The Global Threat of Terrorism: Perspectives from China 9781844644650, 9781844644643

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THE GLOBAL THREAT OF TERRORISM PERSPECTIVES FROM CHINA WANG YIZHOU ET AL TRANSLATOR: ZHANG YIDAN POLISHER: JONATHON RICHARD GARTNER

The Global Threat of Terrorism: Perspectives from China Author: Wang Yizhou et al Translator: Zhang Yidan Polisher: Jonathon Richard Gartner

Contents On Terrorism: Chinese Perspectives ........................................................................................ 1 Author: Wang Yizhou et al.................................................................................................... 1 On Terrorism: Chinese Perspectives ........................................................................................ 2 Contents ................................................................................................................................. I 1 Definitions of Terrorism ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Definitions of Terrorism....................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Major manifestations of terrorism ........................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Terror and terrorism ................................................................................................. 4 1.1.3 The definition of terrorism ....................................................................................... 6 1.2 The historical origins and dynamics of terrorism .............................................................. 11 1.3 Characteristics and Root Causes of Terrorism ................................................................... 18 1.3.1 The characteristics of terrorist behavior ................................................................ 18 1.3.2 The reasons for the emergence of terrorism ......................................................... 21 1.3.3 The ideology of terrorism ....................................................................................... 24 1.4 Terrorism and International Relations ............................................................................... 26 1.4.1 Terrorism’s impact on international and domestic political process ...................... 26 1.4.2 The development trends of terrorism .................................................................... 29 2 Types of Contemporary Terrorism ...................................................................................... 35 2.1 Extreme Nationalism ......................................................................................................... 37 2.2 Terrorism Stemming from Religious Extremism ................................................................ 42 2.2.1 Terrorism in extreme Islamic fundamentalist organizations .................................. 44 2.2.2 Jewish extremist terrorism ..................................................................................... 46 2.2.3 The religious background of US far-right terrorists ................................................ 48 2.3 Cult-Based terrorism ......................................................................................................... 49

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2.4 Far-right terrorism ............................................................................................................. 54 2.5 Other Types of Terrorism ................................................................................................... 57 2.5.1 Ultra-left Terrorism ................................................................................................. 57 2.5.2 Terrorism of the criminal underworld .................................................................... 60 2.5.3 Other terrorist groups with smaller influence rising in some developed capitalist countries.......................................................................................................................... 61 3 The North-South Income Gap and Terrorism ....................................................................... 62 3.1 The North-South income gap in globalization ................................................................... 63 3.1.1 The Gap between the North and the South is expanding ...................................... 64 3.1.2 Expropriation within prosperity, exclusion within growth ..................................... 67 3.1.3 Globalization highlights the Gap between the North and the South. .................... 70 3.2 The North-South income gap and its inner conflicts in the world’s economy .................. 72 3.2.1 World economic structure and unbalanced development..................................... 72 3.2.2 The systems of states that preserve the gap between the north and south.......... 74 3.2.3 The absence of global income distribution regulatory mechanisms ..................... 77 3.3 Why a rise in international terrorism? .............................................................................. 80 3.3.1 Conventional resistance movement fell into the lowest point............................... 80 3.3.2 Western powers and the North-South imbalance ................................................. 82 3.3.3 The weakening of nationhood and national legality .............................................. 85 3.4 Summary: Reconstruction or Extermination? ................................................................... 87 3.4.1 Wealthy countries sharing their fortune with poor countries to adjust the income gap between the North and the South ........................................................................... 88 3.4.2 Letting the gap expand as usual ............................................................................. 90 4 Great Power Relations and Terrorism ................................................................................. 92 4.1 International power relations and terrorism: the research angles and methods ............. 92 4.1.1 The international trends of terrorist activities and its characteristics ................... 92 4.1.2 Theories and analytical methods of the causes of international terrorism ........... 94

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4.1.3 The reason and guiding thought of studying the causes of terrorism.................... 98 4.2 Rule of colonial: the origins of international terrorism ................................................... 101 4.2.1 Killings and plundering brought by the colonialists to the colonial people ......... 101 4.2.2 Colonial rule of imperialist powers sow seeds of future trouble ......................... 102 4.3 Superpowers’ rivalry for hegemony: development of international terrorism ............... 104 4.3.1 The formation and transformation of a new world pattern after the WWII ........ 104 4.3.2 The US -USSR rivalry and terrorist activities in the Middle East........................... 106 4.3.3 The US-USSR rivalry and terrorist activities in Latin America............................... 109 4.3.4 The global rivalry of the US and the USSR and the development of left-wing and right-wing terrorism ...................................................................................................... 110 4.4 Dominance of a single super power: the strengthening of international terrorism ....... 112 4.4.1 The formation of the unipolar world and new conditions for terrorism’s further development ................................................................................................................. 112 4.4.2 The expansion of American hegemony and the development of Islamic terrorism ....................................................................................................................................... 115 4.4.3 The US’s double standards towards terrorism and the development of international terrorism .................................................................................................. 117 4.5 The 9/11 incident: an opportunity for adjusting the relationship among great powers . 120 4.5.1 The September 11thAttacks and the Adjustment of American International Strategy and Foreign Policy ........................................................................................... 120 4.5.2 The September 11th incident and the Change and Development Prospect of International Relations among Great Powers ............................................................... 125 5 National Strategies and Terrorism .................................................................................... 132 5.1 The relationship between national strategy and the origins of international terrorism. 132 5.1.1 The US .................................................................................................................. 133 5.1.2 European Union.................................................................................................... 147

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5.1.3 The UK, Spain, and Canada................................................................................... 149 5.1.4 Russia ................................................................................................................... 152 5.2 National strategies for eliminating terrorism .................................................................. 155 5.2.1 All nations should abandon all forms of hegemony and Power Politics .............. 156 5.2.2 All countries should establish a new security concept ......................................... 157 5.2.3 Countries in the world should learn how to deal with ethnic relations in a healthy way ................................................................................................................................ 159 6 Racial Conflicts and Terrorism .......................................................................................... 161 6.1 Racism and Terrorist Activities ........................................................................................ 161 6.1.1 Racist terrorist activities during the colonial period ............................................ 162 6.1.2 State terrorism during the fascist period ............................................................. 164 6.1.3 Racist terrorist activities after the World War II................................................... 167 6.2 Ethnic Conflicts and Terrorist Activities ........................................................................... 170 6.2.1 The terrorist activities of nationalism opposing colonial domination .................. 171 6.2.2 Contemporary national separatist terrorist activities .......................................... 173 6.2.3 Contemporary Ethnic Revenge and Terrorist Activities ........................................ 185 6.3 The Historical Origins and the Current Reasons for Racial and Ethnic Conflicts ............. 187 6.3.1 Causes of Contemporary Ethnic and Racial Conflicts: Colonialism and Imperialism ....................................................................................................................................... 187 6.3.2 Causes of the Internationalization of Contemporary Ethnic Disputes and Territory Conflicts: Power Politics and the Great Powers’ interests ............................................. 188 6.3.3 The Escalation of Ethnic Conflicts: Hegemony and Changeable Double Standards ....................................................................................................................................... 189 6.3.4 The Effects of Pan-nationalism on the Internationalization of Ethnic Conflicts ... 190 6.3.5 The Escalation of Ethnic Issues by the Improper Practice of Solving Ethnic Conflicts of Some Countries. ........................................................................................................ 191

IV

6.4 Extreme Nationalism and Terrorism................................................................................ 192 6.4.1

The

misunderstanding

of

nation-state

and

the

abuse

of

national

self-determination by extreme nationalist separatist forces ........................................ 193 6.4.2 Extreme Nationalism and Terrorist Organizations ................................................ 198 6.4.3 National extremism, religious extremism and international terrorism................ 204 7 Religions Issue and Terrorism ........................................................................................... 208 7.2 Religion and Terrorist Activities ....................................................................................... 208 7.2.1 Terrorist activities in the history of religion.......................................................... 208 7.2.2 Social functions of religion and terrorism ............................................................ 214 7.2.3 The Clash of Civilizations and Islamic threat theory ............................................. 218 7.3 Terrorism in Ethnic and religious Conflicts ...................................................................... 221 7.3.1 Northern Ireland .................................................................................................. 221 7.3.2 Sri Lanka ............................................................................................................... 225 7.3.3 Chechnya .............................................................................................................. 228 7.4 Religious Extremism and Terrorism ................................................................................. 232 7.4.1 Sikh extremism ..................................................................................................... 232 7.4.2 Islamic extremist and terrorist activities .............................................................. 236 7.4.3 Analysis of Islamic elements................................................................................. 239 7.5 Cult Terrorism .................................................................................................................. 244 8 The Three Major Wars and Terrorism ............................................................................... 248 8.1 Definitions and background information ........................................................................ 248 8.2 Middle East War and Terrorism ....................................................................................... 251 8.2.1 Middle East wars and revival of pan-Islamism ..................................................... 251 8.2.2 Middle East Wars and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism .................................. 254 8.2.3 Middle East Wars and terrorist activities in the name of religion ........................ 256 8.3 Afghanistan War and Terrorism ....................................................................................... 260 8.3.1 Chaos of war and spread of terrorism .................................................................. 261

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8.3.2 Stimulating effect of war on terrorism ................................................................. 264 8.4 Gulf War and Terrorism ................................................................................................... 268 8.4.1 Hatred’s Seeds in the Gulf War............................................................................. 268 8.4.2 The Gulf War and politics of war .......................................................................... 271 8.4.3 Terrorism and the Bin Laden phenomenon.......................................................... 274

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1 Definitions of Terrorism The rise of terrorism has become a major factor in the destabilization of global structures since the end of the Cold War. Large-scale, highly impactful terrorist attacks have occurred nearly every year since the 1990s. Many countries, regardless of their stability or volatility, have been hit by this new wave of terrorist tactics. As a symbol of this rising epidemic, the September 11thterrorist attacks on the US in 2001 shook global dynamics and showed the world the devastating potential of terrorism. Faced with this reality, modern nation-states have no choice but to launch ―underground wars‖ against these invisible enemies at great cost and effort. Considering the increasing threat that global terrorism poses, it is necessary for us to know what terrorism is—not only its theoretical definitions, but its major features and its possible development trends in the future.

1.1 Definitions of Terrorism In order to summarize the defining traits of terrorism, the physical manifestations of terrorism should be noted first; in this case, a theoretical definition is ultimately an abstract manifestation of a very physical entity.

1.1.1 Major manifestations of terrorism As a violent activity, terrorism has many complex manifestations. Typical patterns of manifestations are as follows: Assassination is a form of terrorism. This is one of the oldest and the most traditional forms of terrorist activity. The assassination of Julius Caesar, the governor of ancient Rome at its peak of power, in 44 BCE is a famous example from history. In ancient China, the assassination of Emperor Qin by Jing Ke was also quite famous. During the Han Dynasty, historian Si Maqian wrote his masterpiece, Shih Chih (a record of history). In one chapter, Shih Chih·Assassins, Si Maqian demonstrates that assassins were not only very active in this period, but also had influence and social status at the time. This type of violence seems to have always existed over the span of 1

human civilization. Currently, assassination is still a frequently used means by terrorists. For instance, in May, 1991, extremists in support of Tamil Separatism assassinated the Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, and in May, 1993, they also killed Sri Lankan President Premadasa. In June, 1995, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was attacked by unidentified terrorists on his way to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, while he was attending the OAU‘s summit meeting. Many of his entourage were injured, while Mubarak fortunately survived. In November of that same year, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist. Kidnapping and hostage-taking is also a common form of terrorism. This kind of terrorist activity is as old as assassination. According to Shih Chih·Assassins, after a failed mission to assassinate the Emperor Qin, Jing Ke regretfully said ―the reason for my failure was my attempt to kill him instead of capture him, I could have garnered a top price for his ransom.‖ This indicates that Jing Ke intended to kidnap Emperor Qin and use him as leverage, forcing Emperor Qin to make concessions to Emperor Yan. Shih Chih Assassins also has records of successful kidnappings. During the Spring and Autumn Period in China‘s history, Duke Huan of Chi was kidnapped by a warrior from the Lu Empire during his meeting with Duke Zhuang of Lu. Under such circumstances, Duke Huan had no other choice but to ―return all lands of the Lu peoples invaded by Chi.‖1 In contemporary times, kidnapping and hostage-taking not only still exists, but has developed into higher stages of unprecedented scale and impact. For example, during the 1990s, Chechen terrorists occupied a hospital in Budyonnovsk and took more than 1000 hostages. This event resulted in the deaths of more than 100 civilians and forced the Russian government to stop military operations and turn to negotiation. In December, 1996, an anti-government guerrilla force, the ―Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement,‖ held more than 400 people hostage at the Japanese Embassy in Peru, many of which were ambassadors and diplomats from various countries. This incident lasted for 126 days and ended only through military and police operations, which effectively killed all the terrorists involved. Use of explosives has become a primary manifestation of terrorism since the end of the 19th century. According to records, the first terrorist attack with an explosive was committed by a Spanish anarchist who threw 2 bombs into an audience at a theater in Barcelona on the November 8, 1893. This attack leads to 22 deaths and over 50injuries. In February, 1894, a series of bombings terrorized Parisian cafés and streets. According

1

Si Maqian, Shih Chih, Volume 8, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1982, pp. 2515, 2535. 2

to research, the first car bomb was in Palestine in 1947, and first aircraft-projectile attack occurred there as well in 1955.1 Currently, bombs are the most frequently used form of terrorist attack; this type of attack leads to the heaviest damage and casualty rates. A high profile bombing occurred at the World Trade Center in New York in February, 1993, resulting in 6 deaths, more than 1000 injuries, and more than $5.5 billion in economic losses. The following March, there were 14 bombings in Bombay, India over the course of 2 hours. These attacks killed317 people and injured more than 1200 while causing $2.5 trillion in direct economic losses. In April, 1995, a federal government building in Oklahoma, USA, was blown up, resulting in 168 deaths and more than 400 injuries. In August, 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were rocked by a series of explosions which caused 257 deaths and more than 5000 injuries. Hijacking vehicles has been used by terrorists on a number of occasions; this includes aircrafts, buses, and even ships. According to research, the first incident of an airplane hijacking occurred in 1931, and the first political terrorist hijacking occurred in 1968.2 In recent times, there have been waves of hijacking incidents. For instance, a civilian airplane from Singapore Airlines was hijacked in March, 1991. After failed negotiations, Singapore‘s anti-terrorist commandos took actions to kill all the terrorists involved. In December, 1994, an A300 airplane from Air France was hijacked by Islamic fundamentalist extremists from Algeria. In reaction to the hijackers killing hostages, the French Gendarmerie shot down the terrorists and attempted to save the surviving hostages. During the September 11th incidents, terrorists hijacked 4 American civilian airplanes and used them as projectiles to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which caused more than 3000 deaths. Public shootings by armed terrorists on civilians are also a common type of terrorist activity. In the Cold War era, this kind of slaughter happened frequently due in part to abundant stockpiles of firearms around the globe. The famous ―St. Bartholomew‘s Day Massacre‖ during medieval times was an attack fuelled by a rivalry between different religious sects in France. In contemporary times, this form of terrorism mainly refers to mass shootings. For example, an Israeli terrorist broke into the Ibrahim Mosque in the city of Hebron and fired upon Islamic Palestinians who were worshipping at that time. The attack resulted in 66 deaths and more than 400 injuries. In September, 1997, a group of terrorists suddenly launched an armed attack on a tour bus

1 2

Max. Taylor and John Horgan eds., The Future of Terrorism, London: Frank Cass, 2000, pp.54-59. Max. Taylor and John Horgan eds., The Future of Terrorism, London: Frank Cass, 2000, pp.54. 3

parked outside a museum in the center of Cairo, Egypt. This incident resulted in the deaths of 9 tourists, the driver, and dozens more were wounded. In November of the same year, another group of terrorists launched a massive slaughter of tourists in the ancient city of Luxor, Egypt. They first used submachine guns and then swords on the unarmed crowds. This attack resulted in the deaths of 60 tourists. A growing form of terrorism is biochemical attack—although this is not a new form of terrorism by any means. In ancient times, there were various accounts of mass poisonings. Presently, this form refers to terrorist attacks by means of advanced science and biochemical technology. For instance, in March, 1995, terrorists from the Japanese group Aum Shinrikyo dispersed sarin gas in Tokyo‘s metro system, which lead to 12 deaths and more than 5500 people affected. Following the September 11thattacks in 2001, many government and corporate offices in the US were sent Anthrax in the mail, including Congress and a number of post offices. These incidents caused many people to become infected with Anthrax and left several dead. Since then, the range and scope of biochemical attacks has continued to spread to other countries and regions of the world. The types of violent attacks listed above are typical terrorist activities. Though these activities have different manifestations, they have one common feature, which is the intent to spread terror and fear.

1.1.2 Terror and terrorism Before any further discussion of what ―terrorism‖ is, further analysis on the definition of ―terror‖ is required. In the context of Chinese, ―terror‖ refers to a status of the mind. The Chinese Etymology Dictionary describes it as ―extremely frightened.‖ The Contemporary Chinese Language Dictionary gives the definition of ―terror‖ as: ―fear caused by life-threatening hazards. ―In the English context, besides the meaning of ―extremely frightened,‖ the definition of ―terror‖ contains another meaning of ―reign of terror.‖ This meaning specifically refers to the ―ruthless execution of people who threaten a regime,‖ such as under the Jacobin dictatorship of the French Revolution.1In both the Chinese and English contexts, ―extremely frightened‖ is the basic and common meaning of ―terror.‖ From this point of view, ―terrorist activity‖ is an act that intends to

1

Judy Pearsall ed., The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1998, p.1915. 4

cause people extreme fright through the threatening of their lives. Terrorists have certain intentions and motives when they implement terrorist activities. In order to analyze terrorist activities, we need to distinguish different intentions and motives. As a kind of violence, to distinguish whether terrorist activities are related to politics is the first step. Such distinction can decide the nature of terrorist activities and thus lay the foundation for further analysis. Generally speaking, if the terrorist‘s aim is an expression of outrage due to anti-social psychology, the actions are considered non-political events. In the Western world, many mass shooting incidents at colleges, schools, and offices belong to this category. For example, a tragic shooting incident occurred in the small town of Dunplane, Britain, on the March 13, 1996. At the time, 26 first-grade pupils were attacked by a gunman during their recess. This attack resulted in the deaths of 13 children and their teacher, and nearly all the children wounded, one of which en route to the hospital. The gunman committed suicide afterwards. Though it was a horrible terrorist event, it had no political inspiration—it was a sudden criminal offence birthed out of the assailant‘s mental instability. Conversely, if a terrorist sets a government, race, ethnic group, or religious sect as their target, and if their aim is forcing victims to do such things as change their political attitudes and domestic or foreign policies, the actions are considered acts of political terrorism. Terrorist attacks launched by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) are typical acts of political terrorism. Explosions detonated by Hamas in Israel and massacres of foreign tourists by extremists from North African Islamic fundamentalist groups also both belong to this category because of their goal to compel governments to change policies. Actions such as the use of arson to attack immigrants by German right-wing nationalist groups, so-called ‗Skinheads‘, are also considered political, as they are motivated by xenophobic and racist goals. Although the September 11thterrorists didn‘t declare their purpose after the attacks, it seemed clear that their aim was the West and America, as the World Trade Center is the symbol of American Capitalism and the Pentagon is the central seat of executive power for America‘s military. People typically think that terrorist activities are political events. Most terrorist activities relating to politics, as listed above, can be defined as terrorism. However, not all attacks with political motivations can be labeled as ―terrorism.‖ This is because ―-ism‖ refers to systematic, continuous, and organized activities. In this sense, terrorism is equal to ―a system of terror.‖ A system contains the connotation of ―institution,‖ ―organization,‖ and ―doctrine.‖ Therefore, isolated and occasional actions, even with

5

some political motivation, are not terrorism. These are more accurately labeled as ―acts of terror.‖ Only systematic and organized activities are truly terrorism. The September 11th events made this point clear. In order to implement an intricate plan of hijacking airplanes and crashing them into different targets, the terrorists involved had to carefully prepare over a prolonged amount of time. In order to analyze this concept, we can draw the line as follows: non-political acts of terror are usually criminal cases, while political acts with some form of organization may be considered terrorist activities. However, for the purposes of this paper, only systematic, politically-charged activities will be classified as terrorism. Simple classification as mentioned above is far from enough. Aside from the use of terror, political motivation, and systematic features, terrorism has anomalous forms, which make it all the more difficult to define. In fact, it is the complicated symptoms of terrorism that cause controversies over this issue.

1.1.3 The definition of terrorism Based on different political preferences and perspectives, people hold different views towards terrorism, post different definitions of terrorism, and give different explanations. This subjectivity is a main reason for the absence of a widely recognized definition of terrorism in the existing literature. Different definitions emphasize different factors. Here, we shall explore some proposed definitions of terrorism. Karl W. Deutsch says that terrorism is a strategy to change the consequences of certain political processes which is launched by individuals or groups through the use or threatened use of violence.1 The 1974 Anti-Terrorism Act in Great Britain defines terrorism as the use of violence due to political motivations aimed at causing fear in the public or certain parts of the public.2 The US State Department‘s report Patterns of Global Terrorism-1999, published in April, 2000, proposes a definition of terrorism as violent acts carried out by sub-state groups or secret agencies with political motivations and the purpose of influencing the public.3 1

Karl W. Deutsch, The analysis of International Relations, Zhou Qipeng translated, Beijing: World Knowledge Press, 1992, p.244. 2 Quote from Walter Laqueur, The Age of Terrorism, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1987, p. 145. 3 US Department of State, Patterns of Terrorism-1999, April 2000. 6

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is known as the ―master of anti-terrorism.‖ In his book Fighting Terrorism, he presents terrorism as an elaborately planned and systematically launched attack against citizens, which result in an atmosphere of terror that ultimately affects the political realm. He provides a standard to qualify terrorism: the stronger the perceived link is between terrorists‘ targets and their dissatisfaction, the deeper the degree of terrorism is in nature.1 Alex Schmid, a Dutch scholar, examined 109 different definitions of terrorism in his work Political Terrorism published in 1988. He stressed different elements of these definitions. However, Schmid listed too many elements; his definition of terrorism is seemingly unnecessary. The final definition Schmid gives of terrorism concerns the elements he listed as follows: terrorism is ―a method to bring about anxiety through repeated violent actions conducted by (semi-) secret individuals, blocs, or states for spiritual, criminal, or political reasons. Compared to assassination, carrying out violent actions is not the direct objective of terrorism. Victims of violence are usually randomly selected (opportunity targets), or selected from a targeted crowd that has are presentative or symbolic meaning. Attack on these targets delivers a certain message. The process of message delivery by threat and violence by terrorist organizations, aims at manipulating larger populations into a state of terror. This terror is demanded or noted depending on the means of terrorism, whether it be threatening, compelling, or propagandizing.‖2(See Table 1)

1

Benjamin Netanyahu, Fighting Terrorism, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1995, pp. 7-8. Alex P Schmid, Albert J Jongman et al, Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature, New Brunswick, Transaction Books, 1988, p28. 2

7

Table 1-1 Element occurrence in 109 definitions of terrorism Element Percentage 1 Violence 83.5 2 Politics-related 65.0 3 Emphasis on the sense of fear 51.0 4 To threat 47.0 (Psychological) influence and the reaction to 41.5 5 anticipation 6 Sacrifice – difference with the objective 37.5 Actions with goals, plans, system and 32 7 organization 8 Fighting strategies and tactics 30.5 Unconventional means and destructive to 30.0 9 social moralities; not bound by humanitarianism 10 To compel, blackmail or induce to obey 28.0 11 In public 21.5 Characteristics with random and 21.0 12 non-personal; no distinctions Civilians, non-combat personnel, neutral 17.5 13 parties and outsiders becoming sacrifices 14 To coerce 17.0 15 To stress the innocence of sacrifices 15.5 Perpetrators are blocs, movements or 14.0 16 organizations 17 Symbolic meanings; demonstration to others 13.3 18 Difficulty to anticipate the violence 9.0 19 Confidentiality 9.0 Repeatability; a serious of violence and the 7.0 20 feature of movement 21 Criminality 6.0 22 Demand for the third party 4.0 Source: Alex P Schmid, Albert J Jongman et al, Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature, New Brunswick, Transaction Books, 1988, pp. 5-6. Quoted in Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 40. 8

As a definition, Schmid‘s expression is obviously too complicated. In fact, by further summary, we can see that the key features of terrorism are the use of violence, creating an atmosphere of terror, and carrying out explicit political aims. Frederic S. Pearson and J. Martin Rochester claim that there are at least three elements that make up terrorism: firstly, the actual use or threatened use of force; secondly, political motivations; and thirdly, no direct relation between the victims and main objectives. As for the third element, we do see such phenomenon in terrorist attacks on tourists, civil aircrafts, and public spaces with little relation to the main objectives and organizational goals of terrorist activities. As a kind of violence, terrorism is quite similar to war in some aspects because they are both violent means aimed at forcing rivals to submit to their will. US President Bush declared the September 11th attacks as acts of ―war on America.‖ However, terrorism and war are two different things because the targets of these two kinds of violence are obviously dissimilar. Generally speaking, the targets of war are mainly military personnel and military facilities, rather than civilians and civilian facilities. Though there are some exceptions, there are a number of universally accepted rules of war in place. Terrorism is quite the opposite; it mainly hurts unarmed, common citizens. Although sometimes terrorists attack military personnel as well, they don‘t launch attacks with a declared state of war. Terrorists navigating airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon belong firmly in the category of terrorism. Wars consist of armed men versus armed men with declared intent, while terrorism is armed men versus unarmed men with the use of surprise. Of course, speaking of practical situations, terrorism and war are easily confused under certain circumstances. In contemporary international conflicts, war with terrorism‘s attributes and terrorism with war‘s attributes do occur. For instance, as a type of warfare, guerrilla tactics are similar to terrorism in form. Guerrilla tactics include assassination, abduction, explosions, and sneak-attacks—and they are intended to create an atmosphere of terror. When Hoffman defines terrorism, he distinguishes terrorism and guerrilla tactics specifically. He thinks that based on universally recognized notion, guerrilla tactics are implemented by relatively large armed groups. These groups take action as military units. These tactics aim at enemies‘ military objectives, attempt to seize territory, and exercise sovereignty over a certain area. On the contrary, terrorists are not willing to take actions against military units publicly, nor seize territory. They usually avoid combat with military forces and seldom exercise

9

sovereignty over the public.1 Actually, the fundamental criterion to distinguish whether a kind of violence is guerrilla tactics or terrorism is the nature of the target. As long as the action is aimed solely at the adversary‘s military, the attack can be classified as an act of war. Sometimes, acts of war and acts of terrorism interweave with each other during conflicts and these two attributes can be hard to separate. The former situation refers to the actions containing two parts: war and terrorism. The latter situation shows that it is hard to classify these actions into a specific category—many actions have features of both terrorism and war. For instance, such complicated situations exist in the conflicts between Lebanon and Israel and between Palestine and Israel. These actions include both guerrilla warfare and formal combat, as well as terrorist activities against civilians or political leaders. Discerning whether an act is one of war or terrorism can only be estimated on a case-by-case basis, because no war can avoid hurting civilians altogether. During the conflicts between Lebanon and Israel, retaliatory actions launched by Israel against Lebanon‘s Hezbollah did huge amounts of damage to Lebanese civilians. It‘s very hard to distinguish whether acts of this kind fall under the heading of terrorism or war. Examples of extreme cases of targeting civilians in war are Nazi Germany‘s holocaust and Japan‘s assault on East Asia during World War II. These acts of war can also be considered terrorist actions and the scale of such acts make them some of the darkest pages in human history. In fact, it is not rare to have campaigns interweave acts of war and terrorism. For example, the wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Rwanda in the 1990s were accompanied by brutal terrorism. With the progress of history and the advancement of technology, modern war treatise and agreements lay stress on avoiding civilian targets. Based on the above analysis, we can define terrorism as follows: terrorism is organized violence or the threat of violent actions against unarmed personnel (including non-combat personnel in the army) with political motivations. Like above mentioned definitions, the goal of terrorism is to create an atmosphere of terror in order to force people and governments to succumb to the wishes of a terrorist organization. This definition emphasizes the political feature of terrorism, the organization of violent acts, and the aim of creating psychological impacts. It also stresses that terrorism is a kind of relationship between different institutions. Under common circumstances, this

1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, p.41. 10

definition can distinguish terrorist and non-terrorist activities. As many scholars have pointed out, because of the extremely complicated and controversial situations terrorism is involved in, no definition could explain all terrorist activities in history.1 Figure 1 points out that there is a grey area between terrorism and war. Actions in this area are complex, and usually cannot be purely reduced to acts of war or terrorism. Moreover, due to the subjective nature of war, people holding different values may make different judgments. It‘s hard to decide whether non-conventional approaches to defend against invaders can be classified as terrorism. Obviously, historical issues should be examined and complicated issues should be analyzed under the framework of international law in a more thorough and comprehensive manner.

War Behavior

Terrorism

Violent Behavior

Picture 1: Relationship between violence, war and terrorism

1.2 The historical origins and dynamics of terrorism When it comes to the origins of terrorism, some scholars think it can be traced back to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Wu more than two thousand years ago. They argue that Sun Wu explicitly put forward the principles of terrorism, namely ―execute one as a warning to others.‖2 This version probably based on the allusion of Sun Wu commanding maidservants in Empire Wu‘s palace to function as military personnel. According to history, after reading 13 chapters of the Art of War, King He Lu of Wu selected 180 maidservants from his palace and asked Sun Wu to train them in order to test his real ability. During the exercise, Sun Wu killed two of the emperor‘s 1 2

H. B. Mishra, Terrorism: Threat to Peace and Harmony, Delhi: Authors press, 1999, p.1. Richard Clutterbuck, Terrorism in an Unstable World, London: Routledge, 1994, p.3. 11

beloved concubines because of their contempt for military discipline.1From the current point of view, it can be counted as harsh law enforcement, but this example is irrelevant to the definition of terrorism in the common sense. People generally believe that a more precise concept of terrorism emerged from the French Revolution. The Jacobins, a group of revolutionaries at the time, adopted extremely harsh measures to eliminate aristocrats; this campaign became known as the reign of ―red terror.‖ Later, when the royalists seized power, they massacred the revolutionaries and generated a subsequent reign of ―white terror.‖ According to Walter Laqueur, the concept of terrorism first appeared during the period between March, 1793, and June, 1794. As a dictionary published in 1796 states, the Jacobins often used the concept of terrorism in a positive sense when they talked about themselves. 2 Maximillien Robespierre, the leader of the revolutionaries, associated terrorism with virtue and the ideals of democracy. He claimed that ―terror is justice; it is swift, serious, and steady. Thus, it carries virtue forward.‖ He also said that ―there is no virtue; terror is evil; with no terror, virtue is helpless.‖ In his belief, virtue must be linked with terror in revolutionary periods for the victory of democracy. On July 27, 1794, the ―thermidor coup‖ ended the Jacobin‘s sovereignty. After Robespierre and his followers were put to the guillotine, the concept of terrorism began to convey the meaning of an abuse of power. Soon, the concept was becoming popular in English and began being used as a derogatory term. British political theorist Edmund Burke played an important role in promoting the popularity of the concept. He clearly and firmly opposed the French Revolution and called those terrorists ―hellhounds.‖3 Here we can see that terrorism is a mixed and subjective concept. Over the course of history, the meaning of the concept has changed along two paths: one refers to the violent measures taken by the lower classes in lieu of their republicanism, nationalism, or anti-colonialist struggles; the other refers to violent means adopted by upper classes to control the public. One scholar summarized these two types of terrorism as ―governmental terrorism‖ and ―resistance terrorism.‖4 After the French Revolution, resistance groups were declared terrorists; some groups even claimed terrorism as their primary strategy. In the 19th century, Italian republican Carlo Pisacane proposed the principle of ―propaganda by deed,‖ which has 1

Biography of Sun Yzu, collection of Chinese philosophers, Shi Jiazhuang: He Bei People Publisher, 1986,p.1. Walter Laqueur, The Age of Terrorism, Little, Brown and Company, 1987, p.11. 3 Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998,pp. 15-17. 4 Boaz Ganor, Defining Terrorism: Is One Man’s Terrorist Another Man’s Freedom Fighter? September 23, 1998, http://www.ict.org.il/. 2

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become a universal rule carried on by many terrorism organizations. He believed that thoughts arise from actions, rather than vice versa. People are not free because of education, but receive education only when they are free. Violence is indispensable not only because it can attract the publics‘ attention to a cause, but also because it can educate and ultimately rally people together. Pamphlets, posters, and public gatherings cannot effectively replace violence‘s political power, in his view.1 Narodnaya Volya, established by a small group of Russian constituent members in 1878, pursued the tenet of ―propaganda by deed‖ in order to oppose the rule of the Tsar. For the party members, the implication of ―propaganda by deed‖ was to select particular individuals who represented the dictatorship of the country as their targets. They regarded the Tsar, main members of the royal family, and high-level government officials as such symbols. The party had a collective belief that no innocent people should be killed as they pursued their targets. However, no matter how carefully and elaborately they selected their targets, innocent people were sometimes hurt. On March 1, 1881, the party successfully assassinated Tsar Alexander II. After the incident, the organization suffered from a brutal crackdown by the Tsarist government. Nearly all the members were arrested, put to trial, and executed by secret police; their actions seemed to fail at their propaganda purposes. Four months after the assassination of the Tsar, some extremists held an ―Assembly for Anarchists‖ in London. The assembly supported revolutionary methods including the assassination of tyrants. In order to encourage and coordinate worldwide activities held by anarchists, the assembly decided to establish a group called ―Anarchy International,‖ also known as ―Black International.‖ In the 1880s and 1890s, the Armenian nationalist movement frequently adopted terrorist measures while fighting the rule of the Ottoman Empire. By repeatedly launching attacks on colonial institutions and security forces, the rebels aimed to arouse domestic backup and gain international attention, sympathy, and support. During this period, the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization was active in modern Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and other regions. These violent struggles and fights served as an impetus to their eventual national independence. Hoffman writes that the meaning of terrorism experienced crucial changes in the 1930s. During this period of time, ―terrorism‖ seldom referred to revolutionary movements or violence aimed at governments and leaders, but mainly described

1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, p 17. 13

autocratic nations‘ large-scale repression of their own people. At that time, such situations were openly occurring in Germany and Italy. The German Nazi party and Italian fascist party adopted many violent tactics to achieve their political goals. Hitler and Mussolini mobilized and employed thugs in the name of ―Sturmabteilung‖ and the ―black sweater team‖ to launch violent terrorist activities in the streets. They threatened political opponents and created a ―reign of terror.‖ When Mussolini was accused of adopting terrorism, he embraced it and described terrorist ruling methods as ―social hygiene‖ in the form of widespread persecution of groups such as Jews, communists, and other ―enemies of the state.‖ It was through reigns of terror that Hitler and Mussolini seized state power.1 As an important member of the German Nazi party, Hermann Goering said the following words in 1933: ―Any legal institutions, ideas, or bureaucracies cannot weaken my measures. Here, I don‘t worry about justice. To destroy and eradicate are my only mission. This will be a struggle against chaos. I won‘t use the police force to guide the fight. This is what capitalist countries would do. Without doubt, I will do my best to wield the power of the state and the police. In this life and death struggle, I will seize the neck of any enemy. Those who are to be guided by me are the Brown Sweater Team.‖2 Goering‘s statement clearly revealed his terrorist intentions. Hoffman proposes that terrorism was associated with another kind of political struggle from the 1940s. That is, the struggle for national liberation and anti-colonialism. It is believed that the Stern Gang, a Zionist organization in the 1940s, was the last organization to publicly declare its terrorist status. Since then, though there are still some organizations publicly promoting terrorism, these groups have not openly called themselves ―terrorists;‖ instead, they will use terms like ―urban guerrillas.‖ 3 These kinds of struggles have spread throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Nationalist movements with terrorist elements have sprung up in Israel, Kenya, Cyprus, and Algeria, among many others.4 With regard to this kind of violent struggle, different stances have led to different attitudes. People who are described as ―terrorists‖ by some maybe considered as‘ ―freedom fighters‖ by others. For the better part of the last century, developing countries have argued this point with Western countries regarding this divergence. This debate still continues in many parts of the world.

1 2 3 4

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, p 24. Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, p24. Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, pp. 28-29. Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press, 1998, pp. 25-26. 14

In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics by terrorists. After the incident, UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim explicitly announced that the UN would no longer be a silent observer and would adopt concrete actions to cope with this kind of behavior around the world. Among the UN member states, most of the countries supported Kurt Waldheim‘s attitude, but there were several countries, especially Arab, Asian, and African countries, that opposed the idea. These countries believed that people suppressed by foreign countries have the right to adopt any measures, including violence, to break free of tyranny. Representatives stressed two points when they defended this stance: first, all genuine emancipation movements have been condemned as ―terrorism‖ by the regimes they were fighting against. For instance, the Nazis called resistors of German occupation ―terrorists.‖ Therefore, if the UN condemned ―terrorism,‖ that is equal to supporting the stronger side‘s supremacy over the weaker side. It also means the support of existing regimes over challengers. In this sense, the UN becomes the maintainer of the status quo with this policy change. The core of the problem is not violence, but the root causes lead to violence; these causes are namely the misery, failure, frustration, and disappointment of the oppressed people of the world. For those that don‘t have basic human rights, dignity, freedom, and independence, and for those countries occupied by other countries, the concept of ―terrorism‖ is invalid.1 From the perspective of many developing countries, people who participate in struggles against colonial oppression or Western dominance are ―freedom fighters‖ rather than ―terrorists.‖ At the UN general assembly‘s debate in 1974, Arafat pointed out that it is the reasons for war that distinguished revolutionaries and terrorists. People who held justified reasons, such as fighting against invaders and colonists in order to emancipate their homeland cannot be called terrorists.2 For Middle Eastern politicians, struggles for national liberation and terrorism are two different things. Fatah‘s leader, Abu Iyad, once expounded his attitude as follows: he opposed terrorism—but terrorism and political violence are two different things. The determining factors of political motives and purposes can justify the rationale of the means. The former Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad exhibited that what he supported was a national liberation movement, rather than terrorism. He stated that ―we fight against 1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, New York: Columbia University Press,1998, pp. 31-32. Yassir Arafat, ―Address to the UN General Assembly (November 13, 1974),‖ in Walter Laqueur (ed), The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, New York: Bantam, 1976, p 510.

2

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terrorism for good; however, terrorism is one thing, and the national struggle against occupation is another thing. In any case, we support anti-occupation struggles in the domain of national liberation movements.‖ The resolution of the Fifth Islamic Summit in 1987 reaffirmed that it was absolutely necessary to distinguish terrorism conducted by individuals, groups, or nation-states with any kind of struggles conducted by oppressed people against foreign occupation. Religious laws, mankind‘s values, and international conventions all recognize such struggles as just. The Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers reiterated this stance in April, 1998. A document entitled ―Arab Strategies of Anti-Terrorism‖ stressed that belligerent acts for the purpose of ―liberation and self-determination‖ do not belong in the category of terrorism.1 The above standpoints can be summarized as follows: as long as a struggle is against foreign occupation and for the cause of national liberation, the use of violence cannot be classified as terrorism. Justness of the purpose can justify the rationality of the means. Western scholars hold two kinds of attitudes toward this viewpoint. One attitude tries to prove terrorists are not freedom fighters by making a distinction between these two roles. For instance, the former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, argued that freedom fighters wouldn‘t attack innocent civilians, they wouldn‘t bomb buses and public areas, and wouldn‘t kidnap and kill students, pedestrians, or foreign visitors, but terrorists will. The opposing attitude claims there shouldn‘t be any distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters, which ultimately equates to the acceptance that the oppressed will always be terrorists in a conflict.2 Here, we can see that, as a historical concept, the definition of terrorism was developed through political debate spanning generations. Debate at this level centers around political motives behind violence. The key point of the debate is whether oppressed people or people seeking liberty can adopt any means they consider appropriate to fight against unequal and unfair political orders, no matter whether it be a domestic or international order. In this debate, the fundamental dispute results from the relations between the means and ends. One attitude focuses on violent forms of

1

Boaz Ganor, ―Defining Terrorism: Is One Man‘s Terrorist Another Man‘s Freedom Fighter?‖ September 23, 1998, http://www.ict.org.il/. 2 Boaz Ganor, ―Defining Terrorism: Is One Man‘s Terrorist Another Man‘s Freedom Fighter?‖ September 23, 1998, http://www.ict.org.il/. 16

terrorism while the other concentrates on its political connotation. From this perspective, it is clear that terrorism and debates regarding it are largely a product of international relations with a backdrop of national liberation struggles. Undoubtedly, we should also notice that, although the opinion stressing the justice of struggle still exists in today‘s international relations, there are less and less people supporting terrorism publicly. The cruel, devastating, and inhuman nature of terrorism and the psychological shock brought about by events such as the September 11thattacks make people blaming others and scapegoat groups as terrorists. Today, there is no country that openly claims terrorism as a positive means. This change is the product of societal progress; people have become more skeptical about the use and abuse of violence. To examine the concept of terrorism from historical perspectives, we should note that none of the connotation, historical role, people‘s attitude, or international restraint of this ―-ism‖ is universally accepted. In terrorism‘s beginning stages, it was manifested as a means of revolution. Later, it became the means of anti-oppression, and sometimes a product of the abuse of power. In today‘s world, its real and potentially devastating capability (through the use of mass-destructive weapons) is obviously a threat not only to certain nations, but to the human race as a whole. From the perspective of historical functions, terrorism clearly played a different role in different historical periods, from the bourgeois revolution to the proletariat revolution, to the national liberation movement, to today‘s globalized structure. No matter the role, it is a destructive force that challenges peace and stability in today‘s world. Even in the Middle East, this kind of conduct is harmful to all parties involved. Though the Israeli right-wing is a decisive factor in interruption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the influence of terrorism cannot be underestimated. From the standpoint of international law, constraints on violence and warfare have experienced historical changes. Before the establishment of the UN Charter, there was no legal restriction towards violence launched by nation-states. It was unnecessary for nation-states to be authorized by any international organization before using violence, or to prove the legitimacy of certain actions. Countries could freely make use of violence to protect and promote their interests. However, the situation changed after the establishment of the UN Charter. International laws now define strict rules regarding violence between nation-states (though these rules are not necessarily regarded). Moreover, since the 1960s, conventions and resolutions of anti-terrorism acts have been successively enacted by the UN and thus have established it as an anti-terrorism

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regime. In today‘s international relations, terrorism as an act of violent conduct is an illegal means and criminal behavior no matter whether employed by nation-states or non-state actors.

