reflective essay on terrorism

Terrorism Essay for Students and Teacher

500+ words essay on terrorism essay.

Terrorism is an act, which aims to create fear among ordinary people by illegal means. It is a threat to humanity. It includes person or group spreading violence, riots, burglaries, rapes, kidnappings, fighting, bombings, etc. Terrorism is an act of cowardice. Also, terrorism has nothing to do with religion. A terrorist is only a terrorist, not a Hindu or a Muslim.

Types of Terrorism

Terrorism is of two kinds, one is political terrorism which creates panic on a large scale and another one is criminal terrorism which deals in kidnapping to take ransom money. Political terrorism is much more crucial than criminal terrorism because it is done by well-trained persons. It thus becomes difficult for law enforcing agencies to arrest them in time.

Terrorism spread at the national level as well as at international level.  Regional terrorism is the most violent among all. Because the terrorists think that dying as a terrorist is sacred and holy, and thus they are willing to do anything. All these terrorist groups are made with different purposes.

Causes of Terrorism

There are some main causes of terrorism development  or production of large quantities of machine guns, atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, nuclear weapons, missiles, etc. rapid population growth,  Politics, Social, Economic  problems, dissatisfaction of people with the country’s system, lack of education, corruption, racism, economic inequality, linguistic differences, all these are the major  elements of terrorism, and terrorism flourishes after them. People use terrorism as a weapon to prove and justify their point of view.  The riots among Hindus and Muslims are the most famous but there is a difference between caste and terrorism.

The Effects Of Terrorism

Terrorism spreads fear in people, people living in the country feel insecure because of terrorism. Due to terrorist attacks, millions of goods are destroyed, the lives of thousands of innocent people are lost, animals are also killed. Disbelief in humanity raises after seeing a terrorist activity, this gives birth to another terrorist. There exist different types of terrorism in different parts of the country and abroad.

Today, terrorism is not only the problem of India, but in our neighboring country also, and governments across the world are making a lot of effort to deal with it. Attack on world trade center on September 11, 2001, is considered the largest terrorist attack in the world. Osama bin Laden attacked the tallest building in the world’s most powerful country, causing millions of casualties and death of thousands of people.

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Terrorist Attacks in India

India has suffered several terrorist attacks which created fear among the public and caused huge destruction. Here are some of the major terrorist attacks that hit India in the last few years: 1991 – Punjab Killings, 1993 – Bombay Bomb Blasts, RSS Bombing in Chennai, 2000 – Church Bombing, Red Fort Terrorist Attack,2001- Indian Parliament Attack, 2002 – Mumbai Bus Bombing, Attack on Akshardham Temple, 2003 – Mumbai Bombing, 2004 – Dhemaji School Bombing in Assam,2005 – Delhi Bombings, Indian Institute of Science Shooting, 2006 – Varanasi Bombings, Mumbai Train Bombings, Malegaon Bombings, 2007 – Samjhauta Express Bombings, Mecca Masjid Bombing, Hyderabad Bombing, Ajmer Dargah Bombing, 2008 – Jaipur Bombings, Bangalore Serial Blasts, Ahmedabad Bombings, Delhi Bombings, Mumbai Attacks, 2010 – Pune Bombing, Varanasi Bombing.

The recent ones include 2011 – Mumbai Bombing, Delhi Bombing, 2012 – Pune Bombing, 2013 – Hyderabad Blasts, Srinagar Attack, Bodh Gaya Bombings, Patna Bombings, 2014 – Chhattisgarh Attack, Jharkhand Blast, Chennai Train Bombing, Assam Violence, Church Street Bomb Blast, Bangalore, 2015 –  Jammu Attack, Gurdaspur Attack, Pathankot Attack, 2016 – Uri Attack, Baramulla Attack, 2017 – Bhopal Ujjain Passenger Train Bombing, Amarnath Yatra Attack, 2018 Sukma Attack, 2019- Pulwama attack.

Agencies fighting Terrorism in India

Many police, intelligence and military organizations in India have formed special agencies to fight terrorism in the country. Major agencies which fight against terrorism in India are Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Terrorism has become a global threat which needs to be controlled from the initial level. Terrorism cannot be controlled by the law enforcing agencies alone. The people in the world will also have to unite in order to face this growing threat of terrorism.

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More reflections on terrorism and the value of life

Responding to my reflections on the Orlando terrorist attack, Sam Roggeveen asks a powerful question: does society value human life more now than in previous times?

In support of the affirmative, Roggeveen points to the enormous material and well-being advances of humankind over recent decades. And indeed the fact that people, on aggregate, are living longer and healthier is incontestable.

To my mind, however, this substitutes outcomes with intentions. Human welfare has improved as a result of advances in systems and technology that better service the needs of humanity. The motivations for these advances are usually profit, whereas political ideologies that have aimed at improving collective welfare have often achieved the exact opposite. Indeed some of the most significant breakthroughs result from the desire to exterminate human life more efficiently and on an industrial scale, such as the splitting of the atom and the development of rocketry.

And while war overall has been on a decline, the human capacity to inflict violence has immeasurably increased, to the point where human civilisation itself can be threatened. Indeed the fear of one person murdering 50 others in a single act of violence is a relatively new concern, one that certainly did not exist before explosives. There is also no reason to believe that belligerents in future hegemonic conflicts will concern themselves overmuch with the preservation of human life, if disregarding it services the core interests of the warring powers. Equally, there is no obvious era where the value of human life was ignored; even the Athenians didn’t have the heart to massacre Mytilene’s male population during the Peloponnesian War. The point being that while times have changed, human nature has remained largely constant through the ages. [fold]

And to that end, humans are tolerant of the familiar. The Columbine High School shooting in 1999 led to national soul searching, and yet the mass murder of younger children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 resulted only in reaffirmation of well-rehearsed gridlock. Twenty years ago, gun massacres were truly shocking, now they’re a statistic.

