Chapter 3 Beginnings The Causes of Terrorism Political Violence as Strategic Choice · Making Revolution: Acts of Political Will · A rational strategic choice to force change. · Terrorism as a tool to achieve a desired goal. · Case: Mao Zedong and “people’s war.” Perception and Cultural Disconnect: Adversaries in the War on Terrorism · Perceptions. · Western: A war against Western-style civilization. · Non-Western: An imbalance in policies toward Muslim countries vis-à-vis Israel. · Concept: The behavior of the West is the cause of angry sentiment in the Muslim world. · Case: CIA’s 2007 National Intelligence Estimate warning Iraq is a new training ground for terrorists. Political Violence as the Fruit of Injustice · Sociological Explanations of Terrorism · Intergroup conflict that leads to collective violence. · Structural theory: Social conditions (‘structures”) that affect group access to societal benefits. · Deprivation theory: Relative deprivation and absolute deprivation. · Cases: Basque Nationalism in Spain, Irish catholic Nationalism, Palestinian Nationalism, and French Canadian Nationalism · Criminological Explanations of Terrorism: The Path to Political Criminality · Differential Association Theory. · Anomie and Strain Theories · Routine Activity Theory. · Radical Criminology. · Psychological Explanations of Terrorism: Rationality and Terrorist Violence · Individual-level explanations. · Group-level explanations. · Generalized psychological explanations. · Case: The Stockholm syndrome. The Morality of Political Violence · Moral Convictions of Terrorists · Terrorists have an unambiguous certainty in the righteousness of a cause. · Concepts: · A group concludes it has been morally wronged by an immoral, evil enemy. · A group concludes it possesses an inherent moral superiority to an enemy. · Simplified Definitions of Good and Evil · A clear line is drawn between good and evil. · Violent methods are justified by the ennobled goals of the cause. · Seeking Utopia: Moral Ends Through Violent Means · The promised good outweighs present actions. · “The end justifies the means.” · Moral Purity: Codes of Self-Sacrifice · Superior codes of living that “cleanse” those who follow the code. · Case: Germany’s Waffen SS. · Case: Japan’s code of Bushido. · The Morality of Political Violence (continued) · Understanding Codes of Self-Sacrifice · Codes of self-sacrifice are an important explanatory cause for terrorist behavior. · Belief systems “cleanse” participants. Chapter 2 The Nature of the Beast Defining Terrorism Understanding Extremism Defining Extremism · Intolerance in what someone believes. · Intolerance in how someone expresses their beliefs. · Violent expression is not a universal characteristic. · Understanding Extremism (continued) Common Characteristics of Violent Extremists · Intolerance. · Moral absolutes. · Broad conclusions. · New language and conspiratorial beliefs. · The World of the Extremist · Different, often fantastic, wor ...