Paper Example on Terrorism: A Global Threat to Humanity in the Last Three Decades

Terrorism refers to the calculated usage of violence to instill fear among a group of people. Setton and Tavori (2000) argued that there had been no fearful era than the final three decades of the 20th century. The State Department claimed that terrorism is one of the biggest threats that have been currently facing the United States as well as the entire world. The video by Setton and Tavori (2000) covers terrorism in the recent past as well as the attacks that have plagued the American soil.

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Terrorism used to be so dreadful during the 1970s and used to be referred to as Fright Decade Number One (Setton & Tavori, 2000). The trauma of West Germany was the abduction and assassination of Hanns-Martin Schleyer as well as the Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes, while for Italy, it was the kidnapping and the killing of Aldo Moro, the former Prime Minister, by the Red Brigades. Terrorism became even worse in the 1980s, and this was referred to as Fright Decade Number Two (Setton & Tavori, 2000). Afterward, terrorism then came to the United States in the 1990s.

All through the 1970s, Italy was terrorized by the Red Brigades, and its democracy was almost destroyed (Setton & Tavori, 2000). The death toll was terrible. The bombing, kidnapping as well as maiming spread fear and terror among people. The government responded with a fierce counter-terrorism campaign that almost tore apart Italy. The Brigade Rosse, Red Brigades, was established at the period of industrial unrest and political uproar; they had a belief that capitalism was decayed as well as corrupt; besides, it oppressed workers, and it had to be destroyed (Setton & Tavori, 2000). The main intension was to compel the government to consider taking a repressive measure that one day workers would rise and overthrow it, which they almost succeeded.

Setton and Tavori (2000) argued that the founder of the Red Brigades was Alberto Franceschini. Alberto spent sixteen years in prison for involving in the violent activities of the Red Brigades. It was a common knowledge that anyone who joined the Red Brigades could do so with the understanding that there existed a specific and precise program that was mainly geared towards the usage of violence. Setton and Tavori (2000) argued that the red brigades hurled a terrorist campaign via sabotage act against factories in Genao and Milan. Its strategies changed to murder, kidnapping, and maiming, including shooting victims in the knees or kneecapping. In the northern parts of Italy, the fright decade would devour numerous lives in one of the most vicious and longest terror campaigns in the late 20th century.

As things were in Italy, the year 1970 was considered as a threatening turning point especially in the record of terrorism in Ireland; it was during this period that the newly formed provisional Irish Republican Army begun its terrorist campaign to eject the British away from the Northern Ireland (Setton & Tavori, 2000). The Provos, as they were referred, had detached from the moderate IRA members who were in favor of the political approach to the problem; they preferred violence as well as random terrorism strategy; this made life in the Northern Ireland to be very difficult.

The situation in Northern Ireland became very convoluted. It was not just the British army or the British Government versus IRA (Setton & Tavori, 2000). There were a million Protestants in Northern Ireland who were supporting the association with Britain, who offered support to the British government. Setton and Tavori (2000) argued that the strongest counterterror campaign that occurred emanated from Protestant terrorists who were responding to IRA violence by assassinating hundreds of innocent Catholics. The Protestant terrorist group murdered about a thousand innocent Catholics in the response of IRA violence. The main aim of the Provos was to generate a breakdown of law and order, compelling the British to destroy the Protestants' government and to enforce direct rule over Northern Ireland.

Reference

Setton, D., & Tavori, A. (2000). 100 Years of Terror [Video file]. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved from Alexander Street database.