type of aggression. Based on this assumption, the theory assumes that the aggressive acts are a way of relieving the exasperated individuals from their frustrations to a certain extent. The primary concept of the hypothesis is that aggravations and tensions upsurge to a point that the individual cannot contain them. Therefore, in order to release such tensions, the individual channels them in a satisfactory way that relieves them of their vexations (Whitley Kite, 2010). As mentioned, the hypothesis originates from the Relative-Deprivation hypothesis. This theory surmises that individuals consistently compare what they possess and what they do not possess as they select their interests and standards. Additionally, they also compare their needs and wants with the actual or the imaginary (Connor, 2009). As such, they note the disparity between their inequalities, which leads them to express frustration based on this sense of injustice according to them. The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis argues that violent acts of terror arise from the exasperation arising from insufficient gratification of needs by political or economic systems. Simply, the theory asserts that terrorist or terrorist-related behavior arises from a range of economic, political or individual requirements or objectives. Furthermore, the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis alleges that terrorist behavior occurs because of the frustration that relates specifically to economic and political situations. These economic and political situations nurture considerable frustration, based on incessant marginalization and alienation, as such develop a desire to endorse change in a drastic way. For instance, the French Revolution of 1789 is an example of the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. This is because the French Revolution arose out of the people’s frustrations with the ineptitude of King Louis XVI and the deterioration of the country’s aristocracy (Gough, 20 10). As a result, there was intense social and political upheaval against the monarch. In the case of the Baader-Meinhof gang, the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis applies significantly. As a leftist group, the Baader-Meinhof gang embraced the ideologies of the Marighella Urban Model. This is similar to other leftist groups in Europe that adopted the same representation in order to commit their acts of terror. The main ideology expressed by the Marighella Urban Model was repression by the government. Marighella surmised that violence via urban guerillas was the only way to make the public understand the authoritative and exploitive nature of the government. This was similar to the ideology articulated by the Red Army Faction in the 1970s. The members of the factions and the young public collectively disagreed with the authoritarian and oppressive structures in Germany that arose from Nazism. This is because the Nazi historical legacy separated the generations leading to amplified suspicion concerning dictatorial structures within the society. The Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis also applies to some extent in the case of Iran. Most of the reasons for the support of terrorism by Iran involve political autonomy. Nonetheless, even though the country uses such reasons to perpetrate violence, the members of these terrorist groups focus on relieving their frustrations especially with the Israeli government. Accordingly, members of terror groups such as the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Hamas focus on ridding Israeli civilians within Israeli-occupied areas such as Gaza and the West Bank. This is because of numerous years of intense alienation and marginalization. Such frustrations make members of the Islamic community a significant target especially for Iran’s political motivations based on the notion of religion. In the case of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Frustration Aggression Hypothesis correlates with the motivations behind terror attacks committed against the Sri-Lankan and Indian government. The members of the terror group comprise the minority ethnic group, the Tamils. Because of years of breach of their rights by the government, most of them relieved their exasperations by joining the Tamil Tigers. Additionally, the Tamils felt that they received unequal treatment and benefit unlike their counterparts, the Sinhalese, who gained privileges from the government. This is an instance of the Relative-Deprivation hypothesis. By comparing their pathetic situation with the Sinhalese, the Tamils sought to expel their frustrations with the government based on the way it unfairly treated the Tamil population. In conclusion, terrorism is indeed a considerable anomaly in the modern society. However, it is evident that acts of terror also occurred in different historical periods because of specific reasons. Such reasons have transformed into ideological, religious and nationalist motives. Even though terror movements embrace such different motives in committing violent acts, the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis proves that underlying frustrations and grievances form part of the major reasons why various people engage in acts of terrorism. References Connor, T. (2009). The criminology of terrorism: Theories and models. In Borgeson, K., Valeri, R. (Eds.), Terrorism in America (17-54). