One of the most fundamental issues in contemporary global politics is terrorism. After the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, the U.S. embarked on what is called a greater “war on terror.” The intent of this “war” was stated publically to be the elimination of terrorists, terrorist networks and regimes or individuals who harbor or support terrorism. Almost fifteen years after this attack, the U.S. has led disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have not stopped terrorism, but increased its spread. The U.S. thought the cause of terrorism was the hatred for the American way of life. But instead, it appears we can isolate three of the main causes of terrorism as follows. One, terrorism, specifically so-called “Islamic” terrorism is the result of U.S. foreign policy. Secondly, terrorism is not stopped by war, but caused by war and armed conflict. Thirdly, the cause of terrorism is the result of U.S. policy itself, since terrorism gives the U.S. strategic potential in the arena of international relations.
The phenomenon of “Islamic” terrorism is the effect of what is considered to be unfair U.S. foreign policy. For example, in the Palestinian situation, the U.S. has been a staunch defender of Israel, without concerns for the oppression of the Palestinian people. Many Muslims see this as an anti-Islamic policy. Furthermore, the U.S. has military bases all over the Arab world, such as in Saudi Arabia. This is viewed as a capitulation of Arab governments to U.S. foreign policy and therefore terrorism becomes a political tactic used to oppose what is viewed as aggressive and hegemonic policy. The effect of terrorism is therefore the cause of unjust foreign policy and unilateral decisions instead of dialogue and anti-hegemonic and anti-imperialistic decision making.
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Terrorism cannot be stopped by “war on terror”, because violence only begets violence. This can be seen by the fact that terrorist attacks are often justified by those who commit them by the rhetoric that this is a response to the killing of, for example, civilian populations. When a young person sees his family killed by an anti-terrorist operation, he will not most likely not say “my family was wrong”, but will want revenge on those who have killed those most close to him. Solving terrorism through violence is like putting out a fire with gasoline.
Terrorism may be the cause of U.S. foreign policy since it serves U.S. strategic objectives. For example, the U.S. have had an aggressive foreign policy against the Assad regime in Syria. They have financed various armed extremist groups, such as the Islamic State, in order to stop Assad. Therefore, terrorism is not the result of hatred for Western forms of life, but in one sense is created and fostered by Western democracies such as the U.S. to fulfill its strategic objectives in other areas of international relations.
The phenomenon of terrorism is one of the most troubling of our times. When we see innocent civilians killed, our shared humanity is shocked and traumatized. But if we better understand the causes of terrorism, we can eliminate this effect. We have to understand that terrorism is the result not of blind, irrational hatred, but of policy grievances in the political arena. We have to understand that terrorism cannot be solved by “war” on terrorism, because violence only creates more violence. We also have to understand that the terrorist issue is manipulated for strategic purposes by some of the hegemonic powers of the world – the opposition to imperialism will therefore also contribute to the elimination of the effect of terrorism.