1.3 Characteristics and Root Causes of Terrorism As a form of violence, terrorism has many special characteristics. These features are closely related to the root causes of terrorism. Usually, there are complicated reasons that explain why terrorists adopt violent means. These reasons may be rational or irrational; they may be social or psychological, and they may be cultural or historical. As a form of extreme violence, terrorism always has a specific ideology of its own.

1.3.1 The characteristics of terrorist behavior The most fundamental feature of terrorism is secrecy. Although terrorists often send out threats publicly prior to their actions, attacks are still highly confidential. People usually have no idea where terrorists are, where they intend to launch attacks, what actions they will adopt, and what their targets are. Under such circumstances, terrorist actions are emergent and random, which create an atmosphere of anxiety in the targeted society. Before the September 11th attacks, the United States suffered a series of terrorist attacks launched by Osama Bin Laden ,the so-called ―terrorist tycoon.‖ These attacks greatly impact on the US. In June, 2001, the US received credible intelligence that Bin Laden and his organization would launch a large-scale attack on US targets. However, Washington had no idea where and when these events would happen and what targets they would attack. To prevent incidents like the USS Cole Bombing in 2000, the US had to take an all-round defense strategy: 6 US warships headed to the open seas from the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain; 2200 navy soldiers ended their training in Jordan early; a Marine military exercise was cancelled; and more than 20 US warships were mobilized. All in all, more than 20,000 US military personnel were mobilized; the US aircraft carrier ―Constellation‖ sailed into the Persian Gulf under orders; an Amphibious Corps in the Red Sea was readied for war; and the Jill Air Force Base in Southern Turkey was on a status of full alert. In addition to this military deployment, the US State Department sent out a ―global warning,‖ requiring all overseas‘

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institutions to maintain strong vigilance. Later, the US shut down embassies in Senegal and Bahrain and strengthened security levels at vital domestic institutions. The US government also reminded American citizens abroad to keep a low profile, maintain flexibility in their itineraries, not open mail from unknown sources, and not park cars in unmonitored locations. Although the US had taken thorough precautionary measures and arrangements, it did not expect attacks to be carried out by hijacking domestic airplanes and using them as missiles. Regarding terrorist activities, the targets are sometimes selective, for example, governmental officials or even the highest leaders of the state can be assassination targets. Former Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are clear examples of targets selected by terrorists. However, in most cases, terrorists‘ attacks are indiscriminate—they randomly select targets. Mass shootings and bombings in public places are actions without particular objectives. As long as people and governments are in a state of fear, terrorists will have successfully reached their goals. With the September 11th incidents, though the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were selected by terrorists beforehand, they were not concerned with specific human targets. The issue of killing innocent people through terrorism is longstanding point of controversy. One prevailing opinion believes that there have been terrorists throughout history that avoid killing innocent people—these are often referred to as ―revolutionary‖ terrorists. These people aim their attacks at government leaders and believe that such assassinations will promote social reform. However, with the development of bureaucratic states, terrorists have found that modern government is robust and maintains continuity, which means the death of governmental leaders, even a monarch, won‘t change policies. Thus, terrorism has taken on a new trend of indirect attacks. In the beginning of the 20th century, terrorists began attacking innocent people in order to exert political pressure on governments and institutions. This kind of indirect attack can bring about public anxiety and destroy confidence in, and within, a government. The unpredictability and randomness of such activities paralyze governments in their efforts to protect potential victims. When a government fails to provide protection for its citizens, the public begs the government to compromise so that terrorist organizations will stop their actions.1This logic might not explain why terrorists kill innocent people, but it does reflect the reality of their history to some

1

Retrieved from http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/bpart1.html. 19

extent. Today, terrorists launch arbitrary attacks largely due to a mindset that every member in the targeted society is somehow guilty. Therefore, everyone can be the aim of a strike, regardless of innocence. For the terrorist‘s ―sacred‖ goals, sacrifices are unavoidable. Some extremists consider their targets as ―heretics‖ and ―evil.‖1 Such a mindset leads to indiscriminate, cruel, and destructive behavior. This feature is also anti-moral. Under the guidance of such a mindset, terrorists defy rules and conventions of war, show contempt for existing morality, and exert extremely cruel measures on civilians and other targets alike. For terrorists, no one enjoys inviolable rights. They can attack any person and any facility without distinction. In the 1990s, Islamic fundamentalists in North Africa used violence by any means possible to reach their political aims. They did not limit themselves to attacking political figures within the country; they also assaulted foreigners and foreign tourists. They wanted to put pressure on foreign countries to stop supporting the corrupt regimes in their home countries. A series of incidents in Algeria and Egypt belong in this category. The Luxor terrorist attacks and attacks at Cairo‘s downtown were typical cases of this situation. The Spanish Basque separatist group ETA, which is famous for high-profile assassinations, has killed more than 800 people since they became active in the 1960s. In the beginning, they only assassinated fascists. In 1973, the group killed Franco‘s planned successor, Prime Minister Carowlay, which won the approval of many Spaniards. However, as their repertoire of terrorist activities grew, they started to hurt innocent civilians. After Franco‘s fascist regime fell, ETA continuously plotted assassinations in order to achieve their goal of Basque independence. In addition, their activities became increasingly random. When the leader ordered members to kill a general, it meant that any general could be the target. The indiscriminate selection of targets is based on the assumption that killing innocent people can spread panic and result in further political, social, and economic chaos—and ultimately change. The biggest impact of terrorism on society indeed results from indiscriminate attacks because if everyone is the potential target, no one is safe. Such randomness can cause widespread panic and anxiety. In order to create the greatest social shock, terrorist organizations sometimes employ a wide range of objectives. The French organization ―Direct Movement‖ uses a

1

Max. Taylor and John Horgan (ed.), The Future of Terrorism, London: Frank Cass, 2000, p 58. 20

wide range of actions. Beginning from its attack of the headquarters of the French Employers‘ Federation, this organization subsequently attacked the headquarters of the French Immigration Committee, the Israel Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Space Agency in Paris, the Renault Company, the French Electric Company, and the French Labor Department. This group has made full use of public opinion appeals in these actions. The group has published lengthy statements after every single action and have made a great deal of social impact through their terror tactics and modern media. Terrorism needs public attention to initiate social impacts. If no one knows of a terrorist group‘s activities, they will be unable to create an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. Thus, when terrorists choose their targets, they will pay special attention to the symbolic value of the target. The more symbolic value a target has, the more attention the event will receive, and the greater the psychological impact it will have. Terrorist activities are a form of psychological warfare. They aim to destroy enemies in spirit, so as to realize their own political pursuits. Terrorists clearly reached this goal in the September 11th attacks. The heavy blow made Americans realize for the first time that America‘s security was compromised. This was one of the first successful foreign attacks on mainland American soil and was also a successful attack on the center of the world economy. As a direct result, the US military was suddenly at the forefront of two international wars. In this invisible war, all Americans became targets on a psychological level. As some commentators have noted, Americans who were typically far removed from sorrow and anxiety were eroded to despair, anxiety, and fear. The seemingly calm life of Americans was thrust into a world of conflict. In response, the stock market crashed, and airlines and tourism industries faced huge losses. Though the nation was tightly unified and determined to fight against terrorism, many people lost confidence in America‘s security and economy.

1.3.2 The reasons for the emergence of terrorism Terrorists choose their attack patterns based on various reasons. From the perspective of rational choices, terrorists may carry out activities resulting from rational consideration. By assessing the costs and benefits of adopting terrorist measures, terrorists figure out the most efficient and cost-effective attacks. In the process of risk and cost analysis, terrorists will assess the defenses of their targets, the support rate within the terrorist group, and the potential response of the targeted society. The core of 21

the assessment is whether terrorists should take actions for their desired goal under the particular conditions of the targeted society. If terrorist organizations conduct too many attacks, the atmosphere of the targeted society could become inhospitable, and could lead to the destruction of their cause. For terrorists, misjudgment means utter failure. If their behaviors go beyond the endured limits of the public, the whole society will fight back together and terrorists will not survive. In the 1970s, the left-wing guerrilla organization ―Tupamaros‖ in Uruguay, the ―People‘s Revolution‖ in Argentina, and extreme leftist urban guerrillas in Peru all saw their own demise due to inaccurate estimations of the public‘s reactions. Logically speaking, terrorism is an outcome of a stronger side‘s oppression of the weak, or a product of the weak side‘s defenses against the strong. Avishai Margalit describes ―repression‖ and ―terror‖ as a pair of opposing concepts. He thinks that the former is the stronger side‘s violence towards the weak, and the latter is the weaker side‘s violence towards the strong. When the weaker camp can‘t change the situation through legal means, it has no other choice but to adopt illegal or even extreme means to fight back. Usually, terrorist activities are launched by a small organization against the government of a nation-state. The contrast of power is obvious. When fundamentalist Islamic extremist groups strike Israel, the US, and other Western countries through terrorist actions, this is a typical case of the weak fighting against the strong.1 Terrorism is definitely a practical way to carry out aggression for the weak side in a political struggle. Paul Wilkinson argues that the reason why terrorism widely exists in contemporary international society is that terrorism has been proven to be a low-cost, low-risk model with potentially high benefits. 2 Obviously, it is far easier to attack common citizens and political leaders in an enemy‘s camp—a singular bombing is a much simpler endeavor than organizing a traditional army to go to war. With modern communication, terrorism can create immediate international influence through the media. Because terrorism is by definition random attacks, it is unnecessary to distinguish who the innocents are. Terrorists have an infinite number of targets this way. The boundless range of options enable terrorists to achieve success to the greatest extent and with the lowest risk. If terrorist actions fail or are misconducted, they can deny responsibility. Because of such advantages of terrorism, many extremists use

1 2

Avishai Margalit, ―The Terror Master,‖ The New York Review, Sep 7, 1995. Max. Taylor and John Horgan (ed.), The Future of Terrorism, London: Frank Cass, p 66. 22

terrorism when they are unable to make political changes by other means. Socially speaking, the reason groups implement terrorism is usually because they have a strong sense of despair and dissatisfaction with the targeted society. It may be the dissatisfaction ofa minority group with the majority group, the dissatisfaction of a small country with a larger country, dissatisfaction with the loyalties and beliefs of a group, or a dissatisfaction of the political and social status of a targeted group. To some extent, terrorism is a product of social inequality. In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tiger group, which has gained a reputation for relentless terrorist attacks, arose because of social crises caused by ethnic tension. They are a typical, armed, anti-governmental rebel group aiming to achieve ethnic separatism. They represent the Tamils, which is a minority group in Sri Lanka that accounts for 18% of the population. The majority group in Sri Lanka is Sinhalese, who account for 74% of the population. In 1983, riots broke out against the Tamils in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which led to the deaths of more than 30,000 people. Since then, the war between these two ethnic groups has waged on. In addition to military confrontations with the government on the battlefield, the Tamil Tigers have also conducted a large number of terrorist activities, including assassinations of government officials. The main reason for Algerian Islamist fundamentalists implementing terrorist tactics towards the Algerian government was political conflict. In the general elections in January, 1992, the Islamic Salvation Front won a landslide victory by means of Western democratic election procedures. However, the authorities cancelled the election and deprived the victors the opportunity of forming a new government. Moreover, the authorities declared this organization an illegal organization and forced them to adopt violent measures to achieve their political goals. For the once active far right militia organizations in the United States in the 1990s, terrorism mainly stemmed from racism. White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and constitutionalists from various organizations were full of hatred towards society and other races. Most members were from the lower middle-class and of rural upbringing. They were poor and many had lost their family land, and many were in heavy debt due in part to US agricultural policy. They believed that Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians violated their traditionally supreme status. Therefore, they set the US government as their primary target, as it was the government that allowed for this perceived upheaval of social structure. Psychologically speaking, terrorists‘ dissatisfaction with their own lives and achievements create a special kind of mental state in which they externalize these

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shortcomings and target the perceived culprit. Although there is no clear evidence that terrorists are psychopaths, they are ―true believers‖ of their often rigid and often skewed views. They rarely consider the possibility that they are wrong and the others are right. They establish anti-social ideas from a model of ―us versus them.‖ For terrorists, people that don‘t belong to their group are evil. They are eager to release their anger through violence.1 Within a terrorist group, morale is also an important psychological factor. Terrorist groups have strong internal motivations and they must constantly prove their existence. Terrorists have to maintain their pride and sense of legitimacy of the group through effective violent actions. They ask for unanimity and cannot tolerate dissent. Loyalty to the group requires them to refuse compromise or surrender. In their mind, even negotiation means betrayal because it tarnishes their frail, self-perceived reputation. This psychological characteristic explains why terrorist organizations often split off and theses plinter cells tend to be more radical and destructive.2 For example, in Britain, when the IRA (Irish Public Army) came to a ceasefire, ―the real IRA‖ was formed and was much more violent. The logic of terrorists‘ thought paradoxically requires that they not reach any goals they declare. Because success would threaten its members‘ psychological state and dissolve the organization, terrorist groups tend to re-define their aims once they come close to their original goals. They also refuse to admit success and will continue to fight.3

1.3.3 The ideology of terrorism Terrorism is a kind of activity used by vulnerable people against dominating classes, groups, or institutions; there is a wide spectrum of theories regarding the origins of terrorist tactics. One of the oldest and the most influential ones may be the European model in which oppressed people battle tyrants. Early European organizers put forward that tyrants must be resisted because they violate Divine and Natural Law. They believe that the duty of rulers is to preserve justice. Thus, there is no reason to comply with tyrants because they are unjust by

1 2 3

Retrieved from http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/bpart1.html. Retrieved from http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/bpart1.html. Retrieved from http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/bpart1.html. 24

definition. John of Salisbury was the first person who explicitly defended the right to execute tyrants. He argued that there was a fundamental difference between kings and tyrants. The former obeyed laws and protected people‘s happiness, while the latter‘s ruling power merely relied on violence. His motto was ―he who usurps the sword shall die by the sword.‖1 The Spanish Jesuit theologian and political philosopher Juan de Mariana believed that the power of a king was based upon a contract with the people. If the king breached the contract, people could replace him and any common citizen could kill him to right his injustices if necessary.2 Contemporary terrorists may not believe in ―Natural Law‖ or ―Contract Theory,‖ but their logic of resistance undoubtedly has some correlation with them. No matter what kinds of extreme measures they may take, they have their own philosophies to defend their actions. Their courage and motives come from such philosophies. Islamic fundamentalism has been developing rapidly in the last decade. Though it manifests itself differently in different countries, all activities are guided by Islamic Fundamentalist doctrine. They hold negative attitudes toward modern society and aim to revise modern society based on the teachings of Islamic Fundamentalism; they cite the Koran and Hadith as their main sources of inspiration. The radical factions among them advocate violent struggles. Hamas, an organization that has used suicide bombings in Israel, is an example of such radical factions. This organization called on people to launch Jihads against Zionists and establish an Islamic Palestinian nation. During the 1970s and 1980s, some of the extreme left organizations in developed capitalist countries, such as the Japanese ―Red Army,‖ former west Germany‘s ―Red Army,‖ the ―Red Brigades‖ in Italy, and France‘s ―Direct Action‖ all set their target as modern capitalism. For example, ―Direct Action,‖ which was established in France in 1979, launched over 80 terrorist attacks as an extreme leftist organization. An important leader declared that ―in Paris, we are going to purge the corruption of America‘s Imperialism and Western Europe‘s capitalism through concrete actions, ultimately creating a new Paris Commune.‖ As the name suggests, the purpose of this organization was to make direct impacts on French society through practical actions. Guerrillas in Latin America, such as the ―Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)‖ in Peru, aimed to create ―armed revolutions.‖

1 2

George H. Sabine and Thomas L. Thorson, A History of Political Theory, Dryden Press, 1973, p. 235. Avishai Margalit, ―The Terror Master,‖ The New York Review, Sep. 7, 1995. 25

There may be a variety of philosophies that inform terrorism: ultra-nationalism, fundamentalism, new fascism, or racism are a few examples. To advocate and propagate these ideologies, leaders stir up an enthusiastic fighting spirit, which is the most powerful weapon terrorists have. Take the Tamil Tigers as an example. There are two trends within this organization‘s activities in recent years: firstly, the army is mainly constituted of women and students ages 16 to 22. It is said that the youngest members are only 14 years old. Secondly, all its fighters face death unflinchingly. These trends reflect the cruelty of their struggle and imply that older Tamils are dead as a result of their longstanding war. It also reflects that enthusiasm is the most resilient weapon of the Tamil Tigers. The youth of the Tamil boldly continue to go to the frontlines of their war because of this enthusiastic spirit. The behavioral characteristics of the Tamil Tigers reflect their unique heroic and nationalist education. Tamils are taught from childhood that the Majority Sinhala Buddhists have discriminated them since the establishment of Sri Lanka in 1948.During the ethnic riots in 1956, 1958, and 1959, hundreds of Tamils were killed. During the 1970s, the military police tortured and killed many Tamil women and children in the Jaffna Peninsula. Such teaching buries the seed of ethnic hatred. In an atmosphere of celebrating martyrs, many children become soldiers and learn to not fear death.

1.4 Terrorism and International Relations As a kind of extreme violence, terrorism has garnered influence on international relations. The influence of the September 11th attacks is a clear example of this. The prominence of such impacts forecast that the international community will be faced with more serious threats posed by terrorism in the future.

1.4.1 Terrorism’s impact on international and domestic political process Terrorist organizations aim to exert influence on the political process and thus change the political status quo. Their behavior can be put into two categories: one is

26

indirect impact on the political process by killing innocent people and creating an atmosphere of anxiety; the other is directly changing the political process by attacking selected targets. The assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by Jewish extremists belongs to the second category, while strikes on public targets in Israel by Hamas belong to the first category. Terrorism may be aimed at domestic or international targets. The Chechen separatists carry out terrorist activities with the aim of independence from the Russian Federation. An Islamic radical organization attacking the US aims to change international processes, namely America‘s foreign policy. Certainly, some domestic processes are linked with international ones. For instance, the Irish Republic Army‘s terrorist activities are a British domestic issue and also an international political issue related to the status of Northern Ireland and relations between Britain and Ireland. In international relations, the influence of terrorism cannot be underestimated. The First World War in the beginning of the 20th century was triggered by the assassination of the Crown Prince of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo. The assassination was carried out by a nationalist group member and student named Gavrilo Princip, but was elaborately organized and supported by the intelligence department of the Serbian Ministry of War. This incident started the war between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia, which led to the First World War. It is said that the inability to solve the Iran Hostage Crisis was the main reason why Carter was defeated by Reagan in his re-election campaign. In the 1990s, the frequent terrorist attacks launched by Hamas on Israel exerted great influence on the Middle East peace process. According to opinion polls, after the effectiveness of the Oslo I Accord between Palestine and Israel, 61% of Israelis supported the accord, while 31% opposed it. However, after a terrorist attack in January, 1995, in which an explosion killed 22 Israeli soldiers, the approval rating decreased to 35%. An opinion poll in February, 1995, showed that 52% of Israelis backed Binyamin Netanyahu and his Likud party, while only 38% of Israelis supported Rabin. In November, 1995, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist at a peace rally. After the tragedy, less and less Israelis were in support of a peace agreement. Due to a sequence of suicide bombings implemented by Hamas during February and March in 1996, supporters of peace agreements further declined in numbers. Avishai Margalit pointed out that the Hamas, with the aid of a few dozens terrorists, would decide who would become the next Prime Minister of Israel—if Hamas launched terrorist activities frequently, Israeli people would select a hardline

27

politician against the Palestinians. Under contrary circumstances, Israelis might have supported someone in favor of a peace process. 1 This was confirmed by the 1996 Israeli general election. Though there was more than one reason why the hardline leader Benjamin Netanyahu was able to defeat Shimon Peres and come to power, the series of terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas in the beginning of the year were undoubtedly factors in the decision. Of course, the influence of terrorism cannot be overestimated because terrorism cannot fundamentally change history unless a group is able to become the ruling party, thus no longer making them terrorists Karl Wolfgone Deutsch discovered that terrorism can only achieve very limited effects through assassination. He based this conclusion on his in-depth analysis of the functions and influence of traditional terrorism aimed at small-scale attacks on individuals and groups. The reason he claims is that a large organization with a large population is robust and can replace those assassinated. For example, the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1884 only resulted in power being transferred to Tsar Alexander III. The assassinations of the US President Kennedy and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did nothing to change their nation‘s policies. Deutsch also points out that although anarchist groups who were once active in Russia, Italy, Spain, and Latin America during the late 19thcentury had great success in several well-known assassinations, they never seized power in any of their countries.2 Nevertheless, when we analyze the political influence of terrorism, we must note the fact that terrorism may become the event that triggers grand incidents under certain historical circumstances. On the evening of April 6, 1994, when Rwanda‘s President Habyarimana and Burundi‘s President Ntaryamira were flying over Rwanda‘s capital of Kigali, they were shot down. The two presidents, their entourages, and the plane‘s crew members were all killed. This was undoubtedly a terrorist incident. Right after the incident, the president‘s armed escort consisting of Hutus abducted and murdered Prime Minister Juvenal Uwiringiyimana, causing sheer and utter chaos. Although the interim government was established soon after, the situation was already out of control. Large-scale armed conflicts broke out between the Rwanda Patriotic Front of the Tutsis and the government forces, which were Hutus; this followed a

1 2

Avishai Margalit, ―The Terror Master,‖ The New York Review, Sep. 7, 1995. Karl Deutsch, The Analysis of International Relations, Beijing: World Knowledge Press, 1992, p. 246. 28

longstanding, nation-wide vendetta between the two tribes. In the capital, the Hutu militia who were armed with machetes, clubs, and spears, chased down and killed Tutsis in government controlled zones. The death tolls reached more than 1,000 per day, and included women and children. In Patriotic Front controlled zones, Tutsis responded and slaughtered Hutus. This massacre lasted more than 3 months, and it was estimated that half a million people were killed and another 4 million became refugees. According to the UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) estimation, this massacre caused the deaths of 25,000 children and orphaned another 15,000. Refugees flooded into neighboring countries and suffered from poor living conditions, which resulted in more than 10,000 people dying of cholera and malaria. The massacres undoubtedly caused an even deeper hatred between these two clans and inspired further fighting. These acts of terrorism in Rwanda led to some of the worst terror-related consequences in history. The issue is quite complex though, and still today, people don‘t know who should take the responsibility for these events. As an unprecedentedly catastrophic terrorist attack, the influence of the September 11th incidents was definitely profound. This influence was especially grand for the already weakened US economy. This terrorist attack became a turning point in the US economic recession, which has shaped a new economic landscape at present.

1.4.2 The development trends of terrorism Faced with waves of contemporary terrorism, especially tragedies like the September 11th attacks in 2001, people have become concerned about the situation and concerned about development trends in the future. Here, three aspects are worth mentioning. (1) Terrorism with religious extremism is likely to uphold its profile. Research suggests that the number of terrorist organizations with religious extremist backgrounds and the number of terrorist attacks committed by these groups are both increasing rapidly. Hoffman argues that there were no consequential terrorist groups with religious extremist characteristics before 1968. Beginning in 1979 (the starting point of Iran‘s Islamic revolution), modern religious terrorism became and impacting factor in the international political arena. There were only 2 religious terrorist groups among the 64 recognized terrorist organizations in 1980. From then onwards, the proportion of religious terrorist groups began to increase. By 1992, among terrorist organizations carrying out attacks, religious groups accounted for one-quarter 29

of all groups (11 out of 48). By 1994, the proportion reached one-third (13 out of 46). Just one year later, in 1995, the figure hit one-half (26 out of 56). In 1996, the number decreased to 28% (13 out of 46). Although the number of religious terrorist organizations declined, they accounted for 10 of the 13 major attacks of the year.1 Hoffman believes that, generally speaking, terrorism incidents with religious background and motives are usually more violent and cause more damage. 2 For instance, although incidents with religious motives only accounted for 25% of all terrorist attacks in 1995, terrorist incidents with death tolls greater than 8 were all religious in nature. In fact, the New York World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the Oklahoma City bombing, the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, the US embassy bombing in East Africa in 1998, and the September 11thattacks were all examples of terrorism with religious motivation. ―Religious‖ terrorism is always different from secular terrorism in terms of the value system, the logic of legitimacy, the justification, and the morality behind it. For ―religious‖ terrorists, implementation of violence is considered sacred conduct which cannot be bound by any secular political or moral restrictions. Obviously, the only legitimate source of ―religious‖ terrorism is religion itself. If they believe that killing heretics is God‘s will, they will kill without hesitation. Secular terrorists are usually unwilling to launch endless attacks because they do not abide by their political goals. Most secular terrorists would prefer more people to watch than to die. Therefore, though their killings are random, they are not unlimited. ―Religious‖ terrorists are more likely to carry out large-scale attacks not only because they think it is right and moral, but also because this is helpful to achieve their goals. This is why the above mentioned terrorist attacks were especially brutal, in particular the September 11th attacks. In addition, because ―religious‖ terrorism doesn‘t seek public support, but rather the support and recognition of religious sects and the overall destruction of a target, they do not advocate their purpose and goals publicly. This results in the situation where after a series of grave terrorist attacks, no one publicly takes responsibility. The rise of ―religious‖ terrorism has pushed international terrorism into an increasingly violent and bloody phase. The unprecedentedly large number of casualties reminds people that it is possible that religious terrorists are willing to use weapons of

1

Ian O. Lesser, Bruce Hoffman, John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt, Michele Zanini and Brian Michael Jenkins, Countering the New Terrorism, Rand, Washington D. C., 1999, p. 17. 2 Ian O. Lesser, Bruce Hoffman, John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt, Michele Zanini and Brian Michael Jenkins, Countering the New Terrorism, Rand, Washington D. C., 1999, pp. 17-19. 30

mass destruction. (2) ―Super terrorism‖ armed with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) has become a real threat. Before 1990, terrorist organizations employed traditional means and weapons, no matter the form of terrorism they adopted or what kind of cause they fought for. With the fall of the Soviet Union, it has become more possible for terrorists to secure WMDs. Most analysts think that the possibility of terrorists using WMDs is relatively small. They argue that it is relatively difficult to develop such weapons and that political and moral factors can perform restrictive functions. However, when the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo extremists released sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system in 1995, this marked a new kind of terrorism—terrorism armed with WMDs. The grand scale of the September 11th incidents also shows us that new terrorist groups are willing to implement WMDs and massive attacks. The term ―weapons of mass destruction‖ refers to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons (CBRN in short). Due to the grand damage brought about by these weapons, terrorists armed with such weapons are called ―super terrorists.‖ According to some scholars‘ definitions, ―super terrorism‖ refers to terrorist activities that use CBRN weapons and have the capacity to kill over 100,000 people. With such power, it is fair to call this the ultimate threat of terrorism, as some scholars have.1 The use of CBRNs pushes terrorism into a realm never reached before. Contrary to traditional terrorism, which aims to create the largest atmosphere of anxiety possible, super terrorism aims at killing as many people as possible and reaching the greatest level of destruction possible. Some specialists think that due to deep hatred toward certain nation-states, cultures, or races, modern terrorists are less hesitant to adopt the use of WMDs compared to terrorists just one or two decades ago. The chemical weapons used by Japanese Aum Shinrikyo affected more than 5000 people. If terrorists made use of nuclear weapons, the consequences would be even greater. At present, people worry about bioterrorism in particular. In a modern lab, a microbiologist can produce biological weaponry that with very little money. Thus, biological weapons are a highly cost-effective weapon system.2 An estimate states that if 100kg of anthrax solution were dumped over Washington DC by an airplane, one million people would be killed.

1 2

GAO, ―Analysts Slam Super-Terrorism Response Plan‖, Friday, May 12, 2000, www.speakout.com. ―The Invisible Enemy,‖ The Economist, Nov. 16th, 2000. 31

Nuclear terrorism is a threat with even more destructive potential than biological terrorism. Since the end of the Cold War, the risk of the smuggling and proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials has escalated. People are concerned that if terrorists are able to gain access to nuclear weapons or nuclear materials, the world would enter a new phase of ―super terrorism.‖ Cases of smuggling nuclear materials out of Russia and some other European nations have been exposed, which confirms people‘s worries of potential nuclear proliferation. There have been reports that Bin Laden publicly called on Muslims to launch Jihad using nuclear weapons if ever possible. People hold different views and estimations toward this new type of terrorism since the September 11th attacks. Some research institutions, in particular US institutions (e.g. agencies specialized in terrorism studies such as the RAND Corporation), have paid particular attention to this potential form of terrorism, as distinguished from traditional groups with less technology and destructive power. They argue that the US is at constant risk of WMD attacks, and as a result, should make full preparations for such an event. However, there are also many scholars that think ―super terrorism‖ shouldn‘t be exaggerated or overestimated. For example, to put bio-terrorist attacks into effect is anything but an easy task. First of all, the manufacturing technology involved in making biological weapons is extremely intricate and few people can manage the technology; secondly, producers of biochemical weapons are facing great risks. Accidents during the creation of chemical weapons can have serious consequences. Thirdly, any and all large scale threats of biological terrorism up to this point have been hoaxes, aside from the Tokyo attacks.1 Facing terrorist attacks in the form of anthrax in the mail after the September 11th events, people should be aware of these new threats. In fact, biological terrorism has become a realistic threat which could easily spread to every corner of the world simply through the mail. It can reach crucial government departments and jeopardize people‘s lives invisibly. In order to cope with this kind of terrorism, people must become aware of these methodologies. (3) Terrorism organizations are weaving into a global network. There is no central power in existing terrorist networks—only different cells and loosely bound groups; but modern communication is leading to new levels of collusion. It will be a great challenge for every country fighting this growing network of terrorism. Along with the development and spread of information technology, international

1

―The Invisible Enemy,‖ The Economist, Nov. 16th, 2000. 32

terrorism has taken on many new forms. If we describe traditional terrorism as a hierarchical structure, the new form of terrorist organizations is that of a network structure. There is no leader at the center of these networks, but instead a diffused and distributed organization system. Because information exchange is no longer restricted by physical boundaries, transnational and global networks of any kind are now possible—non-state groups benefit the most from the last decade of technological innovation. It is because of such conditions that a transnational network of terrorism has developed rapidly. Compared to traditional, hierarchical forms of terrorism, terrorist networks are more difficult to cope with. Some scholars argue that the main reason why it is difficult to eliminate transnational drug cartels in Colombia and Islamic extremist groups is due to their loose network structure. In a complex network, the destruction of any single ell will do little to influence the functions of other parts. As for the September 11th attacks, the US blamed Osama Bin Laden as the main organizer, but also clearly recognized that the enemy was not a singular group, but a terrorist network spread out over dozens of countries. A report published by the RAND Corporation in 1999 points out that although Bin Laden sponsored religious extremists in Afghanistan and commanded some operations, he did not have sovereignty over this network. It is more accurate to say he coordinated and supported a number of dispersed operations. He represented one junction in a much grander network. Stopping him does stop the overall network. Without Bin Laden‘s involvement, leadership, and sponsorship, the network can still operate. The network was surely affected by the loss of Bin Laden, but it mainly functioned as normal.1 Network-structured terrorism changes the face of anti-terrorism. After America‘s embassies were bombed in East Africa in 1998, the US responded with targeted missile strikes. This incident was considered the beginning of the ―war on terrorism.‖ This event showed that it is ineffective to deal with terrorist networks with the use of conventional war tactics such as missiles. To face such enemies, it is more effective to establish a global and comprehensive anti-terrorism network through intelligence and international cooperation. Obviously, although military actions are indispensable, multilateral diplomacy and intelligence are arguably more important. Anti-terrorism networks have spread across the world since the September 11th

1

Ian Lesser, Bruce Hoffman, John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt, and Michele Zanini, Countering the New Terrorism, Rand, Washington D.C., 1999, p. 63. 33

attacks. Former US President Kennedy said ―mankind must put an end to war or war will destroy mankind.‖ Faced with today‘s terrorism, perhaps it is more fitting to say that ―mankind must put an end to terrorism or terrorism will destroy mankind.‖ Undoubtedly, this war on terror will be a long-lasting and unavoidable war. The problem is, terrorism is an invisible and oftentimes abstract enemy. Any place could become a target and any space could become its haven. Military superiority and technology are not effective in winning a ―gray war,‖ such as the war on terror. Today, terrorism can only be conquered by eradicating its causes. As long as international and domestic conflicts triggering terrorism exist, terrorism has a chance to grow and thrive. As long as related nation-states involve themselves in foreign affairs and oppressive policies, they are faced with the threat of terrorism. No matter how precautious prevention measures are, terrorism cannot be treated, it can only be prevented. Any country targeted by terrorism will be hard pressed to break free from terrorist attacks. Although the establishment of effective preventive policies is an important step to erase breeding spaces for terrorism, the establishment of an equal international order is more important. In reality, as long as there is perpetual peace between nations, different ethical systems, and society as a whole, equal economic development between nations can be realized. With equal opportunity, we feel terrorist threats will be eradicated. (Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Researcher Li Shaojun)

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2 Types of Contemporary Terrorism Terrorism can be classified into two categories by the nature of its agency; namely, these are government or non-government terrorism. The main form impacting global society in today‘s world belongs to the non-government category. Governmental terrorism is also called state terrorism, which can be subdivided into two groups: internal terrorism and external state terrorism. A government that promotes domestic policies through terrorist measures and enforces its dominance within the country is an example of internal state terrorism; Hitler‘s Nazi Germany in the 1930s to 1940s is an example of this. Because this form of terrorism is public and perceived as legitimate means applied by a government, scholars entitle this state terrorism. It is actually more suitable to call it a reign-of terror. Some experts describe the act of domestic rule through violence and threats in the 1970s and 1980s as ―reigns of terror‖ instead of terrorism, which specifically refers to non-state actors.1 Theoretically speaking, if one nation-state‘s government deals with other countries through terrorist means, their behavior lies within the domain of state terrorism. In August, 1996, the US passed sanctions on Iran and Libya to place trade embargoes on these countries as a result of state terrorism that these two countries supported. Before this, the United Nations had suggested that the Sudanese government should take responsibility for the assassination attempt on Egypt‘s President Hosni Mubarak and decided to impose sanctions on Sudan. However, whether state terrorism exists is a problem worthy of discussion. If state terrorism can be described as an―-ism,‖ it is implied that a government employs terrorist foreign policy measures constantly and continuously. In reality, even countries like Afghanistan and Sudan, who are isolated from international society, wouldn‘t declare their foreign policies as terrorism. On the contrary, all nations claim to go against terrorism without exception. All sorts of terrorism target innocent people. Over the last half-century, non-government groups have been responsible for the vast majority of attacks on civilians in times of peace. Countries under suspicion absolutely deny any links with these terrorist acts. The US classifies Sudan, Libya, and the DPRK, along with 4 other countries, as ―rouge countries;‖ the US claims they are agents in ―state-sponsored international terrorism,‖ 1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 25. 35

rather than ―state terrorism.‖1 Some countries argue that the US employs a double standard regarding terrorist issues. According to many definitions, its conduct in regards to bombing Libya and assaulting Sudan and Afghanistan (1998) are examples of state terrorism. However, this is not the official standpoint of most countries. On the contrary, the US‘s behavior can be perceived as striking out against terrorism. It is clear that there is difficulty classifying state terrorism. Non-governmental terrorism mainly refers to small group or individual behaviors. In fact, most terrorism is this kind of non-governmental act. From the viewpoint of development trends, linkages within terrorist organizations and networks are becoming looser. Groups are often individuals forming a temporary organization based on common political, religious, or social reasons. In general, there are two kinds of non-governmental terrorism, namely international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism is an export of transnational violence or threats of violence. This phenomenon began on a large scale in the 1970s and spread around the world. Domestic terrorist activities refer to terrorism conducted within the borders a country. As the main form of terrorism, non-governmental and individual terrorism are very complicated. There are primarily two classification standards to distinguish these kinds of terrorism: one is according to the behavior patterns and means adopted by terrorists, while the other is in accordance with their conduct and root causes. The first criterion divides terrorism into traditional terrorism (murder, assault battalion, kidnapping, hijacking aircraft, etc.), super terrorism (the use of weapons of mass destruction, biochemical weapons, and grand attacks such as September 11th), cyber terrorism, electromagnetic terrorism,2 and so on. The second criterion is more common and helps people understand terrorists‘ development process. In accordance with this classification criterion, the following types of terrorism have been active and influential since the end of the Cold War.

