Terrorism as a social and military phenomenon of the 21st century.

Hostage taking, bomb blasts at apartment buildings and massacres of civilians have become daily events of our life. Such are the acts perpetrated by international terrorism. The problem of terrorism is being widely discussed in international and regional organizations and at the most important forums. There is hardly a summit meeting of heads of state or government that has not discussed this problem or adopted resolutions aimed at resolving it.

The mass media have reported every single act of violence, however insignificant, making conjectures about its terrorist nature. Scholars have come up with nearly one hundred definitions of the concept of "terrorism," but further attempts are being made to find the most precise formula. That was one of the motives which induced the authors of a recently published book (1) to make yet another attempt at a scientific comprehension of this truly global phenomenon of our day.

The book has six chapters. Chapter One -- "Extremism as the Forefather of Modern Terrorism"--examines the two main approaches to the concept of terrorism that exist in today's world science: social and biological. The social approach proceeds from the crucial importance of social processes in its emergence. The biological approach connects terrorism with the "violent" nature of man. Unfortunately, both approaches reflect the realities of our life.

The social approach, as the authors note, is more widespread. It refers terrorism to the area of political struggle in which violent ways and methods of achieving political goals come to the fore. Hence the general condemnation of terrorism at the turn of the 20th century by law and by social ethics. In spite of that, modern terrorism is extremely tenacious, because it relies on extremism which over the past decade has become one of the main forms of struggle for political power.

Extremism as such is manifested in a radical denial of rules and standards existing in a state on the part of some individuals, groups and strata of the population. Subjectively, it is connected with the social disorientation of a part (sometimes a significant part) of citizens in view of targeted propaganda and insufficient political culture of the population. Some of the most resistant forms of extremism have deep historical roots. At the same time, extremism reflects the contradictions that objectively exist in the development of any society and various forms of strife (political, ethnic, religious). The problem here is how to ensure that such strife does not overstep certain limits beyond which the confrontation between various groups of people is continued with the use of violent methods of achieving public goals.

Chapter Two -- "Terrorism and Power"--presents the results of investigations into such a peculiarity of modern terrorism as its leaders' aspiration for power. Their aim is to gain supremacy first in a single country, then the region and finally throughout the world. In this process, terrorists seek to use mass movements in pursuing their own ends. As an extreme expression of social, ethnic and religious radicalism and extremism, terrorism will stop at nothing in order to achieve its goals. In fact, terrorists prefer such a strategy to any civilized methods of resolving social, ethnic, religious or other conflicts. The end of the past and the beginning of the present centuries are marked by terrorists' efforts to mobilize the masses and by their transition to the use of violence in ethnic and religious conflicts. Politically, such action takes the form of autonomist, separatist and irredentist movements.

Chapter Three -- "International Character of Modern Terrorism"--shows that the nutrient medium for the cancerous growth of terrorism and the causes of its proliferation across the world are the wide gap between rich and poor, social inequality and political instability in many countries. Terrorism parasitizes both on the unevenness of socioeconomic development in individual countries and on the deepening rift between the "rich" North and the "poor" South. Some states, acting from behind the scenes, play a provocative role in the use of terrorist acts in order to ensure both their own egoistic interests and the nominally "just" interests of those they sponsor.

Modern terrorism is distinguished by its great scope, the absence of distinct state borders, the existence of links and interaction between international terrorist centers and organizations; a flexible and ramified organizational structure consisting of a governing wing (often in the form of a legal political party) and an operational combat wing; use of agents in government and law enforcement bodies; good technical equipment; and a ramified network of secret shelters, bases and training centers.

Chapter Four -- "Fear as the Key Weapon of Modern Terrorism"--and Chapter Five -- "Strategy and Tactics of Today's Terrorists"--show very well that the involvement of ever new groups and strata of the population in terrorist activities goes hand in hand with ever wider use of particularly dangerous forms and methods of motivating violence. Modern terrorism seeks to expand its social base. This trend is connected, first and foremost, with difficulties of a political and legal nature that have arisen in a number of countries in the work being done by law enforcement agencies to detect and prevent acts of terrorism, to suppress the activities of their perpetrators and organizers, and to check the influx of new recruits to terrorist organizations. The worst thing here, the authors emphasize, is the existence of a supportive environment harboring terrorists and assisting them in the preparation of terrorist acts.

