Introduction to Terrorism
While the UN General Assembly defines terrorism as a set of acts aimed at provoking terror for ideological, political or religious ends, the term "terrorism" does not have a universal definition.
The use of the word and the qualification of a group of "terrorists" is not the same between the States. Indeed, the definition and contours of terrorism have evolved over time and diverge according to different points of view. From year to year it intensifies, and causes many problems in our world. Example of a terrorist group: in the United States with Al-Qaeda, in Turkey with the PKK, in China with the West Turkestan movement, in Nigeria with Boko Haram, in the United Kingdom with Ira, or even in India with Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
It all started in the 19th century, with so-called revolutionary terrorism
This aims to destabilize the state. In Europe, revolutionary anarchist groups carried out numerous attacks of which several leaders were victims, such as French President Sadi Carnot in 1894. There was also in 1881 the attack against Tsar Alexander II, attacks against Bismarck and Guillaume 1er, in 1898 the assassination of the King of Italy Humbert 1er, and finally the attacks against the King of Spain Alphonse XIII.
Then in the 1970s, it was Italy that suffered from extreme right and extreme left terrorism
The objective is to rock the Italian institutions with explosions, kidnappings, assassinations, jambisation, this period is called "the years of lead" of Italy. At the same time, in the Spanish Basque country, another form of terrorism is making headlines through ETA. Indeed, attacks are committed by ETA and other independence groups, they kill more than 1,300 people in 50 years. So-called nationalist terrorism is mainly the act of separatist movements, using attacks to claim the independence of a people or a territory. This is also the case with Northern Ireland and the IRA or in Palestine with HAMAS.
Another form is state terrorism
It which consists of the practice of violent action apparent to terrorism by a State. This is particularly the case of Gaddafi's Libya, leader from 1969 to 2011 who sponsored an attack on a plane making the London-New York link in 1988 (270 dead). In Latin America, the term state terrorism refers to the death squads of the 1970s and 1980s created by the military powers in place to smash left-wing revolutionary movements (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Uruguay).
From the 1980s, so-called Islamist terrorism increased
It is the result of international movements generally born in contexts of conflict: Al-Qaeda, during the 1st war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) and the Gulf war in Iraq (1990-1991), the Algerian GIA (Islamist group army) active during the Algerian civil war (1991-2002), DAESH during and after the Iraq war (2003-2011). Branches and groups inspired by or affiliated with these organizations such as Ansar Dine, Shebab, Ansar-Al-Sharia, AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), Boko-haram thrive and recruit in areas where States have failed, where reign misery and lack of prospects. If they are based on a warlike and deformed vision of Islam, they are also nourished by more political demands, such as the fight against the existence of the neo-colonialist State of Israel.
Finally, the return of far-right terrorism, which is intensifying
It is the result of white supremacist movements, mainly in Western countries. We have in particular the attacks of Utoya in 2011 in Norway, which were 77 dead and 151 injured, or the attack of Christchurch against two mosques in New Zealand in 2019, 49 injured and 51 dead, remind us that such movements continue to thrive. In 2020, supremacists are behind the majority of attacks in the United States. Indeed, ⅔ of the attacks are perpetrated by white supremacists and far-right terrorists, according to the CSIC (Center for Strategic and International Studies).
Terrorism is therefore the actions of groups with very diverse claims, between nationalist, revolutionary, state, Islamist and extreme left terrorism, it is also becoming more and more diversified. But the absence of a universal definition does not allow a common position at the international level.