Roggeveen asks why would terrorists persist in the same tactics if the impact on our psyche is reduced?

The first answer is that they don’t; they innovate. It seems a lifetime ago now, but suicide bombing in Iraq was unknown prior to 2004 . And while the death toll from such attacks remains high, it’s the cruel executions of James Foley and Steven Sotloff shot in high definition that had a profound impact on public perception more recently.

The second answer is that it’s not the safety of humans generally that gives terrorism its potency. If that were so, then westerners would be just as concerned with terrorist attacks that occur in the Middle East as those unfolding in Paris, Brussels and Orlando. The fact is we care more for ourselves, our families and those with whom we culturally identify. To the extent that terrorists can instill fears for our own safety, such tactics remain effective.

Ultimately Roggeveen’s question is a philosophical one that is beyond my wisdom to fully answer. The point of my piece, however, was not to suggest that that the value of human life in society has reduced per se, merely that our collective desensitisation to terrorist violence diminishes our own humanity, just as it does those who perpetrate these hateful acts.

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Seven Peacebuilding Reflections on Violent Extremism

by Lisa Schirch | Sep 2, 2021 | Counterterrorism

What have peacebuilding experts learned from twenty years of counterterrorism? Here are seven reflections.

1. Violent extremism results from fear and frustration paired with the fantasy of a “pure” society. 

Since 2001, Muslims have spoken out about the stigma they face related to media stereotypes and prejudices that terrorism is unique to Islam. Violent extremist goals of creating a “pure” society by using violence against other groups is found in many belief traditions. In Burma, violent extremist Buddhist monks used ethnic cleansing in their attempt to “purify” the state. In Europe , the United States, and Canada , white extremists have killed more people than Muslim extremists in their effort to establish a whites-only society. In India, Hindu extremists use violence against Muslims. In Israel, Jewish extremists use violence against Palestinians.

2. Violent extremism is similar to other forms of violence.

Decades of research suggest the motives of individuals who join VE groups are similar to those that drive recruitment into gangs and insurgencies. People join VE groups to gain a sense of belonging, identity, and purpose for a higher cause, and because of the perceived adventure and thrill. They join to escape complicated problems in their lives. And they share a sense of frustration at what they perceive to be corrupt governments and systemic injustices. The United States Institute of Peace program on Violent Extremist Disengagement and Reconciliation asserts the need to “de-exceptionalize” violent extremism . 

3. Preventing violent extremism requires a broad peacebuilding approach

Programs that prevent other types of violence will also prevent VE. Peacebuilding and violence prevention require a systems-based, ecological approach to VE that addresses the root causes of violence at the individual, community, and state level. At the individual level, VE prevention requires behavioral health and trauma recovery strategies.  At the community level, VE prevention requires designing inclusive programs to meet basic human needs for housing, meaningful work, healthcare, etc. Community dialogue and problem-solving forums empower people to improve their communities. At the state level, participatory governance enables citizens to address shared grievances. Multistakeholder peacebuilding approaches address the diverse challenges that societies face.

4. Education and the “Books not Bombs” strategy is not a simple formula.

In the early years of the Afghan war, peacebuilders touted education and building schools as a key component. USAID funded many schools, but today many of these stand empty as there was no long-term plan for sustainability . U.S. military personnel with bags of cash fueled corruption with short-term projects to build schools in an attempt to buy (or rent) the allegiance of local communities. In some cases, the Taliban targeted schools funded by the military. In other cases, corrupt construction crews ran off with the money and left unfinished schools, or schools were built but there were no funds to hire teachers.  

An important lesson is that school building is better done by local communities, using government grants from pooled international funds. The World Bank’s evaluation of the Afghan government’s National Solidarity Program found that it supported an effective strategy for communities using participatory decision-making to determine development priorities and make long-term sustainability plans.

5. We need national mental health approaches to prevent violent extremism.

Violent extremism, like other forms of violence, is a behavioral health challenge. Early childhood trauma contributes to a propensity to join violent extremist groups. A recent study in 2021 found that most right-wing extremists in the U.S. had experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences before they were 18 years old, as compared to only 16 percent of other U.S. Americans. African countries are leading the way in innovating national mental health programs. In Liberia, the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program is supporting a sustainable mental health system to address the crisis following the civil war. They are training a mental health workforce, supporting the passage of a national mental health law, reducing public stigma of behavioral health challenges, and assisting Liberia’s Ministry of Health in implementing the national mental health policy and plan.

6. The future will likely hold more violent extremism. 

A cocktail of global crises is likely to increase violent extremism around the world. The climate catastrophe will drive millions of migrants toward other countries. And in many of those countries, thriving atavistic nationalist movements are undermining democratic institutions. Weaponizable technology spreads fear and disinformation to foster recruitment, and mass digital movements fueled by social media are buying into violent extremist worldviews.

7. Counterterrorism distracted us from far greater threats from the climate crisis.

Peacebuilders should continue to reflect on how best to prevent and help people recover from terrorism. But we should recognize that the climate crisis poses far greater dangers to U.S. citizens and all life on the planet. A 2014 U.S. military report clearly stated that climate change is a “threat multiplier” for terrorism . 

Where might we be if we had addressed the climate crisis with the 6 trillion dollars the U.S. spent on the Global War on Terror? What if we had harnessed the vast people power of the U.S. military and two decades of policymaking attention on preventing the climate catastrophe rather than going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan?  

