Question

Is terrorism a traditional or non-traditional threat to security?

Answer 1

Terrorism is a non-traditional security threat and basically refers to a political ideology that seeks to inflict fear and terror in the minds of the people for the purpose of obtaining desired political objectives.

a. It involves the usage of political violence against the civilian population in order to attain the objectives by the usage of force or by threatening them through the usage of force.
b. Terrorism involves the indiscriminate usage of violence on the innocent civilians with an aim to paralyse the administration, thereby pushing the government to take up extreme counter reactions.
c. Terrorist organisations resort to various strategies like bombings in crowded places and trains and hijacking planes in order to inflict massive damage.
d. Terrorism is a major threat to international peace and security. It is viewed as a tactic, a strategy and a crime by the victim, but it is performed as a holy duty by a terrorist to bring about deliberate oppression through extreme forms of violence.
e. Since 9/11, the global strategy towards terrorism has improved with the concern on such form of non-traditional security threats is growing constantly. With the attack on the US and Europe, there has been a growing realisation that terrorism is a global phenomenon and requires collective endeavour and prolonged strategy to deal with.
f. The most important aspect of terrorism is that the terrorists do not see themselves as criminals. For them it is a justifiable act of violence in order to attain their politically motivated objectives.