Since the 1980s, terrorism has abandoned its traditional formula according to which it is better to intimidate as many people as possible than to kill them, and many extremist organizations have taken a different road: to intimidate as many people as possible and to kill as many as possible. As a result of that strategy, terrorist acts in the final decades of the 20th century increased in numbers and became ever more large-scale and dramatic. Terrorists have also kept expanding the range of their targets, varying them depending on a number of circumstances, including the toughness and effectiveness of the response to them and of the security measures being taken.

As terrorism has turned into an international force, the strategy and tactics of terrorist organizations have been oriented toward forms and methods of activity that would generate the utmost fear among the population and would enable the attackers to score a propaganda success. Hence the disregard for losses among civilians and the urge to provoke the forces of law and order into an excessive response to terrorist acts so as to cause discontent and even hostility among the civilian population. Many hostages develop the so-called Stockholm syndrome, when persons released from captivity "forgive" the terrorists for shooting innocent people and accuse the fighters of law enforcement agencies of resorting to excessively harsh measures in their liberation.

Chapter Six -- "The Hounds of War"--shows that "globalization" of terrorism has led to an increase in the number of mercenaries in the ranks of terrorist groups and organizations. They have injected extreme brutality into acts of terrorism. Terrorist attacks today are primarily designed to provoke panic and fear among the population. That is why the number of accidental victims in the course of such attacks has been growing. Such brutal behavior is determined by the personality traits of present-day terrorists, most of whom are mercenaries, fanatics and criminals.

The evolution of the goals, means and methods of terrorism has turned it into a real threat to the vital interests of society, the state and the individual in most countries of the world. The effectiveness of the fight against terrorism always depends on the adequacy of the system of measures developed by the world community and by each state for protection against this threat. And the effectiveness of this system of measures largely depends on the objective and timely detection of changes in the substance and tactics of terrorism, on a thorough analysis of these changes and a correct forecast of their further development.

The authors of the book under review formulate a provision of essential importance: modern terrorism is a complex sociopolitical phenomenon with at least two interconnected components. The social component of international terrorism reflects the existing economic, political and social inequality in the world and is a manifestation of the irreconcilable contradictions between the "rich" North and the "poor" South. Its military component is represented by the aggregate of terrorist acts staged by irregular and clandestine armed formations.

The military component of modern terrorism is primarily determined by the organizational specifics of terrorist armed units. With rare exceptions (Chechnya, Afghanistan), they are represented by underground organizations and groups of fighters. In view of that, terrorist forces cannot be large. Their tactics is determined by their inability to conduct long combat operations. That is why the combat operations of terrorist groups and organizations (ambush, raid, capture of prisoners) do not differ from the forms and methods of combat operations conducted by small regular military units, primarily special task forces. At the same time, terrorists have resorted to an ever wider range of particularly barbarous forms of destroying people and property with the use of explosives, toxic chemicals and bacteriological weapons.

The authors draw the conclusion that the fight against modern terrorism requires sustained efforts and it cannot be suppressed solely by military means without eradicating political, social and economic inequality. Terrorists can be defeated, the authors maintain, only when they lose the support of the peoples of the world and when the fight against them is carried on by military formations trained in the tactics of counterinsurgency (counterguerilla) action. In my view, the book will help today's readers to get a better understanding of international terrorism as a social and military phenomenon of the 21st century, and also of the forms and methods of combating it.

NOTE:

1. B.G. Putilin, A.G. Shliakhtunov, Terrorizm--chuma XXI veka, Moscow, 2003.

Col. V.A. KULIKOV (Ret.)

Doctor of Historical Sciences