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Lisa Schirch is the Richard G. Starmann, Sr., Visiting Professorship Chair in Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute and Senior Research Fellow at the Toda Institute. She is also a Senior Fellow with the Alliance for Peacebuilding and Visiting Scholar at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. She is the author of ten books, including the edited volume “The Ecology of Violent Extremism: Perspectives in Peacebuilding and Human Security” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).

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Criminology, Sociology and Policing at Hull

Student research journal, a critical reflection of the uk’s counter terrorism prevent strategy from a police practitioner’s perspective using ethical theory and alternative forms of justice.

Author: Neil Kitching, L7 Competing and Comparative Justice

There is a plethora of academic studies concerning the UK governments PREVENT strategy. But very little from the point of view of a practitioner. It is hoped that this essay by combining both disciplines, a pracademic of sorts, will introduce and encourage insight and possibly a new perspective of what is disproportionately seen as negative and potentially a harmful strategy to community cohesion in the UK. 

When reflecting on the UK’s historic strategic response to terrorism it can be arguably split into two halves. Pre and post 9/11 and to some degree the London bombings in 2005. Before these significant events, from the UK’s point of view, counter terrorism was conducted at Police Constabulary level and mainly focused on the threat from Northern Irish related terrorism. These policing units were formed in 1883 and known as ‘Special Branch’. They were a direct descendant of the Metropolitans Police Special Irish Branch which was formed to mitigate the rising threat from Irish republican. During World War Two both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) had been formed but after the war they were structured to respond to the emerging ‘cold war’ and the monitoring of the former Soviet Union as well as to support counter insurgency in the former British colonies. Consequently, their interest in assessing and monitoring the threat of terrorism directed towards the UK’s national security was not to the level you would see today. After the Twin Towers terrorist attack in New York on the 9 th  September 2001 the UK government reviewed their response to countering terrorism with a great emphasis of understanding and mitigating the threat of Islamic terrorism, mainly from the threat overseas but later from within the UK itself. 

The CONTEST strategy and PREVENT

What was introduced, was the UK governments first comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy, known as CONTEST, in early 2003 (House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, 2009). This review also led to Counter Terrorism Policing working more closely with the Security Service than ever before and the establishing of new working practices particularly around who had primacy in the circumstance. The CONTEST strategy outlined four distinct thematic areas, commonly referred by counter terrorism practitioners as the four P’s. PREVENT, to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. PURSUE, to stop terrorist attacks. PROTECT, to strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack. PREPARE, to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack (HM Government, 2018). When considering ethical theories associated to Counter Terrorism Policing, I have limited my choices to just two, consequentialism and deontology. It is my view that both theories feature within counter terrorism but in a very different way. The wider CONTEST strategy initially appears to rely on consequentialism for justification for its existence, especially Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism. The UK government at the time of devising the CONTEST strategy probably felt they were morally justified in doing so from the belief that governments have moral grounds to protect its citizens and applied Stuart Mill’s principle of harm when doing so. (Feinberg, 1973) comments society has as much right to protect its moral code by legal coercion as it does to protect its equally indispensable political institutions. The law cannot tolerate politically revolutionary activity, nor can it accept activity that rips asunder its moral fabric. Harm and the fear of harm reduces societal happiness where security and stability for society has to be governments perceived goal. The effects of terrorist related activity no doubt causes pain, not just physically to those that have been directly affected but also emotionally to the wider public. An example of this was seen in the aftermath of the Manchester bombing in 2017 where people from all diverse backgrounds came together as a community to show and share their grief by the wearing of a bee symbol and the hosting of a remembrance musical concert. Utilitarianism is predominately a hedonistic philosophy and measures success by tilting the balance of happiness over pain in favour of happiness regardless of the action used to achieve this and said action should be evaluated on the basis of its consequence (Duigan, 2020). This would demand that Counter Terrorism Policing should use all methods at its disposal to identify and stop terrorists from causing harm and would be morally sound for doing so; however, this justification for action is not going to sit well with everyone with critics of this approach making a case that this moral principle could lead to future actions that could be questionably lawful. This is likely to occur as a result of covert policing and the methodologies of obtaining intelligence to mitigate threat, risk and harm. Therefore, this calls for consequentialism with restraint, and enforced by independent governmental governance is imperative.

PREVENT however is very much overt in nature and relies upon gaining trust from the public to be effective. This means that PREVENT cannot be seen as immoral and must consider a more deontological approach to its actions whenever possible. That being that it should strive to be transparent, consistent and adopt an absolutist approach to its working practices. This of course can lead to occasions of moral conflict with the other thematical areas as well as to the practitioner especially when it comes to their access to sensitive information. There are some that believe combining the two is possible; however, given the differing notions of rationality underlying each kind of theory, this is easier said than done (Moore, et al., 2020). This conflict is ever present and further complicated by conflicts with Deontology itself. Deontology being derived from Kant’s philosophical morality and subscribing to his categorical imperative is therefore absolute that the practitioner should adhere to the maxim of always telling the truth. But also, to the maxim universally shared in Counter Terrorism Policing to not to divulge sensitive information without good reason. Practitioners when interacting with partners and vulnerable people may be asked a direct question about their knowledge of sensitive information. This conflict of duty is explored and overcome by Cindi Banks who highlights that deontological moral rules should be treated as a generalisation and that telling the truth is an obligation that should be kept, provided there are no other overriding factors present (Banks, 2016). It is this approach by the police practitioner that makes their actions moral and duteous. 

