Hoffman's Book "Inside Terrorism" Overview Paper Example

Introduction

The book has 453 pages. The book has more than 45 pages on the bibliography on terrorism. Footnotes account for 72 pages while index accounts for at least 18 pages of the book. Such a reflection offers a presumption that the book is a holistic discussion of terrorism. It also indicates that the book widely reflects all the potential facets of terrorism. In other words, a reader who has seen the overall constitution of the book believes that it has all the major arguments and theories on terrorism.

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Hoffman, the author, has a long-standing reputation as a personal with vast information on the nature of terrorism. It is in order, thus, that he attracted and engaged the Columbia University Press as the publisher of the book. The critical reflection of the texts and arguments contained in the book, however, indicates that he had slightly inadequate assessment and holistic reflection on the overall nature of terrorism as a global threat to peace.

Diversity in discussion

One of the unique discussions in the book involves the assessment of the terrorism from an ethno-nationalism perspective. The discussion largely thrives under the topics on the use of Palestinians as a model in the 71st and 72nd page. The discussion involves groups such as the Armenian Army for the Secret Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) (Hoffman, 2006). The group had a political aim of restoring the status part of the Armenian community but had splinter groups such as the PFLP Special Operations Group which had extremist terrorist motives.

The book discusses the contexts that lead to the rise of terrorist groups. One of the approaches that emerge within the book is that terrorist groups thrive under unique environment where there is political instability and where a large section of a community needs to work together for a political objective (Thompson, 2015). Such an idea emerges as a common cause of terrorism in many instances around the world (Combs, 2017). A critical reflection as seen in the case above reflects the nature of terrorism group formation as discussed in the context above. In other words, the author validly reflects that unique role of terrorism development and its diversity.

The discussion on the Armenian genocide in Turkey during the early 20th century

The unique nature of terrorism emerges as a central tool that influences the discussion of the author's ideas on terrorism. The reflection to terrorism from such a perspective indicates that terrorism is a historical perspective (Hoffman, 2006). One needs not to limit terrorism to extremism approaches as adopted in the modern discussions. It is far more subtle and historical than reflected in the context of the modern reflections in the media. The book critically reflects the unique nature of terrorism through a historical reflection.

Genocide emerges as a mass murder of a population. The book documents the mass murder of the Armenians living in Turkey before 1915 (Hoffman, 2006). Critically, the author reveals some of the terror-related motives at the time. Such elements include practices such as the widespread war targeting the civilian population of Armenians who were the minority in Turkey at the time.

The context above discusses the unique role of terrorism. It is not limited to the bombings or radical indiscriminate shooting that are a common phenomena today. The author puts into a clear context that terrorism can take the shape of a genocide or even ethnic cleansing (Hoffman, 2006). Such an approach provides a unique, holistic, and historic reflection of the development and scope of terrorism.

Critical omissions from the book

The book indicates that there are different types of terrorism. It is commonly accepted that terrorism takes different forms within other forums of academic approaches. There are two main elements or types of terrorism that are not represented in the book as discussed below.

On the one hand, there is the overt state terrorism. The general definition of overt state terrorism occurs in the contexts where states engage in the use of force or the threat of the use of force as a tool in intimidating communities or other states (Berleant, 2016). State A, for instance, can threaten state B, through overt state terrorism by installing its missiles and testing them close to the neighboring state as a show of might. Such an approach can threaten the overall safety welfare of state B under the nexus of the overt state terrorism.

The overt state terrorism emerges as an integral aspect that applies in the modern geopolitical context. The book ignores the concept which narrows on the overall scope of terrorism as common phenomena in the world. Aspects such as economic sanctions which aim to coerce a state to adopt a specific ideology or approach emerge as a form of modern terrorism (Rausch, 2015). It creates a sense of fear within the targeted state which amounts to an aspect of terrorism not represented in the book.

False flag terrorism

One of the most ignored discussions on terrorism involves false flag terrorism. The approach, as the name suggests, involves the use of police or army, through the threat of use of force or the practical use of force, to incite a civilian population against another or an individual (Benjamin, 2017). The book does not discuss the concept of the false flag terrorism at all. Such a discussion can extend the scope of the nature and understanding of terrorism.