1

See RANS report: First Annual Report to the President and The Congress of Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction. 15th December 1999 (www.rand.org/organization/nsrd/terrpanel/. 2 Terrorists use electromagnetic pulse generator to paralyze computers, communications and power supply systems and cause catastrophic consequences. See China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations: International Terrorism and Anti-Terrorism Struggles, Beijing: Current Affairs Press, 2001, pp. 30-32. 36

2.1 Extreme Nationalism Nationalism was formed gradually after the establishment of the modern nation-state system and flourished in the 20th century. It is necessary to establish that the word ‗nationalism‘ is not a derogatory term and has no direct link with terrorism. Only extreme nationalist organizations and individuals carry out terrorist activities. Racial terrorism is also exclusive to this category because racism usually refers to the discrimination and oppression posed by a dominating race in a society towards other races. Officials and scholars often place terrorist activities launched by extremist organizations and individuals holding racist opinions into the category of neo-Fascism or far right terrorism. To examine nationalism, we need to understand what a nation is. Objectively speaking, a nation is a group of people sharing the same race, language, religion, political, and/or cultural experience, as well as a common piece of land. Some nations lack elements listed above but are still recognized by the rest of the world as nations. Subjectively, this group of people has a collective consciousness and unique emotions in accordance to the cohesive power that constitutes their nation. Nationalism is the product of national social requirements, such as political, economic, cultural, and religious practices. Essentially, nationalism is a political movement that strives for some form of uniformity. The ultimate purpose of such a movement is the pursuit of a political entity that represents core values of a group, which means the establishment of independent nation-states and autonomous regimes that enforce these values. The issue of nationalism is very complicated. In certain times and places, nationalism is reasonable and progressive. However, under other circumstances, it is a destructive force. Therefore, different cases require different analysis. Through the analysis of most nationalist‘s political pursuits, we can reach the following two conclusions of their aims: (1) the independence of their own nation or a high degree of autonomy; (2) the unification of a common people and land. However, the feasibility and operability of such requirements is an important issue. Explaining this point simply, there are more than 6000 groups of people and more than 2000 nations, but only around 180 nation-states are recognized by the United Nations. Most nations in the world have no chance to establish their own country and sovereignty. Taking the Soviet Union as an example, there are 15 nations that reached a deal with the Soviet Union and realized their political goals, while 89 nations did not gain 37

independence. The population of these 89 nations is 25.6 million, accounting for 10% of the overall Soviet population. If all these people demanded independence, Russia would be dragged into war and chaos. The long-running Chechen war is a typical case of the potential struggles. Nationalism can build nation-states, but can also split existing countries. Hatred towards other nations due to historical grievances, aspiration for independence and autonomy, and religion can easily trigger irrational and paranoiac sentiments stemming from nationalism. When it is hopeless or difficult to realize a political pursuit by peaceful means, this sentiment becomes the ideological basis for extreme nationalist organizations or individuals to carry on a variety of terrorist activities. Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslim leader Izetbegovic once said that if we called upon people in the name of democracy, a few hundred intellectuals would arrive; but if we called upon those same people in the name of a nation, millions would be ready for battle.1 From the history and reality of terrorism, extreme nationalism is one of the oldest root causes of terrorism. As early as the 1880s, the Armenian nationalist movement was growing in eastern Turkey, while the declining Ottoman-Hapsburg Empire fought to hold power. This organization tried to garner international and domestic attention, as well as sympathy and support by repeatedly attacking governmental and military facilities. During almost the same period, the ―Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)‖ became active in today‘s Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia, and developed into an organization focused on political assassinations. On June 28, 1914, Princip, a member of the ―Young Bosnians,‖ assassinated Hapsburg Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which ignited the First World War. Although extreme nationalist terrorism exists widely, people have divergent viewpoints of its nature. Separatism within a country is considered a struggle of self-determination by other countries resulting from different purposes. Terrorist activities triggered by land disputes are always perceived as anti-invasion measures by the home country. Some countries even take other countries‘ internal terrorism as justification for entering countries. In particular, some Western countries adopt double standards in international counter-terrorism struggles, furthering their own national interests and further hindering the cooperation of counter-terrorists. Nowadays, influential national separatist organizations include the Tamil Tigers in

1

Li Shaojun, International Security Memo, Beijing: Gold Wall Press, 1997,p.251. 38

Sri Lanka, the Irish Republic Army (IRA), ETA of Spain, Chechen Separatist forces in Russia, and many others. The common points of these organizations include the following: they all have a solid personnel base and strong financial support. No matter whether in the Tamils‘ Sri Lanka, North Ireland within Britain, the Basque country of Spain, or the Chechen region of Russia, terrorist organizations win quite a high approval rate amongst locals. There are also a great number of residents who are in a dilemma: they oppose actions that damage their normal social lives, but show appreciation and compassion to the terrorists‘ goals and national spirit. Many extreme nationalist groups engaging in terrorist activities are sponsored by foreign forces. For instance, Chechen terrorists in Russia, the Kosovo Liberation Army in Yugoslavia, and radical nationalist groups in Palestine all benefit from foreign forces, publicly or privately, in terms of receiving funds, weapons, training bases, and technology. Thirdly, many extreme nationalist organizations implementing terrorist activities have a strong religious background, or in other words, are intertwined with religious extremists. Fourthly, they experience the same or similar transformations in their terrorist targets. They change their patterns of action from directly attacking political targets, such as state political and military leaders, to attacking economic targets and common civilians. The latter can cause economic losses for the ruling hierarchy, create an atmosphere of terror in the society, and put pressure on the government; but it is often due to the increasing difficulty of directly striking political targets. Because of the great number of national separatist terrorist organizations and their wide distribution, they can make huge threats and cause huge losses to national security, social stability, and economic development. The ―Tamil Tigers‖ are a separatist organization in Sri Lanka. Following the independence of Sri Lanka in 1947, the majority Sinhalese Buddhists exclusively held sovereignty while the Hindu Tamils showed increasing discontent. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a secret youth organization that split from the Tamil United Liberation Front in 1976. In the Tamil language, ―Eelam‖ means ―Sri Lanka.‖ This organization advocates establishing an independent Tamil state in the two northeast provinces of Sri Lanka. These forces have a strong fighting capacity and once held off 50,000 Indian troops for two years through guerilla tactics. In 2000, it carried out intensive trench warfare with Sri Lankan troops in Elephant Post. This group weaves expansive networks with foreign countries and its main support base is in southern India. This organization makes its name mainly through assassinations. It is tightly organized, disciplined, ruthless, and capable of extremely cruel measures. The leader of

39

the ―Tigers‖ is Velupillai Prabhakaran; all its members have sworn allegiance to him. He has ordered that all members that are arrested take potassium cyanide to commit suicide. The unquestioning obedience of his followers in the group has grown into a cult of personality. If anyone is considered by him as a stumbling block of the ―Tigers,‖ he will be quick to take action upon them. The organization has launched a bloody massacre on the Sinhalese Buddhists and Muslims. In recent years, the group has also killed scores of political leaders including the Minister of State Defense in Sri Lanka, General Ranjan Wijeratne and Indian Political figure Rajiv Gandhi. The ―Irish Republican Army (IRA)‖ is a paramilitary extremist organization founded in 1969. As the secret, armed branch of Sinn Fin Party, the IRA aims at separating North Ireland from Britain and establishing a unified republic of Ireland. The IRA has three factions, namely the Official IRA, the Provisional IRA, and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). The latter two factions focus more on terrorist means in order to unify Ireland and often adopt joint actions. The INLA has established secret strongholds around Great Britain and practices one-way contact. There are 4 to 5 people in each stronghold that implement activities such as assassination, kidnappings, bombings, bank robberies, and other terrorist activities. Terrorist activities employed by this organization mainly focus on targets in Britain and Britain‘s military bases in other European countries. Targets include British high-level governmental officials, British army forces, police, and paramilitary groups of the Royal family in Northern Ireland. Most bombings occur at railway stations, metro stations, and shopping districts. The IRA has broad global connections. It not only holds close relationships with terrorist organizations in Western Europe, but is also tightly connected with extremists in Africa and Asia. At the same time, the IRA participates in some international terrorist activities. New members recruited by this organization are usually sent to the training camps of Middle Eastern terrorist organizations for training. The IRA is also supported by a network of Irish Americans who unremittingly provide money and weapons. Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) is a military organization that separated from the ―Basque Nationalist Party‖ in 1959. It advocates setting up a ―Socialist Republic of Basque‖ by military force. After its establishment, they began fighting against the Franco dictatorship. During the 1970s, hardliners in the organization seized the upper hand and ETA became a terrorist organization, adopting views of extreme nationalism. Since then, ETA has plotted nearly 3000 terrorist activities, killed over 900 people, wounded more than 2000 people, and caused economic losses of over $1.5 billion. ETA is comprised of over 10,000 people. Among them, 300 are in the inner executive circle

40

and lead roughly 20 commando groups. ETA has a complete system of leadership. Executive power is mainly concentrated in a core group consisting of 20 members. They have a department of intelligence, border management, logistics, operations, and other departments that answer to this committee. The leadership system of ETA follows the rule of vacancy replacement; if any leader is arrested or killed, their deputy replaces them and takes on their duties. Chechen separatists within the territory of Russia have expanded the scale of their terrorist activities since the mid-1990s. Their acts have shocked Russia and the whole world. One of the organization‘s main strategies is hostage taking. On January 9, 1996, over 600 militants from Chechen snuck into a hospital in Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan, and took more than 3000 hostages. On January 16, they hijacked a passenger ship in port of Trabzon, which was destined for Crimea. They kidnapped the 242 passengers and crew. On January 17, one terrorist held a bus hostage with 28 business people involved in the oil trade. They also use bombings. On the evening of June 11, 1996, on a metro carrying over 250 passengers was bombed while going through a tunnel; 4 passengers were killed and 12 people were injured. In the dawn hours of July 11, a trolleybus was bombed on its way to Pushkin Square and 4 people were injured. On July 12, another trolleybus was bombed and 28 people were injured. On August 12, a train near Volgograd was bombed, resulting in 1 death and 8 injuries. On August 20, a bombing occurred the capital of Dagestan. The Financial Minister and 3 others were killed while 8 were injured. On November 10, a cemetery in southern Moscow was bombed. 13 people among the overall 150 attending a memorial service were killed while another 26 were injured. Before dawn on November 16, a residential building was bombed in Dagestan and 67 people were killed in total. The group‘s third means of terrorism is political assassination. In 1996, the Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Chechnya, the Vice President of Liberal Democratic Party caucus in Duma, Moscow‘s mayor‘s running-mate, and the head of national sports foundation of Russian were all injured in assassination attempts. Two members of the entourage of the Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Chechnya, 6 nurses from the Red Cross, missile designer Alexander Smirnov, and a prominent television reporter in Dagestan were all killed. The appalling, large-scale ethnic massacre in Rwanda and Burundi in Africa should be considered a terrorist action triggered by extreme nationalist sentiments. Tribal conflicts within Rwanda and Burundi, two densely-populated and landlocked countries in Africa, have a long history. In the 1st century CE, the nomadic Tutsis

41

arrived in modern Rwanda and established two feudal kingdoms to rule the majority Hutus who had settled the area long before. In 1890, both Rwanda and Burundi were colonized by Germany and became protectorates of Belgium after the First World War. Western colonists repeatedly used the tribal tensions to provoke conflict between Rwanda and Burundi in order to strengthen their dominance through a ―divide and conquer‖ strategy. In 1992, both Rwanda and Burundi extricated themselves from the colonial rule of Belgium and won independence. However, clashes between the two tribes did not come to an end, but rather became increasingly fierce. For years, tribal conflicts haunted these two nations. The political situation was unstable and their economies had no chance to develop. At the same time, these wars created a large wave of refugees to flood into neighboring countries and heavily affected regional peace and stability. On April 6, 1994, as mentioned above, the Hutu presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in the same plane crash, which led to intense political turbulence in Burundi and the largest scale ethnic cleansing in Rwanda‘s history. In Burundi, tens of thousands people were killed in conflicts. 700,000 Hutus became refugees and were pushed out of their hometowns. Among them, 200,000 fled to the eastern region of Zaire. In Rwanda, 1 million Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus in a grand genocide. However, the Tutsi Patriotic Front, exiled to Uganda, finally won the military war. In fear of a potential revenge, nearly 2 million Hutus were pushed out of their homes into the eastern part of Zaire.

2.2 Terrorism Stemming from Religious Extremism Many existing currently active terrorist organizations show strong religious convictions. Their members‘ religious backgrounds are often manifested in political stances, values, ideals, and behavior features of the organization. In terms of nationalist movements, the Jewish Muslim Terrorist Organization prior to the independence of Israel, the Algerian Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) led by Muslims, the Irish Republic Army guided by Catholics, and the Tamil Tiger rebels of Sri Lanka all have deeply religious origins. However, these organizations set up their goals based on secular political, social, and economic interests and pursue national separation or ethnic independence. Religious extremism entails the belief in the superiority of certain religious doctrines over others. Their motives of carrying on terrorist activities are spawned from spiritual factors, rather than secular ones. 42

Terrorist activities carrying distinctive religious fanaticism are the most hazardous type of terrorism. Religious extremism is not limited to the Middle East and Islam—all the main religions of the world have extremist factions. Historically, religious extremist terrorism can be traced back to over two thousand years ago. Jewish fanatics fought against the Romans‘ rule through murder and vandalism. Since the beginnings of world religions, extremely have been tightly bound to individual terrorism. The English word ―assassin‖ is derived from a branch of Shia Muslims called the Ismaili from 1090 to 1272. ―Assassin‖ was a ceremony held by this organization in order to encourage the murder of Christian crusaders in the Syrian region. Both Christianity and Islam have voiced worries about extreme organizations and individuals carrying their banners. Religious extremists often pursue supernatural goals and consider terrorist activities a sacred responsibility and obligation. The decree and spirit of ―God‖ renders them their legitimacy in conducting violent terrorist behaviors. Yigal Amir, the Jewish extremists who assassinated former Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin once stated that: ―I have no regrets, because I acted on God‘s orders.‖1These terrorists portray believers of other religions as God‘s enemies and strive to establish a single-religion nation-state. Before the middle of the 20th century, Western colonial rulers took the ideology of Christianity to every corner of the world. Although they encountered some Eastern countries‘ resistance, terrorism resulting from religious reasons was regional and small-scale. National liberation movements emancipated many newly independent Islamic countries in Asia and Africa. Some of them are now theocratic states ruled by a state-founded church. There is clearly a historical link between religions and terrorism; opposition between political ideologies, the struggle for middle ground between two camps, and the voice of national independence and separation represent conflicts between different religious ideologies during the Cold War. Religious extremist forces were even used by the US and the Soviet Union in order to reach their own political and military goals. Some American scholars consider Iran‘s Islamic Revolution in 1980 as the beginning of the spread of religious extremist terrorism. There were only 2 religious terrorist groups among 64 terrorist organizations globally recognized that year. National extremists accounted for one-half of the total at the time. By 1994, one-third (16) of international terrorist organizations were classified as religious extremists.

1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, Columbia University Press, 1998, p.87. 43

Since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, religious issues, which were held-up by confrontations of socialist and capitalist ideologies, then became prominent. Religious extremist terrorism developed rampantly in the worst-hit areas of the Cold War, namely the Middle East and Central Asia under the influence of ethical, territorial, and cultural factors. They placed the blame directly on the only superpower of the time: the US. The growing trend of religious extremism reflects Western countries‘ oppression of underdeveloped countries in religious, racial, and political issues both throughout history and in the present international structure. This new brand of extremism also reflects these people‘s fanaticism as a result of the desperation in their lives. Religious extremist terrorism activities can cause a huge amount of casualties because of the value systems, moral concepts, and outlook of those taking part in such attacks. They believe that violence is necessary in order to achieve God‘s will. They believe their God is the only authentic God and people of other religions are dissidents and even enemies. Their ultimate goal is more abstract than that of secular terrorists. This can be seen from the word ―Jihad.‖ Secular terrorists consider themselves agents of change for developing a new world order based on their views. However, religious extremist terrorists don‘t perceive themselves as a part of any secular system. As outsiders, they are capable of destroying existing systems without experiencing moral dilemmas. This allows them to launch large-scale terrorist activities with more cruel means and broader targets.

2.2.1

Terrorism

in

extreme

Islamic

fundamentalist

organizations At present, the largest, most active, and most influential religious extreme terrorist network is comprised of extreme Islamic fundamentalists. These organizations and individuals aim to create a ―pure‖ theocratic state ruled by the Islamic church. Internationally, they advocate implementing ―Jihad‖ and eliminating threats of ―evil‖ forces of Westerners and Christians. Western scholars believe that the Iranian revolution in the Islamic world sparked a new wave of returns to orthodox readings of the Koran and the fight against Western countries, especially regarding the US‘s involvement in the Middle East. Some Shia Muslims think that only through the universal dictation of Islamic law can the Islamic 44

world gain legitimacy and thus allow the Prophet Muhammad to be reincarnated. For this sake, violence and coercion are not only permitted, but necessary. In March, 1980, Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini announced an Iranian New Year rally one year after the Islamic revolution; ―we must export our revolution throughout the world. We must abandon the idea that we are unable; not only does Islam not admit the differences between Islamic countries, this is the common course of all oppressed people. We must overcome every obstacle, clearly state our stance and demonstrate our independence against the great and oppressive powers of the world.‖1 The deviation of real world and Islamic law and the necessity for carrying out profound changes clearly appear in some Shia Muslim theologians‘ works. Ayatollah Baqer al-Sadr wrote that ―today‘s world was shaped by non-Muslims. We have two options: be obedient—which means the demise of Islam, or destroy it—which means a rebuilding of the world according to Islamic requirements.‖ The former leader of Lebanese Resistance Groups, Hussein Mousavi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike in 1992 once said that: ―we didn‘t fight for recognition from enemies; our goal is to completely destroy our enemies.‖2The leader of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Antar Zouabri, who wanted to establish an Islamic nation in Algeria, expressed the sentiment that during their fight against these cular Algerian government, dialogue and ceasefire were impossible. He believed that God‘s word could not be changed or compromised. If there were innocent people killed during their holy mission to establish an authentic Islamic country, it would have to be so. The 7th clause of the Hamas pro-Palestinian organization states that ―until the fight with and elimination of the Jews, the day of salvation cannot come. From April, 1994, to July, 1997, more than 150 people were killed in suicide bombings launched by Hamas. Islamic fundamentalist extremist organizations and individuals refuse all rules and lifestyles outside the realm of Islamic law. They think that in the process of accelerating Islamization, violence is necessary. They face death unflinchingly and evaluate self-sacrifice as a bright road to a beautiful heaven with Allah. Under such circumstances, suicide bombings are quite prevalent amongst these people. Many of them have received higher education and are from rich families. After the September 11th incidents, one of the former leaders from the US Brain Resource Liberty Research center, Steve Hassan, commented that ―in addition to their extreme religious trends they

1 2

Imam Khomeini, Islam and Revolution (trans. Hamid Algar), London: KPI, 1981, pp. 286-287. Quoted in Amir Taheri, ―Holy Terror‖, The Inside Story of Islamic Terrorism, London: Sphere, 1987, pp.7-8. 45

already have, these suicide attackers receive psychological training which includes solitary confinement, hypnosis, food control, and strengthening of aversion. They read the Koran while lying in an enclosed space and they are told that once they leave the secular world, their heroic behavior will be honored in ―heaven.‖ One Islamic extremist organization‘s leader clearly stated that suicide bombing are the only way to fight against the stronger side in a conflict: ―we lack the weapons that the enemies have. We don‘t have airplanes or missiles or tanks. The only effective method of destroying adversaries is becoming a martyr. Through these actions, martyrs wins the opportunity to go into heaven be freed from misery. ‖1 Conflicts and terrorist incidents caused by Islamic extremism are distributed in the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. In the meantime, conflicts between Muslims and Jews and Christians have become more intensified worldwide. Religious issues in Southeast Asia are becoming increasingly prominent and this area may become a new hot spot of religious conflict.

2.2.2 Jewish extremist terrorism As with Islamic religious extremist terrorist organizations, Jewish extremists back up their actions with passages from their doctrines and launch terrorist activities on ―enemies.‖ A number of Jewish extremist terrorist groups were founded in the early 1980s. Many of these organization‘s members acquired their beliefs from a Jewish Rabbi named Meir Kahane. The New Yorker Kahane wrote many Jewish books and columns for newspapers. He advocated hatred toward Islamic Arabs in his preaching and inspired Jewish vigilance and extremism. He established a new Israeli political part—the Compulsory Policy Organization. He tried to change the victimized image of Jewish people and declared a never-ending fight against America‘s anti-Semitic forces and Arabs within and outside Israel. He claimed anti-Semitism was a worldwide phenomenon and only through active self-defense could Jews prevent repeated occurrences of historical tragedies against them. In 1980, Kahane publicly demanded the Israeli government to establish an official terrorist organization aimed at eradicating Arabs in Israel. Kahane was assassinated in New York in November, 1990. The murderer, El Sayyid A. Nosair, was one of the main plotters of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and a failed attempt to bomb the Holland tunnel connecting New York 1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 99. 46

and New Jersey. After a student from a Jewish school in Israel was killed in 1983, followers of Kahane formed an extreme organization they called a ―Faith Group.‖ They attacked students at a Muslim school which led to 3 deaths and 33 injuries. They also plotted to bomb 5 public buses simultaneously during the Sabbath when Jews were not on the street. At the last minute when they were about to take action, Israeli police stopped the organization. According to their investigation, they were plotting to destroy the third largest mosque in Jerusalem, which would allow them to rebuild their synagogue and welcome the arrival of their Messiah (the savior Jews are longing for). Their deeper motive was to provoke a war between Israel and Islamic world. When Israel is surrounded by angry Islamic countries, the government would have no other choice but to use nuclear weapons. Extremists expected an outcome where Israel would eliminate all Arab enemies through the use of nuclear weapons and establish a new ―Israeli kingdom‖—a new, theocratic nation-state. Ten years later, two religious terrorist actions by Jewish priests further shocked the world. February 25, 1994, was a day of Sabbath during the Islamic holy month and also Jewish Purim (in memory of Mordecai, who defeated Haman and saved his fellow Jews in Persia the 5th century BCE). In pursuit of modern Mordecai, Kahuna‘s follower Dr. Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish extremist born in the US snuck into the Abraham Mosque, which is located in Jerusalem, the holy land of both Judaism and Islam. He fired at least 119 rounds using an M-16 automatic rifle during their religious services, killing 29 and injuring 150. He was soon disarmed and beaten to death by a crowd of angry people. Goldstein‘s tomb is now considered a holy place and is guarded by extremists day and night. Another incident was the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist in 1995. After the incident, Amir said that ―like anyone who betrays his own race and nation, he (Rabin) must be put to death. Maybe the assassination was conducted by me. But it was not only my finger that pulled the trigger. It was the whole nation who dreamt to build a country through blood and tears spanning two-thousand years.‖1National sentiments of extremism were further roused by the death of Rabin. Many advocated a tit-for-tat strategy against Hamas‘s suicide terrorist activities in West Bank settlements. He encouraged his Jewish brethren to ―sacrifice themselves for God‖ and ―volunteers for this kind of attack would be called heroes and

1

Christopher Walker, Rabin ―Killer-Trained by Shin Bet‖, London: The Times, 21 November 1995. 47

martyrs.‖1

2.2.3 The religious background of US far-right terrorists On the morning of April 19, 1995, a federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed; 168 people were killed and more than 400 were injured. Although US investigators first focused blame on Islamic extremists, the real culprit was a white American named Timothy James McVeigh. The bombing case attracted attention to far right forces in America. America‘s domestic far right forces are often anti-government, anti-Semitic, and white supremacists. This kind of terrorism is a political and social phenomenon with a definite religious background. McVeigh took on these attacks under the influence of the Bible of Christian Patriots. According to statistics, 80% of Americans identify as Christians. Among various churches and factions, some individuals and organizations with extreme opinions are called by the joint name of Christian Patriots. Leaders of these extreme organizations are usually ministers or priests. In their preaching and publications, they condemn the government that allows ―a country given by God to become a dirty land of mixed and inferior people.‖ They also advocate that ―God‘s verses ask us to build a brand new country purely of whites.‖2 US Christian extremist organizations consider anyone other than the Aryan race as ―Satan‘s offspring.‖ They often believe that the Armageddon (the battle for good and evil during the end of times in the Bible) is coming. Therefore, in addition to racist sentiments of white supremacy, they believe that the arrival of the Messiah would come sooner through their activities. The religious context of America‘s far right forces is also revealed by activities launched by the paramilitary Christian patriotic organization ―Phineas Priesthood.‖ The name of this organization originates from a story in the Old Testament of the Bible: priest Phineas executed a woman named Cozbi from the Midianites who committed adultery with her Jewish paramour Zimri. ―Phineas Priesthood‖ claims its mission as enacting ―God‘s law‖: they forbid the marriage between different races, homosexuality, and abortion. In 1994, a Christian fundamentalist preacher, Paul Hale, killed a pro-abortion gynecologist and his bodyguard in Florida. In his book ―Whether we Should Protect Born and Unborn Children by Force,‖ Hale quotes the story of Phineas 1 2

Marie Colvin, Rabbi ―Calls for Suicide Bombings‖, London: Sunday Times, 13 April 1997. Roy B, Masker, ―An All White Nation? - Why not? Aryan Nations‖, Calling Our Nation, No. 53, p. 23. 48

and points out that it is necessary to punish behavior that violates God‘s laws such as abortion, homosexuality, and other acts that disrespect God. In contemporary times, religious extremist terrorism has become a great enemy to every nation-state and to the peace and security of international society. However, it is prudent to avoid arousing new cultural conflicts. The Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan said on September 30, 2001 that ―the world should notice international society faces a common enemy. Enemies should not be classified by a certain religion or a certain country.‖ Annan pointed out that ―any person, any region, or any religion should not become a target due to certain people‘s evil conduct.‖ It should be the UN‘s job to implement coordinated actions to strike out terrorism and to extradite criminals. Annan rejects arbitrary revenge that could hurt civilians. He said that ―this kind of behavior will only deepen the internal division between different social groups, which will boost terrorists‘ arrogance and aggression.‖

2.3 Cult-Based terrorism Major dictionaries have yet to include the term ―cult‖ at present. Tracing it to its source, cult has different meanings in different historical periods and conditions. Today, we can define ―cult‖ as extreme organizations under the cover of a religion which conducts anti-human, anti-societal, and anti-religious activities. Researchers point out that there may very well be 100 million people who are misled by various kinds of cults worldwide. The founder of a cult manipulates followers through such means as the threat of end of the world. These ―saviors‖ use such things to defraud money and convince followers to descend into carnal pleasure. Cult organizations are usually structured around a close-knit network and have relatively abundant funds. The leader of cult often receives huge sums of money from followers and sponsors. Cults mostly spawn from different social environments: in an environment of economic progress along with heavy competitive pressure; in an environment of economic take-off while traditional values are falling apart; in an environment of lasting poverty and lack of social security for people; and in an environment of disaster where people have no means to live are all breeding grounds for cults. For instance, when the flu ravaged Europe and America in 1918, common people were confused and afraid. Nearly 20 million people died and people began turning to appeals to ghosts and divine spirits for exorcisms. In this environment, hundreds of cults emerged. Africa has 49

also been a breeding ground for cults. This is in part due to the gross poverty and large number of natural disasters. Since the late 1960s, many African countries have experienced famine and drought nearly every year. Catastrophic droughts swept 35 countries from East Africa to South Africa between 1982 and 1984. Half of all Africans suffered from this disaster and millions of people died of starvation or malnutrition. Some places did not witness even a drop of rain for over a year. Cults appeared and brought about not only hope, but also more tragedies—hundreds of children became sacrificial offerings for rain by cults. Throughout the world, cults have the following basic characteristics: (1) Deceptiveness Cult organizations are always presented under a banner of sincerity, friendliness, mutual assistance, goodness, and saving the world to induce people to join. Cult organizations also advocate ―doomsdays‖ by taking advantage of people‘s innocence regarding religious beliefs and people‘s confusion regarding contemporary social problems. Leaders claim that only through taking part in their organizations can people avoid catastrophe and let their spirit enter heaven. There are thousands of ―religious founders‖ all over the world. They present themselves as a God or prophet reincarnate; they will claim to know the secrets of the universe, know the past and future, and have the ability to change a human‘s fate. For instance, Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, labeled himself as the reincarnation of Buddha Sakyamuni. In Southeast Asia, more than one hundred people claim to be the Buddha‘s reincarnation in order to deceive people and gain followers. In Cambodia, false Buddha‘s have been beaten to death by victims after they were exposed. Furthermore, there are hundreds of people killed in Africa every year due to the disclosure of their ―religious founder‘s‖ identity. (2) Strict structural organization Cult organizations usually form a strict organizational system, which are similar to underworld organizations. Once people become involved, it becomes difficult to leave. Taking at a glance the 10 major religions in the world, the structures and member relations of these religions are loose and flexible, and allow for the freedom to come and go. However, in order to manipulate people‘s minds and enslave their spirits, almost all cult organizations have an intact and almost military-like management system controlled by ringleaders from different levels. If subordinates have any doubt, discontent or resistance, they are denounced as heretics and suffer harsh punishments and are sometimes put to death. Take The People‘s Temple as an example. It was said that the second generation of leaders aimed to spur a collective suicide. In February,

50

1980, two members, Mr. and Mrs. Mill, were able to escape, but were killed along with their 10-year old daughter at their home in San Francisco. The murderer left a note saying that the cost of leaving was blood and threatened to kill all dignitaries that attempted to leave. (3) Brutality Cult organizations‘ extreme brutality is embodied in the fact that they kill countless people. They not only kill their followers, but also put innocent people to death. In addition, they spread all kinds of rumors, portray terrible scenarios of death, and cast horrible shadows on people‘s minds. The brutality of cult organizations often unfolds with mass killings (forced suicides or murders) and end with self-destruction. In August, 1969, a lewd and vicious offering activity occurred in a Hollywood mansion at the will of Charles Manson. The ―bloody mass‖ resulted in the death of actress Sharon Tate and 4 other people, who were violently turned into offerings. In November, 1978, leader of ―The People‘s Temple,‖ Jim Jones, held a collective suicide ceremony in woods in Guyana, which resulted in 913 people committing suicide by mass-poisonings. In February, 1993, the founder of the Branch Davidians Koresh from Waco, Texas led his followers to confront the police and FBI personnel who were attempting to raid their base of operations. Under the permission of a general assault from the Clinton administration on May 1, a small war broke out and their ―holy temple‖ was laid to rubble. The confrontation resulted in over 80 deaths in total. In March, 1997, the leader of ―Heaven‘s Gate‖ Marshall Applewhite initiated a mass suicide with his 38 followers. (4) Anti-religion Texts decree that religions have progressive and active characteristics in aspects of human nature and enhancing the meaning of followers‘ lives. For example, almost all religions in the world stress ―the love of peace, the treasures of life, the equality amongst people, and the necessity of charity.‖ In terms of life views, Christianity thinks suicide is a sin, Buddhism considers illness and death to have their own providence, which need to be treated naturally, and Islam believes that lives belong to Allah and are sacred—Allah is the only authority allowed to take them. On the contrary, cult organizations consider killing innocent people as one of their tasks. When cult organizations destroy others, they destroy themselves at the same time. Cults are often organizations full of violence and terror. Usually, the leaders don‘t publicly advocate violent activities when they deliver ―scriptures.‖ However, they always give their members psychological primers to commit atrocious acts. Inside the

51

organization, violent activities are often manifested in the form of believers to commit suicide. On January 18, 1978, 294 children under the age of 8 were forced to drink poisoned juice at ―The People‘s Temple.‖ In August 1987, 32 followers of a Korean cult died after they drank poisonous liquids. In 1986, 7 Japanese cult members of ―the Friends of Truth‖ set themselves on fire in homage to their former leader. In October,1994, the founder of the ―Order of the Solar Temple,‖ Joseph Di Mambro, felt his arrest was approaching as police had become aware of his money and asset collecting schemes. He spurred his believers to set themselves on fire, which resulted in the death of 53 followers from Switzerland, Canada, and other places. The ―Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God‖ is a cult in Uganda, a hotspot for cults. On March 17, 2000, the so-called ―Marian apparitions day,‖ 530 members poured gasoline on each other and set themselves afire, including 78 children. An incident in which Falun Gong members set themselves afire in Tiananmen Square also belongs to this category of violent, cult activity. Starting in the 1980s, cult organizations in the US, Japan, and other countries moved from internal violent activities to threatening innocent people through the use of weapons of mass destruction. As a result, cults have now become a major target of international counter-terrorism. In 1984, a mysterious Indian fakir cult with huge financial backing (the cult had collected 93 Rolls-Royce limousines) cast salmonella in a local reservoir and at restaurants in the small town of Dalles, Oregon in the US to alter the voting outcome for local elections. The attack resulted in 751 people being adversely affected. Although their plot did not reach their goal, the organization showed that they did have the ability and willingness to develop and spread bacteria, meaning this tactic might be adopted in more densely populated areas. On March 20, 1995, the Japanese group Aum Shinrikyo dispersed toxic sarin gas in Tokyo‘s metro system, which lead to 11 deaths and more than 5000 injuries. This was a historical incident of mass destruction on innocent people launched by a cult organization. This was a turning point of terrorism turning to biological weaponry, embodied by the cult-led terrorists‘ adoption of sarin gas to implement huge damage. Shoko Asahara, the founder of Aum Shinrikyo, was born in 1955 into a poor family. He suffered from congenital cataracts and a serious case of amblyopia. After his graduation from blind school, he became a certified acupuncturist. In the early 1980s, Shoko entitled himself as aprophet after traveling to the Himalayas and said he had been selected by God as a general in ―God‘s army.‖ After that, he happened to talk to an old man during his meditation on the edge of a mountain. The old man told him that the

52

Armageddon was approaching, and only nations selected by God could survive; the leader of the new world order would be from Japan. Shoko considered himself the leader and changed his name from Chizuo Matsumoto to Shoko Asahara. He advocated that the exercise of Aum Shinrikyo could develop the supernatural functions of a human being, and finally enter the highest levels of existence. He claimed that God appointed him to spur the revelations spoken about in the Bible, make relief plans, and perform his duties as the ―last savior‖ of the century.1 After he recruited 10 believers, Shoko opened his first Aum office in Tokyo. At that time, there were about 183,000 cult organizations in Japan. The atmosphere of belief in supernatural powers and superstitions prevailed. Aum Shinrikyo uniquely combined parts of Buddhism and Hinduism with a conception of prophet reincarnation, which attracted young intellectuals growing tired of stressful, secular lives. In less than 10 years, Aum Shinrikyo developed 24 branch-organizations and accrued over 10,000 members in Japan. Abroad, the cult had departments in the US, Australia, Sri Lanka, and a few other places. In Russia alone, they gained 20 to 30 thousand believers. This cult appealed to people in science and technology, and members began exploring the manufacture of chemical weapons and equipment for spreading toxic chemicals. In 1995, Japanese police and defense forces raided Aum Shrinrikyo‘s dojos and facilities in Tokyo, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Yamanashi Prefecture. Police found over 40 varieties of chemical materials. The potential amount of sarin manufactured with these materials would have been enough to kill 4.2 million people. The emergence of cult terrorism puts forward a new obstacle for counter-terrorism in the new millennium. First of all, traditional terrorism has clear political, social, economic, or ideological goals. Although these goals are extreme, they are still understandable. However, the ideals of cult terrorism bring about difficulty for counter-terrorism institutions because it is quite hard to grasp their abstract goals and unrealistic mindsets. Secondly, cult organizations always act elusively and they are very hard to predict. National security departments, intelligence departments, and academic institutions are hard-pressed to draw a line between personal religious beliefs and organizations that can be considered cults. Some countries become confused at how a peaceful organization can suddenly turn to violence and kill innocent people. Thirdly, the effect of traditional means and policies to strike terrorism are quite limited and even

1

David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall, The Cult at the End of the World: The Incredible Story of Aum, London: Hutchinson, 1996, pp.7-12. 53

useless to curb cult terrorist organizations; political compromise, economic adjustments, judicial amnesty, and other means are moot in dealing with cults. Relevant institutions within a country should strengthen studies on the cult phenomena, build communication channels between mainstream and non-mainstream society, and eliminate the sense of crisis and the trends of escape from the current world by marginalized groups. In addition, the turn of the century was seems to have been a climax of cult activities.

2.4 Far-right terrorism Contemporary far right terrorism emerged in the 1960s; it was a modernized version of the White supremacy movement. Terrorist activities of a racist nature could be traced back to the Ku Klux Klan, which was founded after the Civil War. This organization was first set up in 1867; the members were mainly military veterans of the South‘s Confederate Military. They represented the plantation owners and Southern whites who were fighting against the Federal government‘s rebuilding of the state governments in accordance with anti-slavery laws. Their violence and threats succeeded in maintaining an atmosphere of anxiety amongst non-protestant whites and those opposed to their white supremacist cause. By the end of the1950s and into the early 1960s, Eastern Europe and North America were experiencing a movement which was led by the working class; they wanted to attain greater human rights. While oppressed nations and people were gaining equal rights in politics and society as a whole, far right terrorist activities became more and more commonplace. The targets of these terrorists were not only Jews and non-white races, but also government agencies and leadership that supported this revolution of the social politics. Their behavior is also called counter-revolution terrorism or ultra-right Terrorism. The core of ultra-right groups is the opposition of social revolutions. They consider social changes to pose a threat to their lifestyle and values. Their means of opposing this threat is to initiate violence or threaten violence. In America, the ultra-right, represented by groups like the Ku Klux Klan, was supported by southern slave owners and villagers of small towns. They have met opposition by the middle-class and intellectuals in cities around the country. In Canada, descendants of Russian immigrants stubbornly insisted on conservative ideals of religion, opposing materialism, government regulation, and 54

public education. In the early 1960s, they launched more than 120 terrorist attacks on government buildings and businesses. In the 1960s in Europe, the German neo-Nazi party and Italian neo-fascism gained some popular support. At the margins of society, these groups began to adopt some terrorist measures to vent their discontent with post-war political arrangements. During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a worldwide immigration wave. Immigrants from developing countries entered North America, Europe, and Australia in large amounts. Under this background, the ultra-right developed support rapidly and terrorist activities were initiated on a large scale. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this phenomenon spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe and Russia. In Europe, the instigators of ultra-right terrorist activities were mainly organized by neo-Nazis and loosely organized ―Skinhead Gangs‖ and ―Biker Gangs.‖ Some groups appeared in organized forms such as the ―Hofmann Military Party‖ and the ―Germanic Democratic League.‖ These groups want only performed terrorist attacks mainly targeting immigrants. Their Activities included smashing stores and restaurants managed by the non-whites, setting fires, murders, mistreatment of immigrants, and instances of lynching. In 1997, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz released data showing that there were 96 ultra-right groups comprised of over 40,000 members. Of these, at least 6,400 members were engaged in violence. However, a German senior legislator said that the members of ultra-right groups engaged in violence might be more than 9,000 in Germany alone. The ultra-right party, which includes large and small groups, not only uses bombs and arson to attack immigrants, but also adopts measures such as setting up concerts and handing out brochures advocating ultra. After the 1990s, ultra-right political parties and neo-Nazis have become more active throughout Europe. Groups such as the ―British National Party‖ work in cooperation with ―Skinhead Gangs.‖ The ―British National Party‖ plotted and organized ―Skinhead Gangs‖ to be engaged in violence. The isolated neo-Nazi organizations of the past began to coordinate their movements with each other. For example, various neo-Nazi parties dispatched representatives to hold a joint conference in Germany in October, 1993. The neo-Nazi groups in Western Europe strengthened their relations with US organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Genesis Church. This trend of cooperation changed these unorganized and isolated violent groups into a well-organized, planned, continuous terrorist organization able to attack targets ranging from governments to minority groups on a large scale, effectively creating an atmosphere of anxiety and social instability. At the same time, some ultra-right parties

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became more and more active in politics. Their poll numbers in general and local elections have increased rapidly. The ―Liberal Party‖ in Austria possesses 33 seats in Congress, which has 183 seats in total. Their percentage of votes in local elections doubled to 18% in 1990. After the 1980s, white supremacist Christians and patriot militias represented by the ultra-right of America began increasing the scale of their terrorist activities. Dissatisfied with the politics of immigration, taxes, trade deficits, and the ―occupation‖ of America by immigrants, they aimed to found a new America based on a high degree of autonomy. According to the statistics, there were 800 militia organizations which had recruited about 50,000 members across the US. Most members of these organization belong to ―second-line‖ militia who mainly oppose legislation regarding gun laws and federal power. A small portion of these groups devote themselves to violence, promoting revolutions, racism, and anti-Semitic sentiments. The membership of these groups could be more than 10,000. The MOM (Montana Organized Militia) was first exposed after the Oklahoma City bombings. The slogan of this organization was ―gun control is people control.‖1 The members would receive training for guerrilla tactics in order to oppose attempts to deprive them of gun ownership, as well as the ―chaos‖ society creates. The CIA arrested 12 militia members of the ―Vipers‖ in Arizona. According to their investigation, this organization was plotting bombings of federal government buildings in Phoenix. They knew every detail of these targets. They had collected 1900 pounds of raw materials to build bombs. In a similar case, police officers arrested three members of the ―Liberty Militia,‖ who were readying themselves to assassinate multiple high level officials and attack the Atlanta Olympics. The ultra-right militia organizations of America are not simply opposing policies and decrees, political parties and levels of the state. Their behavior and conscious are formed by political, societal, racial, and religious aspects. These organizations have already become a part of the movement of the ―Patriots of Christianity‖ around America. Hoffman is a scholar who studies terrorists and made this summary about the opinions of this movement: Be hostile to government above the level of county. Jewish and the other non-whites are descendants of Satan. Devotion to achieving the purification of religion and race in the US.