To understand why the PREVENT strategy has come under so much criticism there us justification to consider how it tries to achieve its aim of preventing people from becoming terrorists. The thematic is unique within Counter Terrorism Policing, rather than focusing on terrorism it looks to identify and support those that are at vulnerable to radicalisation or identifying with extremism. Using terms like radicalisation and extremism comes with some inherent problems and at first sight, one might say that such a semantic view is useless in searching for a proper definition of the term extremism (Sotlar, 2004). Even with this observation the UK government has defined extremism as the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and respect and tolerance for different faiths and beliefs. It also regards calling for the death of members of the armed forces as extremist behaviour (HM Governemnt, 2015). It could be argued the fact the UK Government has published this definition they have used normative ethics and have applied an absolutist approach by outlining one set of ethical standards that applies across all societies (Banks, 2016); however, when the definition was first published there was many who challenged the governments approach, which has likely spurned some of the negativity towards PREVENT. Especially before the redaction of the word ‘British’ in the definition when highlighting values. Critics of the definition may highlight the government has ignored ethical relativism and what is morally right or wrong may vary in a fundamental way from person to person or from culture to culture (Banks, 2016). This has added poignancy as PREVENT was seen to initially target those from the Muslim community and consequently has been labelled as Islamophobic. (Qurashi, 2018) quantifies this by commenting, PREVENT indicates the problem of extremism and terrorism is closely tied to Muslims and Islam, so that the terror threat is regarded as an Islamic threat. Furthermore, others question the very notion of radicalisation as a concept and the challenge what they believe are the instabilities in the deployment of radicalisation discourse (Heath-Kelly, 2012). In light of so much negativity both from academia, reports in the media and from non-governmental organisations it has been argued that PREVENT has become a toxic brand and its perceived failures from these quarters would dictate its abolishment. Furthermore, some state that PREVENT is no more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing that on the one hand it encourages Muslims to integrate and help support community engagement but on the other hand it uses counter-terrorism policies to ‘spy’ upon Muslim communities (Awan, 2011).

What can’t be ignored is that the statistics recorded by the UK indicate that there is still a risk of terrorist related activity with the number of people being referred to PREVENT between the years April 2019 to March 2020 being 6287. Of these 1487 were associated to Islamist ideologies, 1387 were associated to Right Wing ideologies leaving the remaining associated to the recently used category of ‘mixed and unstable ideology of which there was 3203 and 210 for other forms of radicalisation. (Home Office, 2020). Furthermore, in this same time period there was 261 arrests for terrorist related activity in the UK. 82 of these arrests were charged with a criminal offence with 66 of them terrorist related criminal offences (Home Office, 2020). It should be noted that I make no correlation between the number of PREVENT referred cases and the number of arrests. Both should be considered separate entities but highlight a current demand of resources in Counter Terrorism Policing.

The Counter Terrorism Case Officer (CTCO)

It could be argued that the reason for distrust with PREVENT is due to the presence of police officers acting as its practitioners. These practitioners are referred to as Counter Terrorism Case Officers (CTSO) but formerly referred to as Prevent Officers. Initially there is validity to the argument as no crime has been committed and therefore there is not a need for specific police powers; however, since PREVENT’s inception the role has always had police officers at its core. By in large police officers are trained with a sense of duty in a manner more in keeping with deontological ethics by basing their morality not on feelings or emotions but rather on concepts of duty, obligation, and rationality (Banks, 2016). But on top of that they must also be virtuous when considering their position by asking what kind of person should I be in the context of a police officer (Banks, 2016). This is outlined and reinforced by the College of Policing’s Code of Ethics (College of Policing, 2014). Officers are expected to act with autonomy and throughout their career will have had to make decisions surrounding risk both under pressure and in slow time environment and be accountable for them. The biggest challenge for officers transitioning into PREVENT is increasing their skillset around problem solving where the ability to use police powers are absent. The vast majority of officers will have been trained and operate as enforcers of the law, rather than as peacemakers. Also, when problem solving, they have to aware there may not be necessarily a right or wrong answer or an overtly positive outcome; however, officers are exposed to and learn quickly how to communicate with a wide variety of people from differing backgrounds and circumstances. In respect of my own career, I have had to communicate to others during what is arguably the most emotional challenging role in policing, that being a Family Liaison Officer supporting those whose loved ones have been murdered in the most awful of circumstance. Where, how, why and what you communicate has to be carefully thought through whilst remaining stoic with your own personal emotion. I couple this role with instances calling for the need to de-escalate conflict or to stand your ground in face of violence creates a unique characteristic and skill set not easily available to other professions outside of law enforcement. 

The CHANNEL Panel

As well as analysing the police practitioner it is only right to explore the ethics of the by far most important aspect of PREVENT which is its safeguarding panel, referred to as CHANNEL. CHANNEL is a local authority administered and attended by a plethora of other safeguarding professionals from variety of agencies the vast majority of those identified in schedule 6 of the Counter Terrorism Security Act 2015. Before CHANNEL decides whether a person is at risk to radicalisation and requires support, the individual is assessed by Counter Terrorism Policing to determine firstly that no criminal offences linked to terrorism is suspected to have been committed or potentially committed, and secondly that there is reasonable suspicion for CHANNEL to consider the matter. CHANNEL is then tasked with looking at the individual and identifying what, how and why the person is vulnerable to radicalisation. If the person is deemed not vulnerable to radicalisation or is already in receipt of sufficient support, then CHANNEL can choose not to offer support and the matter is closed; however if CHANNEL does feel there is a necessity to offer support then CHANNEL will formulate a tailored support package which can consist of a commissioning of a specialist to provide a counter narrative to any extreme ideology identified and, or provide lifestyle oriented support to mitigate what is making the person vulnerable in the first place. Ultimately all decisions made at CHANNEL rest with the chairperson, a local authority officer. The only exception is when the person being discussed are suspected of potentially committing or having committed a criminal offence linked to terrorism. The CTCO will decide for the matter to be removed from CHANNEL and be re-assessed in exactly the same way as before it was brought to CHANNEL. Whereas CHANNEL doesn’t require the consent of the vulnerable person to discuss the matter at CHANNEL it does in respect of the support package being offered. This consent must be sincere and obtained without condition for the support package to be successful. CHANNEL is not an alternative to punishment nor is the vulnerable person seen as a future offender that requires stopping. They are more akin to a victim of crime with the perpetrator being the extremist rhetoric that they have been exposed to. CHANNEL practices presumptively nonblamable paternalism and defends relatively helpless or vulnerable people from external dangers, including harm from other people when the protected parties are not voluntarily consented to the risk (Feinberg, 1989). This calls in to question how CHANNEL can be sure that the vulnerable person has not consented to being radicalised. But it is easily answered when sincere consent is given to the support package being offered after it has been explained to them why CHANNEL believes they are at risk to radicalisation.

