Page 88 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 88
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 5–6
move from the peaceful solving of pressing conflicts to the use of illegal
and extreme violence.
Terrorism as the end point of the radicalisation process refers to the
use of extreme violence for the purpose of achieving political goals. Key
characteristics of terrorist violence are human casualties, destruction, and
fear. Most of the time terrorists cannot achieve their extreme goals, so
spreading fear is also good enough for their purposes. A key form of ter-
rorism is the terrorist attack, and we can observe several forms of it, such
as political murders or assassinations, kidnapping, hijacking of airplanes,
ships, buses, etc., arson, bomb attacks (including the use of letter bombs,
car bombs, or suicide bomb attacks), attacks on embassies and diplomats,
shootings in public places, etc. Radicalisation may also end up in the use
of the so-called special or nonconventional terrorism, such as chemical, bi-
ological, nuclear, and radiological terrorism. The motivation of terrorist
actors in the direction of non-conventional terrorism is increasing due to
their wish to perform more visible and influential events. Trends on the
use of terrorist violence show increasing brutality, the primacy of innocent
civilian targets and victims, connections with military presence in crisis
areas, connections with migrations and inter-cultural and inter-religious
relations, and a broadening of the spectrum of methods (such as the use
of suicide terrorists in Europe, simultaneous attacks, use of vans, attacks
on concerts, restaurants, media houses, etc.). The radicalisation end point,
however, does not relate only to the execution of terrorist attacks. As Prezelj
(2007: p. 81) argued, terrorism includes, besides carrying out attacks, also
planning, organizing, and supporting terrorist activities. Additionally, ter-
rorism refers to threats with terrorism as well. This all means that terror-
ism is actually a very complex security and social problem.
After this explanation of the evolutionary end point of radicalisa-
tion, we should also define more precisely the relationship between terror-
ism and extremism. Terrorism is always an expression of extremism. The
latter refers to an ideology of maximising own goals without consider-
ing the majority view. It also refers to activities that are far away from the
normal persuasions, values, opinions, activities, strategies, etc. All exam-
ples of terrorism are a form of political extremism, though not all forms of
political extremism are terrorism. Many extremists and even political ex-
tremists live in our world, but they are not considered as terrorists because
they do not (or intend to) use violence to achieve their political goals. This
means that terrorists are to be found among political extremists, but not
all such extremists are terrorists. Additionally, several sources point to
subjectivity or political nature of the labelling act of someone as extremist
(see Bartoli and Coleman, 2003, etc.).
86
move from the peaceful solving of pressing conflicts to the use of illegal
and extreme violence.
Terrorism as the end point of the radicalisation process refers to the
use of extreme violence for the purpose of achieving political goals. Key
characteristics of terrorist violence are human casualties, destruction, and
fear. Most of the time terrorists cannot achieve their extreme goals, so
spreading fear is also good enough for their purposes. A key form of ter-
rorism is the terrorist attack, and we can observe several forms of it, such
as political murders or assassinations, kidnapping, hijacking of airplanes,
ships, buses, etc., arson, bomb attacks (including the use of letter bombs,
car bombs, or suicide bomb attacks), attacks on embassies and diplomats,
shootings in public places, etc. Radicalisation may also end up in the use
of the so-called special or nonconventional terrorism, such as chemical, bi-
ological, nuclear, and radiological terrorism. The motivation of terrorist
actors in the direction of non-conventional terrorism is increasing due to
their wish to perform more visible and influential events. Trends on the
use of terrorist violence show increasing brutality, the primacy of innocent
civilian targets and victims, connections with military presence in crisis
areas, connections with migrations and inter-cultural and inter-religious
relations, and a broadening of the spectrum of methods (such as the use
of suicide terrorists in Europe, simultaneous attacks, use of vans, attacks
on concerts, restaurants, media houses, etc.). The radicalisation end point,
however, does not relate only to the execution of terrorist attacks. As Prezelj
(2007: p. 81) argued, terrorism includes, besides carrying out attacks, also
planning, organizing, and supporting terrorist activities. Additionally, ter-
rorism refers to threats with terrorism as well. This all means that terror-
ism is actually a very complex security and social problem.
After this explanation of the evolutionary end point of radicalisa-
tion, we should also define more precisely the relationship between terror-
ism and extremism. Terrorism is always an expression of extremism. The
latter refers to an ideology of maximising own goals without consider-
ing the majority view. It also refers to activities that are far away from the
normal persuasions, values, opinions, activities, strategies, etc. All exam-
ples of terrorism are a form of political extremism, though not all forms of
political extremism are terrorism. Many extremists and even political ex-
tremists live in our world, but they are not considered as terrorists because
they do not (or intend to) use violence to achieve their political goals. This
means that terrorists are to be found among political extremists, but not
all such extremists are terrorists. Additionally, several sources point to
subjectivity or political nature of the labelling act of someone as extremist
(see Bartoli and Coleman, 2003, etc.).
86