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. Fattah, K., Fierke, K. M. (2009). A Clash of Emotions: The Politics of Humiliation and Political Violence in the Middle East. European Journal of International Relations, 15(1), 67-93. Gough, H. (2010). The terror in the French Revolution. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Hudson, R. A. (2010). Sociology and psychology of terrorism. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers. Hussain, S. R. (2010). Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE): Failed Quest for a ‘Homeland’. In Mulaj, K. (Ed.), Violent Non-State Actors in World Politics (381-412). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. O’Hern, S. K. (2012). Iran’s Revolutionary Guard: The threat that grows while America sleeps. Washington, D.C: Potomac Books. White, J. R. (2012). Terrorism and homeland security. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Whitley, B. E., Kite, M. E. (2010). The psychology of prejudice and discrimination. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

The Fresh Prince of Valley Professor Ramos Blog

The Fresh Prince of Valley It was a cold fall night on November 12 of 2014, a special day unlike any other. It was my 16th birthday, and I just came home from football practice. I was ready to go inside to my lovely warm apartment and relax, but it turns out there was a lock on the door. My mom was telling me that we had just been evicted. At that moment my heart plummeted as I realized the situation we were in. My mother is a single parent who had been already struggling to find a reliable source of income and make ends meet .   For the next couple of days after the eviction, we stayed at a woman shelter,   I would go to school, football practice then head down there afterward. After a couple of days our stay at the shelter was cut short due to the fact that the shelter was to be a safe haven for only domestic abused spouses. At that moment things were at an all-time low, however by the luck of God my tragic fate was about to change. I received a call from one my friend’s father, and that call was a blessing in its entirety. Kyle’s parents had always been a big part of my life, as they had helped multiple times in the past. However this time was different, it was on another level. Kyle’s parents picked me up from the shelter and in agreement with my mother due to the circumstances, I had to part ways from my mother for the time being and live with Kyle’s family. Kyle’s family As his father would describe it are well off. In my eyes there were rich, they had two Range Rovers a Mercedes, and a two story house with a three car garage. Coming from the neighborhood I grew up in, it was rare for a family to have an exotic car in their driveway, let alone have three. I could tell they lived a more flamboyant lifestyle, as Mrs. Evens would go groceries shopping in a mink coat. Mink coats are one of the most expensive clothing brands, mostly seen in rap videos. The first difference I saw was their costumes for dinner time were different from what I was used to. Dinner time usually with my mother we would eat at the sofa and watch television, with the Greens they would eat at the table telling stories about their day without any distraction from cellphones or television. Mrs. Green would cook healthy meals every night on weekdays, and then on the weekends we would usually have dinner at restaurants. In comparison to living with my single parent mother, where I would have gas station snacks or fast food for dinner, since my mother worked continuously. After dinner, it was time to work on homework Mr. and Mrs. Greens would help us if we needed it. The Greens were very big on grades and would either Reward or punish their kids for it. That being said Kyle and his sibling would have a stellar GPA . As for me in high school, I was not the best of students and without having someone around to hold me responsible, I didnt pursue my studies the way I was supposed to. As I   said before school was the utmost importance to the greens, so missing school was not an option. The only reason to miss was because of sickness not because one did not feel like it or overslept. Under the mentoring of the greens I had perfect attendance that year. I remember Mrs. Green paying for Kyle to take SAT prep class this in turn payed off because he received high scores and is now attending the University Of Pittsburgh on a partial academic scholarship. As for me during that time I was focused on passing high school, But because of Greens I started to take my education more seriously, and was more motivated to succeed.   I saw that there is an opportunity through education to make it out the slums.. The holidays were a good time to be in the Greens house as they would go and buy an actual Christmas tree. The tree would   range from 10-20 feet tall depending on the year. This was only possible because of their big living room. Standard living rooms are not fitting 20-foot tall trees. On Christmas day the trees would be decorated, and the presents would be under the tree. Mrs. Green would cook breakfast made for kings, Lunch, and a feast for dinner. They would unwrap presents, and the gifts would be something of a dream to some people. The presents would be expensive gifts such as new game systems, iPhones, tablets, designer clothes, and laptops. The Family was so used to these types of gifts that they would have a fit if they got anything less. I explained to Kyles brother that there would be time   I would not get anything I wanted but was happy for just a gift. He took those words and realized he needed to be more grateful. Throughout the rest of that School year, I learned the quality of life and what it takes in this world to succeed. I would never of gotten the chance had it not been   for living with the Greens. They pushed me to higher my standards and taught me the real American dream, not just the desire to survive. I remember one day they asked me what is my goal in life I said I wanted to become successful. However My version of success was to own a two bedroom apartment because at the time I never had my room. Then Mr. Green Said â€Å"that Nice but the average American middle-class version of success is a four-bedroom house with a two-door garage.