CHANNEL is always conducted in a strictly confidential manner and rarely will a lay person from the community be invited to CHANNEL unless to part with some information pertinent to the person being discussed, but again this is rare as the information is normally obtained via a professional who then delivers this information. This one-sided professional involvement is likely to be called into question as to whether it is the most effective method of supporting individuals or should due regard be given to make CHANNEL more community focused. Sociologist and Criminologist Nils Christie would likely draw comparisons with those CHANNEL professionals in the same manner as he views lawyers in the court system where he comments they are particularly good at stealing conflicts. They are trained for it. They are trained to prevent and solve conflicts. They are socialised into a sub-culture with a surprisingly high agreement concerning interpretations of norms, and regarding what sort information can be accepted as relevant in each case (Christie, 1977). He would likely call for a community focused lay panel to reduce specialisation and particularly the dependence on the professionals within the crime control system to the utmost (Christie, 1977). I will discuss the possible merits of this later in my conclusions.

CHANNEL has a cadre of approved specialists to provide counter narratives to extremist ideologies. These specialists see the vulnerable person on a one-to-one basis and discuss with the vulnerable person why any extremist ideology they hold is causing them harm. When analysing this practice, I can draw many parallels with the methodology used in restorative practice’s aim of resisting inflicting pain and pain-inflicting responses, stresses a constructive dialogue and aims to restore “right relations” in the community (Zernova, 2019) but of course this is delivered in a flipped manner as a result no criminal offence having taken place in PREVENT. I have already indicated that the vulnerable should be seen as the victim of radicalisation and one of the key aspects of restorative justice is the meeting of stake holders, victims and offenders, to work towards repairing the harm. Therefore, this process is reliant on the involvement of the offender, in this case a former [1]  (Tapley & Clubb, 2019); however, in the current process as highlighted there is no trained independent mediator or restorative justice professional and the entire process of information gathering before is normally done remote of the vulnerable person and is more associated to the risk surrounding them rather than how they feel about being vulnerable or indeed radicalised. For CHANNEL to truly subscribe to restorative justice ideals the process will need to be finetuned.

At the start of this essay, I commented that the majority of the academic literature surrounding PREVENT has been of a negative nature. I hope in conclusion to explain why I feel PREVENT is ethical in what it hopes to achieve. I am aware that it could be argued that I am unconsciously biased as I am a practitioner in PREVENT. But the flip side to this is I have a better insight into the working practices of PREVENT where perhaps others haven’t.

I do not belittle or doubt that the PREVENT in its early years had teething problems and was delivered incorrectly in my opinion. Consequentially PREVENT has by some is considered an anti-Islamic or a surveillance tool against our Muslim community. Even the UK government acknowledged this in part during a review by highlighting it confused the delivery of the Government policy to promote integration with Government policy to prevent terrorism (HM Government, 2011). What has been absent though is an apology from the government to our Muslim community with added assurances that PREVENT, like it does today, will always concentrate on the vulnerabilities associated to the individual rather than specifically the ideology espoused. Especially as the ideology is likely not to be the root cause of the issue but the end result, as well as the vehicle making them at risk of committing a violent extremist act.

I joined PREVENT in 2017 and have seen not only is PREVENT more occupied with dealing with right wing extremism than ever before, but also with an emerging threat associated to mixed and unstable ideologies perpetuated by cyber delivered material that increases anxiety and promotes grievance from perceived injustices held by the vulnerable person. This then manifests into hate, and then in a small number of cases into a desire to inflict serious harm on their community or elements of the community they perceive to have rejected them or who they feel isolated from. This change in threat and ability to support and to provide a counter narrative requires the police practitioner to move from a predominantly deontological moral system in their approach to the role to a one more balanced with virtue ethics. In detail I would call for deontological approach to the assessment of risk, but the delivery of support should be done virtuously. The person being supported will need to feel a connection with the PREVENT practitioner who has to be seen as likeable and a role model rather than as an enforcer. I also would express that the police practitioner being a warranted police officer is no longer necessary nor should the fact exclude them from performing the role. Instead, careful selection of characteristics and life experience is paramount, and recruitment could initially occur outside of law enforcement circles. This would then call for a change to the current approach to training candidates to become CTCO’s by drawing knowledge and experience from restorative justice professionals and adapting their working methods to create a hybrid with already established working policies. Lastly, I can see many strengths of having lay members of community involved with CHANNEL along the lines of Nils Christie views; however, I do not feel this is workable in reality. Any member will have to subscribe to the conditions of confidentiality and have an understanding of the mechanics of the CHANNEL process to be truly effective. This awareness, or training need would organically over time transition the person from a lay person to a specialist. An issue (Christie, 1977) considers when he discusses lay courts in the criminal justice system by highlighting the lay person are used again and again. Secondly, some are even trained, given special courses or sent on excursions to foreign countries to learn about how to behave as a lay judge. Thirdly, most of them do also represent an extremely biased sample of the population with regard to sex, age, education, income, class and personal experience as criminals. This highlighted conflict to the spirit was initially desired reinforces my view that whereas theoretically the idea is sound it wouldn’t be achievable and is also likely to add to inconsistence’s in CHANNEL if the membership of the panel and to be constantly changed to fulfil the lay person requirement. Also, it would be wrong to ask a lay person to be accountable for their decisions or lack of action if something was to go wrong with legal consequences.

