Motivations of Terrorists 

What motivates a man like Osama Bin Laden to encourage the use of indiscriminate violence to further his political objectives? How, if at all, do his motivations differ from those of terrorists of a previous generation, such as Carlos the Jackal? Although it is common, even stereotypical, to consider terrorists as all having similar view points, in most cases they are distinctly different. Goals and motivations vary at the organizational and individual levels. Socialization, revenge, and perceived injustice are all possible motivations, but, like causes of terrorism, there is no single explanation behind each act.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review the Course Introduction, located on the navigation bar on the left. Keep this overview in mind as you work through each week of the course.


Review Chapter 1 in the course text Terrorism in Perspective. Reflect on the motivations of terrorists.


Review Chapter 4 in the course text Introduction to Homeland Security: Understanding Terrorism with an Emergency Management Perspective and the assigned pages of Chapters 3 and 7 in the course text Terrorism in Perspective. Reflect on motivations of specific terrorists.


Select a terrorist to use for this assignment. You may select any individuals mentioned in the Learning Resources, the FBI "Most Wanted Terrorists" website: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/fugitives.htm, or another of your choosing. Note: Do not choose Osama Bin Laden.


Using the Learning Resources, Walden's Library, and/or the Internet, research the motivations of the terrorist you selected.
With these thoughts in mind:

Post a brief description of the terrorist you selected. Then explain the motivations of the terrorist. Be specific and use examples to illustrate your explanation.

Note: Put the name of the terrorist you selected in the first line of your post. You will be asked to respond to a colleague who selected a terrorist that you did not.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Learning Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of the assigned resources for this week. To view this week's media resources, please use the streaming media player below.

Media

Video: Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Terrorism: Legislation and policy: Causes of terrorism. Baltimore: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 15 minutes.

Accessible player 
Readings

Course Introduction (located on the left navigation bar)
Course Text:  Mahan, S., & Griset, P. L. (2013). Terrorism in perspective (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Chapter 1, "What is Terrorism?"
Chapter 3, "International Terrorism" (pp. 98-107 only)
Chapter 7, "Women Terrorists" (pp. 245-254 only)
Course Text: McEntire, D. A. (2009). Introduction to homeland security: Understanding terrorism with an emergency management perspective. New York: Wiley.

Chapter 2, "Identifying Terrorism: Ideologically Motivated Acts of Violence"
Chapter 3, "Recognizing the Causes of Terrorism: Differing Perspectives and the Role of Ideology"
Chapter 4, "Comprehending Terrorists and Their Behavior: Who They Are and What They Do"
Optional Resources

Website: U.S. Department of State: More Information. Retrieved from http://www.state.gov/j/ct/info/index.htm