Essay on domestic terrorism
Today, domestic terrorism is one of the major threats to the national security of the US. Since 9/11, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies viewed international terrorism as the major threat to the public security of the US but the threat of domestic terrorism has been underestimated. At any rate, American law enforcement agencies conduct active campaigns to prevent international terrorism but domestic terrorism become a serious threat to the national security of the US. In such a way, the US needs to develop effective strategies to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the US may face a threat of the consistent growth of domestic terrorism as do some European countries, such as the UK, for instance. Therefore, law enforcement agencies should focus their attention on the prevention of domestic terrorism because, even though domestic terrorism is unseen, it may be even more dangerous than international terrorism. Domestic terrorists undermine the country from within, while international terrorists attack the US from the outside and the US can raise barriers to protect Americans from the foreign threat, while domestic terrorism needs effective work of law enforcement agencies nationwide. Therefore, domestic terrorism is a serious threat to the national security of the US and American law enforcement agencies along legislators and the public have to unite their efforts in the struggle against domestic terrorism.
DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM
In fact, domestic terrorism is a serious threat to the US national security. At the same time, the US law enforcement agencies conducted effective struggle against domestic terrorism, whereas terrorist organizations operating and based in the US were not efficient. American terrorist organizations were relatively inactive and Americans as well as law enforcement agencies underestimated the threat of domestic terrorism. However, by the end of the 20th century domestic terrorism has started to grow in power that raised the problem of the understanding of the essence of the problem and elimination of the threat of domestic terrorism.
To understand the essence of domestic terrorism, it is necessary to find accurate definition of the term. In this regard, it is possible to define domestic terrorism as the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives (Bohn, 2004). At this point, the main characteristic of domestic terrorism, which distinguishes domestic terrorism from international terrorism, is the origin of terrorist organizations or terrorists – they are native born or citizens of the US. This means that domestic terrorists live in the US and plan their terrorist activities to complete in the US too. In such a way, the scope of their operations is limited to the country, where they live.
CAUSES OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM
On analyzing causes of domestic terrorism, specialists (Smith, 1994) point out that, as a rule, multiple factors contribute to the rise of domestic terrorism. Nevertheless, domestic terrorism does not emerge in the country, where internal conflicts between different social groups are latent. At the same time, it is possible to distinguish several key causes of domestic terrorism, including economic, political, and cultural. These causes have laid the foundation to the contemporary domestic terrorism in the US. Remarkably, causes of domestic terrorism are similar to those of international terrorism.
In actuality, economic cause is one of the main causes of domestic terrorism in the US, as well as other countries. What is meant here is the fact that terrorist organizations emerge on the ground of the growing economic disparity, when the oppressed social groups or classes unite their efforts and use terrorist methods of struggle to close economic gaps between them and the ruling elite and the middle-class. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the US always heavily relied on the middle class, which comprised the majority of the US population and hold stable economic position. However, economic crises, such as the recent economic recession, widen the gap between the rich and the poor, while the middle class loses its position as a large number of representatives of the middle class turn into the poor. The widening gaps between the rich and the poor force the poor to use diverse methods of struggle to gain better economic opportunities. In such a situation, terrorism becomes the ultimate method of the struggle of the poor and other economically oppressed social groups to gain better economic opportunities. In the time of economic crisis, the poor tend to radicalization because the economic crisis puts them on the edge of survival making their position desperate. As a result, they are ready to commit terror attacks to change their life for better.
Political cause of domestic terrorism in the US is also quite significant, although it used to be stronger in the past, when political factors were more significant than they are today. For instance, the communist threat had the domestic terrorist background in the US because certain Marxist groups created terrorist organizations to reach their political ends, such as the change of the socioeconomic and political regime. Today, the political system of the US is more homogeneous but politics still contributes to the development of domestic terrorism. The US political system is dominated by two major parties, Democrats and Republicans (Levi, 2003). Therefore, minor political forces have no chances to take an active part in the political life of the US. As a result, they may choose terrorist methods of struggle to reach their goals.
Finally, cultural causes aggravate the problem of domestic terrorism in the US. In fact, cultural factors may be and are among the major contributors to domestic terrorism in the US. In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that the US faced deep inter-cultural conflicts, such as the conflict between African Americans and white supremacists. Such conflicts provoked the growing tension between representatives of different racial and cultural groups that led to the appearance of terrorist organizations (Hamblen, 2003). For instance, it is possible to mention Ku-Klux-Klan, as one of the most notorious, supremacist organizations that use terrorist methods of struggle. Today, Arab Americans face the pressure from the part of the white majority that also increases the risk of the emergence of new terrorist organizations.