It is my view that PREVENT does have a place in modern Counter Terrorism Policing but should always be sighted on the misguided practices of the past to instil an institutional memory so that they are never repeated in the future. But I would also call for support from others to firstly understand how and what PREVENT does today, with consideration for doing so with an unbiased mindset. It’s this possible bias that if not considered and put to one side will always cause one to come to the same negative conclusion.

Bibliography

Awan, I., 2011.  Paving the way for Extremism: How Preventing the Symptoms Does Not Cure the Disease of Terrorism.   

Available at: https://jtr.st-andrews.ac.uk/articles/10.15664/jtr.224/ [Accessed 27/12/2020].

Banks, C., 2016.  Criminal Justice Ethics: theory and practice.  4th ed. s.l.:SAGE PUBLICATIONS.

Christie, N., 1977. Conflicts as Property.  The British Journal of Criminology,  Vol17(1) pp.1-15.

College of Policing, 2014.  Code of Ethics – A Code of Practice for the Principles and Standards of Professional Behaviour for the Policing Profession of England and Wales.   Available at: https://www.college.police.uk/What-we-do/Ethics/Ethics-home/Documents/Code_of_Ethics.pdf[Accessed 02/01/2021].

Duigan, B., 2020.  Utilitarianism.  Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/utilitarianism-philosophy [Accessed 26/12/2020].

Feinberg, J., 1973. ‘Hard Cases for the Harm Principle’  in Social Philosophy,  chapter 3 Prentice-Hall.

Feinberg, J., 1989.  The Moral Limits of Criminal Law. Volume 3. Harm to Self.

Heath-Kelly, C., 2012.  Counter-Terrorism and the Counterfactual: Producing the ‘Radicalisation’ Discourse and the UK PREVENT Strategy.  Available at: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/38197088/counterterrorism_and_counterfactual_-_paper.pdf?1436971423=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DCounter_Terrorism_and_the_Counterfactual.pdf&Expires=1608978668&Signature=RIcSNrjyB0GKOn-q~lndLs4x [Accessed 24/12/2020].

HM Governemnt, 2015.  Counter-Extremism Strategy.   Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470088/51859_Cm9148_Accessible.pdf[Accessed 24/12/2020].

HM Government, 2011.  Prevent Strategy.   Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/97976/prevent-strategy-review.pdf [Accessed 02 01 2021].

HM Government, 2018.  CONTEST The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering Terrorism.    Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/716907/140618_CCS207_CCS0218929798-1_CONTEST_3.0_WEB.pdf [Accessed 24/12/2020].

Home Office, 2020.  Individuals referred to and supported through the Prevent Programme, April 2019 to March 2020.  Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individuals-referred-to-and-supported-through-the-prevent-programme-april-2019-to-march-2020/individuals-referred-to-and-supported-through-the-prevent-programme-april-2019-to-march-2020

[Accessed 26/12/2020].

Home Office, 2020.  Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation: Arrests, outcomes, and stop and search Great Britain, financial year ending March 2020.  Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/891341/police-powers-terrorism-mar2020-hosb1520.pdf [Accessed 26/12/2020].

House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, 2009.  Project CONTEST: The Government’s Counter- Terrorism Strategy.  Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/212/212.pdf

[Accessed 24/12/2020].

Moore, A., Moore, L. & Moore, M., 2020.  Deontological Ethics.  Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/ethics-deontological/

[Accessed 27/12/2020].

Qurashi, F., 2018.  The Prevent strategy and the UK ‘war on terror’: embedding infrastructures of surveillance in Muslim communities.   Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-017-0061-9 [Accessed 26/12/2020].

Sotlar, A., 2004.  Some Problems with a Definition and Perception of Extremism within a Society.    Available at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/Mesko/208033.pdf

Tapley, M. & Clubb, G., 2019.  The Role of Formers in Countering Violent Extremism.   Available at: https://icct.nl/publication/the-role-of-formers-in-countering-violent-extremism/ [Accessed 02/01/2021].

Zernova, M., 2019.  Restorative justice in the aftermath of politcally motivated violence: the Basque experience. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17539153.2019.1595922 [Accessed 02/01/2021].

[1]  Former is a former extremist and for this essay would be a Home Office approved intervention provider.

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Modern Far-Right Terrorism Is a Repeat of Reconstruction-Era Themes

I n A Red Record , civil rights pioneer Ida B. Wells recounts the story of a lynching near Selma, Alabama, in which a young Black farmworker developed a consensual relationship with a white daughter of the household, and eventually fathered a child. Taken from jail, the man, Daniel Edwards, was hanged and his body filled with bullets. According to a contemporaneous dispatch, “Upon his back was found pinned this morning the following: Warning to all [N-words] that are too intimate with white girls. This the work of one hundred best citizens of the South Side.”

