Abstract
Every nation in the world, except for the ones that condone it, seeks to find ways to prevent terror attacks from being directed at their own society, whether it be from a home born terrorist or a direct attack from an international group. Despite the endeavor to prevent attacks, many countries still are unsure of how to do so. The purpose of this research is to highlight social injustice as the root cause of terrorism as discussed from analyzing Fathali Moghaddam’s Stairway to Terrorism model as well as news articles, and an article written by the Council on Foreign Relations. Upon identifying how social injustice motivates individuals to become terrorists and motivates terrorist organizations to attack societies, a nation can identify how to avoid creating terrorists from within as well as how to avoid motivating international terror attacks.
Terrorist attacks are a threat that many countries and societies face and are unsure of how to prevent. Often, countries become the target of a terror attack due to increased feelings of injustice that individuals feel exist in society, or its government. Fathali Moghaddam developed a model called the staircase to terrorism, which expands on sociological and psychological components that lead individuals to carry out attacks and join terror organizations. Based on these sociological and psychological components, there are many things a country or society could do to prevent from becoming the target of a terror attack. First and foremost, it is important to keep in mind that individuals on the path to terrorism are fueled by injustice and a society’s lack to fix or acknowledge the issue as pointed out by Fathali Moghaddam (The Staircase to Terrorism, 2005). Therefore, to prevent individuals from within a society from becoming terrorists, it is important to identify ways that individuals may feel acts of injustice are being committed against them in their own society so they do not end up seeking the outside help of foreign terror organizations. Second, outside influence of terror organizations must be restricted to prevent individuals who are at the upper levels of the “Staircase to Terrorism” model from obtaining the means to carry out an attack. Lastly, acting to ensure other nations do not feel unjust acts are committed against their societies. These steps pertain to a long-term measure of which would lead to weakened feelings of injustice and less of a need to create a revolt within a society to create equality, therefore decreasing the likelihood of terrorist attacks occurring.
In many instances terrorist agents commit attacks against their own country due to feelings of injustice that come from within, which is the case with dissident terrorists. In recent years, the western world has observed many attacks from within from lone wolf dissident terrorists. Typically, these terrorists are motivated by acts of injustice in their own nation. For example, in Syria the rise of terrorism was due in part by the fact that the government was trying to silence peaceful protestors and the protestors felt it was an act of injustice committed against them by their government and thus many violent attacks were carried out, and still are carried out in the divided country according to CNN (Syrian Civil War Fast Facts, 2017). If a nation wants to prevent the rise of terrorism from within its own country, it must ensure that it is not violating human rights or contributing to social injustices that are occurring but instead seek to listen to its citizens that feel are experiencing injustice. This is the reason America contributes to the establishment of democracies in the Gulf States, to ensure that everyone has a political voice in their own nation. If everyone has a voice, there will be less feelings of injustice which means less individuals will seek out more extreme methods of having to be heard, like terrorism.
Another helpful way to reduce the threat of a terror attack is for governments to track, monitor, and terminate forms of outside influence that terrorist organizations use to motivate individuals to carry out attacks. A tactic that terrorist organizations use to find potential recruits for their cause is to find communities where individuals feel that the injustices they are experiencing are so bad that they must isolate themselves from that society. These individuals are at risk of escalating to the next step of the Staircase to Terrorism model, because these individuals are more easily persuaded into joining a terrorist group’s cause. Whenever these individuals isolate themselves, terrorist organizations then convince them to join their cause by appealing to them with security and the promise to fight for their cause. CBS discusses tactics seen today that is used by terrorists to recruit individuals which includes ISIS’s use of online social media to advertise their attacks such as the beheadings and find potential recruits (ISIS Recruits Fighters through Powerful Online Campaign, 2014). Societies can prevent their own citizens from being inspired by these terrorist organizations by preventing their sociological influences. Foreign Affairs goes as far as to say that governments should keep close watch over the social media activity of these terrorist organizations and terminate them as to prevent them from communicating and recruiting (How to Hunt a Lone Wolf, 2017). This is an important step in preventing further terror attacks, especially with the rise of lone wolf terrorists being guided by ISIS from afar to commit terrorist attacks within their own countries.
Religious, transnational, and international terrorists pose to be of greater threat to the world than domestic terrorists. Therefore, it is especially important to understand the forces that drive these terror organizations. Identifying what foreign societies may identify as an injustice imposed on them by another country is especially important in preventing international terrorist attacks. History states in an article that Al Qaeda views the United States involvement in the Middle East as an injustice and that Osama Bin Laden launched the 9/11 attack in spite of the fact that America supported Israel (9/11 Attacks, 2010). According to Human Rights First, terrorist ideological supporters view the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and the unfavorable conditions of the prison itself to be an injustice (Background on Guantanamo Bay, 2017). Identifying how certain instances with foreign citizens can be viewed as an injustice is important as there are other alternatives that won’t lead to tensions. If Government officials and counterterrorism programs within societies utilize methods that are less oppressive and less likely to incite hostile encounters from individuals that are on the path to becoming threats as terrorists, then their perceived notions of injustice will become decreased and they will be less likely to attack or target certain nations and their societies.
Although terror attacks cannot be predicted with certainty, there are measures that nations and societies can take to reduce the likelihood they will become the targets of a terror attack. It is important to keep in mind that the key focus of Fathali Moghaddam’s Staircase to Terrorism model was based upon injustices that are perceived in a society, so if a society were to identify how certain actions can be perceived as a notion of injustice beforehand to prevent individuals from progressing above ground level on the Staircase to Terrorism, as well as reducing the capability outside terror organizations have in communicating with individuals who are above the ground level, then the threat of an individual becoming radicalized and targeting their own home nation or a nation abroad. Ultimately, the fight against the threat of terror attacks is faced by almost every nation in the world today with the rise of fundamental religious terror groups like ISIS as well as their influence and ability to give power and knowledge to individuals of other countries that are seeking to commit acts of terror. That’s why it is crucial for every nation to take steps to try and reduce the threat of a terror attack in their own society.
References
- Background on Guantanamo Bay Prison. (n.d.). Retrieved November 02, 2017, from https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/background-guantanamo-bay-prison
- Byman, D. (2017, May 24). How to Hunt a Lone Wolf. Retrieved November 03, 2017, from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-02-13/how-hunt-lone-wolf
- Moghaddam, F. (n.d.). The Staircase to Terrorism: A Psychological Exploration (Rep.). doi:http://fathalimoghaddam.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/1256627851.pdf
- News, C. (2014, August 29). ISIS recruits fighters through powerful online campaign. Retrieved
- November 02, 2017, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-uses-social-media-to-recruit-western-allies/
- Syrian Civil War Fast Facts. (2017, October 17). Retrieved November 03, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/meast/syria-civil-war-fast-facts/index.html