† This opened my eyes to what true success was. He told me that I should not settle for just getting by but always striving for a higher quantity of life. I still keep that mindset close to me today. There is no discredit to my mother who raised me into a well-rounded respectful person. After staying with the Greens, I believe that there is such a thing as being a produce of your environment. If all a person sees is one setting that’s what that person   is going to believe in since it is what they are used to. Living with the Greens showed me a different perspective of life and how life is not set in stone; it can be changed. The end of the school year was time for me to leave the greens house whole and move back with my mother who had become financially stable. Still to this day the Greens and I are still the greens are a big part of my life, due to the major impact they had on me, and the lessons they instilled that will be with me forever. In Closing the Greens are like family to me, and if it werent for them I would never get to experience what a two parent household was or what success truly was. Whenever I decide to start a family, I plan to model some of my parenting strategies after the Greens.

Murdering Heroism The Advent of Immoral Heroes In Graphic Novels (the Essay

Murdering Heroism The Advent of Immoral Heroes In Graphic Novels (the cause and effects of graphic novels and manga which employ the use of immoral heroes (i.e - Essay Example By telling her story in this way, Childress is able to strip away her characters' self-deceptions and balance every plausible accusation against an equally plausible countercharge. The novel begins with Benjie's description f his neighborhood. It is a dismal place: Poverty and drugs are everywhere; rampant crime makes young and old alike afraid to leave their homes; most families have been torn apart by divorce or death. It is important for the reader to see Benjie's world through this character's own eyes and to develop sympathy for him at the very beginning f the novel. If Childress did not structure the plot in this way, the reader might be tempted to dismiss Benjie as merely a thief and an addict. As the author suggests, however, Benjie's situation is quite complicated. While he is, admittedly, a drug user, he also has a number f admirable qualities that make him a likable character. (Koppleman 20-25) In the second monologue, Butler Craig indicates that Benjie's use f drugs is more extensive than Benjie has indicated. Butler mentions that Benjie is now "into stealin" and has sold items belonging to his own family in order to support his habit. Though Butler does not condone Benjie's behavior, he does express genuine affection for the boy. One by one, all the characters interpret Benjie's problem in terms f their own relationship to him. Jimmy-Lee Powell reflects upon the close friendship that he and Benjie once had; he regrets that Benjie's use f heroin has caused a gulf to form between them. Benjie's grandmother feels that the use f drugs can only be cured through prayer and intense religious faith. Nigeria Greene, one f Benjie's teachers, sees addiction as resulting from the oppression imposed by whites upon all African Americans. Benjie's mother is saddened by her son's inability to speak openly about his problem; at the same time, she reveals her own inability to convey her true feelings to Benjie. (Killens 20-21) All the characters grasp some part f Benjie's situation, but none f them sees it in its entirety. Childress wants the reader to understand that many factors have caused Benjie to experiment with drugs. While he cannot solve his problems until he admits his own responsibility, the poverty and violence f his neighborhood have also been a major factor in making drugs available to him. When Benjie arrives at school one day obviously under the influence f drugs, Nigeria Greene and Bernard Cohen set aside their personal differences in order to help the boy. They take Benjie to the principal f the school and arrange for Benjie to enter a drug-treatment program. This quick action brings about a temporary improvement in Benjie's situation. Nevertheless, Benjie still finds it difficult to accept Butler as a replacement for his natural father. He regards Butler as a failure and treats him with contempt. The two f them quarrel, and Benjie again begins to think about buying heroin. Finding no money in the house, he pawns Butler's only overcoat and suit. This theft proves to be the last straw for Butler. He leaves Rose and moves into a different apartment in the same building. This decision deprives Benjie f one f the few male role models from whom he could