1

David Harrison, Jackboot Stamp of the New Right, Observer London, 23 May 1995. 56

Jewish people control the government, media, and the bank system. Support to overthrow the American government (occupied by Zionists).1

2.5 Other Types of Terrorism 2.5.1 Ultra-left Terrorism In the1960s, the international situation was unstable and confrontations overwhelmed many camps. Conflicts were prominent within domestic groups and society in capitalist countries. Ultra-left organizations successive Ely emerged in some countries and areas. They were extremely dissatisfied with social politics at that time and attempted to change the progress of social political structure through bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, and other measures in order to seize power. Among these organizations, the ―Red Army Faction‖ of West Germany, the ―Red Brigade‖ of Italy, the ―Japanese Red Army‖ (Sekigun) of Japan, and the ―Sendero Luminoso‖ of Peru were very active during the 1970s and 1980s.They executed a number of terrorist activities which shocked the world. The ―Red Army Faction‖ was founded in 1968 and was at one point the most famous terrorist organization in Germany. The objective of this organization was to destroy capitalist imperialism in order to protect the interests of oppressed nations and peoples. They mainly aimed their attacks at military targets, government facilities, and officials. The group consisted of 20 core members and 200 activists, among whom half were females. Most members had received training in Muslim extremists training camps located in the Middle East; they were especially good at assassinations and bombings. Victims of the ―Red Army Faction‖ included the chairman of German Employers‘ Association Braun, the monopolist of arms and ammunitions Zimmerman, the president of Siemens Kurtz, the director of the political department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Braun, the president of the Deutsche Bank Herrhausen, and others. In addition, according to the materials collected by the police, there were 145 people who were targets, including the President of Germany. The "Red Brigade" was an ultra-left radical organization founded by Chiau and Cargo in 1969 in Italy. There were almost 500 members by the 1980s. Their purpose 1

Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, Columbia University Press, 1998, p. 111. 57

was to destroy the political regime of Italy and set up a state apparatus for and by the working class. The terrorist means and goals of the "Red Brigades" were similar to the "Red Army Faction" in Germany. They were mainly engaged in kidnappings, assassinations, and bombings. Their most famous action was the kidnapping of the Former Prime Minister of Italy Aldo Moro in order to have their leader released from prison. The government rejected their offer, however, and they killed Moro. The Japanese "Sekigun" was founded in the late 1960s. Their aim was to set up communism in Japan and support the proletariat around the world. In the early 1970s, the "Sekigun" garnered a great deal of attention from the Japanese government, which made it hard for them to function in Japan. Therefore, they built a relationship with anti-Israel organizations in Palestine. Their capital flow came from the Middle East. The Sekigun headquarters was in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. Almost all their activity was conducted away from Japan. In March,1970, they hijacked an airplane belonging to Japan Airlines. They attacked an Israeli airport in May, 1972, which resulted in hundreds of casualties. They hijacked an airplane in September,1977, and compelled the Japanese government to release 5 members of the "Sekigun" who were in prison. Junzō Okudaira, a leading member, detonated car bombs at aUS military base in Naples, Italy, causing 5 deaths. The ―Sendero Luminoso,‖ or Shining Path, is the biggest leftist guerilla organization. Founded in the 1960s, its base of operations is located in the mountains of central Peru. It has at least 20,000 members. Their funding mainly comes from the illegal drug trade. With the growth of the ―Sendero Luminoso‘s‖ capabilities, their terrorism activities shifted from the countryside to cities. Their continuously increasing activities have posed a substantial threat to the Peruvian government‘s stability. The Peruvian government arrested the leader of the ―Sendero Luminoso‖ and other senior staff in September, 1992, but the organization has continued on. Ultra-left terrorist activities are typical terrorist actions with political and ideological features. These groups developed in the tide of the worldwide national liberation movements and the international communist movement. They are the product and reflection of what has happened due to conflicts within Western countries. Since the 1990s, the influence of ultra-left terrorism around the world has withered away. The leader of ―Red Army Faction‖ has announced a halt of activities. Although there are individuals still carrying the flag of this group, their influence is minute. Most members of the Red Brigadead mit that they have lost the fight. Similarly, the ―Sekigun" had the intention of switching their foundation to South America, but have lost steam in the

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transition. Under the joint operations of police throughout the world, ultra-left groups have been unable to maintain effective levels of attack. Personnel have also aged greatly. Looking back to history, the decline of ultra-left terrorism was the joint result of internal and external causes. Terrorist activities are inhuman, irrational, and destroy peaceful ways of life. Common people can only see the dark side of terrorist‘s means. Although the aims of ultra-left terrorists are attractive to common people, they ultimately lose their social basis in practice. For example, Germans were disgusted with the assassinations and kidnappings conducted by the ―Red Army Faction.‖ The group, established by Baader and Meinhof, lost support as their methods became more and more violent. In 1976, both founders were arrested and committed suicide. A long-term implementation of terrorist activities allows internal organization to get confused and become divided. The scale of many these organizations continuously shrink. By the end of the 1960s, most ultra-left organizations in the US began to find news way to implement revolution through non-violent means. Even the organizations that did not give up means of violence began to avoid hurting people. On March 6, 1970, three members of ―Weather Underground‖ were killed accidentally while they were assembling a bomb. After that, mathematician Dr. Robert Fasnacht was unintentionally killed by a bomb while he was working overtime at a research center. These two incidents made large number of left-wing radicals shy away from terrorist actions. In 1973, the last ultra-left group of the US, the Symbionese Liberation Army(SLA), murdered a school administer who set up an ID card recognition system in cooperation with police. In 1974, six members of this organization were killed in a gunfight with the police. The behavior of the Symbionese Liberation Army lost all support in the US and soon broke down. During the1970s, a number of Western countries, led by the US, went through a change of values from ―group goals‖ to ―personal interests.‖ In the general elections of 1968, the American public indicated their approval of brave words, social change, and a revolution of violence with their choice of Nixon, who was the leader of the Republication Party.1Over the following years, Americans began to value personal and domestic interests to a higher degree. During a period of ―ten years of self-centeredness,‖ people opposed progressive ideals and the ultra-left organizations which put forward these changes. Western countries adjusted their domestic and foreign policies that made for less

1

Walter Reich(ed.), Origins of Terrorism, Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998, p.97. 59

and less interest in ultra-left terrorism. The policies of governments tilted towards the middle-class, those with sympathy and support for leftists, thus destroying the political base for ultra-left organizations existence. At the same time, a number of social terrorist organizations also saw that it was possible to satisfy their requirements with less violent means. They began to re-examine their terrorist activities. In January, 1973, the US signed the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam with Vietnam in Paris and paved the way for the withdrawal of US Troops, which made anti-war groups inconsequential. Other activists of anti-war groups have diverted their attention to devote themselves to an internal revolution of the Democratic Party and the nomination work of progressive presidential candidates. It shows that the adjustment of foreign policy can effectively diffuse radical terrorism. Striking against, containing, and diffusing terrorist organizations has been fruitful; arresting terrorists, counter-terrorism legislation, and promoting the strength of counter-terrorist measures have all achieved good effects. This could be easier when containing the Ultra-left organizations which focus on political appeal. Italy has amended laws that adopt more flexible ways to punish terrorists under the law. These new laws are in favor of terrorists who are willing to quit terrorist organizations. These changes further undermine the organization structure and morale of the "Red Brigades.‖ The disintegration and fundamental changes of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries‘ policies were also a reason why the Ultra-left Terrorism vanished in the 1990s.

2.5.2 Terrorism of the criminal underworld Terrorism of the criminal underworld is implemented by international criminal organizations such as drug trafficking cartels and the Italian Mafia. Their purpose for terrorist activities is to keep their vested interests and obstruct government authorities to legitimize their unlawful actions. The Italian Mafia has existed for hundreds of years. From 1982 to 1985, they murdered 9 senior government officials just in Sicily alone. In May, 1990, when the city of Gelateria in Lecar held a local election, 6 candidates were murdered. It is estimated that 90%of economic activity in the city was under the control of Italian Mafia. Narco-terrorism is rampant in Colombia. The organized criminal activities of the country are nearly all related to two main drug cartels, the Medell in and Cali cartels. 60

With the cooperation of the American government at the end of the 1980s, the Colombian government was able to suppress drug trafficking and other related violent crimes. These drug cartels conducted a series of terrorist attacks in response. However, because of the joint combat of many nations, these groups were curbed by the end of the 1990s.

2.5.3 Other terrorist groups with smaller influence rising in some developed capitalist countries This category includes groups such as organizations maintaining animal‘s rights that launch terrorist activities. ALF (Animal Liberation Front) and its partner Earth Liberation Front have claimed that they were responsible for several attacks within the US. The spokesman of ALF, Robin Webb, has also stated that ―people have to use violence against the government and have to surpass laws in order to pursue justice for species that can‘t fight for themselves.‖ (Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Deputy Researcher Wang Mingming)

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3 The North-South Income Gap and Terrorism No matter how many ways terrorism is defined or what stand people have regarding different forms of terrorism, it is important to point out that terrorism in the current mainstream media mainly refers to violence like the September 11th attacks. Some organizations, groups, and individuals use other unconventional means of warfare to create fear. In many of these people‘s minds, there is no differentiation between military facilities, civil facilities, soldiers, or civilians, while the violence often mainly hurts innocent civilians. However, the behavior mentioned above is clearly not the only form of terrorism because terrorism is not exclusively civilians being attacked through the use of violent measures. The use of force and violence teamed with a political agenda is regarded as the fundamental basis of terrorism. 1 According to this statement, there is hardly a distinguishing boundary between terrorism and war. The reason for this is that no war can be called a war without violence and casualties. The political nature of war also speaks for itself. War is a specific course of violence and a way to solve problems which can‘t be solved by non-violent means. It is a continuous and exceptional form of political struggles. In this sense, the common grounds of terrorism and war clearly outweigh their differences. Though not all terrorism takes on the form of war, it is inevitable for war to share many similarities with terrorism. The cruelty towards civilians and the loss of lives and economy caused by invasion in the name of a nation are beyond the scope of any terrorist attack implemented thus far. Imperialism brought about two devastating world wars that ruined many human civilizations. The series of wars led by the US after World War II, from invasion of the DPRK and Vietnam to the Gulf war and Kosovo bombings, caused innumerable loss of life and endless misery. These wars led to tremendous humanitarian, social, and environmental disasters. These wars should be deservedly regarded as state-terrorist behaviors. To exculpate war and other forms of national terrorism, the US government defines terrorism to be based on legality. For instance, the American FBI gives a definition of terrorism as follows: terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian

1

Hu Lianhe, Terrorism and Countermeasures of Contemporary World， Beijing: The Eastern Publish House， 2001. 62

population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. This definition clearly reveals a mindset in which the oppressor will always be in the right. This definition serves the political agenda of the US although it has no doctrinal use. After the September 11th attacks, the US took on anti-terrorism as a new moral high ground and drew new lines of terrorism, while uniting allied countries to implement joint anti-terror attacks. Meanwhile, anti-terrorism is becoming the ideological methodology for Western countries to threaten other countries and people and to integrate the rule of the new global bourgeoisie. Terrorism involves anfractuous political consideration. Moreover, perceived justice of anti-terrorism probably creates a greater injustice. At the moment, the US, under the name of anti-terrorism, is bombing Afghanistan and conducting military action in a number of countries. It seems clear that the US is not going to defeat terrorism, even if they do achieve the goal of destroying terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. The reason for this is that the profound foundation for terrorism now exists on a global level. The use of violence against violence only breeds more hatred. In recent years, violent attacks targeting Western countries (mainly the US) have occurred on a larger scale than ever before. From attacks on representative offices and military troops abroad to unprecedented terrorism attacks within the US, the trend is escalating. Some foreign groups take on extremely violent means to inflict heavy losses on these superpowers‘ economies and social mentalities. It is still rare to see a Western country bullying smaller countries and suffering terrorist as a result. Few people can penetrate the meaning of this thoroughly; however, it can be concluded that international terrorism is closely related to discontent with the current world order. The cause for today‘s inequalities and injustice exactly mirror the current North-South income gap. The following discussion and analysis are centered on international terrorist acts like the September 11th incidents and do not include state-terrorism.

3.1 The North-South income gap in globalization The September 11th incidents in 2001 are still only a partially solved puzzle. No one has truly claimed to be the perpetrator and no one has stood up to explain the motive for organizing this attack. It is impossible to know all the details, yet we can draw some fundamental judgments. In comparison with other terrorist activities such as kidnapping and assassination, this terrorist attack was not about money and there was 63

no room for negotiation. The real plotters of this terrorist activity held unknown goals. Seeing the objective influence caused by this activity, it seems to be an extreme and inhuman way to express hatred. The resolution to perish in the name of a cause shows that the conflict was irreconcilable and extremely antagonistic. This was a terrorist attack on a symbolic facility of America; no matter what purpose the schemer had, it is clear that the attackers held a truly opposite stand towards America and modern capitalism. Whatever the goal is, this degree of hatred reflected extreme discontent towards the current world order. The roots of this hatred seem to lie in the inner structure of the contemporary capitalism, which is embodied in the North-South income gap. The North-South income gap is surely not a new topic. If we see the world economy as a whole it is clear there is a defined hierarchy. This hierarchy has a core of developed countries and a periphery of other countries outside the core. The differences between the core and other parts can be described as the North and South, or the West and other countries. The relationship between the North and the South is an unequal and asymmetrical codependent relationship. The development and prosperity of the North coexists with the underdevelopment and poverty of the South; the North-South income gap isa basic feature of the global economy. This economic gap between the North and the South is becoming bigger as a result of globalization. The North-South income gap is getting more severe and the prospect to narrow the gap is getting more unattainable. Of course, the income gap alone between the North and the South does not lead to international terrorist activities, but it helps to breed these activities.

3.1.1 The Gap between the North and the South is expanding In the 20th century, world economic growth rates and wealth accumulation have reached an unprecedented level.1Meanwhile, the income gap between the North and the South have reached an all-time high due to the extreme inequality of economic growth and earning distribution. In the 16th century, there was no huge distinction between the North and the South in regards to wealth and income. If calculated in today‘s prices, most countries‘ GDP was around 500 US dollars per year per person. By the end of the 18th century, it rose to He Liping, Economic Increase – the Globally Overwhelming 20thprocess,Chengdu: Sichuan People‘s Publishing House, 2000.

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1000 US dollars in the Western countries and 2000-3000 US dollars in 1900, while other countries, known as developing countries, were still stagnant at the 500 US dollar level. If we regard rapid growth of productivity as the most important achievement of the 20th century, the gap between the North and the South that developed could be considered quite humiliating. When the 21st century arrived, the GDP per person in developed countries was 27,000 US dollars; this number was less than 4000 US dollars in developing countries, and only 1600 US dollars in sub-Saharan Africa. Comparison from other angles also reflects similar trends. In 1870, the two wealthiest countries, America and Britain, had a GDP per person about 9 times that of the poorest countries. By the end of 20th century, the average income per capita of the US was 45 times that of Chad or Ethiopia. Globally, the 17 wealthiest countries had an average income 24 times that of other countries in 1870. This number increased to 45 fold by the end of the 20th century. Currently, the 20 wealthiest countries‘ income per capita is 37 times that of the income per capita of the 20 poorest countries. This gap has doubled in the past 40 years. Three-fourths of the population of the whole world lives in developing countries, but they only own one-seventh of the world‘s wealth.1It is no wonder why many have concluded that the Northern countries have maintained their leading position through the exploitation of the Southern countries. A report from the United Nations Development Program pointed out that the wealth gap was expanding between the developing countries and the developed countries. From 1960 to 1994, developing countries, especially the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, were shrinking in terms of their relative wealth, while the relative wealth of Western developing industrial countries was increasing. From World War II onwards, though developing countries have strongly pursued industrialization and modernization, few countries and economic entities in East and Southeast Asia have managed to diminish or dispel this gap. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union and Latin American countries had managed to reduce the gap with developed countries. However, their model of import substitution collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s. With this, the income gap between developed countries and other countries further expanded. On the whole, the income of Western developed countries was 7 times that of developing countries. However, most people from developing

1

Francis Adams and Satya Dev Gupta, 1997，―Introduction‖, in S. D. Guptaed., The Political Economy of Globalization, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p.3. 65

countries are at least 20 times poorer than the average Westerner. (See in Chart 1) Chart 2-1: 1960～1994 World Wealth Distribution Unit: % Industrial countries Ty Industrialized Developing Former Soviet and East pe Countries Countries European Countries Time 1960 67.3 19.8 12.9 1970 72.2 17.1 10.7 1980 70.7 20.6 8.7 1989 76.3 20.6 3.1 1994 78.7 18.0 3.3 Source: UNDP data base. From Paul Streeten, ―Globalization: Threat or Salvation?‖ In A. S. Bhalla ed. Globalization, Growth and Marginalization, London MacMillan, 1998，p.24 Due to the existing levels of income inequality within each country, people that live in poor countries are not all in poverty and not all people living in wealthy countries are prosperous. Recently, the World Bank issued a report on global income structure and demonstrated that populations from poor nations account for 76% of the world‘s population.1Populations from countries with median incomes such as Brazil and Italy took up 8%, and population from rich nations was 16%. Using similar income standards and calculating methods while breaking down state boundaries to take in the world population as a whole, the report concluded that the poor make up 78% of the world‘s population while the middle-income group took up 11%, and the rich account for the final 11%. Research also found that the main source of income inequality was in fact international inequality. According to research, the absence of middle-income countries or a so-called middle class is a distinguishing feature of world income distribution today. The report pointed out that the first reason for this outcome was that the inequality of income distribution had reached such a high level worldwide that global income inequality had exceeded the level within any particular state; it is now even higher than the most 1

Branko Milanovic and Shlomo Yitzhaki, Decomposing World Income Distribution: Does the World Have a Middle Class? Working Paper No.2562, World Bank, February 26, 2001. 66

unequal nations of South Africa and Brazil. The Gini coefficient of the world as a whole has reached 0.66, far surpassing the warning line between social stability and unrest. When the Gini coefficient reaches this level, it is manifested in polarization between the rich and the poor. Theoretically, it is becoming less and less likely that a global middle class will ever exist.1 Many people and even some governments and international organizations have realized that the polarization of wealth and divisions between the North and South are the most lasting and disturbing features in the existing international economic order. So far, all the efforts of the past have not only failed to reverse the situation but have also failed to even maintain a level of inequality. Moreover, the gap is getting worse; in the past 30 years, the wealthiest 20%of the world‘s gross income has risen from 70% to 85% of all income. Yet, the poorest 20%‘s share has decreased from 2.3% to 1.4% of total income. Such a wide gap is hard to overlook. Without a doubt, developing countries are not lacking elites that have ascended to the upper classes of the world. Their ―success‖ continuously creates an illusion that a beggar could become an emperor; it has no universal meaning for larger social groups who still live in poverty. The long-standing gap between the North and the South has made more and more people realize that they will never enjoy the opportunities that rich states have no matter how hard they try. If the gap of living standards was only 2 to 3 times, people may be able to endure and believe that they still have a chance to ―catch up.‖ However, when the gap becomes 20 to 30 times, hope easily becomes despair. Unfortunately, the giant population at the bottom rungs of society and the lack of a middle class make Western wealthy states and the rich seem more like a solitary island of fortune, surrounded by a vast ocean of poverty.

3.1.2 Expropriation within prosperity, exclusion within growth After the rapid increase of the world economy in 20th century, global material wealth has experienced a substantial increase. The amelioration of life conditions for human beings has been more remarkable than any other time in the history. As far as absolute wealth is concerned, the prosperity of the world today is sufficient to allow 1

The 0.66 Gini coefficient also implied that two thirds of the world‘s population had no income and the world gross income distributed equally in the rest of one third population. 67

everyone on the planet to live a substantial life with dignity. Yet, such a thing has never happened. While global wealth is increasing unprecedentedly and many states are prosperous, 2.8 billion people are living on less than 2 dollars a day. This group accounts for almost half of the world‘s population—among which, 1.2 billion of these people are living on less than 1 dollar a day. Global poverty has garnered so much attention that anti-poverty is becoming not only a widely discussed global topic but also an aim of policy for many governments. Many people, NGOs, and governments have spared no effort to alleviate the world of these issues. The absolute numbers of global impoverished populations have decreased, but the progress of poverty elimination varies widely from place to place. Some areas have experienced a rise in impoverished populations and others have seen a decline. The most significant progress of anti-poverty measures has been in East Asia, and especially in China. In East Asia, the number of people living on 1 dollar a day decreased from 420 million in 1987 to 280 million in 1998. However, poor populations have continued to increase in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, and Latin America. Impoverished populations have increased by 20 times in some Eastern European and Central Asian countries that transitioned to market economies. The modern, unparalleled flow of wealth has formed a distinguished comparison with the poverty of large populations.1Leaders from 147 countries of the world gathered at the United Nations and published the United Nations Millennium Declaration in September, 2000. The governments made a promise to the world‘s people that they would eliminate poverty. Based on history and experience, people had reasons to doubt whether this promise would come true if the world economy would continue to adhere to the status quo. This declaration, cosigned by all the countries present, showed that the chronic disease of global poverty was no longer something to turn a blind eye to. Poverty occurring in the midst of prosperity has developed synchronously with the dehumanization of living conditions in poverty. Children born in poverty have been deprived of the right to grow healthily. For them, real life is so remote from the ideals of being ―born equal.‖ In the countries with the highest incomes, less than 1 out of 100 infants die before they reach 5 years old. In poor countries, this rate is at least 5 times higher. In wealthy countries, less than 5% of the children under 5 years old were are victims of malnutrition, while more than 50% of children have insufficient food in poor

1

―Poverty in a wealthy world,‖ World Bank, World Development Report 2000/2001, New York: Oxford University Press. 68

countries.11.2 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, 2.9 billion people live in poor sanitary conditions, and 50 thousand people (mostly children and women) die from easily avoidable reasons every year. More than 10 million children under the age of 5 died in 2001. One-third of the world‘s human deaths, about 18 million per year, will be due to reasons directly related to poverty. The tragedies of the poor, including lack of education, reproductive healthcare, and high occurrence of disease are well known—any social development indicators can provide masses of data on the subject. The conflict between global economic growth and global poverty indicates that the world‘s population is not only unable to share the benefits of growth equally, but is simply excluded from the growth of wealth. Their rights to development, a dignified life, education, and medical treatment are deprived. Only a small group of people are involved in productivity development and share the profits associated with it; few people obtain the maximum benefits of this growth. There are at least 15 million people unemployed worldwide and 900 million people underemployed. Among these people, some are not earning enough despite long hours of hard work. Some are unable to get a job and fall into poverty. It is estimated that only about one-fourth to one-third of the world‘s population are the beneficiaries of modern scientific social development. The current global economic operational mechanism has the feature of excluding most of the population itself, including the conscious exploitation of international laws to maintain the gap between the North and the South. In the past 15 years, there have been plenty of similar cases in regards to international trade negotiation. For example, wealthy countries successfully persisted in import protection for domestic markets in global trade negotiations. According to UNCTAD, poor countries could export 700 billion more US Dollars each year if not for this reason.2 These excessive exports could push forward economic growth, employment, wages, and tax revenue considerably in developing countries. The infant mortality rate in developing countries could be reduced significantly by this. And the lives of the poor could be greatly improved for this. Though Western countries are advocating trade freedom everywhere, they protect the interests of their domestic farmers and textile owners by rejecting cheap imports and subsidizing domestic products. The poverty-related deaths of children caused by Western countries‘ anti-free trade behaviors may be well above the death toll caused by

1

World Bank, World Development Report 2000/2001, New York: Oxford University Press. UNCTAD, Sept.1, 1999， Industrial Countries Must Work Harder for Development if Globalization is to Deliver on Its Promises. Balances in the Trading System Stymie Growth Prospects in the Developing Countries, See www.unctad.org/en/press/pr2816en.htm.

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war. Compared to the lost potential export income in developing countries every year, development assistance provided by all OECD countries is around 56 billion US dollars every year, of which 8.3% was used to meet to basic needs.1

3.1.3 Globalization highlights the Gap between the North and the South. Globalization has brought the nations of the world closer. People from rich countries still seem to be indifferent to poverty existing elsewhere. Furthermore, close observation of prosperous lives makes people living in poverty feel more miserable in their own living conditions. These factors going on side by side add to the experience of injustice in the world. Certainly, a wealth gap exists within each country. There is no need to underline this issue with international comparisons. In most Western countries, the average income of the wealthiest 10% is 10 to 20 times the income of the poorest 10%. Inside many developing countries, the income distribution is even more unequal. Yet, if we consider the world as a whole or divide it into larger geographical regions—for instance dividing America into North America and South America and the Mediterranean area into the Europe, Africa, and Asia—then the abovementioned wealth gap will raise to 50 to 100 times by the same calculation standards. Globalization has stressed the global income gap unprecedentedly through accelerating the flow of information, capital, merchandise, and personnel. Globalization also reveals the impacts of Western countries in a world economy more clearly. Though Western countries accumulated great fortune unfairly in globalization, it has not hampered them in continuously seeking greater fortune by taking advantage of all possible means and continuing indifference towards the reduction of world poverty. After the Cold War, Western governments repeatedly remodeled the rules of international economics, many of which appeared to be more unfair and exploitative towards the impoverished than ever before. Meanwhile, rich Western countries have largely reduced their official assistance to developing countries. In less than 10 years, official development assistance has been reduced from 0.34% of gross GDP to 0.24%. Based on certain estimations, Western countries have gained an 1

United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2000, p.79. 70

extra bonus of about 1.9% of their GDP as a result of the end of the Cold War. It is not easy to build a direct relationship of cause and effect between global poverty and globalization; however, developed countries are undoubtedly influencing the economies of developing countries and, furthermore, their poverty issues and world income standings. Amongst some of the poorest countries and populations, the differences caused by developed countries‘ influence are life-and-death issues. The transformations of economy, policy, and even fashion in developed countries are able to influence exports, tourism revenue, employment, and changes in living conditions for many. World powers can save lives or cause more death and poverty. Indeed, the expansion of multinational companies creates job opportunities for developing countries. Nevertheless, these jobs require sweat and toil. Workers manufacture all kinds of commodities and forms of entertainment that Western countries need without any labor rights protection. In a globalized world, it is not hard to imagine the dehumanized sweatshop work in the supply chain of luxury goods primarily for consumption in wealthy Western societies. The discontent of many people in developing countries is often triggered by the unfairness that they see in the behaviors of Western countries and the indifference these countries seemingly have towards their suffering. This discontent plays an important role in forming a rebel consciousness and radical systems of morality. In a world of closer and closer economic connections between countries, the exclusivity of Western countries indulging themselves in prosperity has passed. The blindness towards others‘ misery can now be considered negligence. Global information broadcast and modern communication methods have brought the image of the wealthy, strong, and aggressive Western world and the poor, chaotic, and destitute countries of the developing world, which form an intense contrast. In the meantime, the globalization process, especially the fundamental praise and promises of globalization, have raised expectations amongst the poor. When great hope is gradually shattered and expectations for the future vanish in the growing injustice, discontent and despair has room to thrive. It is much easier for extremists and extreme thoughts to find support in such despair, particularly among the youth. In developing countries, 34% of the total population is under the age of 15. Many of them are in no condition to be educated and are living in poverty and chaos. Their employment future and life prospects are quite bleak. Though being poor and deprived may not directly breed extreme behavior, it may generate hatred more easily. It is impossible to imagine people enduring an impoverished life and always being complacent and bearing the

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humiliation of being a second-class citizen in the world silently.

3.2 The North-South income gap and its inner conflicts in the world’s economy The growing income gap between the North and the South is linked to different levels of economic development between countries. Counting on their highly developed, modern economies, Western countries have acquired high returns and income while leading industries, which has led to a high standard of living conditions. On the other hand, developing countries have been left behind. Some countries were left behind decades or even centuries ago. The differences of development in world economies surely contain reasons related to history and culture; however, the economy of each country did not exist solitarily. It was because of the economic connections between countries that the world economic order formed into what it is today. On the contrary, the current world economic order has consistently institutionalized North-South relations. The North-South income gap is the outcome of the institutionalization of the world economic system.

3.2.1 World economic structure and unbalanced development When people seek the origins of this income gap, there are many secondary explanations for development; these include Protestant work ethic as the secret of success for Western capitalism; diagnosing dependency theory as the pathogen for the underdevelopment of developing countries; and proposing growth theory to summarize the operation rules for economic development. However, as we step into the 21st century, we step onto a new path of exploration. Solving the global development imbalance, after various attempts in different developing countries, may seem like a dead end. Many people truly believe in the potential of development. After the success of socialist revolutions in some countries, governments and people in these countries have held the firm conviction that planned economies could help to overtake capitalist countries. In Africa in the 1960s, people believed that independence and democracy could bring prosperity to all. Nowadays, even more people believe that marketization

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and globalization can bring general wealth to human beings. Mainstream Western economic theory continuously provides theoretical statements for such optimistic expectations of free markets. For example, free trade theory concludes that open markets are propitious to economic development; each country can gain more through economic exchange and exerting their own advantages. Convergence theorists forecast that the development level between countries will get closer in market economies. The phenomenon of convergence has not yet happened. Quite oppositely, the hope of development has already been lost in most countries and areas around the world. The gap between the North and the South is only getting bigger. Developing countries defeated colonialism, built democracy, and introduced markets. They still cannot help themselves but falling into poverty. The true problem is still a mystery. Besides the differences in social and economic conditions of each country, the fundamental structure of the world economy is the major reason for the economic underdevelopment of most countries and the imbalance of world economic development. Globally, labor specialization is manifested through trade with other countries. They exchange commodities and labor, and the terms of trade reflect the roles they have in the world‘s division of labor while showing their standing in terms of global capital accumulation. The establishment and operations of globalized economies largely relies on the unequal exchange between developed areas and developing areas. Using unequal exchange and other matched means, profits and fortunes become more concentrated in developed countries. This helps established Western countries take the lead in achieving mechanization, automation, and informatization—and provides resources for further development and technological innovation. Also, this has increasingly escalated the advantages of current products from enterprises in developed areas and has not pressured them to develop and manufacture new products. As a result, Western economies can preserve their leading position in scientific research and production and once again lead new rounds of competition and accumulation. There were also marked differences between the North and the South in terms of production activities. Western developed countries are engaged in high technology development and highly monopolized production, which gains high added-value profits. On the other hand, developing countries‘ production activities are poor in technical content and low in monopoly, so added-value profits are low. This is clearly demonstrated in the patterns of world trade. From the formation of world economies to now, this kind of specialization and development pattern has been inherited. Developed

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countries launch new high-tech products to keep a monopoly on high added value. By the time other countries have the capability to manufacture similar products, these production industries are often so-called sunset industries. For developed countries, productivity has already stepped up to a new level and created a new growth industry. It is rare for developing countries to take a leading position in producing high-tech products for these reasons. The continuously growing gap between developed countries and developing countries in regards to economic development indicates that the hierarchy of the North and South in global economies is firming and maturing. The most recent globalization wave has offered better development opportunities for many social groups, especially Western wealthy countries. The global expansion of capital and the accumulation of profits have driven the augmentation of economies. Capital-abundant developed countries, by the ratio of invested ventures, take more of the global share than some would say is reasonable. Some developing countries grew quickly over this period of time, but compared to developed countries, the share of the global economy still means that their relative position is not improving. As for most developing countries that were experiencing slow growth or even stagnation, as the overall global economy grows, their share gets even smaller. The imbalance and growing gap of economic development is a structural problem, which is restricted by global economic operation rules built on the basis of a regional hierarchy structure. The coexistence of development and underdevelopment is an inevitable result of the global expansion of capitalism. As long as the life cycle of capitalism exists, the economic gap between the north and south will not disappear. Only changes to this fundamental structure and a rational and equal new system to replace the current international economic order can make the disappearance of the North-South gap possible.

3.2.2 The systems of states that preserve the gap between the north and south The economic development gap between the North and the South is related to world economic structure; however, North-South divisions are not just an economic phenomenon but rather a natural outcome of free market operations. Whether in the past or present, state power plays a vital role in economic operations. Only under state 74

intervention are free markets able to distribute resources in the ways that we are familiar with today. State power affects economic operations through territorial jurisdiction, drafting and implementing rules and taxation, monopoly power, and attempts to monopolize military forces.1The state uses these powers to internally control production relations and adjust redistribution to externally restrain transnational flow of resources through boundary jurisdictions, tariff, and non-tariff barriers. If necessary, they can use force to achieve their goals. The state power of each country is firstly used to serve its own people. The standard is whether it will help with the accumulation of capital; but in a global system, countries are placed in a hierarchy. Their ability to achieve goals varies. Due to the strong positions they have, powerful countries usually force their will onto weak countries in state relations. They can set up and push for international rules that allow them to seize the most profits in international economic relations. Weak countries, under internal and external pressures, often have no choice but to obey these rules and are forced to cooperate with more powerful countries. On the basis of the abuse unequal economic power, the gap we see today was built. The strengths that Western nations have in international relations are not only based on competitiveness but also rely on their state powers. Besides Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Hollywood, things like B-52 bombers and drone planes are well-known American brands. Without a doubt, states do not replace markets; however, free markets without state intervention do not exist in reality. States are always trying to interfere selectively to build and maintain their advantages. The difference is that some countries can achieve this on the international economic stage and others cannot. Over the course of history, trade protectionism was once a tool for some Western countries to build advantages. However, in the globalized world of today, Western powers are more willing to promote free trade. Under current conditions, free trade is more beneficial. Once the conditions change, it is entirely possible for them to take actions towards trade protectionism. Even in today‘s world, where the West strongly promotes free trade, the transnational flow of resources is not as free as some people claim. The market is not the only factor that decides the flow of production factors; states still play an important role in this. The state decides the resources that should and should not flow. Labor mobility, for example, is more restrained than commodities and capital. In recent

1

Immanuel Wallerstein, Historical Capitalism, Beijing: Social Science Academic Press, 1999. 75

decades, the international flow of capital, commodities, technologies, management, and sales have been strengthened greatly—but the mobility of semi-skilled and unskilled labor is much lower. Does this mean that the labor force has been allocated irrationally globally? Many countries do not make the most of their abundant natural resources. For example, large tracts in America lie idle due to production restrictions by the government. The government has even gone so far as subsidizing empty farmland. On the other hand, there are a huge populations living in starvation due to a lack of food and a large number of agricultural workers are unemployed due to a lack of arable land. As Western countries have limited labor mobility, this phenomenon has brought about a large waste of resources. At present, illegal immigration has increased greatly, as there are few legal means to enter markets with employment opportunities. It is foreseeable that the pressure of global labor mobility will keep increasing as well. The huge international income gap, poverty, unemployment, and the desire to seek better living conditions have provided motives for massive, illegal populations to enter developed countries by any means they can. The larger the gap is, the more attractive wealthy countries will be. Currently, wealthy countries have taken action to protect themselves by such means, such as building walls at borders and creating dedicated immigration control units. The purpose is to maintain high living standards. With crucial problems like this, the governments of Western countries are not restrained by theories that they typically preach and adhere to, such as free trade theory. The primary purpose for developed countries to limit transnational labor mobility is to maintain domestic wage levels so as to maintain the income gap with developing countries. At the moment, the flexibility of labor forces is relatively large within one state, and yet internationally it is nearly nonexistent. Western governments would rather encourage multinational corporations to manufacture in other countries rather than lower domestic wages to avoid transnational mobility of labor. As a result, the differences of labor supply flexibility between international and domestic compensation models and the monopolies involved in these factors preserve the unequal distribution of investment and profit from different regions. Multinational operations and direct restraints on labor force mobility by Western governments have an important impact on North-South divisions.

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3.2.3 The absence of global income distribution regulatory mechanisms The reason for the sustained enlargement of the North-South income gap is connected with the absence of a global regulatory mechanism. In today‘s global capitalist economy, the economy of each state is bound by unified divisions of labor. They participate in production and sales under the dominance of unified world market and jointly create capital accumulation worldwide. At the same time, the income distribution is completely limited within the state and adjusted by each state itself. There is no global mechanism that can make these adjustments, let alone a worldwide social security system. There is no relevant super-state organization to regulate global income distribution. This constituent feature of the world system is the basic institutional term that maintains the North-South division. It is known to all that capitalist competition follows ―the laws of the jungle,‖ which encouraged the survival of the fittest. Within a state, the unregulated development of such markets would definitely result in social instability, as extreme competition would certainly lead to sharp polarization. This would trigger opposition and conflict and society would fall into turmoil. Historically, rebellions, social revolutions, and wars caused by such factors are common. This outlook disagrees with the profits of capital accumulation and highlights the increased costs to society. Hence, to create a favorable social environment for long-term capital accumulation, many national governments have taken action to restrict cut-throat competition and increase compensation for consequences caused by this competition. In this respect, Western developed countries are ahead of the rest. They have redistributed income to some degree through taxation. They have also built national welfare systems covering pensions, unemployment, medical care, and subsistence allowances, as well as a minimum wage system. These help to avoid social contradictions from getting intensified and effectively contain the threats of capitalism itself. Of course, these actions were not taken because the Western bourgeois were humanistic, but rather because they had to compromise under bigger pressures internally and externally. These systems are merely concessions in the face of constant expansionism and domestic social stability that reflect the long-term struggle of domestic social campaigns. Such regulatory mechanisms do not exist worldwide. Among current global 77

organizations like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and even the United Nations, no one possesses the ability to regulate global income distribution. For this reason, the imbalance of global population income as a whole and the degree of polarization worldwide far surpasses any single country. In the world today, every government firstly focuses on the development of its own system. Most governments, for the utilitarian purpose to maintain social stability, adopt some policies or measures to restrict extreme inequalities. Poverty in other countries is paid little consideration or is not addressed at all. But the same behavior holds different meaning in the North and the South. For instance, the poor in the US are not poor at all in a global view. Yet, the US government maintains relative prosperity by all means and does not give attention to people in much poorer countries. Considering the dominant position that wealthy countries hold in the world economy and the enormous benefits that they seize from global expansion, they should have greater responsibility and sufficient resources to push the setup of a global income regulatory mechanism. However, so far, the US-led West is only keen on acquiring global resources with unparalleled aggressiveness and taking the leading role in global organizations. Perhaps only when global polarization has brought about disastrous outcomes will wealthy states consider different options. For the pragmatic purpose of maintaining the stability of the system, it is not completely unimaginable that the West would agree to build such mechanisms at some point. Up to now, a key step for international income transfer has been official development assistance from industrial countries to developing countries. Though there are some noble motives for industrial countries to participate in these programs, it is mainly launched under the pressure of national liberation movements and socialist movement. In 1972, industrial countries promised to achieve the goal of using 0.7% of GDP for official development assistance in developing countries. In 1992, this goal was reaffirmed and confirmed by the United Nations. However, industrial countries have yet to achieve this goal. On the contrary, from 1990s onwards, support funds have decreased sharply from former levels. The actual average decline was up to one third, from an average of 0.35% of GDP at the beginning of the 1990s to 0.23% of GDP in 1998. The actual amount fell from 60 billion US dollars in 1990 to 45.5 billion US dollars in 1997, declining 25% in 7 years. Of nearly 20 developed countries, only 4 countries reached or exceeded the goal: Denmark, Norway, Holland, and Sweden. The ratio of official development assistance compared with GDP from the US was near the lowest in every year; reaching only 0.1% in 1998. As the richest country in the world,

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the US has sought hegemony benefits worldwide, while on the matter of assisting developing countries, it seemed to be entirely careless. In general, even for small development assistance like this, many industrial countries were using the excuse of low efficiency to generate opinions for large reductions. Human beings are facing a series of severe global problems. Many developing countries are pushed into an abyss of misery. Among these countries, some are in deep debt, which is far more serious than many people realize. The practical structure and impact of this debt shows that most countries are utterly unable to pay off what they owe. The ratio of debt repayment to GDP has already surpassed the minimum margin of sustainable development in many countries. Some countries are now even worse off than the Latin-American countries were during their debt crisis in the 1980s.1 Debt traps are becoming a reality in more and more countries, even middle-income countries. Now, there are almost 50 countries considered as highly in debt. Under the circumstances that they cannot pay off debts, the IMF is required to repay capital with interest by using 20%-25% of their export income. Just the opposite, in 1953, central powers cancelled 80% of the war debt owed by Germany and only requested 3%-5% of its export income to repay the debt. The same terms were applicable for Eastern European countries after communism. The West now stands in a position to extort payments for debt and ignore development. As a result, they become entangled in other problems like illegal immigration, drugs and arms smuggling, pathophoresis, environmental disruption, and even terrorist activities. The AIDS epidemic is another prominent global issue. At the beginning of 21st century, the global HIV infections were up to 35 million, spreading rapidly in Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. In some countries, the adult infection rate was as high as 25%. Relevant organizations of the United Nations estimated that AIDS has led to the decline of life expectancy in 29 African countries and was already listed as the main cause of death in African populations. Some people compared AIDS to the Black Plague and claim it threatens the survival of mankind. Meanwhile, Western multinational pharmaceutical companies seek excessive profits through patents and refuse to save infected people from poor countries. The most authoritative international organizations like the United Nations are powerless regarding this issue. International justice calls for a global social regulatory mechanisms to ease the

1

Among these countries, the ratio of debt to GDP was highest in Africa, 123%. It was 42% in Latin America and 28% in Asia. 79

increasing polarization of the world and to cope with the challenges of global problems. Fundamentally speaking, the North-South divisions cannot be settled thoroughly under the current world economic and political orders. North-South divisions are the product of this world order itself. Capitalism‘s logic that governs the global economy has a nature of selfishness, greediness, predatory behavior, and barbarism. Capitalist economic logic is more tyrannous and less self-justifying than ever. It is utterly counterproductive to the construction of harmonious relations of mankind. To shift this trend, many feel extreme measures are necessary; such a world is becoming a reality in the current order.

