Causes of Terrorism 

Experts agree that there is no single cause of terrorism. Depending on the terrorist and the terrorist group, terrorism might arise from any number of factors including but not limited to religious beliefs, political ideologies, and perceived injustice. How do you determine which of these factors or causes are most significant? The answer to this question directly shapes future policies developed to prevent terrorism. For instance, if a terrorist group has a specific religious affiliation, that does not mean that all people with that religious belief are terrorists. Thus, any future policies created to impact this terrorist group need to be aware of the differences within that terrorist group and their religious affiliations.

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 2 in the course text, Introduction to Homeland Security: Understanding Terrorism with an Emergency Management Perspective. Pay particular attention to how terrorism is defined. Also, consider different types of terrorism.


Review Chapter 3 in the course text, Introduction to Homeland Security: Understanding Terrorism with an Emergency Management Perspective and the course media, "Causes of Terrorism." Reflect on the causes of terrorism.


Select three causes of terrorism you believe to be the most significant and consider why.

Post  a brief description of the three causes of terrorism you selected. Then explain why you think they are most significant. Be specific and use examples to support your explanation.

Note: Put the names of the causes you selected in the first line of your post. You will be asked to respond to a colleague who selected at least one cause 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