During the volume’s opening chapter, Wells recalls Frederick Douglass’s three “excuses” for the lynchings of Black men in the post-war South, each of which developed as the prior justification grew too implausible: white men sought to lynch Black men, Douglass argued in a posthumously published 1895 article , to stamp out “race riots,” to suppress the Black vote, and to protect the virtue of white women against Black rapes and assaults (the lie that would herald Edwards’ death sentence). “The orderly arrangement and periodicity of excuses are significant,” Douglass argued. “They show design, plan, purpose, and invention.”

Remarkably, though, over 100 years later, those three justifications are still among those that animate the far-right today—even though the range of targets has broadened. Indeed, each of Douglass’s justifications was an early manifestation of the same “ Great Replacement ” conspiracy theory—positing that an ongoing replacement of American whiteness is underway, orchestrated by Jews and elites—which motivates most white supremacist terrorism today. Most modern attacks, including the deadly white supremacist attack on Buffalo that occurred two years ago this week, repeat Reconstruction-era themes.

The “Great Replacement” theory, then, is not something new to the social media era or a more globalized world—it instead is fundamental to the very fabric of America, dating from the lynchings of the postbellum decades to modern acts of white supremacist terrorism as seen at Charleston, El Paso, Buffalo, and beyond. Further examination of the materials published as part of those attacks reveals language that hearkens back to the same excuses used for lynching in the Deep South.

Take, for instance, the justification that Black men deserved to be lynched because they were, to use Wells’ words, “alleged participants in an insurrection or riot.” Dylann Roof, murderer of nine Black parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, evoked this urgency to protect white communities from Black violence, writing that “Segregation was not a bad thing. It was a defensive measure. Segregation did not exist to hold back [N-words]. It existed to protect us from them.” A manifesto penned by Payton Gendron, the shooter who targeted a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022, similarly outlined in no uncertain terms both his grievances against African Americans and his genocidal intent: “They are prone to violence and common criminal activity. We must remove blacks from our western civilizations.” These days, the bogeyman often takes the forms of perceived hordes of Antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters wreaking havoc on America’s streets. Kyle Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha, in his own words, to “ protect ” businesses and people, before ultimately killing two protestors.

Read More: The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe

The complaint of minority dilutions of the white vote is similarly oft-uttered by today’s white supremacist terrorists. In fact, the replacement of white votes was one of the primary drivers behind Patrick Crusius’s assault on predominantly Latino shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in August 2019. He killed 23. “They intend to use open borders, free healthcare for illegals, citizenship and more to enact a political coup by importing and then legalizing millions of new voters,” he wrote, going on to add, “They will turn Texas into an instrument of a political coup which will hasten the destruction of our country.” Gendron made similar claims: “Children of replacers do not stay children, they become adults and reproduce, creating more replacers to replace your people. They grow up and vote against your peoples own wishes, for the interests of their own people and identity.” In the post-Reconstruction years, the effort to suppress the Black vote (or what some termed “ Africanization ”) was ultimately successful—South Carolina, for instance, saw a drop in registered voters from more than 92,000 in 1876 to under 3,000 in 1898. Moreover, this model remains a popular tactic. As terrorism expert Daniel Byman reflects , “White racists’ victories during Reconstruction gave them a repertoire of violence to draw on in subsequent years when their superior social position faced new threats.” Indeed, similar declarations are now frequently issued by politicians and media figures on the political right, perhaps best encapsulated by X owner Elon Musk, who tweeted on May 9, “Given the massive influx of illegals from every country on Earth, 2024 will probably be the last election actually decided by US citizens.”

And finally, modern far-right terrorists still frequently invoke the same libelous assertion that white women must be protected from licentious Black men. In perhaps the most infamous example, Roof told victims during his rampage on Charleston, “I have to do it. You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.” Similarly, Gendron’s manifesto seethed, “Black youth are two and a half times as likely as White youth to have raped someone.” Both attacks accordingly conformed to Jamelle Bouie’s reflection in Slate after Charleston: “Make any list of anti-black terrorism in the United States, and you’ll also have a list of attacks justified by the specter of black rape.” In his manifesto, however, Roof offered perhaps an even more direct nod to his postbellum compatriots. “I have noticed a great disdain for race mixing White women within the White nationalists community, bordering on insanity,” he wrote. “These women are victims, and they can be saved. Stop.” Herein lies the “ benevolent sexism ” also inherent in Roof’s attack—the implication that white women are owned by white men, who therefore must nobly protect their property through violence.

Despite ideological echoes, though, perhaps the most important similarity is the deliberately public way in which these Black lives are taken. These Black bodies brutalized. Just as the Black men in the late-1800s who were supposedly sparking riots, voting against white interests, and raping white women were often hanged in public places as a warning to other would-be rebels against the established social order—as was Daniel Edwards’ horrific demise—modern white supremacist terrorism also seeks to create a spectacle. Today, the show often takes the form of a livestream , shared online to thousands of excited onlookers, while a manifesto is published as ideological testament to the crime. Conforming to the characteristics of lynching killings that terrorism scholar Tim Wilson called “rightist vigilantism that grew both highly ritualized and carnivalesque,” Gendron noted in his manifesto that “I think that live streaming this attack gives me some motivation in the way that I know that some people will be cheering for me.” As Georgetown University’s Emma Coleman Jordan wrote in the days after the horror at Buffalo, “As with the lynchings of the past, today’s racially-based attacks put Black suffering on display for the entertainment of a 21st century version of the White mob.”