3.3 Why a rise in international terrorism? Though the North-South gap is getting larger, it is not new. In fact, people seem to be used to seeing the richness of the North and poverty of the South, while the opposite situation is nearly unimaginable. The oppressed and persecuted now express their discontent and resistance by any means they can. Wealthy countries and the upper classes of society seem disinterested. Though they have paid a great price to suppress resistance, most conflicts have been more or less defused since World War Two. Today, marked by such events as the September 11th attacks, a small group of people have begun pushing a cause that cannot be ignored, using a language that need not to be interpreted. This tragic language is international terrorism. The history of terrorism is nearly as long as the history of human culture. But since the 1970s, and especially after the 1990s, international terrorism has sprung up and become a global issue that has caught the eyes of the world. This uprising has been associated with a profound real politic background.

3.3.1 Conventional resistance movement fell into the lowest point The injustice and inequality generated by the operations of the world economy has triggered resistance towards the existing world system. Some resistance has occurred within the Western world and some has occurred in developing countries, other movements have been contiguous geographically. In Western countries, the fight of the

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working class has been concentrated on worker‘s rights. As early as the 19th century, groups successfully forced capitalist regimes to compromise through two means. The first was to participate in political elections to expand suffrage; the other was to compel the government to redistribute and build social welfare through legislation. These coordination mechanisms have stabilized Western society; they help states to clear internal threats and worries more effectively so as to allow them to focus on economic expansion and exploitation of lesser nations. In modern times, developing countries have lacked effective resistance methods to the economic exploitation and political domination of the North. The two world wars in 20th century weakened the political control of the West and brought about opportunities for the rise of dissenting movements. Many places witnessed surging social movements and armed struggles that displayed unprecedented strength and solidarity. Among these movements, socialism and national liberation movements were the outstanding representatives. The hope of developing countries and suppressed populations was entrusted on these groups. However, by the 1970s and 1980s, and especially after the 1990s, the major resistances had degraded to grass-root political groups. The Asian nations established through socialist movements changed over free markets. Their stance against international capital and Western countries became a cooperative attitude. The national rebellion movements during 1945-1965 had once brought great hope to the people of the Third World and many believed that independence and democracy would bring prosperity to people in dire poverty. These hopes collapsed one by one in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Many countries, expecting nominal independence as a state, were facing issues such as warfare, poverty, starvation, and disease. Economically, they were now even more controlled by foreign capital. Since the 1970s, conventional resistance by states has grown weak. New types of resistance movements regarding global issues were rising and becoming the fresh force of dissenting strength; these groups pushed forward the feminist movement, environmental protection, green movements, and racial equality. In the later stages of 1990s, a new movement against globalization grew up: terrorism. This movement, though posed to be about global issues, has focused mainly on conflicts in some special domains. They do not have enough power to appeal in a general way or integrate their dissenting movements. More importantly, as these movements do not aim at directly solving the problems of economic backwardness, poverty, or inequality, they cannot fully reflect basic appeals of the people. As a result, these groups are still unable to

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impact social and economic development conclusively. In addition, market transitions have not brought about the expected results in most nations. Many developing countries have taken on neoliberal policies and paid the price of reducing public expenditures and social welfare. They have not enjoyed prosperity nor escaped their subordinate position to the West. This failure of massive market movements worldwide proves that liberalization of economies does not work as elegantly as theorized. At the end of 20th century, conventional resistance movements were fading away and new resistance movements had lost strength. Many political movements and their leaders were silenced by the current system. Social movements sunk into oblivion, which made the hope to use any conventional political means to achieve political goals vague at best. Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon for terrorism to rise. In this sense, international terrorism resulted from the extreme discontentment of those who could not treat these problems rationally. Especially after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, capitalism gained a ―victory‖ worldwide. This outcome marked a loss of hope for many revolutionaries. The unlimited expansion of capitalism has caused deeper contradictions and sharper conflicts. Therefore, national liberation movements, especially since the crash of global communism, actually weigh heavily on the stability of the world order. The unparalleled growth of world capital has created internal contradictions and tensions. When these tensions cannot be expressed through peaceful social revolution, it becomes manifested in other forms including terrorism.

3.3.2 Western powers and the North-South imbalance After the Cold War, strategic patterns for major powers saw big changes and North-South relations had a new look. As globalization has taken hold, people hear ornate diction such as ―win-win situations,‖ ―multi-polarization of the world,‖ and ―world village.‖ Phrases such as ―free world‖ and ―international community‖ used to refer to the Western world distinctively during the Cold War. They are often used as to generalize the whole world. In the meantime, obeying the ―world‘s rules‖ seemed to be the common requirement for both the North and the South. Yet, in reality we see a completely different, and ruthless, scene. Western countries not only determine the rules, but are also free to decide whether to obey or change these rules. If countries show any signs of attempting to establish their own rules and go their own way, they are labeled ―rogue states‖ and 82

―potential threats,‖ thus becoming a target of the West. The West, who will go to war for selfish interests, takes on the banner of ―humanitarian intervention‖ and paints themselves as the vindicators of human civilization and universal values. These days, developing nations are in a disadvantaged position economically, politically, and morally as well. The balance of power is moving unrelentingly towards the favor of the West. The Cold War ended with the downfall of the Soviet Union. The West seemed to have won a decisive victory and consolidated its ascendancy of the world political structure. At the same time, the stability of the world order, which was based on the East contending with the West, was undergoing threats. The victory of the West after the Cold War resulted in poorer conditions for non-Western countries to face their stronger rivals. There has been a growing rift between the hopes and abilities of the West to govern world affairs. Under these new circumstances, North-South relations are going through a new period of adjustment. The imbalance of North-South relations has intensified the unsteadiness of the global system. The coordination of politics and diplomacy has become weakened. Existing international organizations have a limited impact in regards to representing the interests of poorer countries and restricting the power of established global leaders. In international organizations like the United Nations that have broad representation, the enhancement of the voices of developing countries has resulted in positive national liberation movements. After the Cold War, the West has more often tried to manipulate the UN and eliminate strong counterviews. The UN now oppresses dissenting opinions in order to extend the West‘s interests legitimately. When this aim cannot be reached, the West bypasses the UN and takes actions to realize their global strategic goals on their own accord. On the contrary, the reasonable demands of developing countries are not satisfied by international organizations due to frequent obstructions by the West. Their inability to take action makes them unable to solve important international disputes regarding their own interests. Today, to fight for their lawful rights and alter the unreasonable international order, countries try to make use of international organizations like the UN, but Western powers not only exert pressure within the UN but also bypass the UN to protect their interests. Existing international organizations can hardly achieve solutions to income divisions or fundamentally change the status quo. More and more countries are joining a growing number of international organizations. This means following many nations are abiding by international rules

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and restraining from harmful behaviors towards other countries. In the existing world system, asymmetric wealth means unequal rights to speak. In the process of establishing these rules, rich countries have a decisive role in protecting their interests. Relevant institutions have constructed treaties and regulated almost all economic activities including trade, investments, loans, patents, copyrights, trademarks, taxation, labor standards, and environmental protection. A well-known fact is that powerful governments have established rules because they own huge advantages and professional knowledge in international negotiations. Negotiators from Western governments have successfully formed rules that protect the interests of their governments, corporations, and citizens. In many circumstances, these rules have caused great damage to the poor of the world. According to the principles of justness, or at least based on the principle of power equaling responsibility, Western countries should be responsible for the costs paid as a result of these rules. In reality, Western countries who have claimed to be pro-democratic, free, just, and humanitarian have rarely taken on the responsibilities to do so. We see here an extreme example showing the disjoint between rights and duties. There are, as of yet, no mechanisms to rectify this apparent imbalance. America plays a decisive role in maintaining the current global order. Through it cannot determine all matters unilaterally, it still intensely reflects the collective will of Western wealthy nations and exemplifies monopolized Western political powers. The US has pursued a global hegemony; it has declared its ideological hegemony under the banner of freedom and democracy. The US has done little but maintain its own interests in pursuing dominance over resources and wealth. As mentioned above, the US is the richest country of the world, but its official development assistance is the worst of all industrialized states. In 2001, military spending in the US budget reached 310 billion dollars. Funds for development assistance, however, were only 10 billion dollars. Though the US-led West has bullied others in international affairs and played the role of an unauthorized judge in international disputes, their ability to disembroil disputes has actually been on the decline. Their ability to implement their will has become less powerful than it was during the Cold War. Take the Middle East and the US‘s so-called international anti-terrorism campaign as an example. Without any other great powers handicapping it, the US has hardly solved the terrorist crisis; it has instead used intimidation to obtain the support and understanding of other countries. In some people‘s opinions, the US-led West is bullying others into supporting its status as a global leader, making it more difficult to challenge.

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All in all, after the Cold War, the change of world patterns has made North-South relations enter a period of adjustment. The relative decline of American hegemony has become more obvious. Existing international organizations and mechanisms cannot work effectively to solve international disputes and the established global achievement gap. These disappointing developments and changes have made the possibility of terrorist violence rise. The US, as a stained and declining hegemony, has become the primary target of these violent attacks.

3.3.3 The weakening of nationhood and national legality If we said that the deep conflicts in the North-South divisions could not be solved through conventional social activities and existing international political systems, no matter whose favor it would be in, then could a nation-state undertake this responsibility? In other words, to what degree can a state be entrusted with the hope of changing North-South relations and realizing specific national goals? At the moment, most people are still living in a nation-state. They are often tolerant of their country and accept the government‘s power so as to make the state legitimate; but the legitimacy of states undergoes changes. When a state gains power, it can serve citizens better and engage more in global politics. When the government and authorities are considered to be serving the benefits of the people, its legitimacy rises. Over a long historical period, the legitimacy of states have appeared to be experiencing a rising trend. However, in recent years, statehood and legitimacy has been weakened. 1In some areas like Bosnia and Somalia, state power has been dramatically reduced. In other places like Sierra Leone and Lebanon, the legitimacy of the state has fallen apart nearly entirely. Obviously, a deficient country cannot possibly have a large enough budget to meet the needs of its people. As a result, such governments lack legitimacy in the views of other nations and their citizens. This is one important reason why poor nations are more prone to chaos and upheaval. Now, wealthy countries are also experiencing weakening legitimacy. Along with groups publicly challenging state legitimacy, we are witnessing a decline in voting populations, and increase in tax evasion, and privatization of safeguard systems. 1

Eric J. Hobsbawm, Age of Extremes: 1914～1991, Translated by Zheng Mingxuan, Chapter 19 in Towards the Millennium, Nanjing: Jiangsu People‘s Publishing House, 1998. 85

For a long time, nationalism was used as an adhesive to establish the most basal levels of state legitimacy. In the process of world economic expansion, the overseas spread of Western capitalist enterprises has deepened the separation between countries and posed threats to the authority of states. Right-wing forces put an emphasis on being united domestically to fight against external enemies; left-wing forces put stress on returning the power of the state to the masses. In this process, threats are controlled and conquered by the state, and the belief in them grows again. These developments have inspired states to change important social mechanism, and such are the results of maintaining and fighting for the state‘s interests in international society, and also a measure of the degree to which the government satisfies its people‘s needs. In the past 30 years, globalization has formed a new round of strikes against governmental roles. The trend of reducing governmental roles has occurred around the world. Neoliberalism economic theory and policies restrict the intervention of states on markets and society. Some social campaigns stress the separation of powers and advocate that local governments have the right to oppose central government; likewise, minorities have the right to be against the state. People still doubt whether the major capitalist countries can truly serve the people. Some people have grown less trusting of the abilities of states to maintain their interests and rightful claims. In a word, pressures from all aspects have led to the general decline of state legitimacy. In contrast, state legitimacy in developing countries is facing even greater challenges. In any visible public confrontations between developed and developing countries, developed nations rely on their advantages in science, military, and wealth. Good examples are the Gulf War and Kosovo War in 1990s. The US depended on huge military spending to maintain utter superiority. Simply looking at the military equipment, no country or even group of countries could rival the US in future wars. Though some third-world countries possess nuclear weapons, they can hardly use these as an effective form of containment. Despite the fact that the highly militarized West could defeat other countries at war, it cannot guarantee that they will truly win the war through military occupation. No matter what the goal is, there are hardly any countries that would consider taking the risk of confronting the West in a military context. When social groups do not count on the state to realize demands, they take actions into their own hands and leave the government aside. For example, terrorists clearly do not think that their appeals could come true through their governments; they have lost faith in their state‘s legitimacy completely. Meanwhile, the situation in the second half of the 20th century indicated that the

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autonomy of developing countries was becoming more restricted under the impacts of globalization. The capability of states to take actions on their own accord was growing weaker. Many countries often submitted to or played up to the demands of foreign powers and corporations. This made social classes other than vested interests groups not only trust the state less, but regard the state as a counteractive force. It was reported that many people in Islamic nations thought that the powerlessness of their states was a collective humiliation. They grew depressed of being ignored in their state‘s political affairs. They felt disgraced that their government was supporting foreigners and their country was used to serve the interests of foreign countries. The consequence of the loss of faith in their country was the appearance of new radical groups and non-state organizations. The union of extreme social groups and violent groups spread quickly to an international scale.

3.4 Summary: Reconstruction or Extermination? The existing economic and political orders have been built as per a hierarchical structure. Fights over hegemony between great powers have brought about tremendous suffering to many people. The conflicts caused by the long lasting international achievement gap and social class differences have never ceased. As a result, warfare and revolution were the defining characteristics of the 20th century. Since the 1980s and especially since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, economic development and peaceful competition seem to have been replaced with demands of revolutionary transformation. Although there have certainly been struggles, armed conflicts, and wars both domestically and between countries, there has been less conflict on a global scale, and thus war has had less impact on the current world order. On the contrary, the American economy experienced its longest sustainable growth period after World War II. It seemed that the dominance of the West over the whole world was unprecedented solid. Global capitalism expansion appeared to be entering a golden age. Meanwhile, some developing countries saw new hope in the wave of globalization. They entrusted their hope in their nations catching up with and surpassing the modernization of the wealthy countries. The disappearance of confrontation between the East and West after the Cold War did not necessarily mean that the world had entered into a peaceful era. Quite oppositely, the North-South income gap and its continuous enlargement made it difficult to feel optimistic for the future. It can be said that the more successful capital expansion is, the more intense the conflicts generated in this process will be, and the 87

greater the threats will be to the existing world order. Growing international divisions are the inevitable result of global capitalist expansion. This problem was reflected in all kinds of conflicts between countries, religions, and nations. At the same time, the resolutions provided various types of solutions. If it was not in familiar forms like revolution, war, or liberation movements, it could be in other extreme forms including terrorism. The September 11th incidents indicated that the advancement of modern technology and accessibility of advanced technologies could make it possible for the isolated actions of a few to cause tremendous damage. The global income gap has bred various kinds of conflict and has provided a breeding ground for terrorists. It is clear, however, that international terrorism cannot solve North-South division issues. Not only that, but international terrorism usually hurts innocent people through cruel means. Its target is to eliminate people instead of change the system. It should be condemned severely no matter whether in a socialist revolutionary sense or on moral grounds. Yet, the blame that Western governments point against international terrorists and its antihuman and anti-civilization traits is only used to propagate their own interests and strategic goals. These groups glorify state-terrorist violence through accusing terrorists and generalizing Western interests as human interests. The September 11th attacks were unprecedented and posed new questions to the entire world. Besides striking and punishing the perpetrators, an important issue the world was forced to face was how to eradicate the causes of terrorism. The most significant issue was how to solve the North-South income disparity. On this issue, Western developed countries were facing two choices:

3.4.1 Wealthy countries sharing their fortune with poor countries to adjust the income gap between the North and the South Government‘s battle terrorism with the intention of maintain the existing order and geopolitical structure. Setting aside short-term geopolitical considerations, the West must make concessions to the South if it wants to maintain the existing world economic and political orders. The income gap must be narrowed, first and foremost. Effective 88

measures should be taken immediately to largely reduce poverty and starvation problems in developing countries—many people from Western countries and the ruling classes of developing nations have realized this.1 To address these problems in the least developed areas, it is suggested that the West should carry out a plan similar to the Marshall Plan that the US implemented in Europe after the Second World War. At the time, when Marshall explained this project, he spoke of a Europe tormented by war, poverty, disease, and starvation, as well as a broken economy. He pointed out that ―the desperation of these populations would generate turbulence.‖ He said that there ―can be no political stability and no assured peace‖ without a healthy economy. He added that the policy to be implemented by the US should be ―directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.‖2 According to the estimates of the United Nations Development Program reports in 1998, to ensure all people in developing countries had access to basic survival conditions and social services, the annual total cost would be 40 billion US dollars. In this cost, 9 billion would be used to provide drinking water and basic sanitation, 12 billion would be used to provide all women basic reproductive health, 13 billion would be spent on basic healthcare and nutrition, and 6 billion would be spent on basic education for all people. The sum of these numbers is indeed quite large. Some people would say that such a global project is too expensive for the US and other Western industrial countries to afford. However, compare this figure to the spending on the war on terror. The initial reaction toward September 11th alone cost tens of billions of US dollars. One month of military operation in Afghanistan costs the US as least 1 billion dollars (some estimates are even higher). A year in Afghanistan alone costs US 10 billion dollars or more. If this money was used eliminating human suffering, it could provide basic livelihood protection to the entire world. Furthermore, compared to the 780 billion dollars spent on military expenditures every year, the expenditures for human survival, social services, and health services are a negligible cost. In the US and the West, there are definitely differing opinions within their borders. 1

It was reported that the former US President Clinton once advocated the West to distribute the wealth more equally worldwide when he gave a speech in University of Ghent in Belgium on 30th October, 2001. And most of the participants then agreed. After the September 11th attack, the needs to reduce the enlarging gap between developed countries and developing countries were more urgent. 2 Dick Bell and Michael Renner, A New Marshall Plan? Advancing Human Security and Controlling Terrorism, Worldwatch Institute, October 9, 2001. 89

Some feel the US is not responsible for anyone outside their national boundaries. Nations should only take actions when their own interests are directly involved, such as expanding global trade, stabilizing world economies through the IMF, protecting national interests from assaults of other countries, and fighting against terrorism that threatens domestic security. Others feel that international super powers should take responsibility for global security. For example, they should be against any genocide taking place in the world, share wealth and knowledge with the people regarding disease prevention and malnutrition, take on the responsibility on reducing global carbon emissions, improve working and living conditions in poor countries, and reverse trends of inequality between rich and poor countries. If the September 11th attacks had any positive significance, it was that they told the world it was time to decide how to take actions instead whether to take actions. In fact, the West only needs to share 1% of its annual income. This could help to eliminate starvation completely, get all children vaccinated, supply all people with clean water, eliminate deaths from simple infectious diseases, eradicate illiteracy, and build proper housing. The West has not done this. The leaders of the US and other Western countries may not realize that this plan would effectively cut down on the discontent and anger of poor countries towards wealthy countries. This could benefit the long-term interests of the West. Sparing a part of the wealth to support the poor would be more helpful in eradicating terrorism than any war. In this final analysis, in a world of extreme inequality, unfairness and exploitation, only alms will not disrupt lasting peace. If the fertile soil for terrorism cannot be eliminated, the safety of humanity cannot be guaranteed. The West may keep paying for the consequences of the unfair system it has constructed, and it seems the costs are escalating.

3.4.2 Letting the gap expand as usual The second choice the West has is to leave things as they are. They may use the status quo as an excuse to fight against terrorism and draw lines in international society. They can maintain the doctrine of letting those who comply with them thrive and those who resist perish. They can use various cruel measures to strike terrorists and their supporting countries to promote unimpeded imperialism worldwide. Meanwhile, domestically, they can accelerate militarization and systematization to restrict civil rights. This may counteract the achievements of social progress and further gather wealth into the hands of a few. All substantial achievements of democracy would be 90

destroyed. This choice may seem successful in the short-term, but in the long-run, domestic and oversea conflicts will be intensified. The world will head into more crisis. Leaving aside what choice the West would take, a more generous global ―Marshall Plan‖ could potentially solve the structural problems of the world economy that led to North-South Divisions, and at the very least contribute to avoiding conflicts from further emerging. Under the premise of maintaining the existing system, any solutions are just conservative methods. They may assuage the conflicts but cannot get rid of the roots of this world system‘s flaws. In this way, terrorism could become more intensified and cause grander chaos. We have no clear understanding of the full extent of terrorism and its complete historical meanings. Does the existing model of terrorism reflect the necessary logic and nature of late capitalism? Is the world entering a chaotic age of uncertainty, insecurities, and no unifying rules? To these questions, we do not have answers, and further investigation is indeed required. (Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Researcher Lu Aiguo)

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4 Great Power Relations and Terrorism As we have seen from the previous chapters, the various types of terrorist activities are different in manifestations, goals, and motives. It is necessary to concretely analyze the causes of terrorism from different levels. From the broad view of major power relations, the development and changes of the global situation and international order, this chapter makes a preliminary exploration of the overarching reasons that lead to international terrorism

4.1 International power relations and terrorism: the research angles and methods 4.1.1 The international trends of terrorist activities and its characteristics At present, terrorist organizations or groups exist in every country in the world. There are very few countries that are not terrorist zones or are not victims of such activities. Terrorism has become one of the world's most serious international scourges. Therefore, it has become a major issue facing international studies: to study the root causes of terrorism, then eliminate the conditions for its growth and development, and finally safeguard world peace and tranquility. In order to better understand the link between terrorist activities and relations among great powers, let‘s first outline the development trend of the current terrorist activities. From the perspective of the link between terrorist activities and relations among major powers, we can generally divide all kinds of the various world terrorist activities into two categories: one is isolated terrorist activities within a country, namely the perpetrators and victims are from the same country with no outside participation in terrorist activities; the other is transnational or international terrorist activities, that is, foreigners are major raid targets or people are attacked by colluded internal and external forces. Of course, this classification is not absolute, these two types of activities are often interrelated and it is difficult to strictly distinguish 92

between them. The reason is that, even the former terrorist activities tend to have an international background, or are at the very least generated in the international environment. Because of this, the study of international relations, especially relations among big powers and the closely connected development of the world situation and international order becomes the key to research on root causes of terrorism. By observing the development tendency of terrorist activities worldwide, a prominent phenomenon can be found: while the above two types of terrorist activities are growing simultaneously, the proportion of international terrorist activities is rising. In other words, links between terrorist activities within a country and the international environment are getting closer and closer. According to statistics, 70% of the present various global terrorist activities are international or transnational. Cases of terrorist attacks against the US alone accounted for more than 1/3 of all, with most of the assaulters from developing countries. For example, from the year of 1968 to 1997, the world‘s international anti-US terrorist activities reached a total number of 5655, accounting for 36.76% of total global terrorist activities. The number is 1182 just from 1990 to 1997, of which more than 80% are from developing countries. 1 In recent years, the international terrorist activities against America are not only increasing in number, but also are bringing about more and more serious consequences. The world-shocking September 11th incident in 2001 is a momentous example. This phenomenon itself proved that terrorist activities are interrelated to the international status of the US as a superpower and its foreign policy. The "September 11th" incident in the US reveals that today's international terrorist activities are not only differing from local terrorist activities within one country, but also having distinct features with usual international terrorism or transnational crime. They at least have the following important characteristics: First, although most of such terrorist activities are spontaneous, the initiators are by no means the rabbles or mobs. They are well organized, have mastered the skills of modern weapons and means of destruction, and own arms on a large scale. The militarization tendency is obvious. Second, the implementers of such terrorist activities are not only well-trained, but also have a firm belief and the spirit of sacrifice. They commit more and more suicide attacks, where action is for neither personal reasons nor money. They have an explicit

1

Hu Lianhe: Terrorism of Contemporary World and Its Countermeasures, The Oriental Press, 2001, pp.124, 125, 131. 93

social and political purpose. Third, although the existence of such terrorist activities varies across countries, most of them are initiated by terrorist organizations in developing countries against developed countries, especially superpowers. This phenomenon objectively reflected the profound political and economic contradiction between the two groups of countries, especially between developing countries and the world‘s superpowers. Fourth, although such activities are mostly manifested as spontaneous civil behavior and focused on civilians or public facilities, the ultimate target is still the government of hostile nations and their international strategies and foreign policies. Thus, international terrorist activates have a distinct state origins and ethnic backgrounds, as well as numerous supporters and a massive support base. Fifth, the purpose means, and consequences of these terrorist activities are substantially different from earlier terrorist acts. There is more and more coloring of war, and has increasingly become a special form of warfare in the new era. It can also be called the folk-subjected, non-government-led "gauge war" and "asymmetric war". Although these features cannot change the nature of terrorism, they reflect the seriousness of modern international terrorism and the complexity of its root causes. There is no doubt that the US‘s "9/11" incident was an inhuman terrorist act. While at the same time people should see that the known ―billionaire‖ Osama bin Laden and his organization, which were identified as the planners of this event, are not usual bandits who kill people and seize their goods; they are not like ordinary gangs that murder for money, but are more like a faith-owned, organized, unconventional social group, which takes terrorist activities as a means to achieve political goals. In short, the above-mentioned features of such terrorist activities have prominently reflected the profound contradictions that exist in international relations.

4.1.2 Theories and analytical methods of the causes of international terrorism At present, investigators on international issues in and out the state have done a wide range of research over the motivation and cause of today‘s international terrorism from a variety of angles, posting various theories and methods of analysis. In Western countries, there are three widely spread categories as follows. First, the analysis based on sociology and institutional theory. In this context, ―The 94

Clash of Civilizations" presented by Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington takes an important role. It emphasizes the status and significance of cultural differences in international relations, taking the view that the variations and clashes among different civilizations are becoming the main factor in international conflicts. In the article ―The Clash of Civilizations,‖ Huntington pointed out that in this new historical period, ―the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural,‖ ―the clash of civilizations will dominate global politics,‖ and ―the fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future." In particular, he stressed that the conflict among Western, Islamic, and Confucian civilizations is especially serious.1 Obviously, the clash of civilizations is a breeding ground for international terrorism which cannot be ignored, especially in the situation of the deepening development of globalization together with the world superpowers‘ implementation of their cultural hegemony in the guise of so-called "global values.‖ However, while emphasizing the severity of the conflict of civilizations, Huntington didn‘t reveal the conditions and causes of this conflict in-depth. In fact, the clash of civilizations is neither an isolated topic, nor a simply cultural phenomenon. There are ethnic and national conflicts hidden behind it. Civilization clash is just an expression form of political and economic conflict of interests among different ethnic groups and different countries. The diversity and pluralism of global civilizations are the outcome of historical development, as well as an objective existence that is independent of man's volition. The existence itself does not cause conflict, the merging of civilizations has long begun and the confrontation is not inevitable. The factor that contributes to the conflict is the cultural infiltration and expansion used by superpowers with a purpose of political domination and economic exploitation in other countries. Moreover, American scholars such as Jack Douglas have also raised a theory of the clash between the mainstream culture and subculture. This theory stresses the significance for those multicultural countries to handle relations between the dominant culture and the alternative cultures. It also considers the contradictions and collisions as two important causes of social group conflicts within a country. This theory holds that, the minority and non-mainstream social groups are more influenced by their group culture, the awareness of maintaining group culture is stronger and therefore more prone to produce "deviant behavior" or even become a "culture of

1

[US] Samuel P. Huntington: The Clash of Civilizations, Foreign Affairs (NYC), Summer 1993, v72, n3, p22(28) 95

violence.‖1 This theory has some similarities with the civilization clash theory: it is actually a manifestation of the so-called clash of civilizations within a country. This theory may be more useful to explain localized terrorist activities in a country. In addition, American scholars such as James Coleman also proposed a "social rebel theory." According to this theory, or due to failure and setbacks, or due to unreasonable systems and institutions, people emerge with Anti-regime or anti-authority psychologies and behaviors. However, social changes benefit the insurrectionist. At the same time, not only is rebellious behavior not reduced, but it probably will increase. The reason is that this will bring about more supporters for this behavior, which will enhance the strength and confidence of the rebels. Thus a kind of rebel strength philosophy will form. Based on this concept, the logic of the rebels, including terrorists, becomes "not to fight for people‘s support, but to show people its strength.‖2 Secondly, analysis based on behavioral science and psychological theory includes the imitation and infection theories presented by western social psychologists like Tarde & McDougall and Miller & Dollard. They emphasize that imitation is the nature of our human being and in the meantime, it's an important media for behavior spreading. They believe that once certain kinds of terrorist acts succeed, such activities will spread and diffuse in a wider circle. There is also the conflict's functional theory presented by American scholar Lewis Coqui. He believes that conflicts are the inevitable objective reality of social life. Although not all conflicts are negative phenomena, conflicts will turn into violence or even terrorist activities under certain conditions (such as hatred). Besides, there is the so-called social label theory, behavior anomie theory and frustration-anomie theory etc. These theories play a bigger role in analyzing the causes of crime and criminal psychology from the aspect of criminology. However, it's obvious that it's hard to get to the root of terrorism, especially the international terrorism, by using those theories alone. Thirdly, there is analysis based on international relations theory. In this regard, the theory of international conflicts and international system defect proposed by Australian scholar John W. Burton in his book Global Conflict: The Domestic Sources of International Crisis occupies an outstanding position. In his opinion, the underlying cause of terrorism lies in the fact that a state system fails to meet the needs of

1

[US] Jack D. Douglas etc.: Introduction to Deviant Sociology, Hebei people’s Press, 1987, pp.161, 285. [US] James Coleman: The Foundations of Social Theory, Social Sciences Academic Press (China), pp551, 527.

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individuals or social groups due to its inherent flaws. But he stresses that the overflow of those inherent flaws, especially that of the big powers, is the main factor for the development of contemporary international terrorism. The overflow is not only manifested as the proliferation of socio-economic system defects caused by the expansion of big powers, but also manifested as the international strategy and policy of big powers, their interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and even their support for certain kind of terrorism organization in other countries. He believes that "whether it is domestic or international, heretical and deviant behavior is the appearance of a problem, they are all conflicts between the needs & motivations of human beings and institutions & organizations." Therefore, he came to the conclusion that in order to eliminate terrorist activities, it is important to reform systems and organizations rather than thru revenge and punishment. Since "there was an emotional community and supporting group behind the terrorist, revenge and punishment just compound the feeling of frustration and injustice" and this kind of feeling is the important psychological factor that result in terrorist motives and acts.1 Apparently, the above theories are all useful references to our understanding on motives and causes of today's international terrorist activities, but the third theory undoubtedly values more. The reason is, although the motives and reasons of terrorist activities are numerous and diverse, they are all the accumulation and intensification of social, political, and economic contradictions home and abroad. That is to say, the irrational socio-political and economic systems are the root causes of these kinds of terrorism. In terms of international terrorism, its breeding and development is the result of accumulation and intensification of political and economic contradictions among countries or nations. The root cause is that the current international political and economic order is unreasonable, and there exists profound contradictions in international relations and the global situation. However, these remedy situations and contradictions are largely caused by the unreasonable relations among major powers, particularly the hegemony of superpowers. In short, the basic analytic method of studying the causes of international terrorism should be the analysis of socio-political and economic contradictions of different developing periods in international relations and the global situation. Among them, the key link is the research on development and changes in relations among major powers, together with its effect on international

1

[Australia] John W. Burton. Global Conflict: The Domestic Sources of International Crisis. (Chinese People's Public Security University Press, 1991). pp.39. 97

relations and the world pattern.

4.1.3 The reason and guiding thought of studying the causes of terrorism It should be noted that, although we emphasize international causes as well as the status and responsibilities of big powers, we aim at seeking an effective way to eliminate this human scourge, while by no means making excuses for the evils of an act of terrorism. Marxists have always been against all forms of terrorist acts, no matter what their purpose and motivation is, where the crime happened, and who the targets are. The reason is that such behavior is irrational and inhuman, which only gives channels to their hatred and brings disaster to others and their own lives. It cannot solve any problem, nor can it eliminate social conflicts or promote social progress. In fact, terrorism is a phenomenon of social distortions and psychological imbalances generated in complicated contradictions, which is contrary to the development of human civilization. This basic understanding of terrorism should be the basic starting point and foothold of seeking its roots. In those days, with native people as well as the world‘s people under brutal exploitation and oppression by an international bourgeoisie, classic writers of Marxism-Leninism stressed class struggle. They called on the world's oppressed people and nations to unite and create a revolution to eradicate the old system, but they are firmly against terrorism. In the struggle of the proletarian revolution in Russia, Lenin repeatedly and severely refuted the terrorist theories advocated by the various ultra-Left. The reason is that the guiding ideology to establish a proletarian party and develop the workers' movement was still unsure—and it was a very pressing issue Lenin faced. Early in February, 1902, Lenin severely criticized "the Economists‖ and "the modern terrorists‘" adverse ideological tendencies which brought about significant influence to Russian Social Democratic Party. He pointed out that the former only focuses on "drab everyday struggle," while the latter called for the most self-sacrificing struggle of individuals. Although the two are very different, they have a common rootsubservice to spontaneity. In particular, he exposed the harmfulness of inspiring the working-class movement by using terroristic means, which is included in the aim of the Ultra-left ―Revolutionary-Socialist Svoboda Group.‖ In his view, the hard left bows to spontaneity; i.e., terrorists bow to the spontaneity of the passionate 98

indignation of intellectuals who lack revolutionary perseverance or opportunities to ―connect the revolutionary struggle and the working-class movement into an integral whole," other than through terrorist activities. They cannot bring any benefit to the revolution but ―bring a man to hell‖ and lead the proletarian revolution to "the line of the purely bourgeois Credo program.1In July, 1903, considering the influence upon the Party aroused by terrorist thoughts, Lenin framed Drafts of Terrorism Resolutions while he was drawing up the resolutions for the Second National People's Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. This draft stressed that ―Congress decisively rejects terrorism, i.e., the system of individual political assassinations,‖ as ―being a method of political struggle which is most inexpedient at the present time, diverting the best forces from the urgent and imperatively necessary work of organization and agitation, destroying contact between the revolutionaries and the masses of the revolutionary classes of the population, and spreading both among the revolutionaries themselves and the population in general utterly distorted ideas of the aims and methods of struggle against the autocracy.‖ 2 In February, 1906, Lenin particularly discussed the differences between guerrilla operations and terrorist acts in his article The Present Situation in Russia and the Tactics of the Workers’ Party. He expressed that it is necessary to be armed and take guerrilla operations by the fighting squads, in order to seize political power. But it is different from terrorist activities. He thinks ―it is wrong to put these operations on a par with the old type of terrorism.‖ ―Terrorism consisted of acts of vengeance against individuals. Terrorism was a conspiracy by groups of intellectuals. Terrorism in no way reflected the temper of the masses.‖ ―Terrorism was the result of lack of faith in insurrection, of the absence of conditions for insurrection.‖ ―Guerrilla operations are not acts of vengeance, but military operations. They don‘t resemble adventurous acts.‖3 Lenin not only firmly opposed terror in the proletarian revolution in Russia, but also took a critical attitude on terrorist acts in other countries, even if the object of such terror attacks is the same with the proletarian revolution. For instance, in February, 1908, when he commented on the happening to the King of Portugal, he pointed out that ―Terror is one element that essentially fails to achieve its purpose and falls short of other means.‖ He said that although the sympathy of the socialist proletariat would always be on the side of the Republicans against the monarchy, 1

Lenin Collected Works, Volume 6, People's Publishing House, 1986, the first 72 to 74. Lenin Collected Works, Volume 7, People's Publishing House, 1986, page 233. 3 Lenin Collected Works, Volume 12, People's Publishing House, 1986, page 163. 2

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terrorists should be punished. He stressed that if there something worth the regret—it should be ―the Republican movement in Portugal did not settle accounts with all the adventurers in a sufficiently resolute and open manner.‖ He pointed out that, ―What they have succeeded in doing so far in Portugal is only to frighten the monarchy by the assassination of two monarchs, but not to destroy it.‖ Therefore, Lenin concluded that, ―no matter what good intentions the people who advocate the use of terror or sympathy for terrorism have, it will not help the proletarian revolutionary movement.‖1 In October, 1916, on the eve of the October Revolution, on the case which Austria-Hungary head Lord Card Shituerke was assassinated, Lenin commented that ―taking political killing as revolutionary tactics individual attacks are inexpedient and harmful.‖ In Russia, the terrorists carried out a number of individual attacks, but these are only ―gestures of despair,‖ ―we always struggled against them.‖ (We should) declare these ―as a lesson for the workers: not terrorism but systematic, prolonged, self-sacrificing activity in revolutionary propaganda.‖2 The reason Lenin repeated disclosing the dangers of terrorism before the October Revolution is that the long-term feudal rule by the tsar and his brutal suppression of revolutionary activities. In addition, the regime participated in imperialist war for a long time, which made social class conflicts both at home and abroad extremely sharp, and the feudal imperialism of Tsarist Russia become the focus of the world‘s conflicts. On one hand, this created the conditions for the proletarian revolution. On the other, it provided a breeding ground for the growth of terrorism. As a result, besides the spread of Marxism in Russia, anarchism, populism, and terrorism also arose, which mixed the proletarian revolutionary ideology and terrorist mentality, some revolutionaries even confuse the class struggle and terrorist activities. This caused great damage to the healthy development of the proletarian revolution and workers' movement in Russia. Lenin's brother was executed by the tsarist government in the assassination of the Czar‘s under the influence of anarchism, populism, and terrorism. It greatly shocked Lenin as a new participant in the revolutionary activities. Therefore, it became the urgent task for the establishment of the political party of the Russian proletariat and the leadership of the socialist revolution to reveal the nature and hazards of terrorism and make a distinction between terrorism and Marxism. Reviewing the statements of the founders of Marxism-Leninism is not only beneficial

1

Lenin Collected Works, Volume 16, People's Publishing House, 1988, page 424-425. Lenin Collected Works, Volume 47, People's Publishing House, 1990, page 446-447.

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to our understanding of the nature of terrorism, but also of great practical guiding significance for our study on causes terrorism.

4.2 Rule of colonial: the origins of international terrorism 4.2.1 Killings and plundering brought by the colonialists to the colonial people Although terrorist acts have existed since ancient times, modern international terrorism is the product of imperialism and colonialism. The bourgeoisie appeared on the stage of world history with the banner of "freedom, equality, and fraternity." However, the forming process of capitalism was full of violence, terror and the blood and tears of people being plundered and enslaved all over the world. That was a time when the imperialist powers and colonial powers fought with each other, and a time when adventurers and pirate merchants rampaged about. With the help of gunboats and firepower, the imperialists and colonialists forced the colonial countries and tribes of Asia, Africa, and Latin America to open their doors. By the means of threats and frauds, the imperialists and colonialists established their authority over the colonies, grabbed up property, and hunted down slaves. At the same time, they introduced western civilization to the colonies. Spaniard Bartolomé de las Casas described what happened in Haiti when the colonialists attacked and occupied the island in his work "Of the Island of Hispaniola." He wrote that the colonialists "penetrated into the country and spared neither children nor the aged, nor pregnant women, nor those in child labor, all of whom they ran through the body and lacerated, as though they were assaulting so many lambs herded in their sheepfold." He reported that "they made bets as to who would slit a man in two, or cut off his head at one blow: or opened up their bowels" and "they cut off the hands of all they wished to take alive, made them carry them fastened on to them and said: 'Go and carry letters': that is, take the news to those who have fled to the mountains."1

1

Fan Kang, ed.:The Up and Down of Capitalism, Beijing Publishing House,1984, p. 33. 101

After all the killings and plundering, the colonialists came to realize that the natives might be a kind of valuable good and it would be a pity to kill them all. Hence the slave trade developed rapidly. They caught local people like hunting animals in the colonies of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, especially in Africa. Then they put the people into cages for long-distance transport and resale to make a fortune. Some western countries, especially the British Empire, set up large corporations specially to increase the sources of slaves, exploit the market, and engage in the slave trafficking and trade. For example, British merchants set up the private "African Trade Company" to compete with the age-old "Royal African Company." The result was the rapid growth of the slave trade. From 1680 to 1686, the British Royal African Company transported, on an average, 5000 people a year. The number increased to 36000 in 1760, and in 1771, to 47000. From 1680 to 1786, there were more than 200,000 slaves being transported to the British North American colonies alone.1 According to the definition some westerners have for terrorism, the example mentioned above is hardly an act of terrorism, at least not a typical one since the terrorism is mainly manifested in the attacks and revenges the weak have for the strong. However, the example not only indicates that acts of terrorism reflected in the raid of the weak against the strong, but also shows that the primitive form of terrorism activities is the plain plundering and killings of the strong over the weak on the contrary. In a word, it is the imperialists and colonialists who create a precedent for the modern international terrorism and this is an indisputable historical fact.

