The History of State Terrorism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The History of State Terrorism - Article ExampleThrough a diachronic perspective of act of terrorism, a student of the evolution of terrorism recognizes the various essential aspects that make contemporary terrorism of today different from traditional terrorism of the past. Whereas the spirit and means of terrorism have changed over the past centuries in accounting, the results and effect of terrorism remain unchanged through different ages. When the history of province terrorism is explored in detail, one is reminded of the saying The more than things change - the more things remain the same. It is common that the terrorist party tends to appeal strongly to emotion when the state machinery is essentially rational. Similarly, the terrorist front instills its politics with a powerful moral tone and a weak-versus-strong strategy reliant for the most part on its psychological impact on the adversary, where the state machinery operates on the basis of realist policies and an under standing of the balance of power. Todays terrorism is what specialists call group or bottom-up-terrorism, but top-down (state) terrorism has been far more prevalent throughout history. It enjoyed its heyday in the twentieth century with the advent of totalitarianism. In terms of victims, top-down terrorism has taken a vastly higher toll than its bottom-up counterpart. (Chaliand and Blin, 2007, p 6). Therefore, top-down or state terrorism has been a reality through various periods in the history of terrorism, though it is most treacherous and venomed in the twenty-first century. Although there have been several significant attempts to counter the threats of this terrorist tendency, including the Global War on Terrorism, the state of affairs with regard to state terrorism has not changed greatly. That is to say, historical evaluation of state terrorism confirms the concept of the saying - The more things change - the more things remain the same. Whereas terrorism has a long history o f its development and state terrorism has been in place for quite long centuries, not many talked about state terrorism until very recently. That is to say, state terrorism was not attached great importance until in recent times and a profound understanding of state terrorism is essential to realize the concept of the saying - The more things change - the more things remain the same.