PSC 116 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam, Islamic Fundamentalism, Kurdistan Workers' Party
Document Summary
Terrorism is not a new phenomenon-often called a tool of the weak against the state: historically, terrorism is cyclical. In the 20 years prior to the iraq war: rate of terrorism has dropped, rate of suicide terrorism has increased. 31 attacks in the 1980s: 1st intifada against israel. 104 attacks in 1990"s: 2nd intifada against israel, al qaeda against us outposts. Hundreds of attacks in the 2000"s: september 11th, spain, london train attacks, iraq and afghanistan. Conventional wisdom based on flawed early research: viewed suicide attacks as irrational, especially for individuals carrying out the attacks, consequently, studies focused on individual motivations, religious indoctrination (esp. Current studies suggest these early explanations are inadequate: religious motivation may matter, but suicide attacks are not limited to islamic fundamentalists. World leader in attacks: liberation tigers of tamil eelam (ltte: group recruited from the hindu tamil population in north- eastern sri lanka and has a marxist ideology (secular)