4.2.2 Colonial rule of imperialist powers sow seeds of future trouble Of course, everything is now history and there's no need to bring up old scores again. The problem is that the international terrorist activities have always been and still are the heritage of colonial rule. Although the causes of terrorism were embodied in politics, economy, nationality, culture, and religion, the imprint of colonial rule in the old days remains in the depth of present international contradictions and conflicts to varying degrees. What's more, the seeds of future trouble sowed by colonial rule are far from removed. Instead of being removed, they begin to sprout and grow up in 1

Fan Kang, ed.: The Up and Down of Capitalism, Beijing Publishing House,1984,, pp. 47-48. 102

some areas due to the development of neocolonialism, especially the growth of hegemony. The examples are too numerous to mention individually and the Arab-Israeli conflict, one of the hot spots of international terrorist activities, is a typical example. It's universally acknowledged that both the Arabs and the Jews are victims of the invasion by Western imperialist powers. In history, these two nationalities are both ancient inhabitants of the Middle East. They had long been living with each other peacefully and created a splendid culture in the regionthe ancient Jewish culture and Islamic culture. But the western colonialists regarded the two cultures as heresy. Besides conquering the various ethnic groups in the Middle East, they drove the Jews out of Palestine and made them drift from place to place and suffer acute hardship. But after the British Empire took charge of the Middle East, they came to realize that the coexistence of many nations with different religions make it much easier for them to rule the Middle East than that of one nation with one religion. Thus, the British authorities turned to advocate and plan the rebuilding of the departed Jewish state actively. On November 2, 1917, the British government issued the "Balfour Declaration" in which it claimed that the government "will use their best endeavors" to promote the establishment of the Jewish state. Since then, with the support of other Western countries, the British government began to transfer the Jews from around the world to Palestine extensively, trying to change the proportions of Jews and Arabs in this region. They also armed and trained the Jewish immigrants in terms of military skills.1 The reason why western countries, especially the British Empire colonialists, were full of enthusiasm about fostering Zionism is, of course, not for the sake of the Jews they have tried so hard to drive away, but instead lies in the notion that they sought to utilize the historical animosity between Jews and Arabs and then realize a 'divide and conquer' strategy. Do not forget that, before World War II and during World War II, it was precisely the most rampant period of anti-Semitic activities in western countries when these countries vigorously promoted and fostered Zionism and the two seem to go hand in hand. In fact, taking advantage of ethnic conflicts to profit is the modus operandi of Western colonialists. It not only laid up trouble for the future Arab-Israeli conflict but also constituted the most important cause for the ethnic conflicts of other regions and nations in the world and the terrorist activities related to it. The Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, like the Arab-Israeli conflict, is

1

Zhong Dong, ed., 80 Years of Middle East Issue, Xinhua Publishing House,1984, p. 15. 103

undoubtedly the heritage of the colonial rule of the British Empire. And this is exactly what John Burton, the Australian scholar, pointed out in the book cited before. "The imperialists divided the boundaries of nations arbitrarily. Thus people of the same nationality lived in different countries. After the independence of these countries, the imperialists then forced them to form governments according to western political philosophy and political systems." This just "brought about more problems." Therefore, "the contemporary ethnic problems rooted in the expansion of great powers and colonialism."1

4.3 Superpowers’ rivalry for hegemony: development of international terrorism 4.3.1 The formation and transformation of a new world pattern after the WWII After WWII, great changes happened in the world and intensively reflected the following aspects. The movements of national liberation and national dependence flourished with momentum. Former colonial countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America gained independence one after another while the colonial system by western imperialists began to collapse and further developed a new-type system for developing countries worldwide. As the colonial system collapsed, old imperialist powers experienced relative decline. In contrast, the US became a superpower of the western world and changed the landscape of wars and conflicts among imperialist powers. With the relative decline of old imperialists and the rise of America, conflicts between developing countries and their colonial mother-states have been eased while the disputes against the US, who promoted neo-imperialism and hegemony, have become prominent. Many socialist countries emerged in the Eurasian continent and socialism went beyond the borders of any one country and developed into a global system or camp, thus changing capitalism‘s unipolarity. Western countries led by

1

[Australia] John W. Burton. Global Conflict: The Domestic Sources of International Crisis., Chinese People's Public Security University Press,1991, p.78. 104

America adopted a series of policies including embargo, blockade, and a cold war against socialist countries, making the conflicts between socialist and capitalist countries, especially America, more and more intensified. In all, wars among former imperialists have been replaced by conflicts between national liberation and independence movements and imperialist powers, between world socialist movements and anti-communist powers, which became major world conflicts in the early postwar period. During that period of time, there were various and fierce conflicts and complex conditions, but international terrorist activities only took a small percentage. One of important reasons was that, at that time, these kinds of conflicts were expressed as fighting among countries of different categories, but individual and social group behaviors, including their international conducts were included in state acts and they didn‘t have the necessity and advantages for performance and implementation. New changes have arisen in the international situations mentioned above. The cold war after World War II quickly became a tough competition between the two superpowers, the US and the USSR, for global hegemony, and the old pattern of wars and conflicts among former imperialist and colonial states evolved into fighting within the two superpowers, thus leading to a new landscape of three worlds. Under this circumstance, conflicts between developing and developed countries, between socialist and capitalist countries, remained in existence, but to a large extent, were greatly concealed and dissolved by contradictions between the two superpowers. The new conflict became the major one in the world and the root cause for various conflicts, fighting, and wars all around the world. Consequently all of local fighting and turbulences were branded with the stamp of the US-USSR rivalry for global hegemony. Most noticeably, the two superpowers put their focus on the third world. On one hand, it intensified the confrontations between developing countries and two superpowers, especially with the United States, who made endeavors to promote neo-colonial policies and to maintain old international political and economic orders. On the other hand, it also sharpened social conflicts within developing countries themselves. As mentioned earlier, the previous national liberation movements for independence in those countries were mostly led by a national bourgeoisie, but conformed to interests and aspirations of the whole nation and supported by mass participation; therefore, there was little need for individuals or social groups to take separate and independent activities, let alone using personal terrorist measures. But things changed greatly after their independence. For one side, the capitalist class at the

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helm of a state got richer and richer, while poverty, backwardness, and underdevelopment of the people remained unchanged and severe. Even worse, influenced and shocked by the superpowers‘ rivalry for hegemony, governments of those newly-born countries were unable to carry out effective domestic and foreign policies approved by the majority of the population. In some countries, those in power were too weak to oppose hegemonic policies, to safeguard national sovereignty and independence, and even to be decided by external forces. As a result, the former solidarity and uniformity in fighting for national liberation and independence disappeared, but meanwhile, the conflicts of interests within social groups holding different political and economic positions appeared. It allowed people to put aside the official governments, to conduct independent struggles with terrorist measures, and meanwhile oppose superpowers on the pursuit of their own hegemony. The rivalry between the US and the USSR was comprehensive, covering all aspects and corners of the world. But over quite a long period of time, the confrontations were mainly in the Middle East and the Latin America. It‘s also important to explain why the two regions are always the most frequently and hardest-hit areas for terrorist activities.

4.3.2 The US -USSR rivalry and terrorist activities in the Middle East The reasons why the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union converged on the Middle East were listed as follows: (1) during a period of time after the World War II, those newly-independent countries have not gotten a clear political direction: joining the western bloc led by the US, or choosing the eastern bloc of the Soviet Union, or taking their own Islamic paths. It remained uncertain for either those countries or the two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union. When neighboring areas, such as Eastern Europe and East Asia, had their clear geopolitical map, the uncertainty in the Middle East seemed more critical and attracted the superpowers‘ attention to seize hold of this region before the others. (2) As one of the most important oil producers in the world, a commodity for western powers in short supply, effective control over the region‘s oil resources was of great concern with their rise in the international stage. For the Soviet Union, who was also rich in oil, although it was not as eager as western powers for oil from the Middle East, instead, it could strangle the throat of the western countries if their oil supply lines were in control, which 106

indicated much higher political and military profits than economic benefits. (3) This area, as the access for western powers and the Soviet Union towards South Asia and Africa, were of great geo-political significance and has been a focal point of fierce competition between western powers and tsarist Russia in history. Tsarist Russia took the Caucasus and Central Asia near-by into its territory, but the richer Middle East, in contrast, fell into the hands of the British Empire and France. After the World War II, these countries gained independence, but the rivalry between the Soviet Union and western powers, especially the United States continued. During the first stage, the Soviet Union and the United States were evenly-matched. The United States brought the most affluent gulf countries into its sphere of influence through the Baghdad Pact, economic aid, and oil purchase. The Soviet Union made sure that those relatively poor countries, such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Libya, Algeria were under its control by providing arms supplies and promoting ideological penetration and non-capitalist roads. After a period of contest, the relatively weak Soviet Union gradually retreated in its adversities, and its influence there continued to decline constantly. In this case, it opened a new battlefield in Afghanistan where western forces were relatively weaker and the country was much poorer. But the new strategy ended in failure as well and the Soviet Union had to withdraw troops after 10-year efforts. In addition to the heroic resistance of Afghan people, with the encouragement and support from the United States, almost all the Islamic countries participated in the long lasting anti-Soviet war in different forms. What does the rivalry of the two superpowers have to do with the development of terrorism in this region? It‘s proved in practice that they are not only linked, but quite closely affected each other. Firstly, the United States and the Soviet Union supported their followers and suppressed their foes respectively, thus causing long-lasting unrest and deep hatred in this region. It not only directly affected the economic development of these countries, but also led to a variety of armed conflicts and wars. The constant confrontations between Israel and Arabic states occurred in the context of the US-USSR rivalry. And Even the 8-year Iran-Iraq War and the movements by guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party was influenced by the US-USSR competitions. The long-lasting armed conflicts and wars drove people to suffering and sorrow without shelters and made people clearly aware that neither the United States nor the Soviet Union were reliable friends of Arabic nations, but rather just the root of turbulence. Therefore, more and more disgusted with American Capitalism or Soviet Socialism, they resorted to the

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Koran for comfort and survival, which also provided the soil for the forming and prevalence of Islamic fundamentalism. Secondly, and more importantly, in order to gain upper hand over the Soviet Union and stabilize its influences in the Middle East, the United States integrated both pragmatism and hegemony to carry out strategies and policies with a mix of ―Carrot and Big Stick‖ diplomacy. On one hand, it provided Arabic countries with favorable offerings to cultivate cronyism and establish pro-American governments; on the other hand, in Arabic countries rallied against the US will, the US plotted uprisings and put pressures on those countries‘ leaders. The US classified Arabic countries into groups of democratic free and open states and a black list of ―Rogue States‖ in accordance with its own closeness and preferences. One of important reasons to explain was that the US wanted to control this region by dividing them to avoid Arabic states gathering into a unified force independent from the US‘s sphere of influence. To prevent the rise of Arabic powers after the Second World War, the US inherited the legacy of the British Empire, made more endeavor to cultivate Zionism and supported its territory expansion publicly and privately. Through wars in the Middle East, Israel conquered vast areas of Arabic states. The UN issued the resolution of ―territory in exchange for peace,‖ but this was refused by the Israel authorities. It was obvious to the public why Israel, with a population of a few million, defeated the Arab nations with a total population in the hundreds of millions, and got such courage and strength to counter against the UN resolution and global mass media, was that it was backed up by America, the superpower. The US supported Israel with full heart, was partially driven by domestic Jewish interest groups, but more importantly, aimed at injecting its nail in the Middle East and using Israel to restrain Arab countries. America encouraged Israel in private to invade Arab countries, but meanwhile showed up as a neutral mediator in Israeli-Arab relations. Even though Arab countries and the world were well aware of the US‘s two-faced behaviors, out of consideration and pressures, leaders of some Arab countries still had to ask the US for help to judge, but led to a gap between people‘s appeals and governments‘ foreign policies and finally made those people discard the government to fight against the US and Israel on their own. Under the circumstances of lacking the strength to conduct face-to-face confrontation against America and Israel, they had to use extremist measures such as terrorist activities and suicide attacks. Hence we can see, the Middle East was eventful in its history, but terrorism here cannot be simply connected with national and religious relations. The current fact that

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this region has become a severely afflicted area of terrorism was caused rather by the current unreasonable international political, economic order and global patterns, especially the global and regional rivalry of superpowers, rather than by the ancient religious and social conflicts and historic hatred between Jews and Arabs.

4.3.3 The US-USSR rivalry and terrorist activities in Latin America In addition to the Middle East, Latin America was another key battlefield for the two superpowers‘ competition, so terrorist activities in this region were also greatly affected by the rivalry. In order to prevent and contain Soviet forces from going south, America established many military bases in the Middle East near the Soviet Union; respectively, the Soviet Union took Cuba, America‘s backyard, as a military base to attack or threaten the US with deploying nuclear missiles. At the same moment of the two‘s military confrontations, they tried hard to use terrorist activities to fight against each other. To strike at Cuba, who was an ally of the Soviet Union, the US CIA set up specialized organization and invested huge amounts of money every year to instigate and support anti-Cuba terrorist operations. They tried every means, including assassinating Fidel Castro, burning, kidnapping, poisoning, destroying crops, polluting cane sugar, and killing livestock. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, America organized Cuban refugees to bomb a factory, causing 400 workers to be killed. Since then, the US used terrorist events to contain Cuba more frequently. From 1969 to 1979, the CIA conspired 89 mob attacks in Cuba and in 1976 alone, 8 serious terror attacks happened. In April, Cuban exiled terrorists backed up by the US, attacked two Cuban fishing boats and in the same month, exploded Cuba‘s embassy in Portugal. In July, they attacked a Cuban delegation to the UN. In August, they kidnapped two diplomats in Argentina and exploded a bomb at the Cuba Airline‘s office building in Panama. In October, they bombed one Cuban civilian plane, killing all 73 people onboard and burned Cuban embassy in Venezuela. In the following month, they bombed the Cuban embassy in Spain. According to a report released by a specialized Committee of the US Senate, just from 1960 to 1965, the US CIA was involved in at least 8 assassination attempts of Fidel Castro.1 1

XuShicheng:Collision: Castro and the US Presidents, the Orient PublishingPress, 1999, pp. 57- 59. 109

The battle of the two superpowers in Latin America was not only in Cuba, but also in some other countries, and they also had fierce fights. For example, in July, 1979, with the support of the Soviet Union, the Sandino National Liberation Front of Nicaragua overthrew the pro-American Somoza regime. To solidify the newly-born government, the Soviet Union not only sent military advisers there, but also invested heavily in military build-up. In contrast, the US spared no efforts to pull out what was considered as another nail in its backyard. As a result, Nicaragua was caught in a long-lasting and devastating civil war and terror attacks. The mercenary army fostered by America conducted a series of bombings, kidnappings, and assassination activities. Since then, there were various and constant terrorist activities in Latin America, making it one of worst-hit areas of terrorism in the modern world. Though they may have different causes, all these examples reflected the competition between the US and the Soviet Union, the two superpowers. Besides the Middle East and the Latin America, which were the two major terrorist areas, terrorism in other parts of the world were also largely connected with the cold war and power rivalry. For instance, the CIA was suspected of being involved in quite a few cases of terrorist attacks. According to German publications, the murder of the Congolese Prime Minister Lumumba in 1961, the killing of Chilean President Allende in 1973, and the car bombing of (Muhammad Hussayn Fadlallah) Fadlallah, the Spiritual leader of Lebanon‘s Hezbollah in 1985 were all closely tied to the CIA.1 In fact, whether the United States took freedom and democracy as an excuse or the Soviet Union highlighted the people‘s revolution, both of them used various ways to export ―revolutions‖ to support, plot, and foster terrorist personnel and organizations worldwide to realize their ambitions for global hegemony respectively.

4.3.4 The global rivalry of the US and the USSR and the development of left-wing and right-wing terrorism What are known as right-wing and left-wing terrorisms are major forms of global terrorist activity and they are also largely associated with the competition of the US and USSR. So-called right-wing terrorism mainly took place in developed countries and aimed 1

“Murders Might Planned by the CIA”, Sunday World Journal, Oct 21, 2001. 110

at basically at colored people, foreign immigrants, and Jews, with prominent characteristics of white supremacy, racism, and fascism. For instance, there were ―Nazi teams,‖ the ―Germanic National League,‖ the ―Great German Combating Team,‖ and the ―Team of the Berlin National Socialist Party‖ in there Federal Republic of Germany; there also existed the ―Mussolini action team,‖ the ―National vanguard,‖ the ―new order,‖ the ―core of armed revolution,‖ and the ―Skinheads‖ in Italy. Terrorist organizations in these two countries were highly fascist. Britain, France, and America also have various right-wing terrorist organizations, such as ―St George's alliance,‖ ―the 88th columns,‖ and ―White Lightning‖ in Britain, the ―Union of European Nationalism,‖ ―Alliance of European Nationalist Movements,‖ and ―Safeguarding France Movement‖ in France, and lastly America‘s ―Liberal Guards,‖ ―White Patriotic Party,‖ and notorious Ku Klux Klan. They all have distinct traits of white supremacy and racism. Most of those organizations appeared along with the climax of the superpowers‘ rivalry in 1960-70s and have further spread since the end of the 1980s. Nowadays, not only in Western Europe and the United States, but also in Eastern Europe and Russia, numerous right-wing terrorist organizations are active. So-called left-wing terrorism existed not only in developed countries, but also in some developing countries. Apart from the right-wing organizations who mainly attack civilians, especially colored people and immigrants and supported the governments to consolidate Capitalist exploitation, left-wing terrorism always holds the banner of anti-exploitation, anti-oppression, and people‘s liberation. They employ anti-government activities against the current regimes with various forms of terrorist activities, such as Italy's "Red Brigade," Federal Germany's "Red School," France's "Direct Action," Japan's "Red Army," ―Shining Pathway‖ in Peru, Turkey's "Kurdish Workers Party" and "People's liberation revolutionary party," Iran's "People's liberation organization, "and the "People's liberation front" in Palestine. Though different in political positions and key targets, the two kinds of terrorist groups still shared major means of terror attacks to realize its political goals. Each of them had its own specific reason, but in all they were formed in the context of the East-West Cold War and the two superpowers‘ rivalry. Since the terrorist works they did were widely despised by the people, the two superpowers had to be opposed to and not in favor of such behaviors on the surface, but their actual attitudes were different. As for right-wing terrorism and its activities, leaders of western countries, especially those of the United States, were only vocally opposed, but in fact never took strong measures to clamp down and sometimes even provided terrorists with

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support and protection in public or in secret. It was partially because these organizations were anti-communist, anti-Soviet, and their targets were also disgusted by westerners. Since left-wing terrorism was mainly against authorities and the current system of Capitalism, the Soviet Union always thought of them as revolutionary, though seldom supporting them vocally, they essentially appreciated and encouraged them. In sum, the two kinds of extremist terrorisms spread in the world widely. They might not have been directly manipulated and controlled by the two superpowers but were the products of the Cold War and America-Soviet Competition for global supremacy since WWII. In sum, after the Second World War, especially since the 1960s, the global rivalry of America and Soviet Union has led to the growth and development of international terrorism. Firstly, the race between the two superpowers caused unrest, wars, and poverty worldwide, which offered an international environment and conditions for the growth of many sorts of terrorist activities. Secondly, and even more importantly, the two superpowers took the terror as a means of political, economic, ideological, and military confrontation; they extended it to be a special weapon to strike each other and it became another battlefield of competition and fights. Both of them took double standards to serve their own interests and more or less involved themselves in encouraging, plotting, and directly taking part in terrorist activities. In fact, in the context of the prevailing hegemony and global race between the two superpowers, it was impossible to form healthy relations among powers or get a consensus on understandings and policies on terrorism. Therefore, a kind of serious situation came into being: there was soil to grow terrorism and institutions to conduct terrorist activities, but few international regimes to effectively strike and contain terrorism.

4.4

Dominance

of

a

single

super

power:

the

strengthening of international terrorism 4.4.1 The formation of the unipolar world and new conditions for terrorism’s further development In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, together with the upheaval of Eastern Europe

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and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Cold War and the bipolar world pattern which had lasted nearly half a century had come to an end, and the United States become the only superpower in the world and started the new world landscape of America‘s unipolar hegemony. In the past 10 years, along with the increase of its economic, scientific, and military powers, its hegemonic ambition and power politics expanded and the authorities tried hard to bring the world under the US‘s rule. In order to achieve this goal, at the same time they were strengthening military build-up, its strategists and theorists put forward a set of hegemonic theories. There were vivid examples such as ―Democratic Peace Theory,‖―New World Order theory,‖ and ―Global Values and Battle for Values.‖ All of these theories were decorated with democracy and freedom, but essentially wanted countries worldwide to accept international rules set by America and obey arrangements and governance made by America so as to enjoy the order and peace under the US‘s rule; countries would be labeled as ―Rogue States‖ who deserved suppression and sanctions. As a result, the US became the center and focus of world‘s conflicts and contradictions. The US not only considered Russia, the heir to the Soviet Union, and socialist China as potential opponents and even enemies, but also worried about its allied developed countries. Numerous developing countries, especially those ―rogue states,‖ were targets that needed to be disciplined and punished. The US had greater power and less opponents, but ironically felt more and more unsafe and was surrounded by more enemies, in its eyes. At the end of the 1990s, after the victory of the US‘s Kosovo War in Yugoslavia, its hegemony achieved further development. In the beginning of the new century, after the second President Bush came into power, the US put forward a policy of unilateralism and put US interests first, escalating the hegemony and power politics of America to a new stage. Only one point was quite enough to present that: within half a year after President Bush took office, he dismissed four important international treaties and agreements which had been officially signed by the US government. The first big decision in international affairs he made in office, as his first meeting gift to the international community, was the withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol regarding reduction of carbon emission achieved through 10 years of hard negotiations among over 100 countries. Meanwhile, much more outrageously, the US refused to pay its UN dues and claimed the UN should reform as the US wished; otherwise the US was not obligated to pay a membership fee to the UN. An article in the Weekly Standard gave a deep and profound analysis on the content

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and essence of the new president‘s unilateralism1. The paper pointed out ―Today, the United States remains the preeminent economic, military, diplomatic, and cultural power on a scale not seen since the fall of the Roman Empire.‖ At the beginning of the new century, the new government demanded to make ―a kind of military and diplomatic policies complying with overwhelming dominance‖ and to ―break the restrictions of false multi-polar thinking and adopt unilateralism to acknowledge and sustain unipolarity.‖ It was emphasized in the article that the Bush government dismissed the AMT because it did not want to admit the power status of Russia and bury bipolarity. The key point of why Bush withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol was to get rid of multilateralism. Bush and his supporters believed, in practice, multi-polar competition was an important reason for global instability while only unipolarity without competitors could bring peace to the world. Today the US was the last and only force to ensure peace worldwide."Bush Doctrine is a kind of view to interpret the US‘ effect‖ but in essence, it wanted to ―eradicate any fantasy about multilateralism and strengthen the unipolar status of the United States.‖ The unilateralism of the new US government, not only astonished the world, but also puzzled and annoyed its western allies. For example, one British newspaper article commented that ―Bush claimed the coming of an era of American Self-interest. What the new Bush government did within only 100 days after his inauguration showed farthest distance in political ideals from the European dream over the former US governments of the past 50 years.‖ The US ―took a conservative position in domestic issues and insisted unilateralism in international affairs.‖2 Another German article criticized that ―the US always named other countries ―Rogue States,‖ but itself was on the road towards a rogue state.‖3 A commentary on an American Journal also said that: ―American Allies felt worried that President Bush would obey cold-war mentality and define friends and enemies by plausible standards but ignore the feelings and opinions of other countries, thus causing global anger to the single superpower in the world.‖4 The vicious development of the US hegemony and power politics undoubtedly provided new conditions for the rise of international terrorism. To be specific, it

1

Charles Krauthammer:”The Bush Doctrine: ABM, Kyoto, and the New American Unilateralism”, Weekly Standard, Jun 4, 2001, Vol. 6, No. 36. 2Gerald Baker: Bush predicted the coming of American Self-interest Era ",Financial Times, February 16, 2001. 3 "The United States is on its way to rogue states," Der Spiegel February 16, 2001. 4 [US] “The Bush Government Adjusted to the Reality”, Chicago Tribune, May 15, 2001. 114

intensified the existing conflicts in the fields of politics, economy, nation, culture, and religion, which served as fertile soil for terrorism; in a lack of strong counter-balancing power, the US hegemony believers used terrorist activities to attack opponents and enemies without constraints and held dual standards more publicly on the terror issue for its own sake, thus offering a new driving force for terrorism development.

4.4.2 The expansion of American hegemony and the development of Islamic terrorism The malignant expansion of American hegemony influenced various types of countries in the world, especially the vast developing countries, represented by those in the Middle East and Islamic areas. As we all know, after the end of the cold war, the escalation of Arab-Israeli conflict and the development of Islamic religious extremism and terrorism were prominent on the international stage. Superficially it was caused by national and religious contradictions between Israel and Arab countries, but in essence, the root was American global strategy and world hegemony. As mentioned before, the Middle East has been a historic battlefield for the US and the USSR. After the cold war, considering the following reasons, the battle did not disappear but made new developments. Firstly, the collapse of the Soviet Union changed the rivalry pattern between the USA and the Soviet Union, and the conflicts of strategic interests between the US and Russia, the heir to the USSR remains. Russia‘s economic and political strengths had been greatly weakened, but it inherited almost the whole nuclear arsenal of the Soviet Union, became the second largest military power in the world, and distinguished itself from western countries, especially the US, in geopolitical politics, cultural traditions, and strategic interests. Therefore, though Russia‘s ―democratic‖ government introduced new policies of ―return to Europe‖ and ―pro-America‖ after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US still regarded Russia as a ―potential strategic rival‖ and tried hard to constrict its international strategic space and took containment policy as an important part of its global engagement strategy. It was clearly proved by the fact that NATO, which was originally set to fight against the Soviet Union, not only existed but also actively expanded eastern ward after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Secondly, the strategic position of the Middle East did not diminish after the cold 115

war, not only because the strategic values of oil resources in this area have not dropped, but also because it is the US‘s southern outpost towards the backyard of Russiathe Caucasus and central Asian countriesto further influence the development of the Commonwealth of Independent States, compete for resources in this region including oil, and realize strategic encirclement on Russia. To Russia, the Middle East was still an important link in its security strategy, since the Caucasus and central Asia remained as a security barrier, but meanwhile eventful area. As a result, the former rivalry between the two superpowers in the Middle East has changed, but also still existed. Russia presented its constringency but never entirely withdrew from this region. It was distinctly shown by the closeness of Russia and anti-American countries represented by Iran and the resistance to American Middle East strategies and policies. Thirdly, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States became the only dominant force in the Middle East, and its policies and acts in the Middle East also got more outrageous. In the past, the United States might have to win over some Middle Eastern countries to compete with the Soviet Union, it now publicly announced a group of Arab and Islamic countries as "rogue states" and listed them as the targets for attack; what‘s more, the desire, emotion, and demands of a number of its former "friends" were ignored and no longer in its consideration. This made the contradiction between the United States and Arab countries, even the whole Islamic world, to be further exacerbated. In practice, after the social unrest and drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe countries, the first war waged by the United States was the Gulf War. Initially, most people regarded the war as the US‘s sanction against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait to provide help for its ally, Kuwait; therefore the war gained the support of most countries in the world, including Arab countries. However, after the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, the United States and its ally Britain still adhered to the blockade and air strikes against Iraq. This showed that the United States launched the war for some other reasons besides the two mentioned above. Over 10 years of blockades, embargos, and lasting bombings have kept the Iraqi people in extreme poverty, and deprived millions citizens of their lives. This was not sanctions and fights against Saddam Hussein's regime, but a lasting alarm and warning to those governments and their people who do not stand with the United States. The bombing and attacks against the civilians of Libya, Sudan, and other countries by the United States in the name of counter-terrorism were also to achieve this purpose.

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This outrageous policy adopted by the United States regarding Arab countries, has contributed to the expansion of the Israeli right-wing forces and the growth of terrorism. On February 25, 1994, a Zionist extremist burst into the Ibrahim Mosque, and strafed the crowd of prayers with an automatic rifle. 57 people were killed and dozens injured; On November 4, 1995, the former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who advocated reconciliation with the Arab countries, was assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv. As Sharon, a well-known Israeli representative of right-wing hardliners took office, the conflict between Palestine and Israel constantly upgraded, an increasing number of Arab civilians were dead and wounded under the guns of the Israeli military and police. President Bush adopted a tougher policy on Middle East while implementing a policy of unilateralism after he took office. He even regarded the ―mediator‖ role played by President Clinton as unnecessary, and allowed the Israeli right-wing forces to launch attacks. All of the above events heated the hatred of the Arab people against Israel and the US was to a boiling point, added fuel to the flames of existing conflicts and provided opportunities for the vicious terrorist acts of fugitives.

4.4.3 The US’s double standards towards terrorism and the development of international terrorism The vicious bulge of the US hegemony and power politics is also evidently expressed by its double standards on terrorist activities in clear manner and its conducts of publicly using terrorism to attack opponents or nations who dare to say no to the United States. In fact, the hegemony of the US never just provides soil for rise of terrorism. We can see from what has been mentioned above, in many cases, those in power are also direct or indirect supporters, even manipulators behind some terrorist activities. The following facts reflect more clearly the attitude of the American authorities, which is, taking full use of terrorist activities for its own sake. It is well known that the current terrorist events made by national separatists have been increasingly popular and serious forms of terrorism in the world. For such kind of terrorist activities, the United States always adopted dual standards of combing pragmatism and interest-oriented. Generally speaking, the United States condemned the terrorist activities made by national separatists in its western allied countries and supported their policies to strike terrorism, but for those in developing countries, 117

especially its opponents and enemies, the US always takes attitude of support and connivance. In terms of this aspect, there are a number of examples. For example, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which is regarded by the American authorities as a base camp of terrorist activities and enemies to be eradicated was precisely the place propped up by the United States to attack its opponent the Soviet Union and realize its underlying global expansion strategy. In order to support their fight against the Soviet Union, the US not only gave strong assistance in terms of weapons, personnel training, and funding, but also offered funding to encourage the Taliban to plant opium, making Afghanistan the second largest Asian opium production and export base, behind the ―Golden Triangle‖ in Southeast Asia. In addition, Osama Bin Laden and his associates who were declared by the US as the top wanted criminal for September 11th attacks were precisely the ones trained by the US from Arabic countries. As early as the anti-Soviet War, these people have already held the banner of the ―Islamic Jihad,‖ but considering the compliance with US strategic intentions at that time, the US did not notice the danger. Even when the terrorists led by Bin Laden showed obvious terrorist and religious extremist preferences, the US still wanted to take advantage of the forces as a tool to achieve its strategic ambition. When they organized ―Jihad‖ to support Chechen rebels‘ terrorist insurgent activities and helped train military personnel and economic aids, the US did not condemn their terrorist conduct, but in name of human rights protection, constrained Russia from safeguarding national sovereignty and striking against terrorism. The vice president of Russia‘s geopolitical college, Ivar Otmar, has pointed out in a recent article, ‖the Taliban is a kind of evil force, but a few months ago, the US was still reluctant to approve sanctions against them and never did anything to implement such kind of sanctions.‖1 Besides, the US connived, and even indulged and protected Kosovo‘s National Islamic separatists‘ terrorist activities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia but condemned the separatist activities by guerrillas of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party; it hindered the Yugoslavian government from suppressing ethnic separation but supported and helped similar activities of the Turkish government and even helped to chase and arrest leaders of the Workers Party‘s guerrillas. Both were ethnic separatists, and the terrorist activities of Muslims occurred roughly in the same period of time, but the US differed greatly in its attitudes and policies. It did not result from the

1

Ivar Otmar :" Global Challenges ", The Independent, October 10, 2001 . 118

difference of the kinships of the US towards the Muslims in the two countries, but the governments‘ identities of friend or enemy that the US defined. The Slobodan Milosevic government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was regarded as the last red political power in Europe and ally to Russia and the US‘s potential opponent, so it was to be eradicated; in contrast, the Turkish government was a traditional ally and important pillar to the US forces in the Middle East, so it deserved protection. In all, there is no objective standard and justice for the US to define terrorist activities but it always put its own interests first. What is in favor of the realization of its global strategy, it is democratic and human rights fighter who deserves supports and protections, otherwise, it is sinner who should not be forgiven and must be eradicated. Moreover, in the Arab-Israeli conflicts, both sides used terrorist means but the US seriously condemned the terrorist activities of the Arabic side while it treated the other side lightly. In fact, some Americans not only had strong hegemonic intentions but also had serious racial and religious prejudice. In their view, the suffering of Arab countries did not deserve sympathy but Zionism‘s conquering, killing, and fire-raising was a struggling space for survival. Finally, the United States adopted double standards on terrorist activities within the Chinese territory. For example, the US keeps silent on the activities of the East Turkish Islamic Organization in Xinjiang, China. And it‘s reported by foreign media that CIA officers kept in touch with the Taliban and tried to induce their focus to China; it‘s publicly known that for a long time, the CIA has assisted and trained terrorist personnel for Dalai; various kinds of evil acts done by Falun Gong become fighting for freedom in the eyes of American authorities and deserve support and shelter. For all of these terrorist activities, the US government never opposed but in the name of human rights and freedom, put obstacles up against the Chinese government striking these criminal activities. If these terrorist attacks occurred in the US or amongst its allies, the US would certainly have presented another totally different attitude. In short, the US double standards in treating terrorism in accordance with its own interests has indulged the growth of terrorism and eliminated any possibilities for the major powers to form an international anti-terrorism mechanism. The decades after the cold war have proved that the US‘s global hegemony did not bring peace to the world as the theorists predicted but intensified the global political and economic conflicts, therefore, terrorism worldwide could not come to an end but fall into deterioration. It shows that former bipolar rivalries or current hegemonic monopoly,

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under any conditions; fail to bring the world fairness and justice. Moreover, in a unipolar world, the absence of competitors and counter balancing forces induced the US power politics to expand malignantly and made the world order more unreasonable and unfair, thus providing fertile soil for the growth an spread of international terrorism. Just as Russian scholar Ivar Otmar argued in the article mentioned before, after the Soviet Union, the US has become ―a country that takes the land of the whole world as its sphere of influence and tries hard to control the world; a state in which waving the big stick might force allies to comply with American interests, imposing American values on others, and building national relations according to the principles of ‗rulers and the ruled,‘ but not the international laws.‖ ―All of these aim at serving American interests and the new world order claimed by George Bush Sr. Essentially, it is global Monroe Doctrine or World hegemony. ‖ He believed that no country or group today is capable of preventing American expansion and offensive policies, so it caused others to fight against Washington spontaneously but offered the breeding ground for terrorist operations.‖1

4.5 The 9/11 incident: an opportunity for adjusting the relationship among great powers 4.5.1 The September 11thAttacks and the Adjustment of American International Strategy and Foreign Policy The study above focuses on the impact of unreasonable relations among major powers, especially the hegemony of the major powers and the irrational global political and economic orders directly related to the breeding and development of international terrorism. It should be noted that the impact is bidirectional. On the one hand, the contradiction, confrontation, and conflict among the major powers provide conditions for the development of international terrorism. On the other hand, the development of international terrorism aggravates the contradiction, confrontation, and conflict among the major powers in turn. The result is that the two start a vicious

1

Ivar Otmar," Global Challenges ", The Independent, October 10, 2001 . 120

cycle where they mutually promote each other. Judging from the current international situation, the September 11th incident is likely to break the vicious cycle and provides opportunities for the adjustment and improvement of the relations among major powers to some extent. Primarily, this is because the great impact the incident has brought to the US will induce America to adjust its international strategy and foreign policy. Since America plays a dominant role in international relations, a resulting chain reaction is inevitable. The catastrophic attack that New York and Washington D.C. suffered on September 11, 2001 was unprecedented in the United States. The incident brought various challenges to the international strategy and foreign policy of America. Firstly, it challenges the international status of America as the world‘s policeman and marks the end of the history where America punishes and gives lessons to other countries without worrying about being treated as it treats others. Secondly, it challenges the defiant unilateralism of Bush and forces America to realize that it is not omnipotent; that support and cooperation from other countries is necessary for safeguarding national security. Thirdly, it challenges the traditional security concept of America, that is, "external defense only, no internal defense," and breaks the pattern that the United States has no worries about enemies accessing it. For a long time, the authority of America has always laid the key issues of security on strengthening its capability of expending worldwide and attacking other countries due to the geographical advantage. The security concept of "attack is the best defense" has long been at the leading position. But the "9/11" incident made people realize that the defense lines within the territory of America had serious problems. In a word, the September 11thevent has made the strategic vulnerability of the United States as a superpower come to light and its influences on the international strategy and foreign policy of America are far-reaching. Firstly, the "9/11" incident made people think about the reason why America has become the focus of international terrorist attacks and the source of this hatred. Although the majority of American people support the crackdown on the "9/11" plotters, still there are many sober-minded Americans who note the hazard of hegemony and realize the necessity of adjusting foreign policy. For example, Rubinstein, an American terrorism expert, pointed out that terrorist attacks set people thinking, "Shall we maintain the absolute dominance and become the new Roman Empire or must we re-evaluate and reconstruct our relationships with other countries?‖ Bush believed that the terrorists intended to 'destroy the democratic

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system and western civilization' and that is what is shown on TV. But what about the bombed Iraq, the disastrous consequences of depleted uranium bombs, and the children killed and wounded by bombings? One million children died in Iraq, but people have no idea of the tragedy. All they want is an internal review of US foreign policy."1 An article published in The San Diego Union-Tribune pointed out "The September 11thincident is not accidental. What have we done to cause such consequences? The United States have become the richest and most powerful country in the world after World War II, thus Americans consider international law to have a binding force on the United States. We insisted on the implementation of a national missile defense system. We refused to pay the UN membership dues. We refused to accept the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Kyoto Protocol. We refused to prohibit the use of land mines. In a word, 9/11 is a tragedy, but the crimes we have committed against other countries and the innocent people cannot be obliterated by the tragedy. It's the duty of our generation to face the wrongs we have done."2 It's written in an article in The Baltimore Sun (US) that "Dislike, resentment, anger, and hatred toward America arise in many forms and in many places. An anti-American could be a student in South Korea, a rightist in Japan, a soccer fan in Greece, a priest in Russia, an imam in Ghana, a protester in Pakistanor a hijacker in the United States. President Bush says that the men who flew the planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon did so because they hated freedom. There is probably a kernel of truth in that, but people who have studied the impulses of anti-Americanism around the world agree that the real answer is more complicated and more specific than the president's explanation would suggest. Anti-Americanism is a potent force in a world dominated by a single economic and political superpower." 3 Not only did some American people start to reflect upon the international strategy and foreign policy of America, but friends of the United States did as well. For instance, when talk about the "unilateralism" of American authority, Chris Patten, the European Union's foreign affairs chief and the former Governor of Hong Kong, pointed out that "In fact, multilateralism contributes to the reduction of violence." "Those involved in decision making in America should think about why

1

[America] Rubinstein: "Violence -exporting Countries" , Chile " Century " magazine , reported on September 24, 2001. 2 [America] Lindsay Morgan and Nicole Walling Morgan. After we are attacked, a younger generation asks 'why'. The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 28,2001. 3 [America]Will England. In many forms, places, hatred of America lives. The Baltimore Sun, September 28,2001. 122

they are unpopular in some regions of the world," "it's important to admit that a pluralistic and open society should be protected by people. When we talk about human rights, we often consider it as a unique concept of Europeans and Americans as if the virtue is our patent." "Let's think about the acts against humanity that took place in Europe in the 20th century. Think about how widespread they were!"1 Secondly, people are wondering why the United States, the most powerful country in the world, was so easily attacked by terrorists and if the military and national defense strategy of the US is rational. For a long time, the potentates and strategists of American were not wholly devoid of an idea that the United States might be attacked by terrorists, the seriousness of the terrorist attacks was mentioned in the national security strategy documents enacted by the respective governments. Most of them have not yet shaken themselves out of old habits of thought formulated during the Cold War. Pursuing world supremacy, maintaining supremacy, and opposing other countries have always been the starting point of their strategic thinking. It appears to them that the main threats and challenges to American hegemony come from potential competitors, such as Russia and China, and "rogue states" that disobey the United States. Because of this, they raked up the long-abandoned "Star Wars" plan, which was first carried out during the Cold War, at the risk of restarting the arms race. They spared no expense to build the systems of theater missile defense and national missile defense in order to get the US armed with both spear and shield. Thus the nuclear superiority of American was brought into full play and the nuclear deterrence to other countries has come into being. However, the "9/11" incident showed that the real threat to American security is neither "potential competitors" like Russia and China nor the so-called "rogue states" but those invisible, untouchable, yet ubiquitous terrorists. For them, the power of nuclear weapons is not as good as a baton and is tantamount to going after a fly with a bazooka. The missile defense system not only is the distant water which can't quench a present thirst but is probably of no use at all as well. Donald H. Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense pointed out in an article published on November 1, 2001, that the US must modify the military strategy based on the new situation after the attacks and that the US should list "liquidating terrorist networks" as the "first" task. Therefore, "we must shift our defense planning from the ‗threat-based‘ model that has dominated thinking in the past to a ‗capabilities-based‘

1

[France] Reporter Ze Jini. The United States should think about why they are unpopular in some regions of the world. Le Monde, October 9,2001. 123

model for the future. Instead of focusing on who our next adversary might be or where a war might occur, we must focus on how an adversary might fightand develop new capabilities to deter and defeat that adversary."1 In short, the goal of the US military strategy cannot be predetermined and this is quite different from the strategy of list a particular country as "potential competitor" in advance not long ago. Naturally, as the rulers of America are so vengeful now that it's hard for them to accept these informed views and opinions, let alone admit that its hegemony and power politics are harmful to the world or even the United States' own security in public. In fact, some speeches addressed by the US leaders are quite different from those given before the attacks. In the past, the US leaders were used to emphasizing the strength and leadership of American but now they tend to stress the importance of international cooperation, especially cooperation among big powers. Take Scowcroft, the national security adviser of former president Bush Senior as an example. Scowcroft pointed out that the anti-terrorist war is different from the Gulf War because it's ―even more dependent on coalition-building than was the Gulf War.‖ Cooperation not only benefits the anti-terrorist war, but also "helps erase the reputation the United States have been developing of being unilateral and indifferent, if not arrogant, to others. It can bring us together in a spirit of cooperation with countries with whom we currently have problems of various kinds, such as Russia, China, Iran, and Pakistan."2 Colin Powell, US Secretary of State, wrote in Newsweek that the "global campaign against terrorism may well open the door for us to strengthen or reshape international relationships and expand or establish areas of cooperation. Russia and China, two great powers in transition whose successful integration into the international community we seek, have contributed to this unprecedented global effort. Developing habits of consultation and cooperation against international terrorism can create opportunities to deepen our relations with both countries in other spheres. Pakistan and India, bitter rivals, have both joined the coalition. This may present an opportunity for both countries to explore new ways of thinking about stability on the Subcontinent." "The prospects for international cooperation across a broad range of issues have never been brighter." "And we will seize them." 3 It seems that it's inevitable for the US government to adjust international strategy and foreign policy to some extent. In a certain period of time, 1 2 3

[America]Donald H. Rumsfeld. Beyond This War on Terrorism. Washington Post, November 1st,2001. [America] Brent Scowcroft.Build a Coalition. Washington Post, October 16, 2001. [America]Colin Powell. A Long, Hard Campaign.Newsweek, October 15,2001. 124

fighting against terrorist activities and forming an anti-terrorist international united front will replace building a missile defense system as the new focus of American international strategy.