Globalization and social progress have served to broaden the number of enemies against which the white supremacists targets their vitriol—adding immigrants, women, Jews, and the LGBTQ community to Black men and women—but they have not greatly altered their grievances. And, America’s Black population remains the foremost, enduring target. As terrorism scholar Brian Levin told TIME in May 2022, “Many people swim in this elastic, amorphous reservoir of grievance, where a constellation of new targets are identified all the time. But African Americans remain.” What’s more, those first two justifications behind far-right violence both during the postbellum years and today are actually platforms often defended by the political right—suggesting that political support continues to provide the veneer of legitimacy behind which extremist violence can be excused, if not encouraged . Buffalo also provided an important reminder that, despite the focus of much of Wells’ work being the Deep South, racist terrorism has never been a uniquely Southern phenomenon.

Incidents of mass racial violence such as the shooting at Charleston are often correctly decried as instances of “modern-day lynching.” What is remarkable, though, is how little the justifications themselves have shifted. The common thread, in the words of CeLillianne Green, is the “depth of hatred in the bone marrow of this country that supports the killing of the black body.” The only conclusion to be drawn, then, is a sober and pessimistic one—that America will not rid itself of its violent white supremacist plague without a deeper reckoning about the very origins of the country. Until then, prosecutors should consider pursuing white supremacist terrorists with charges that place their acts of violence within the proper historical context—such as the Emmett Till Anti-lynching Act , which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022 after over a century of efforts to pass such legislation.

Meanwhile, for those of us in the public policy space, our solemn task is to continue to tell the stories of those taken by hatred far too soon as well as those who have fought back —and to loudly condemn those who continue choosing violence in pursuit of hatred. Or, as Wells puts it, “It becomes a painful duty […] to reproduce a record which shows that a large portion of the American people avow anarchy, condone murder and defy the contempt of civilization.” —With research support from Sinet Adous.

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Terrorism Essay Examples

Terrorism is a topic that encompasses a wide range of issues, including its causes, effects, and strategies to combat it. Essays on this subject can be informative, persuasive, argumentative or a combination of these types.

These essays demand thorough research and critical thinking, as they explore complex and often controversial issues. The goal is not only to present facts but also to make a compelling argument, drawing on evidence and logical reasoning

The structure of an essay on terrorism generally follows the traditional essay format, which includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the specific content within these sections may vary depending on the type of essay (e.g., informative, argumentative, persuasive, etc.).

The Importance of Essays About Terrorism

Essays about terrorism play a crucial role in understanding one of the most pressing global challenges of our time. The purpose of such essays is to analyze the motivations, methods, impacts, and countermeasures related to acts of terrorism. By examining the complexities of terrorism, these essays contribute to informed discussions, policy decisions, and efforts to prevent and counteract terrorism.

One of the primary goals of essays about terrorism is to understand the motivations that drive individuals and groups to engage in acts of terrorism. These essays explore factors such as political, religious, ideological, and social grievances that may contribute to radicalization.

The Events at Amritsar as the Catalysator the Movement for Freedom of India

Gandhi advocated protest without the use of violent acts because he believed in the religious concept of ‘Ahimsa’, meaning ‘doing no harm’. Gandhi believed that protesting peacefully would assist the Indians in their fight for freedom and independence from the British simply by showing colonizers...

Amritsar Massacre: Response to the Gandhi and Indian Nationalist Movement

However, the situation in India is still not convincing enough to justify Dyer’s actions. The prevailing ideas of paternalism and racial attitudes in British India shaped Dyer’s actions should be self-evident, which could be said about the policies and practices within the empire and therefore...

The Taliban and Its Impact on the War

Parachinar is the capital of Kurram agency which boarders with three different Afghan provinces, namely ningrahar to its north, paktia to its west and khost to south west.it is the nearest city of Pakistan to Kabul. It also borders with north Waziristan, Orakzai and Khyber...

Genocide, Holocaust, Or Dehumanization: Causes and Consequences

Genocide, Holocaust, or Dehumanization are all methods that are deliberately aimed to erase a mass number of people on the basis of their caste, color, race, or Religion, usually carried out by a superior and stronger group of people. The method of genocide was popular...

Taliban and Evolution of Terrorist Groups in Afghanistan

 To analysis the eradication of regional terrorism in Afghanistan, we must look at The evolution of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. When the Soviet Union invaded at the request of Central government of Afghanistan which was called by Mujahidin Soviet designated government, in that war which...

Operation Anaconda: Mission to Destroy the Taliban

Operation Anaconda was an operation that took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains of Afghanistan from 2 March 2002 through 18 March 2002. It was a joint mission between U.S. military branches, six other nations, and Afghans led by Major General Franklin L....

Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory Explaining the Discrimination Malala Yousafzai Faced by the Taliban

The legendary story of Malala of Pakistan is one of the most famous and well-known stories in history. The attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai by the Taliban for speaking out for girls' education and peace can be viewed as an isolated act by religious extremists....

Suicide Bombing as an Aspects of Terrorism

Until the 1990s, terrorism tended to be relegated to a secondary position in the international politics due to the relative irrelevance to the world affairs. However, as the global tension escalated to a significant extent with the September 11 terrorist attacks, the significance of terrorism...

The End of Torure: Why the Guantanamo Bay Should Be Closed

There is always somebody with more information, money, and power. Usually it is the government, for various reasons, that will not give out information regarding torture. Therefore, whatever we see on TV, read in books, hear from other and sometimes experience ourselves will be the...

Change of the Concept of Sovereignty: 9/11 Attack, War on Terror, and Guantanamo Bay

Throughout history, there have been episodes with such an impactful magnitude that they have been able to change the course of history forever. For example, the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand II in 1914 was the incident which led to the outbreak of the First World...

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• War on Terror
• Twin Towers
• Suicide Bombing
• Osama Bin Laden
• Women's Rights
• Social Movements

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