An example in the context of the above discussion can suffice. Some of the potential examples of false flag terrorism can emerge in the case of the US-UK attack on Libya. The practice of the UK's intervention in the ouster of Gaddafi can serve as false flag terrorism if the US-UK forces incited one group against another. Thus, the objective can involve inciting population against an individual such as the long-term political leader or otherwise.

A better context, however, arises in the case of the September 11 attack on the United States soil. The Unites States has used the attack as a justification for the war on terror which targeted Afghanistan and Iraq (Benjamin, 2017). Such aspects emerge as false flag terrorism as the United States used the attack as a tool to cause fear and harm on a population without significant justification.

The intersection between religion and terrorism

It is a common idea that there is a nexus between religion and terrorism. The September 11 attack on the United States emerges as one of the common elements that Hoffman discusses. He argues that "It only remains briefly to clarify the role religion played in the motivation of the hijackers" (Hoffman, 2006). In such contexts, he further reflects the role of Mohammed Atta who was charged as one of the main accomplices to the September 11 attack. There is a clear link between the actions of Mohammed Atta and his activities under the instructions and directions of Osama bin Laden.

One cannot ignore the idea that the author misses some critical elements that Hoffman misses in the review of the actions of Mohammed Atta and his relationship with Osama bin Laden. On the one hand, Hoffman fails to indicate the cause of Atta's detour to Portland on the eve of the attack and the early morning flight back to Boston on September 11. Hoffman does not engage in a critical effort in assessing the activities of Atta and with an objective of trying to explain the terrorist motive.

The discussion on the terrorist manual

It is common that conventional terrorism discussed in Hoffman's book revolves around what one can see or understand. It is a common view that terrorism involves extremist ideologies commonly adopted by Islam or other indoctrinated individuals. The society can easily detect such people on sight. Hoffman, on page 251, discusses a terrorist manual that terrorists nowadays adopt as a means of hiding their identity from the common perceptions of the society.

The manual indicates statements such as "Don't wear short pants that show socks when you're standing up" and "If you use women's perfume, you are in trouble" (Hoffman, 2006). The author discusses a practice as an excerpt from the terrorist as a way of hiding their identities. On the one hand, one can assess the contents of page 251 of Hoffman's book as a mere reflection rather than a critical assessment of the trends in terrorism. There is little effort within the work to show the emergence of the ideologies contained in the excerpt or to discuss the validity or extent of the concepts discussed therein.

Conclusion

Hoffman's book "inside Terrorism" reflects an overall understanding of terrorism. It argues that there are different facets of terrorism and discusses their occurrence under different facets. One of the core elements, however, is that terrorists aim for a political objective in all their actions. Such fundamental elements in terrorism are represented in the book.

On the other hand, however, critical reflection of the book indicates that it omits some unique types of terrorism altogether. Discussions such as the overt state terrorism of the false flag terrorism do not arise anywhere within the book. One would expect that the book ought to reflect such elements and discuss them at length to provide the reader with an opportunity of understanding the overall nature of terrorism.

Reading the book reveals some unique and commonly ignored facets in terrorism. However, the book omits some common forms of terrorism which lowers it repute as a provider of information on terrorism. It partly reflects the understanding of terrorism as known to the society today.

References

Benjamin, A. B. (2017). 9/11 as False Flag: Why International Law Must Dare to Care. African Journal of International and Comparative Law, 25(3), 371-392.

Berleant, A. (2016). Art, terrorism and the negative sublime. Artenol, 24-31.

Combs, C. C. (2017). Terrorism in the twenty-first century. Routledge.

Hoffman, B. (2006). Inside terrorism. Columbia University Press.

Thompson, A. (2015). Reconsidering Religion, Reconsidering Terrorism. Journal Article| Jan, 20(11), 18pm.

Rausch, C. C. (2015). Fundamentalism and terrorism. Journal of Terrorism Research.