4.5.2 The September 11th incident and the Change and Development Prospect of International Relations among Great Powers Practically, in order to seek support from the international community, especially the great powers, in its war against terror, the United States has indeed been adjusting its relationship with the relevant countries. And they in turn have more or less expressed their support for the US, albeit with their own various stance and policies regarding the war. In reality, the international community has shown a greater amount of support for the ongoing war in Afghanistan than any previous war the US have initiated in the past. Several reasons explain this: first of all, the people of these countries felt a deep sympathy for the loss of the innocent lives the US went through. Second, 9/11 exposed the real threat of terrorism. The target was the US first, but it could be any other country next. Terrorism has become a public threat to the well-being of the international community. Third, the effort the US Government put in invoking international sympathy and backing has somewhat produced the desired result. The US Government has never sought aid from other countries in the past like now, nor has it expressed as much gratitude and friendliness. The success of this new diplomatic approach ought to be acknowledged. At the same time, other countries started a wave of diplomatic activities, the meetings and discussions among the leaders of the world reached an unprecedented level of frequency. Not only did US leaders engage in repeated gatherings and discussions with other leaders, the communication and interactions among these countries have been enthusiastic as well. This means that the international community, especially the great powers, shares a common concern with the problem of terrorism. It is worth a note that the Shanghai Five, founded by China, Russia, and some Central Asian States five years earlier, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, founded in 2001 based on the Shanghai Five, was primarily formed as a way to fight the spread of terrorism. In fact the first functional organ ever formed under the Organization was the ―Anti-terrorist 125

Coordination Center‖ located in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. After the Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was issued, the first document signed by all the participating heads of state was ―Combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism Shanghai Convention.‖ These actions have played an important role in promoting regional peace and stability. Thus under the new circumstances, it is not impossible to form some kind of international cooperative organization based on counterterrorism, albeit there are still many hardships and obstacles to overcome. Such possibility is particularly embodied by the signs of improvement of international relations, especially among countries that have been plagued by conflicts in the past. 9/11 provided an opportunity for improving the US-Russian relationship. After the incident, President Putin immediately made a phone call to President Bush, and expressed deep sympathy over the American people for being attacked. He referred to the terrorist attack against the US as a challenge to mankind, and expressed his full support of American counterterrorist actions. Action-wise, Russia not only actively provided military intelligence regarding Taliban to the US, but also contributed many ideas and advice to the military campaign in Afghanistan. In addition, it also allowed the US to use its military bases in Tajikistan. One noteworthy thing was, Mr. Putin expressed his plan to dismantle the military bases and equipment previously built against the US in Cuba and Vietnam. In addition he declared that Russia would consider joining NATO under special conditions. Some Russians even suggested participating in the US-led war in exchange for the US consent of Russia joining NATO. In response to these cordial Russian gestures, the US government took some initiative while repeatedly expressing gratitude. For example, the Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that the US-Russian relationship had entered a new historical phase. The US Department of Defense also announced that it would defer the planned experiment of the National Missile Defense System, and there would not be any violation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972, implying an end to the controversy over the treaty. On October 15, 2001, prior to President Bush attending the APEC economic leader‘s meeting in Shanghai, the National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice announced during a press briefing ―It was time to move beyond the Cold War to a new relationship with Russia. September 11th demonstrated the tremendous possibilities of that new relationship. And on Chechnya, the President has been clear that our policies continue to be concerned about human rights issues, to be concerned about minority rights issues; but to make certain that we also say to the Chechen leadership that a political solution is important to this. It is important for the

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legitimate Chechen leadership to make sure that there are no international terrorists among them.‖ This meant that the United Stated had given the Chechen rebels a notice to stay clear from the Afghan terrorists and to use negotiation instead of war as the way to solve the differences they shared with the Russian Federal Government. This new US attitude was different from previous ones. During the meeting in Shanghai, the US and Russia‘s presidents both made a public announcement of the total cooperation in fighting international terrorism. These Russian gestures stemmed from a few roots. First, the Taliban and Al Qaeda were important supporters of the Chechen rebels, thus the US and Russia shared a common interest in curbing the influence of these terrorists. On the other hand, Russia also wanted to repair the damaged relations with the US, easing the tension caused by the issues around the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. But some media, both Russian and western, thought there might be some hidden agenda and intentions behind these unnatural announcements President Putin made. The Sino-US relationship also showed noticeable signs of improvement. It is well known that around the time he took office, President Bush repeatedly announced that the US and China were not strategic partners; and that China was a strategic rival and competitor. Certain strategists in the United States followed suit, claiming an overabundance of conflicts in the strategic interests of the US and China, and a lack of common interests. After Bush‘s inauguration, endless frictions and conflicts plagued the Sino-American relationship. Ever since the Hainan Island Incident, the tense relations between the two countries showed a relaxing tendency. September 11th provided a new opportunity to improve and further develop relations. Immediately after the incident, President Jiang Zemin expressed deep sympathy on behalf of the Chinese government and people, and stated the Chinese principle of always opposing any form of terrorism. Afterwards Presidents Bush made three phone calls to President Jiang, hoping to gain the Chinese support in its War on Terror while expressing gratitude over the Chinese gestures. Despite being preoccupied with the post-9/11 issues, President Bush personally flew to Shanghai to attend the APEC meeting—the first diplomatic trip abroad since he took office. This reflected that the US had attached high importance to China and the APEC meeting. During their meeting the two heads of state further exchanged opinions regarding counterterrorism and reached many agreements. In addition, the September 11thincident dealt a hard blow on the aircraft-manufacturing industry in America; while manufacturers were losing a large number of orders, China announced that it would place an order of 30

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passenger airplanes. All this made it clear to many Americans that although the two governments had conflicting views on a great deal of issues, there was still a huge room for cooperation, contradicting the claim made by the anti-Chinese activists that the two countries lacked common interests. For example, Michael Jendrzejczyk, the Asian Division Director of Human Rights Watch, once said, ―America and China can go further,‖ ―Whatever its internal divisions and suspicions of American intentions, the Chinese leadership seems united on wanting to improve relations,‖ ―President Bush should use his talks with President Jiang to begin laying the groundwork for ongoing interaction between the two countries.‖1 David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University, and Robert Litwak, director of international studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, wrote an article stating that ―President Bush's trip to China tomorrow to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting may mark a qualitatively new and more mature phase in relations between the two countries,‖ ―Disagreements about China policy inside the government…have become muted,‖ ―Simply going to Shanghai will also help familiarize President Bush with the realities of a rapidly modernizing China, giving him a concrete sense of a country often reduced to abstractions and stereotypes,‖ ―the tensions of recent years between Washington and Beijing may be reduced by multinational management of common problems. Although the two nations will continue to have friction, international coalitions and multilateral mechanisms offer a productive way forward for Sino-American cooperation,‖ ―The mixed, complex character of Sino-American relations resists reduction to any simplistic slogan, whether ‗strategic partners‘ or ‗strategic competitors.‘‖ ―America's relationship with China is increasingly enmeshed in a broader global framework.‖2 Furthermore, the United States also made an effort to improve relations with other powers since September 11th. In addition to strengthening ties with allies like Western European nations and Japan, it also sought closer relations with India, Pakistan, and other Muslim countries. For example, in order to win support from these states the US canceled the sanctions against India and Pakistan for nuclear testing, started providing economic aid to Pakistan, proclaimed support for a Palestine State, and demanded Israel to act with more restraint. The summit meeting of APEC leaders in Shanghai included, in addition to

1

[US] Mike Jendrzejczyk, America and China Can Go Further, International Herald Tribune, December 12, 2011. Shambaugh David, Litwak Robert: Common Interests in a Hazardous World, New York Times, October 17, 2001

2

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economic problems, discussions about questions regarding counterterrorism. Although some important Muslim countries with different views participated, they reached many important agreements when it came to fighting terrorism together. The meeting passed the APEC Leaders Statement on Counter-terrorism, including important articles such as ―Leaders consider the murderous deeds as well as other terrorist acts in all forms and manifestations, committed wherever, whenever, and by whomsoever as a profound threat to the peace, prosperity, and security of all people, of all faiths, of all nations,‖ ―Leaders deem it imperative to strengthen international cooperation at all levels in combating terrorism in a comprehensive manner and affirm that UN should play a major role in this regard,‖ ―Leaders commit to prevent and suppress all forms of terrorist acts in the future in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other international law… call for early signing and ratification of all basic universal anti-terrorist conventions including the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism etc.‖1 It can be inferred from the above paragraphs that under the impact of the September th 11 attacks the relations above great powers have shown a tendency for improvement. As a result, many political commentators around the world made very optimistic predictions for the international relations and circumstances in the future. For instance, the experts from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a renowned American think tank, think that regardless of how people might see it subjectively, this incident was ―a watershed event in the post-Cold War relations among the great powers.‖ John Chipman, the director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, once said, ―A new strategic era has dawned,‖ ―The US has a newly defined enemy which is neither the old Soviet Union nor a potentially resurgent China, but international terrorism. New relationships, even alliances, will be built, and these may well be quite long-lasting.‖2 Shashi Tharoor, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, said that before September 11, people often said that the 21stcentury would be an American century, it would now seem that ―21st century will be the century of ‗one world‘ as never before,‖ ―a time of unprecedented mutual understanding.‖3 It ought to be pointed out that the future prospect of development for the relations

1

APEC Leaders Statement on Counter-Terrorism, Liberation Daily, October 22th, 2001 From Associated Press correspondent Beth Gardiner, Report: Terror War Opens New Epoch, London, October 18, 2001, quoted by Xinhua Daily Telegraph, October 26, 2001 3 Shashi Tharoor, an Optimistic Outlook for the 21st Century, International Herald Tribune, December 26, 2011 2

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among the great powers and the international situation is not nearly as optimistic as these commentators. Many observers around the world have doubts whether the American leaders would review their unilateral policies, improve relations with other great powers, or respect other countries opinions and interest. For example, Russian scholar Ivashov pointed out that ―instead of finding out the fundamental causes for the terrorist attacks, the United States was trying to use the incident to fulfill its dreams,‖ ―Bush‘s grave warning, that any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime, has found an excuse for its military and political actions.‖ He thinks that the US ―uses establishing the international counterterrorism coalition to tie the hands of other countries, and takes another solid step toward its goal of world domination.‖ Even some Americans think that the rhetoric of those in power is merely a strategy. The Myth of Abandoned Unilateralism reflects, above all, the desire of everyone, Americans and allies. The Bush Administration ―isn't any more or less unilateral than it ever was.‖ 1 Many Commentators think that besides striking Taliban and Osama bin Laden, the American enthusiasm to invade Afghanistan had deeper strategic goals, such as taking the opportunity to enter Central Asia, controlling the oil reserves in this area, influencing the course of development of the native countries, and further surrounding Russia and China, its two main strategic competitors. We think that the two different views on the future development of international relations are both valid and both have some justifications and can serve as a good reference. The difference reflects the complex nature of the relations among great powers, characterized by active and passive factors coexisting and intertwining together. In fact, the differences and conflicts of strategic interests among the great nations, especially the US, Russia, and China, have their own subjective and objective reasons that have accumulated over a period of time, and thus cannot be fundamentally eliminated through a single incident. It is possible too that new conflicts and frictions might arise in the future. But it is also noteworthy that in the political and economic development of the whole world, there are increasingly many factors that prompt nations, especially great nations, to cooperate with each other. Time is advancing, human civilization is developing; the confrontation, contention and domination of great powers do not necessarily form a fixed cycle. Of course in eliminating global public threats such as terrorism, the agreements the international

1

Jim Mann, Unilateralism Dead? That’s a Myth Perception. Los Angeles Times, October 24, 2001 130

community came to in striking against the orchestrator of the September 11th attack was far from enough. The more important thing is to base decisions on the Charter of the United Nations and publically-accepted international laws and principles, establish normal international relations, and a just and reasonable international political and economic order accepted by the majority of the countries in the world, thereby eliminating the breeding ground for terrorism. One important thing to avoid is the double standard when it comes to terrorist activities. In this aspect every great nation in the world must share the unavoidable responsibility. This is of course a crucial premise for the normalization of the relations between great powers. (Wang Jincun, researcher of Institute of World Economics & Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

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5 National Strategies and Terrorism Terrorism has spread and expanded on a global scale since the 1990s. There are diverse kinds of terroristic organizations, now we list the following types roughly: nationalistic terrorism, religious terrorism, far-right terrorism, far-left terrorism, racist terrorism, and underworld terrorism. The range of activities of terrorist organizations extends across the whole world. The targets of terrorist attacks include all kinds of states. Among these states America has borne the most attacks and suffered the most losses. Different terrorist attacks have different specific reasons, and getting entangled in these specific reasons does not necessarily help us find out the real root of terrorism, nor can it take advantage of the international conflict against terrorism. As a historical phenomenon, terrorism has a profound economic and political background. So, one important aspect of searching for the root of terrorism is to explore the relations between national strategy (both internal and international strategy) and terrorism.

5.1 The relationship between national strategy and the origins of international terrorism Just like the Pearl Harbor Attack, the 9/11 Terror Attack shocked not only America but also the whole world. Every member state of the international society, including China, has shown their heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the American people, as well as made a firm objection and a strong condemnation to the terrorism. Now the international society has shown the unprecedented consistency on the issue of fighting against the terrorism which has been seen as a public nuisance for all humanity. Recently, nations have been busy exploring the root of terrorism so that we can act appropriately to the situation and eradicate terrorism efficiently. People who are exploring this issue all raise the question: why is America the target of almost all the major terror attacks. A report titled Experts: America must solve the root of hatred, written by Longworth, an American journalist, said that Evans, whom is the former Australian prime minister and executive in charge of the International crisis research organization, pointed out that if there is no incorporation between the Bush Administration's anti-terrorism measures and the long-term measures which aim at "Eliminating the breedingground of resentment and despair," we will not win the war 132

of anti-terrorism.1Another journalist Jonathan Bauer wrote in a report named The price of American arrogance from Stockholm that: "I have Interviewed many ordinary Europeans from all walks of life, and all they said that it resulted from its consistent arrogance and lack of consideration for others, America finally dropped into the mire which is dug itself."2 When he was interviewed by the French newspaper Le Figaro, the UN Secretary General Annan stressed that "we must beat the root of terrorism——poverty and ignorance."3All the viewpoints above make us ask the following questions: what has made the sentiments of "resentment and despair" appear around the world? Why has America dropped into the mire which is dug for itself? Who is responsible for the "poverty and ignorance" of many developing countries? In order to answer these questions, we have to refer to many sates' national strategies, especially the US national strategy. Though discussing these issues in this chapter, we can explore the root of terrorism reasonably, so that it is more convenient for international society to reach a consensus on the issue of how to eradicate terrorism. For the same reason, all the promises China has made to the international society, which certainly includes the US, on the issue of anti-terrorism will be far-removed from the comments about American national strategy and some other states' national strategy in this chapter.

5.1.1 The US Terrorist attacks, as a kind of morbid form of revolt, are generated from hegemony and power politics. During the cold war, the targets of US hegemony were the Soviet Union and the Soviet Bloc. At that time, to the states located in intermediate zones between the two blocs, such as Yugoslavia, America showed an amicable attitude and tried to draw them to their side. Consequently, the conflicts between the third world countries and America were covered by the major conflict between America and Soviet Union. After the cold war, America has become the sole superpower and sees itself as the victor of the cold war, hegemony and power politics of America also have continued to see development. The American national strategy has three main objectives.

1

"Experts: America must solve the root of hatred", Chicago Tribune , USA, September 22, 2001 "The price for American arrogant," The St Paul Herald, USA, September 18, 2001 3 Le Figaro, France, November 5, 2001 2

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The first objective is to preserve the economic security of America. America can try to get the largest interests in the globalization by being dominant in the international economic rule-making. The logic of America is that what serves American interests should also serve the world interests. This kind of American Foreign economic strategy, ignoring the interests of the great majority of developing nations, making unreasonable international economic orders sustain and develop, becomes one of the major reasons for the increasing gaps between the Global South and North. Resulting from the collapse of the former Soviet Union, there is no need for America to use the economic aids to draw in states located in intermediate zones to its side. The economic aids to developing countries from the United States now are on a declining curve that becomes one of the important external causes for the marginalization of some developing countries. According to the United Nations, the number of "Least developed countries" has increased from 20 in the 1980s to 48 now. The number of the people who are in the "economic despair" is increasing recently as well. The second objective is to promote the democratic values and moral values of America all around the world, to cause Americanization by advancing ―global democratization,‖ in order to guarantee the American world hegemony on the institutional respects. Ignoring the diversity of the world and other nations' ideologies and social systems, this so-called "democratic hegemony‖ and "benevolent hegemony" naturally cause common discontent in international society and causes rising of nationalist sentiment. This is the important international background for extreme nationalism becoming increasing active. The third objective is to maintain American military security and ensure America's role as the global hegemon. America reinforced the old military alliances and gave them new missions to make it easy to compress the strategic space of its old enemies after the cold war. Guided by this strategy, America increases its invention and regulation of Balkans affairs, Middle East affairs, Arab affairs, Central Asia affairs, South Asia affairs, and East Asia affairs. These areas, as the intermediate zones during the cold war, now become the regions which America must control in order to maintain its world hegemony. The international objective of American hegemony is far beyond the scope of one country's reasonable interests. What America is pursuing is not only supremacy in the political realm, the economic realm, the military realm, and the ideological realm, but also spreading its social system, ideological values, and moral values across the globe. This strategy of America, ignoring other nations' sovereignty and interests,

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overlooking the diversity of cultures, ideologies, and social systems of other nations, shows American arrogance and superiority in all aspects: what serves American interests should also serve global interests, all nations should obey the will of the United States and do as America says; if a nation do not obey America, it must be a "pagan" and be treated with isolation, discrimination, containment, and punishment. This hegemony of the United Stated certainly meets oppositions and resistances from most of the people and states in various forms, and among these forms there is a kind of morbid form of revolt: international terrorism. So one of the major roots of the contemporary international terrorism——particularly the terrorism that targets America——is the international hegemony strategy of the United States. We will do more specific analysis below. (1) The Containment Strategy toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In the decades when America and Soviets contend for hegemony, the behaviors of external expansions of the United States and the Soviet Union became the roots of conflicts that have happened in many places of the world, and provided the circumstances for the spread of terrorism. Sometimes superpowers even directly take part in terrorist actions, and even provide the "models" for terrorist organizations. During the years of the Cold War, America and the Soviet Union schemed with, joined in, or supported terrorist actions which aimed at hitting their opponents or the agents of the opponents implicitly or explicitly. Compared with the Soviet Union, the behaviors of the United States were more excessive. The United States always supported, schemed, or even took part in terrorism actions directly in the name of containing communism, and saw terrorism actions as an important assistive tool to help realize its goals. The following are some classic examples. Cuba: The United Stated could not tolerate the existence of a socialist Cuba in the westernhemisphere, directly under its nose. America would not feel at ease until it uprooted Cuba. On April 17, 1961, America dispatched mercenaries to invade Cuba, which is known throughout the world as the "Bay of Pigs Invasion." This invasion finally ended in failure. After this, America started to support the exiles of Cuba to become engaged in terrorist attacks which targeted Cuba. According to the declassifieddocuments of the CIA in 1997, the CIA schemed 637 assassinations of Castro during 40 years, but none of them succeeded. From 1969-1979,the exiles of Cuba who received training and commands from CIA made 89 terrorist attacks which targeted the government of Cuba in the Caribbean. For instance, in April, 1976, Cuban exiles from Miami assaulted two Cuba fishing-boats, soon after that they blew up the

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embassy of Cuba in Portugal; in July, they attacked the Cuban mission to the United Nations; in August, they kidnapped two diplomats in Argentina, and bombed the Cuba Airways building in Panama; in October, they bombed an airliner that belonged to Cuba (all the 73 passengers died in the accident) and burned the Cuban embassy in Venezuela; in November, they bombed the Cuban embassy in Spain, and so on. The terrorism attacks which target Cuba did not end after the cold war. The Cuban exiles who kept close touch with CIA executed 30 more bomb attacks targeting some civilian infrastructure—including hotels and tourist companies—in Havana and some other places from 1994 to 1997, which caused enormous losses for the Cuban tourist industry.1 Nicaragua: in July, 1979, Nicaraguan Sandinista National Liberation Front finally overthrew the pro-American autocracy of Anastasio Somoza. In order to expand its influences, the Soviet Union offered military aid and economic aid to the Nicaraguan government. In the name of containing Communism, the Reagan administration took out 19 million dollars from 1981 to 1990 to establish a mercenary army which was mostly composed of Nicaraguan exiles to support other Nicaraguan anti-government forces; they connived with and supported all kinds of anti-government terrorist attacks on Nicaragua. The rebels who were supported by America finally came into the power in 1990, but the terrorist actions of this country were not uprooted. For example, terrorists kidnapped 70 politicians, including the vice president, as well as 9 journalists in Nicaragua. 2 For the sake of maintaining its hegemonic status, the United States has done everything it can do without consideration for morality and justice: America has supported religious extremist forces and national separatists all around the world to attack the "enemies" and "oppositions" of America; sometimes America even supported approaches like assassination and kidnap. Besides the several assassination attempts of Castro, the CIA also schemed an attack on Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia in 1959, and attempted to assassinate the President of Congo, Lumumba, but failed, the CIA finally succeeded in supporting rebels in the Congo killing Lumumba in 1961. In 1963, the CIA had taken part in the assassination of the South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. In 1973, the CIA had made significant

1 2

Hu Lianhe,The Contemporary Terrorism and the Counterplans, Dongfang Press (China), 2001, page.292-293. Hu Lianhe, page.294-295 136

contributions to overthrow and murder Salvador Allende.1 The CIA, founded under the National Security Act signed by President Truman in 1947, had directed incalculable assassinations and subversions. Most targets of these actions were state and government leaders who did not obey the United States. Because of the revealing of the plans for the assassination of Castro in 1973, William Cole, the CIA director at that time, forbid this kind of assassination any more. The President Jimmy Carter expanded the ban in 1978, but there is still an exception for this ban—— this ban does not apply to war times or operations for self-defense. As a result, the CIA has still schemed assassinations after the enactment of this ban. For instance, American soldiers were attacked in Lebanon, killing 241 people in 1985, then the CIA schemed a car bomb attack to murder the spiritual leader of Hezbollah Muhammad as revenge——80 people died but Muhammad survived. These kind of mutual terror attacks have caused a vicious circle of hostility and violence that makes for no end to terror attacks. The terror actions of the CIA provided models for international terrorists objectively. Recently, in a report by the British Sunday Times, the Jordanian authorities searched out a training handbook with 7,000 pages and 11 volumes named the Encyclopedia for holy war from the terrorist Halil Dick's house, it is said that this training handbook came from Al-Qaeda, which was led by Osama Bin Laden. This book sums up the experiences of 10 years of anti-Soviet guerrilla war in Afghanistan, absorbs details from some secretservice handbooks from the CIA and some other countries' intelligence agencies. In volume 11, this book explains how to spread fatal organisms and viruses, including the botulin toxin, the viral infection, anthrax, and ricin. This included documentation of events such as a secret service member of Bulgaria daubed the ricin on the top of an umbrella to kill a Bulgarian dissident in London in 1978 (the Soviet Bloc had also done some terror assassinations). The situations above illustrate that America had made contributions to the development of international terrorism. People have to ask whether the terror actions committed by America are a kind of terrorism. A western scholar wrote that:" In the terrorism model of the west, the west is standing for the democracy and human rights. But in fact, it is the west who is engaged in organizing and making major terrorist actions.""Americais a legitimate terrorist nation."2

1

Welt am Sonntag, Germany, October 21,2001

2

Alexander George, Western State Terrorism, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991, page.16-17. Requote from: Hu Lianhe,

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Afghanistan: Afghanistan was the closest channel for the Soviet Union to enter into the Indian ocean. For strategic considerations, America could not let the Soviet Union control this region. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, America started to try its best to support all the anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan for the sake of containing the Soviet Union. Kissinger wrote that: "Reaganism refers to an America that will help anti-Soviet rebels and facilitate their nations to break away from sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. This means that America should arm the Muslims in Afghanistan to resist the Soviet Union, support the anti-government guerrilla forces in Nicaragua, and assist the anti-communist forces in Ethiopia and Angola. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Union incited communist parties in the pro-American states to subvert their governments. In the 1980s, it was the turn of the United States to do the same thing to Soviet Union, the Soviet Union will taste the bitter taste."1 Both the Bin Laden group and the Taliban were anti-Soviet forces which were fostered by the United States. During the time of Afghani anti-Soviet war, America provided 300 million dollars in aid to the anti-Soviet forces. One third of this aid was given to the guerrilla force of Hekmatyar. The Bin Laden group received 25 million dollars in aid, including hundreds of Stinger surface-to-air missiles. America could not control the forces of Bin Laden and Hekmatyar any more after it unleashed them on the USSR. In the 1990s, for the reason of his dissatisfaction to the pro-America policy of the Saudi royal family after the Gulf War, the westernization of the Saudis, the colonization of the Saudi's economy, and the blasphemy to the Islamic religion from America, Bin Laden turned to the position of extreme anti-American and lead a series of terror attacks on the United States. Among these attacks, the bomb attack on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August, 1998, killed more than 250 people and injured more than 5,000. The whole world was shocked by this attack. The Taliban confirmed that Hekmatyar, who was supported by the United States in the past, was providing weapons to the Taliban forces to help them resist the attacks of America.2 In a certain sense, we can say that, for America, the terror actions of Bin Laden, Hekmatyar, and some other terrorist organizations is a cup of bitters which was brewed by America itself. (2) Geostrategic strategy of the United States after the Cold War. The key point of the global strategy of the United States after the cold war is to strengthen the control 1

Henry Kissinger: Diplomacy, Hainan press, 1997, page.716 Richard Ehrlich, "The Warlord which America once Supported is Giving Assistances to Taliban Now ",South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, October 23, 2001

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over the Eurasia. The major objective was to prevent Russia from coming back and becoming a new empire, and stall China from rising to become a new power to challenge America.1 Hence, except strengthening the old alliances like the NATO and the Us-Japan alliance, America has particularly strengthened the control and permeation to these sub-regions such as the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. America has four goals to do this: A. Compressing the strategic space of Russia; B. Preventing Russia and the Islamic Nations from allying with each other to withstand the United States and the Western World; C. Permeating Central Asia to make it easy to get an advanced base that can be used to split or contain China and Russia; and D. Getting the strategic interest of control over oil producing regions. To achieve these goals, the United States even creates problems in these regions without considerations of morality and justice. America often fosters some forces and strikes others so that it can find reasons to intervene in regional affairs. Resulting from this geostrategic strategy of the United States, long-term internaldisorder and war have emerged in all of these regions that has caused many countries' economic slowdown, stagnation, reverse, or even collapse, and has made lots of people became paupers and refugees—they are those people who lose their hope and make these regions become a breeding ground for terrorism. (3) The oil strategy of the United States in the Middle East and Central Asia. More than half of American oilconsumption relies on imports, and 85% of the imported oil of America comes from Central and South American countries. The Middle East and Central Asia will not become a major source of imported oil for America in the next 15 years. That is not to say these regions are not important for America, however. The oil reserves of the Middle East take more than 60% of the whole world's oil reserves, and are mainly provided to the EU, Japan, China, ASEAN, and Korea. About 80% of oil consumption in the EU and Japan rely on the Middle East. In recent years, lots of new oil fields and gas fields have been established in the Caspian region, Kazakhstan, and some other Central Asian countries, making it possible for this region to become the second Middle East. Hence, a significant objective for the oil strategy and geostrategic strategy of the United States is to control the oil and gas producing countries in the Middle East and Central Asia. This objective has important strategic significance: firstly, it can ensure American companies' concessions of these oil fields

1

Zbigniew Brzezinski, Big game: America's first position and its geopolitical strategy, Shanghai people's Publishing House, 1998, chapter 7 139

and gas fields in the Middle East and Central Asia. Although America will not rely on the oil from the Middle East and Central Asia in the next 15 years, America will not give up the big business chances for mining oil and gas in these regions. The Middle East and Central Asia may become the major source of oil for America in the long run. Secondly, it can promise the oil providing for American allies likes EU and Japan. That is an important factor to ensure of the function of NATO and the US-Japan alliance. That is also a key factor to ensure the leader status of the western world for America. And thirdly, it can push Russia‘s influence out of the Middle East and Central Asia and control the valveproviding oil to China. This is a important means of containing China. For intervention of regional affairs for the Middle East and control of this region, the United States deliberately broke suddenly in the Gulf War to contain the Saddam regime so that America could easily maintain a presence in this region, intervene, and control this region by using the conflicts among Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. For an instance, even after the Gulf War, America still maintains a long-term standing troop of 7,000 soldiers in Saudi Arabia, and takes the country under its protection. It is said that what America does in Saudi Arabia directly caused the strong anti-American sentiment of Bin Laden. Saudi Arabia is entrusted by the Islamic World to protect the first holy land of Mecca and the second holy land of Medina. In Bin Laden's opinion, allowing the American troops to stand in Saudi Arabia means they have given up responsibility, lost self-respect, and submitted to the Western World. 1 For this, Bin Laden was interviewed by the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera, and he said that, "We will liberate those territories which are controlled by the enemy now. We request America to give these territories back to us" and that "We firmly believe that we are the Muslims who devote themselves to protect their homeland. It is a great glory to the people who die for protecting the Kaaba. So our goal is to liberate our Islamic territories from the hands of the devil."2 In Central Asia, the United States opens one eye and closes the other at the issues of actions of ethnic separatist forces, religious extremist forces, and terrorist forces, and is afraid of peace and stabilization in this region. Because only when troubles emerge in the region, there is the chance for America to intervene in the affairs of the republics of Central Asia and push the Russian influences out of this region. The intervene and control strategy of the United States in the Middle East and the

1

Mitsukazu Shibou, "Why America Is Hated by People," World Economist Weekly, Sunday Telegraph, Britain, October 7, 2001.

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Japan, November 6, 2006.

Central Asia has caused long-term disorder in these regions, stimulated the rise of nationalism and the emergence of the strong anti-America sentiments in these regions, especially in Iraq. Even ten years after the end of the Gulf War, the American boycott of Iraq remained. America defined a no-fly zone in Iraqi airspace but often bombed Iraq, which has caused many injuries and deaths of Iraqi citizens. The American boycott has led the extreme shortage of food and medicines, thousands of accidental deaths, and universal difficulties of people‘s lives in Iraq. The whole Arab world shows their sympathy towards the Iraqi people and thinks the United States is the culprit for the disaster that is modern Iraq. Nationalist and anti-America sentiments in the Arab world increase persistently. The extreme form or sick form of this nationalism and anti-America sentiment is terrorism. Bin Laden is a representative of this sick kind of extreme anti-American sentiment. The Jihad Fatwa, published by Bin Laden and his partners in 1998, said that: "World Islamic Front states that fight against the Jewish and the Crusaders(the European and American troops), and request the Muslims to kill Americans—no matter if they are solders or citizens—all around the world will avenge Iraq."1To avenge the American and British boycott, Iraq has tried its best to get CBW and nuclear weapons. Terrorism cannot be eradicated by killing or arresting Bin Laden. Even if America could kill the terrorist forces of Bin Laden, there will be new terrorist forces to fill Bin Laden's shoes. To make things worse, a mass terrorist attack which will be supported by some states may happen in the future. (4) The Middle East peace policy of the United States (the mediation policy for the Israeli-Palestinian dispute). The Israeli-Palestinian dispute has lasted for more than half of a century. One of the major reasons for this dispute is that, America, as the mediator of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, has taken the side of Israel and not acknowledged the right of Palestinians to found a state. Israel and Palestine are always fighting and negotiating, but no final result ever comes out. The status quo of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is just what is needed for the strategy of America. If peace really comes true between Israel and Palestine, there will be no excuse for America to intervene in the regional affairs of the Middle East. It is also true that there are some domestic political considerations for America to take the side of Israel. The American mediation policy for the Israeli-Palestinian dispute serves the American Eurasian geo-strategy. The interest of the Palestinians is the sacrificial lamb of

1

GuangzhouDaily, Dayoo, September 13,2001. 141

America. Lots of the hopeless Palestinians become the social power which can be used by terrorist forces. Suicide bombs exploded one after another are a kind of expression of the despairing mood of Palestinians. Acknowledging the right of Palestinians to found their state is the necessary premise for the peace settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. On October 2, 2001, five days before America started to attack the Taliban, American president Bush declared that: "If the right of Israel to live can be respected, founding a State of Palestine will be a part of the plan of America for solving the Middle East issues.1 This was the first time that America declared it will support the founding of a Palestinian state. But obviously, this tardy declaration aimed at drawing the Arab world over to its side for the American military actions against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Although this declaration was several decades late, it was still a positive development. Two weeks later, on October 6, 2001, at a meeting of Likud, the Israeli premier Shalom said that he would agree with Palestinians founding their state conditionally.2 The declaration of Bush was before the Shalom's. This chronological order illustrated that America still had the power to influence the policy making of Israel even when Israel was led by a hardliner. However, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, causing endless disasters for Israelis and Palestinians, has lasted for more than half of a century. The fact that the United States has persistently refused acknowledging the right of Palestinians to found their state shows us that there are lots of self-interests in America‘s Middle East policy. This policy not only has brought about enormous disasters to Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs in the Middle East, but also led to strong anti-America sentiment in the Arab World, becomes the deep-level reasons for the appearances of serious of terrorism attacks and the development of Bin Laden's forces and some other terrorism forces. (5) NATO‘s new strategic concept and the American Balkans policy. For the sake of strengthening the unipolar world hegemony of the United States, America launched NATO's new strategic concept in 1999, which gave NATO new political and military functions independent from the UN. According to NATO's new strategic concept, NATO could make military interventions to areas which did not belong to NATO in the name of humanism. For deploying NATO's new strategic concept, two strategic measures have been implemented. The first one is to speed up the pace of NATO‘s

1

Guangming Daily, October 10, 2001 People's Daily, October 18,2001

2

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Eastward Expansion, absorb the former Soviet bloc's countries and former Soviet republics as much as possible to join in NATO, and compress the living space of Russia. The other major strategic measure is to control the Balkan Peninsula so that America can use the Balkans as its foundation to enlarge the scope of NATO's influence to the Black Sea, the CaspianSea, the Central Asia republics, and even China's western front. The strategic objective of America is to compress Russian strategic space from the south, cut off the roads from Russia to the Middle East oil producers and the Indian Ocean, control the oilproducing countries of the Central Asia, and at the same time formulate the encirclement of China from the west.1 This is needed for American Eurasian geo-strategy and it is also needed by the American global strategy. The key point for NATO to enlarge to the south was to control the Balkan Peninsula. In order to achieve this goal, America must overturn the Yugoslav government, which it does not prefer. Thus America, with some NATO states, in the name of preventing "humanitarian crisis" in Kosovo, bombed Yugoslaviawantonlyandindiscriminately for several months. Countless lives and assets of Yugoslavs, especially the Serbs, were ruined in the humanitarian bombings. All industry, transportation, communication, and electricity were destroyed in the bombings—even schools and hospitals did not survive. In the following UN peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, America took sides with the Albanian forces, causing frequent emergences of terrorist attacks on Serbs from Albanians, and the terrorist attacks expanded to the neighboring country of the RepublicofMacedonia. NATO's new strategic concept and the Balkan policy of America aggravated ethnic conflicts, ethnic resentments, and the hatred of America from these people who lost their homelands and livelihoods in the region of the Balkans, planting anther seed for international terrorism. (6) The nuclear intimidation strategy of the United Stated and its missile defense program. The two explosions of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 showed the strength of the hegemony of the United States and the reality and effectiveness of its nuclear intimidation to the whole world. Form then on, nuclear intimidation strategy has been a weapon for America to dominatetheworld. After the end of the Cold War, the United Stated launched the Territorial Missile Defense program (TMD) and the National Missile Defense program (NMD), and now America

1

Wang Yizhou, The Haze Of the Unipolar World—— The Kosovo War's Caution, Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, chapter 4, 5 and the last chapter 143

has combined the two programs into one single program——the Missile Defense Program. Therefore, America decided to quit the ABM Treaty signed in 1972. Nominally, the reason for these behaviors of America was to prevent rogue states from conducting missile attacks on America. But in fact, once the Missile Defense Program succeed, America gets a position of absolute safety, then it can use nuclear weapons at any time it likes without the possibility of nuclearcounterattacks. This program will lead all other nations to be in the position of absolute danger and cause another round of nuclear armament races and nuclear proliferation. In 2001, the United States declared that it will not carry out the obligations of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test BanTreaty and the Biochemical Weapon Ban Treaty. Thus, all the other nations' feelings of danger have been increased. Against this background, some nations will enhance efforts to obtain nuclear weapons and biochemical weapons. Now, there are more than 20 nations that have the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. A new round of nuclear proliferation may be caused by the American Missile Defense Program. A very grisly prospect has already been hinted at for humans, undoubtedly. What is more dangerous is that some terrorist groups may conduct nuclear or biochemical attacks. It is should be known for us that, in the realm of military, the United States, with the most pervasive and most advanced conventional weapons, nuclear weapons, and carrier capabilities in the world, is in an asymmetric status with the nations of the world. Most of the medium-sized and small powers and all the terrorist forces can hardly make the United States suffer heavy losses in regular warfare. However, terrorist groups found that the ubiquitous terrorist attacks could be used as a reverse asymmetric form of war. Terrorist attacks can take away America‘s advantage of strong military power. Terrorist attacks can cause heavy losses for America at little cost, cause permanent and comprehensive psychological shocks for American residents. An official of the FBI stated on September 29, 2001, that the 9/11 attack cost only 500,000 dollars to implement. But according to the report of the UN, this terrorist attack caused 40 billion dollars of economic losses(regardless of the losses of life)in New York, and 350 billion dollars of economic losses in the whole world, this attack would also lead the global economic growth rate of 2001 to drop by a full percentage point. A financial official of New York estimated that, taking the losses of buildings, lives, and economic stagnation, the terrorist attack caused 105

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billion dollars of economic losses in New York.1 This kind of asymmetric result of war encourages the terrorists to try their best to get weapons of mass destruction like Chemical and BiologicalWeapons, as well as Nuclear Weapons. The Anthrax attack on America caused losses that cannot be estimated. It is said that the terrorists can use the waste materials of the nuclearpowerstations to produce a "nuclear radiation bomb," this kind of bomb can be ignited by orthodox explosives and can cause alargeareaof nuclear radiation pollution, its ability of damage will be equal with a small atomic bomb or a neutron bomb. This is a possible result of nuclear proliferation. If this unfortunate result comes true, then we can go to the source the American nuclear intimation and its Missile Defense Program should to take an important portion of the blame. (7) Racial discrimination policy has stimulated domestic terrorist attacks by the black people and other races as well. As a basicstatepolicy, the Racial Discrimination Policy lasted about 200 years in America. The objective of this policy was that it made thecapitalistclass(most people of this class are whites) could legally rob the lands of Indians and exploit other races, especially Black people. This class oppression policy which is covered by race relations has directly led to long-term terror attacks on Black people by the Ku Klux Klan. This resulted from the long -term struggle of black people and the other colored races. American Racial Discrimination Policy made some constrictions in 1960s after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the social status of black people and other races improved tosomeextent, and the behaviors of the Ku Klux Klan disappeared for some time. But the ultra-right forces and the extreme racist organizations never stop their actions. These extreme organizations regard legal and the illegal immigrants who have came to America in the past 20 years as their enemies. Some Immigration restriction bills and measures of the United States encourage kinds of anti-immigrants sentiments intangibly. Terror attacks of immigrants and colored races from various kinds of extreme organizations may be an increasing trend in the future. (8) The American popular culture policy has offered the breedingground for crime and terror actions. Just like other countries' cultures, American culture includes lots of positivefactors. But broadlyspeaking, there is obvious shortcomings in American popular culture. American popular culture promotes a kind of value that centers on the

1

Morning News, Beijing, October 1, 2001; People's Daily, October 12,2001; October4,2001. 145

AFP reports, New York,

mixture of individualism and hedonism, and the popular culture industry's existence and development are based on commercialprofit. Thus, the representative films and television programs of American popular culture are full of violence, eroticism, and terrorist factors. At the same time they promote self-struggle, this culture is also spreading decadency, crime, and antihuman terrorism. This kind of popular culture, devoting itself to getting commercialprofits, has poisoned countless souls of America‘s youth and other countries, and has also provided vivid teachingmaterials for the criminals and terrorists to practice sinful activities. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks，The American state commanded to stop broadcasting some films and television programs which included some factors of terror attacks. This behavior illustrates that America has already realized the negativeeffects of its popular culture; this maybe too late, but it is still an advance. This event also leads us realizes that the European nations' boycotts of American films and television programs are not the expressions of a kind of narrow nationalism, but behaviors which have many rational reasons. At the issue of the development of the popular culture of China, we should learn a necessary lesson from the experiences of America and our own country. (9)American gun control policy has offered criminals means for criminal and terror actions. American civilians have the most guns in the world: About 200 million Americans own nearly 1.5 to1.8 billion guns of various kinds. The average family in America has more than 2 guns! The number of guns owned by American civilians is still increasing now, although American people repeatedly ask the government to forbid and escheat guns. The reason for the congress to not ratify these bills is that every American citizen has the freedom to protect himself by owning guns. Among all the 180 members of the UN, only America believes and practices this kind of "freedom." Another reason the ban on guns cannot be ratified is the Lobbying of producers and sellers of guns who have essentially bribed many congressmen. In the whole world, only America ignores the security of its citizens for the commercial profits of a certain industry. American gun control policy is a main cause of the endless school shooting tragedies and many major crimes. Even the former president Regan became a victim of this policy. In March 30, 1981, as Regan finished a speech, John Singer, a young man of 25 shot him and caused serious injury. Singer had no political motivation shot the president, and was just drawing the attention of the famous Hollywood actress Jodie Foster. Then, Singer, the son of a millionaire in Colorado, was acquitted due to his psychosis. In the homeland of America, people can get a gun easily. So who can promise the terrorist will not use the method of Singer to

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assassinate American politicians in the future. (10) The policy of American government, aimed at restraining violence with violence, ignores the root of the emergence of terrorism and will cause a vicious circle of hostility and violence and trigger new terrorist attacks. The American government advocates the freedom of association and religion. This is a good thing. But, the freedom of every person and group should be on a necessary condition that this freedom must not hamper the interests of other people and society. That is just what the American government has ignored. Absolute freedom, regarded as the essence of American values, is being spread to the whole world by the American government. Thus, America has become the hospice of various of extremism forces and heresies (include the Falun Gong)in the world. At ordinary times, the American government does not forbid these extremist forces and heresies. Once these extremist forces and heresies cause big troubles, the American government will exterminate them through policy which aims at restraining violence with violence. This kind of measures will easily cause a vicious cycle of hostility and violence. A typical example is the bombing of the Oklahoma Federal Building which was caused by Waco. On April 19, 1993, the FBI exterminated the members of the heresy Branch of Davidians on their Waco farm. As the result, more than 70 heretics died via self-immolation. Waco made McVeigh, a veteran with meritorious service during the Gulf War, very dissatisfied. At that time, McVeigh had already become an extreme white supremacist and a member of the "Michigan militia," afar-right-wing organization in America. Then McVeigh decided to take vengeance on the state government of Oklahoma. In April 19, 1995, McVeigh bombed a whole Oklahoma Federal Building which had 9 floors to pieces by using a truck and 7,000 pounds of explosives. As a result of this bombing, 168 persons died (include 149 adults and 19 children) and more than 500 people were injured.1It was clear that there was much boundedness in the policy which aims at restraining the violence by violence.

5.1.2 European Union (1) The Defense Strategy of EU. At present, the defense strategy of EU mainly depends on NATO, meaning it relies on America. However, relying on America means 1

Chen Xi, ed. The Nightmare Of the Empire——the Reportage of 9/11 Terror Attack,China Social Sciences Press, 2001, page 105-109; NetEase News, June 11,2001. 147

that the EU has lost its strategic independence and usually becomes the little partner or accessory of America in some risky operations. That is just what the Kosovo War had showed us. We can say that it was EU's involvement in the war that aggravated the mutual terror attacks between the Albanians and Serbs, and created forces which hated the EU and America at the same time. The EU does not prefer to lose its independence in the realm of defense. With its increasing economic power, according to the request of founding of the European political union treaty from the Maastricht Treaty, the EU now is actively developing cooperation of political integration, speeding up the process of founding an independent defense system. The possibility of terrorist attacks on Europe will surely decrease to a large extent. It is also necessary to point out that, for different countries, the possibility of terrorist attacks is different. Among all the European countries, the UK's foreign policy is following America‘s most closely. As a result, the UK has the maximum likelihood to be the target of terrorist attacks in Europe. (2) The strategy on the North-South relations of the EU. Compared with America, the members of the European Union are always launching a more positive, cooperative policy on the issue of North-South relations, and so is the EU as an entire entity. For instance: —The proportions of GDP for development aid for EU members is the highest among the developed world, especially these small countries in Western Europe and Northern Europe, such as the Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and so on. The proportions of their GDP for development aids account for 0.5% to0.7% usually, approaching or achieving the UN‘s requirement. —The members states of the EU are more positive on the issues of decreasing and exempting the debts of the developing countries, in comparison with America. The politicians of the EU have repeatedly said that the prosperity of the EU cannot be founded on the foundation of the poverty in developing countries. —The European Union, as an entity, also thinks highly of reconciliation and cooperation with developing countries (especially former-colonial countries). There is a specialty fund for assisting developing countries in the common budget of the EU. The Lome Convention, signed by the EU(then, its name was the EuropeanCommunity) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific ex-colonial countries (the ACP countries)in 1975, has been executed effectively for 4 rounds. Now, the number of the ACP countries who have joined the Lome Convention has increased from 46 to 77. According to the convention, the EU should provide billions of euros (écu in the past,

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which is equal to the euro) in economic aids to ACP countries every year, 2/3 of these are non reimbursable assistances, and 1/3 of these are low-interest loans. The convention also said that, all the industrial products and 99% of agriculturalproducts that the APC countries export to the EU should get duty-free treatment, and the products that the EU export to the APC countries should not request the reciprocal treatment, but only get most-favored-nation-treatment. The trade preferences the EU provides the APC countries is much better than the preference which the WTO provides. Besides providing assistance to developing countries in the name of the EU(for example: the Lome Convention), the members of the EU also give various kinds of assistances to developing countries separately. Thus, the total amount of assistance which the EU provides to developing countries is much larger than the America's. The EU also pays attention to cooperation on the issues of trade liberalization with countries in Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa. On the issue of cooperation in the realm of technology for trade and economic ties with developing countries, especially with China, the attitude of the EU is always very positive. For instance, the EU had provided China 6 million écus(1 écu roughly equates to 1 euro) to enhance the abilities of milk supplies in dozensof Chinese cities. This aid played a positive role in remitting the shortages of milk in Chinese cities. The reconciliation and cooperation strategy towards the Southern Countries which the EU practices has helped it increase its friends and decrease its enemies. Terrorist attacks towards the EU are much less than terrorist attacks toward America. Far-left and far-right terrorism widely exist in the member states of the EU. The reason for the emergence of this kind of terrorism has profound social economic backgrounds, and is closely related to inherent contradictions with the capitalist system. It means that this kind of terrorist actions are developing with the capitalist system, and have no direct connection with national strategy and national policy. So, this chapter will not discuss this kind of terrorism.

5.1.3 The UK, Spain, and Canada There are national separation forces in the UK, Spain, and Canada. The national policies and maintenance of unification policies of these three countries are bound up with the terrorism in these countries. So, let's take a brief look at this now. (1) The United Kingdom. In 1170, Henry II, king of England, invaded and occupied 149

Ireland. Since then, the Irish have struggled against the UK for independence. In 1905, the Irish founded the Sinn Fein and their own armed forces——the Irish Republic Army——to continue their anti-British campaign. In 1921, Britain and Ireland signed the British-Irish Treaty, which ruled that the 26 counties located in the south of Ireland should enjoy the right of autonomy and formulate an independent free state. The northern 6 counties should stay in Britain. But the British government has always practiced a policy of divideandrule, favoring the Protestants who account for two-thirds of the people in the Northern Ireland, giving the Protestants ruling status. The Catholics, who account for one-third of the people in the North Ireland, have had to endure political and economic discrimination. Thus, Northern Ireland is lagging in development and full of sharp ethnic conflicts. In 1969, a violent conflict between the Protestants and Catholics occurred in Northern Ireland and caused hundreds of deaths and injured. In 1972, the U.K. ended the rights of the Northern Ireland government by legislation and started to govern Northern Ireland directly. From then on, the ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland has become sharper and sharper, and the terrorists in Northern Ireland represented by the Irish Republic Army have become increasingly rampant. Due to the viciouscycle of hostility and violence caused by the British armed crackdown of the Irish Republic Army, Northern Ireland separation forces have become an anxiety of the British state. Thus, the British government started to make a political solution of the North Ireland issue. In August, 1994, with the efforts of many actors, the Irish Republic Army finally declared a temporary cease-fire. In April, 1998, with the reconciliation of US President Clinton, the 8 parties from Northern Ireland, the British primeminister, and the Irish premier signed a new Northern Ireland peace agreement. New hope fora peaceful solution for Northern Ireland appeared. Then, the separation forces continued to conduct terrorist attacks, but broadlyspeaking, terrorism in Britain has been on a downward trend. On October 23,2001, the Irish Republic Army declared the of start disarming troops, which was a new step in the peace process of Northern Ireland. (2)Spain. Basque Country, one of the richest regions of Spain, is composed of four provinces. In 1958, the separation forces of the Basque founded their extremist organization named Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna(ETA). In order to force the Spanish government to agree to found a Basque state, the ETA has been engaged in terrorist actions for more than 40 years. During the years of fascist Franco rule, most of ETA's terrorist attacks focused on the Franco regime, and the targets were concentrated on the officials of the Franco government. So, at that time, ETA got the understanding

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and support of the Spanish public. After 1975, the year when Franco died, ETA continued terrorist attacks and requests for independence in the Basque region. One major reason for ETA to do this was that it wanted to use independence to enjoy the wealth of this region alone and avoid financial obligations for Spain‘s poor regions. After the Spanish People's Party came in to power in 1975, the Spanish government streng then edits offense on ETA—uncovering its organization, arresting its major members, closing down its newspaper, and cutting off its financialresources. In September, 1998, ETA, which had been greatly undermined, had to declare to end all terrorist actions. In fact, ETA is still conducting terrorist actions, but its influence is much less than before. After becoming a member of the European Union (European Community) in 1986, the Spanish economy started to develop quickly. The Per Capita GNP of Spain increased from 4,860 dollars in 1986 to 14,080 dollars in 1998.1 People wanted stability, but Basquewas not discriminated. There is really no market for the proposal of ETA, and the decline of ETA is now inevitable. (3) Canada. There is a strong separation force in Quebec where most French-Canadians live. Quebec was a colony of France in the past. In 1763, resulting from the failure of the Seven Years' War, France conceded Quebec to Britain. In 1967, social unrest happened in Canada. During his visit to Canada, CharlesdeGaulle stood on the balcony of Quebec‘s Montreal city hall and announced to a crowd of people "Vive le Québec libre." From then on, the Party Quebecois has raised the question of Quebec‘s independence. Forthesakeof safeguarding national unity, with great political wisdom, the Canadians elected the Quebec French-Canadian Trudeau as their premier. In October, 1970, the separation force kidnapped and killed a British trade representative and the then secretary of labor of Quebec. On October16, the Trudeau Administration launched a counterattack.The Canadian polices arrested as many as 468 suspects who incited the rebellion, put out the fire of terrorism attacks which may be launched by the separation forces promptly. Although this action was very successful, the premier Trudeau paid more attention to the root of the terrorism, and adjusted a series of social policies and national policies in time. Trudeau declared that Canada should establish an "Impartial Society" and add a Charter of Rights and Freedom in the constitution. Resulting from Trudeau's efforts, equal rights among citizens have been explicitly stipulated and the social welfare has been much

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世界银行： 《世界发展报告》 ，1988；1999～2000。 The World Bank, World Development Report 1988, 1999-2000 151

improved. Canada has become a bilingual country with two fundamental nations——English-Canadian and French-Canadian, and the institutions of the Canadian government must offer France services. On the one hand, Trudeau gave many federal rights to the provincialgovernments of the Quebec province, who allegedly got more than the others. On the other hand, Trudeau made a stand against any clause that give special statue to Quebec in the constitution and left no space which could be used by separatist forces in their legal documents. These policy adjustments which embody the principles of national harmony, national equality, and decentralization of powers have been followed by the successive governments since Trudeau's government. Canada had launched two referendums about the issue of the statue of Quebec in 1980 and 1995, and both did not allow for Quebec‘s independence. In the referendum of 1995, only 49.4% of Quebecois supported the independence of Quebec. On October 15, 1999, an opinion poll showed that the people who supported the independence of Quebec had decreased to less than 38% of the total population——the lowest ratio in nearly 30 years. Accordingly, no terrorist attacks related to the separation forces have emerged in Canada in recent years. The cases of Britain, Spain, and Canada show us that the simple forceful suppression cannot solve the problem of terrorist attacks of the national separation forces. Only adjustments of national policy and social policy, and only efforts towards political solutions can eradicate the roots of national conflicts and terrorism attacks.

5.1.4 Russia The Soviet Union was the first socialist state. We cannot only concentrate on the disintegration of the Soviet Union and ignore its great achievements. We should also make more efforts to research the experiences of the failure of the communist party of Soviet Union, especially its policy faults on national issues. The Soviet Union was a multinational country. In 1936, the Soviet Union founded the Autonomous Republic of Chechnya-Ingushetia in the Caucasus region. During the Second World War, for the sake of preventing some minority groups from colluding with Germany, Stalin decided to force many minorities to move from their hometown where they lived for generations to Central Asia, Siberia, and the Far East. In 1944,the Caucasus Brother Special Party, which cooperated with the German army, was founded in the Caucasus region. As a result, more than 380 thousand Muslims from the Chechen area and 90 thousand Ingushes were forced to move to Central Asia integrally. These people also 152

had borne many unfair treatments. These decisions of Stalin have seriously hurt the feelings of the nations which had been forced to move from their hometowns. After Stalin died, the leaders of the Soviet communist party and the Soviet government rehabilitated these minorities' reputations. In 1957, the Soviet government decided to restore the Autonomous Republic of Chechnya-Ingushetia and started to help the Chechen Muslims and the Ingushes move back to their hometown. Although the Soviets had done many things, they hurt the feelings of these nations deeply. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the national separation forces of the Chechen Muslims started to gang up with external religious extremist forces, international terrorist forces, and western anti-Russia forces, a step in the way of national separation. The increasing national conflicts finally lead to the first Chechen war which lasted from December, 1994, to February, 1995. The Russian army destroyed the unlawful regime of Dudayev. But the rebels of Chechen were not resigned to this failure and began to lunch terrorist attacks including bombings and kidnaps which aimed at hitting the Russian government and realizing the independence of Chechen, especially from Moscow. As a result from this, the second Chechen war broke out in October, 1999, and lasted until March, 2000. Nowadays, the rebels of Chechen are still not thoroughly exterminated. The Chechen national separation forces have brought enormous disasters to people of all nationalities of the Russian Federation. The existence of the Chechen national separation terrorist rebels illustrates that when socialist countries make a great mistake in their national policies, the seeds of terrorism will be planted. The American government has maintained a double standard on the issue of striking Chechen terrorist rebels. In 2001, US officials even gave an interview to the "diplomatic representative" of the Chechen national separation forces, and criticized that Russia's struggles of hitting terrorism were "human rights violations" and "crimes against humanity." Russian President Putin asked the American government several times to stop using double standards on the issues of hitting terrorism. For instance, when Putin received an interview from the German media on September 21, 2001, he said: "We should not make a conclusion like that the people who bombed the buildings in Moscow are freedom fighters but the people who did the same things in the other places are terrorists. 1 It matters for solidarity, effectiveness, and the foundation of mutual trust for the international anti-terrorism alliance whether

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Reported by Russia-TASS , Moscow, September 21, 2001 153

America and some other western states can abandon the double standards on the issue of anti-terrorism. 5. Developing Countries (1) India. India has made great social developments since its independence. Its rate of economic development is at the middle and upper position among developing countries. In the 1950s, India and China came up with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence together. Originally, India followed the road of peace and development. But with the strong influences from the international strategy of the western world, India finally chose a strategy which aims at being a great world power by using its military strength as its backing. The specific means of this strategy are to make India become a formidable power among the countries in South Asia and around the Indian Ocean by using the military forces as their backing. To practice this strategy, India has invested large sums of money to develop its navy, air force, missile forces, and even nuclear weapons. As a result of this strategy, India and Pakistan still have not created a solution on the issue of the ownership of Kashmir. India rejects United Nations resolution 39 which aims at solving the Kashmir issue, and insists the sprits and principles of the Simla Agreement (1995) and Lahore declaration (1999), require solving the Kashmir issue by bilateral negotiations between India and Pakistan, objects to third party mediation, even if the third party is the United Nations. India's real intention for rejecting third party mediation is that it wants to use strength advantages to force Pakistan to abandon Kashmir. This bullying attitude of India certainly leads to opposition from Pakistan, and makes the conflicts between India and Pakistan much sharper. Terrorist attacks in the Indian occupation zones of Kashmir happen frequently. If India cannot obey the FivePrinciplesofPeacefulCoexistence to make a peaceful partnership with its neighbor countries and solve the conflicts by equal negotiation, terrorism attacks targeting India will not vanish. (2) Palestine and Israel. The Israel-Palestine conflict has last for more than half a century. One major cause for the deadlock is the pro-Israeli policies which are practiced by the outside world, especially America. We have already discussed this in the section "the middle east peace policy of the united states" of this chapter. Besides this reason, we should also search for the root cause of why the Israel-Palestine conflict has lasted for such a long time without solution from the realm of either countries' national strategies. Here are three questions: the first question is whether both sides can recognize the opposite sides' rights to live and have statehood, whether both sides can recognize the UN resolution 181 which was passed by the UN Security

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Council on November 29, 1947, that requests to found an Arab state and an Israeli state in the Palestinian areas. The second question is whether both sides will give up policy which aims at restraining the violence by violence and pursuing a transient, specific solution for historic reconciliation on the foundation of recognizing both sides' rights to live, rights to statehood, and the UN resolution 181. Recently, neither Israel nor Palestine can do this. And the third question is whether the leaders of both sides can persuade and restrain their opposite factions. Currently, neither of them can do this. One major reason why the Israel-Palestine conflict has lasted such a long time without a solution is that there are defects in both Israel and Palestine's national strategies. And it is also the root cause for the mutual terrorism attacks between Palestine and Israel. Let's take the last conflict as an instance. On October 17, 2001, Palestinian extremists assassinated Israeli Tourism Minister Zeevi. Then, in the name of arresting the murderer, the Israeli military occupied six cites and some rural parts of the Palestine-controlled areas. Thus, a new round of bloody conflict began. Both sides saw just their own pains and declared that they will take revenge on the opposite side. If this kind of logic cannot be changed, there will be no end to Israel-Palestine conflicts, and both Israel and Palestine will be new breedinggrounds for terrorism. Now the question is which countries in the world should take which sides in the conflict. The common mission of the international society is to help Palestine and Israel solve the three above questions and make the historic reconciliation come true. It is also the common need for the anti-terrorism campaign of international society.

5.2 National strategies for eliminating terrorism The 9/11 terrorist attacks which shocked the whole world have shown us that terrorism is the public enemy of the peoples of the world. The purpose for analyzing the relations between terrorism and national strategy is to find out the causes of the emergence of terrorism from the realm of national strategy (the causes in the other realms, such as expansion of the north-south gap, is not in the scope of this chapter's discussion). Through doing this, we can help states around the world review their own national strategies, and help states around the world increase mutual understanding and mutual trust in a common anti-terrorism campaign. It also will be beneficial for the countries of the world to conduct permanent cooperation on the issues of 155

establishing a just and fair new international political and economic order. Only by doing this, terrorism will be restrained by the common struggle of the whole world and finally vanish in human life.

5.2.1 All nations should abandon all forms of hegemony and Power Politics After the 9/11 attack, all the politicians and common people around the world began to think about a single question: Why most of the major terrorism attacks targeted America and why America is hated by so many people. The public opinions from different countries that insist different political convictions share a similar conclusion: America is too arbitrary. One major feature of the hegemony and Power Politics is that the country who insists hegemony and power politics always takes its own nationalinterests first and imposes them on the others without the consideration of the interests of the other countries and nations. Sometimes, the hegemon even use force to practice their assertions and realize their own Privileged interests. What the hegemony and Power Politics believe is a very pristine set of "jungle laws"——the weak are the prey of the strong. In recent times, human society has already stepped into the economic globalization age, the electronic age, and the information age, even the nation whose culture and economy is the most backward in the world will not receive these jungle laws. With the rapid progress of economic globalization, there is no the purely benign nation in the 21stcentury. No matter in the developed or developing countries, the people who have been marginalized will be sure to resist this kind of hegemony and Power Politics of jungle laws. Among these, one sick form of resistance is terrorism. It is only a temporary solution for the American government to use force to hit terrorism. It means that this measure is not dyed-in-the-wool. If America cannot abandon hegemony and power politics and make itself an equal member instead of an emperor's father of the family of nations, it will invite new hatred and will not cast off the terrorism attacks. Thus, only by quitting the old habit of hegemony and power politics can America build friendly, confidential relations with the states and nations around the world. Only then will terrorist attacks on America vanish. The politicians of the United States should know that opposing the hegemony of the United States does not mean opposing the righttoexist, the right to development, and the reasonable 156

interests of the United States as a normal country, it only refers to opposing the outdated philosophy of "jungle laws" which America believes in. The United States without hegemony will still be a strong country and be welcomed by people around the world. The dignity which America gets as a normal country will be natural, permanent, and will not need defenseseverywhere. Just as a Russian newspaper mentioned that "America should understand that it is a blind alley for enhancing the military strength mechanically and threatening other countries(including the rogue states). However, there is also a simple but effective way for Washington: come back to the international society as a equal member, search for the common measure of hitting terrorism, no matter where the terrorism comes from. It means America must abandon it sunipolar world strategy.1 It is not only appropriatefor America but also for the other regional hegemonies and the power politics.

5.2.2 All countries should establish a new security concept What the American national strategy pursues is the absolute security of the United States. Thus, the American strategists are still following the European geopolitical strategy theory, Intervening regional affairs, busy in determining who are its friends or enemies all over the world. The interferences of America around the world, with the purpose of improving America‘s absolute security and the maximumbenefits, will surely violate the interests of the other countries and create new enemies for itself. Even if this cost 3% of its GDP（about 10 trillion dollars) to maintain the strongest armedforces in the world, America still could not have avoided the 9/11 attack. This harsh reality makes a mockery of the outdated security concept of America. As a result of economic globalization, the interdependence of nations around the world has never been so tight as the recent situation. So has it in the realm of security. If other countries do not feel security, the United States cannot get real security. It is not only appliedto America but also to the other countries in the world. So, the 21stcentury needs a new security concept. On March 26,1999, at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, President Jiang Zemin had illustrated the new security concepts that have been supported by China: "History tells us that the old security

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Red Star, Russia, September 18,2001 157

concept, with military alliance as its foundation and strengthening arms as its measure, cannot help guarantee international security, let alone establish permanent peace in the world. So, it is necessary for us to establish a new security concept according to the requirements of the age and engage to find out a new approaches to maintaining peace and security of the world." Then he further pointed out that: "We hold that, the core of the new security concept should be mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and cooperation. Mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence principles, and other universally recognized norms of international relations as the political foundation of safeguarding peace. Mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity are the economic guarantee of safeguarding peace, dialogues, consultations, and negotiations amongst parties concerned on an equal footing is the correct approach to resolving disputes and safeguarding peace." In a speech at the conference of celebrating the eightieth anniversary of the founding of the communist party of China, Jiang Zemin emphasized the core of the new security concept again. If all the countries can establish the new security concept like this, they will recognize the diversity of the world and will not impose put their own social systems and ideologies on others. If all countries could establish a new security concept like this, they would comply with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the other universally recognized norms of international relations, the affairs of one country will be determined by its own state and people, and the affairs of the world will be determined though equal consultation among states and people around the world. Then, the power politic bullying the weak and intervening in affairs will not appear, countries will not make new enemies in order to prevent or constrain old enemies. What the new security concept requests the countries to get are mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and cooperation, then the right to exist and right to development of all the states and nations of the world will be guaranteed. Nations of the world will be each others' friends and terrorism will lose its social foundation of survival. At that time, all countries will have true security. It is a country's sovereignty to decide its security concept. We do not want to impose our own security conceptions on others. We do believe that old means of security cannot apply to the new century. China, as a responsible power, has the obligation to illustrate our view to the new security concept and prove our view through actions. Because of a lack of experience, primitivemen always understood a

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new truth after suffering great pains. The same situation may also apply to some modern people. Until we have lost more than 100,000 people and suffered great pains, America may then understand a simple truth: Never to make war purely for its own interests. We admire the abilities of science and technology, as well as economic management of the United States. But the ability to understand the rules of international relations by American politicians is disappointing. Following the 9/11 terrorist attack, American politicians should be more sensible and mature.

5.2.3 Countries in the world should learn how to deal with ethnic relations in a healthy way Here, ethnic relations include religious issues and ideological issues. The key point of dealing with national relations is to recognize the diversity of national cultures around the world. Only by respecting the historical cultures, social systems, and development modes of every nation and state in the world, can all kinds of civilizations can live in harmony. Each civilization and social system should exist side by side for a long time, learning from each other and pursuing joint development through efforts of seeking commonpointswhilereservingdifferences. The civilizations of all the nations are developing by absorbing essences of others, this truth not only applies to the past but also to the future. Only by insisting on this attitude can ethnic discrimination, racial discrimination, and national discrimination be eliminated. Then, racial equality, ethnic equality, and national equality will come true and the suspicions and hateful among nations will be eradicated. Then, various kinds of ultranationalism, religious extremist forces, and other terrorist groups will disappear without a trace. It is not only hurtful to others, but also itself, for a nation to use democracy, human rights, and the right to self-determination to provoke national conflicts and incite ethnic splitting. The 9/11 terrorist attack has already proved this. A historical truth has been shown to us: with the development of civilization, the tendency of national amalgamation is much stronger than the tendency toward national division. America and China are two typical examples. The right of national self-determination is typically a measure used by the oppressed nations to strive for independence. If the right of national self-determination is abused in a unified country, unrest will appear. If a nation can strive for independence just because it was an independent state hundreds of years ago, America will split into lots of countries that 159

may be separately ruled by Indians, Mexico, Britain, France, Germany, Swedish, and so on. Then, the only consequence will be big historical setbacks and great disorder under heaven. Thus, instead of using other nation‘s problems to incite national splitting, each nation has the responsibility to help the countries that have problems of national splitting to maintain nationalunity. In an age of economic globalization, any unrest in any part of the world will spread to the whole globe. (Shen Jiru, a researcher in the Institute of world economics and politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

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6 Racial Conflicts and Terrorism In contradictions to the contemporary world, national or racial issues are the most striking ones in terrorism‘s "hot spots.‖ The reason is that these problems are not only prevalent in the domestic and international political, economic, cultural, and social life in various fields, but also tend to cause conflicts in different forms and at different degrees if dealt with improperly. The drastic manifestations of these conflicts are civil riots, fights, killing, and wars between races and nations. In these violent conflicts and acts of war, terrorist means are frequently used, and most terrorist activities in history and reality have a racial or ethnic background.

6.1 Racism and Terrorist Activities Biologically speaking, human being is one creature among the natural world. The so-called racial difference merely indicates the changes which happened when homologous ancient people spread around the world and adapted to different natural environments and climatic conditions, namely skin color and physical characteristics. Ethnicity does not have any social significance, because men and women of black, white, yellow, and sub-races formed by mixing can marry and produce offspring normally in their reproductive age, there is no innate intelligence differences physically. Even congenital deafness of different races are born to use the same means to express emotion as healthy peoplethe sad cry and pleasant smile. Therefore, humans are uniform biologically and genetically. However, modern ―confirmation on human identity by biology did not undermine the classification of superior and inferior races.‖1The reason is racism, which appeared in the Western colonial period, is still one of the most important concepts splitting humans and also the major cause of ethnic conflicts and even racist terrorist activities.

1

[France ] Edgar Morin, AnneB.Kern,The Earth of the Motherland, Ma Shengli translation, Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1997, page 46. 161

6.1.1 Racist terrorist activities during the colonial period The global expansion of Western colonialism generated the racial superiority conception based on "white supremacy" in the process of conquering the Americans and trafficking slaves. In the late 19thcentury, Western colonialists were racing to carve up Africa and establish a global colonial system, they used Darwin's evolution theory and applied "Survival of the fittest in natural selection" to human society, providing colonial expansion and the dominance of "white supremacy" with a theoretical basis, so the notorious social Darwinism was formed. Western colonizers believed that according to the law of the survival, the establishment of a colony was necessary for prosperity and survival of a strong race and a strong nation, those inferior races and nations could progress only under the protection and enlightenment of whites, and so on. "White supremacy" developed in social Darwinism theory and together with irrational imperialism, such as traditional European external expansion and exploration of the living space, formed the source of evil to split human unity racism. In some countries, the system of apartheid, racial discrimination policy, and racial exclusion activities exist, and these are the practices of racist theories. In the early 1990s, although the reform in South Africa ended the history of apartheid, the notion of racism in the world, especially in western countries, is still difficult to remove; racial exclusion activities are rampant in many ways, such as violence. Racial discrimination and racism are often accompanied by violent and terrorist activities, or we can say they are implemented through violence and terrorist acts. Although Western colonial forces were the minority during their conquest to the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and Asia, they had military superiority of a "strong military attack" and wanton brutal psychology; they conquered and ruled colonies of different races and different nations by brutal murder and cruelty. The most typical example was when the Spanish conquered central and southern American Indians. In 1519, Cortez led 600 Spaniards with several small guns, 13 shotguns, and 16 horses to a conquest of the Aztec Indian Empire which had millions of people; in 1531, Pizarro led 168 Spaniards with 27 horses and two guns to a conquest of the Incan Empire, which had millions of people. These are examples of a small number of people overcoming a large empire. These conquests are entirely based on advanced weapons and brutal slaughtercasualties and fear caused by long-range artillery and musket attacks together with the wanton killing by the Spanish on horseback made tens of thousands of native soldiers scatter with great fear. In the conquest process, the usage 162

of deception to seize military leaders of the Aztec Empire and Incan emperor as hostages to obtain treasures and eliminate the resistance, as well as the destruction of those Indian temples and palaces which represented their divine faith, reflecting the basic elements of the prototype of terrorism1:that is, universal fear caused by cruel massacre which hurt massive numbers of innocents, acts of blackmail such as hostage-taking for ransom and causing legislators to eliminate any resistance, destruction of landmarks leading to the collapse of people's beliefs and social disintegration. Similar violent and terrorist activities are universal in practice such as in the United Kingdom and other European countries‘ conquest of North American Indians, the British conquest of the indigenous people of Australia; Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, the United States, and other powers in Africa trafficking slaves; as well as American white farmers cruel slavery on the slaves (including fugitive slaves subjected to amputation and other atrocities).Through the wanton killings of civilians and cruel penalties causing the conquered people's generally fearful social atmosphere is an important means to establishing colonial rule, maintaining white power, implementing race (ethnicity)oppression, and exploiting slaves. Violent terrorist acts have always existed in the ancient history of war and ruling practices; however, the violent acts carried out by Western colonial powers in the conquest of the world constitute the historical prototype of modern terrorism directlyeven the most formidable bacterial warfare can trace back to that age.―The importance of the deadly bacteria in human history can be illustrated by the Europeans conquering the New Continent and causing the declining population. The number of Indians who died from Eurasian bacteria was much greater than the number of people who died on the battlefield under European guns and swords."2Westerners conquering the Americas and other continents caused not only the intercontinental spread of different races, but also a proliferation of ecological factors, including plants, animals and bacteria, especially Eurasian bacteria hosted by the white conquerors that lead to enormous effects after spreading to the Americas, Africa, and Australia. Spaniards brought smallpox to Mexico in 1520, and it quickly spread amongst the Indians widely, nearly half of Aztec Indians were killed as a result. As the product of biological geography,

1

(US) Stavrianos, Global History: World after the Year of 1500, Wu Xiangying, Liang Chimin translation, Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 1992, page 143 ~ 144. 2 (US) Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Society, Xie Yanguang translation, Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2000, page 218. 163

the intercontinental spread of pathogenic bacteria causing ―epidemic exchange inequality gave a great advantage to the European invaders and levied a devastating disadvantage to tribes whose ancestors settled in Pangaea‘s fractured side of failure."1 By 1618, the American continent, with about 20 million original Indians, had only about 1.6 million left. The unconscious intercontinental spread of germs during the colonial period which had caused genocidal catastrophe provided historical revelation and evidence for the conscious use of bacteria for war and terrorist activities.

6.1.2 State terrorism during the fascist period Racism appeared to reach its peak during the fascist period, fascism, as represented by Germany, Italy, and Japan was based on extreme nationalism. However, during the forming process of fascism, it absorbed totalitarianism, militarism, racism, imperialism, and other thoughts, and racist noise also appeared, such as "the world is ruled by pure Aryan, and Germany is the Aryan's most outstanding nation," "infinite vitality of Italian blood," and "Japanese is the sun." Fascism created terrorism on an unprecedented scale and level of brutality, both the genocide committed by Nazi Germany to the so-called "inferior races" such as Jews through the concentration camps, gas chambers, crematoriums, and the large-scale massacre committed by Japanese imperialist after occupying Nanjing were the darkest, most cruel, and horrible pages in the history of mankind. Racism is the theoretical pivot of fascism. Hitler added cultural factors into the division of the human race, namely mankind was divided into ―civilization founders,‖ "civilization supporters,‖ and ―civilization destroyers.‖Only the Aryan people, especially the Germanic people, were ―civilization founders;‖ those affected or modified by the Aryan civilization, such as the Japanese are ―civilization supporters;" Jews and blacks are the ―civilization destroyers.‖Therefore, the German hybridizing with ―non-Germans is completely contrary to the eternal will of God.‖2Maintaining the purity of ethnicity must be established on the basis of excluding other ―inferior races‖ and the way to deal with those "civilization destroyers" is to physically

1

(US) Alfred W. Crosby,Ecological Imperialism: 900 ～ 1900 European Ecological Expansion, Xu Youmin, Xu Xuezheng translation, Shenyang: Liaoning Education Press, 2001, page 219. 2 (Austrian) Wilhelm Reich, Fascism Mass Psychology, ZhangFeng translation, Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House, 1990, page 68. 164

eliminate them. This exclusion and division splitting mankind into superior and inferior biological organisms was spread through religious mysticism and extreme nationalist ideology to instill ideas in nationals and mobilize society, it covered the nation's internal class contradictions through publicly preaching of maintaining racial (ethnic) noble descent and the jungle rules of survival so that people could unified as a whole, which made fascism have a broad mass base of support; together with the control of the authoritarian regime and "policy of blood and iron,‖ state terrorism was formed. The violent and coercive ―power will‖ was the most important content of the philosophy of fascism. All fascist organizations advocated violence, because Fascists believed violence was the embodiment of the strong force and the basis of conquest and domination of the weak. And the best embodiment of the level of violence was brutality; the best reflection of the effect of violence was terror. Therefore, brutal violence and making an atmosphere of terror were the basic means of the fascist forces to achieve its objectives when they were seizing power, dominating, and conquering. For example, on the night of November 9, 1938, the Nazis launched nationwide anti-Semitic terrorist activities, in Berlin alone 91 Jews died at the hands of the mobs and 20000 people were imprisoned in a concentration camp, 7500 Jewish shops were destroyed, 28 synagogues were burned and 200 Jewish facilities were destroyed.1This anti-Semitism terrorist attack is known as "Crystal night.‖ In order to strengthen the features of violence and terror, there are organizations dedicated to implement violence and terror in fascist parties and political power structures, such as the German Gestapo, the SS, the Italian storm troopers consisting of the Black Shirts party, France‘s ―king‘s palace" in "French action,‖ the British Black Shirt guard of ―Union of fascists," as well as the Romania Sentinel, the Hungarian ―arrow Cross Party," and so on. These organizations not only had privileged power but also strengthened their daunting features through certain symbols of identity and signs of organizational affiliation, such as the Black shirts, and the ―卍‖symbol. These terrorist systems were excluded from judicial repression systems; on the one hand, they maintained leadership and dictatorial authority through carrying out violence toward people and the Nazi organization; on the other hand, they implemented inhuman torture and the brutal massacre on political opponents, "inferior races" and implemented cruel, strict, and mysterious terrorist means. The German SS concentration camp system was a prominent representative of these

1

Zhu Tingguang, Fascist System Research, Shanghai: Shanghai People's publishing House, 1995, page 283. 165

terrorist systems. Hitler‘s "final solution" plan, whose objective was to exterminate Jews, was implemented through concentration camps which were represented by the Auschwitz concentration camp, these camps became Nazi Germany's genocide factory where the Jews lost their human dignity, suffered countless brutal abuses, insult, and ridicule, before finally being killed in gas chambers and reduced to ashes in the crematoria. Six million Jews were slaughtered like livestock, and survivors were never able to get rid of the deep fear they experienced. In addition to organized activities, state terrorism of Fascism was implemented mainly through fascists‘ personal brutal, sadistic psychology, and acts, which push human "evil‖ to the extreme. For example, when Japanese imperialists invaded China, they killed Chinese people brutally and created an atmosphere of terror. In the definition and research of terrorism, we rarely concern ourselves with state terrorist atrocities and large-scale killings of innocent civiliansand even go so far as to exclude these atrocities from terrorism. The main reason is that our recognition of terrorism is confined to the understanding and moral judgment of "weak against strong" concealment, attack, and subversion characteristics of terrorism under a non-war state, and we neglect or ignore the terrorism policy of the ruling class and the government. In fact, state terrorism" in history was a frequent means to maintain power and implement policies through creating fear, its purpose was to ensure obedience and prevent resistance."1At the same time, ―whether it is a war between nations, civil war, or it is just a public revolution, as long as it is in battle situations, terrorism is a violent means that any actor can use.‖2The most typical state terrorism in the modern history is fascism domination represented by Nazi Germany. Nazis used racism to propagate the notion of "pure Aryan" (Germanic peoples) and to mobilize society to eradicate the Jews and other "inferior races," as well as to launch wars of conquest, all of the above highlighted the institutionalized, open, and social features of state terrorism. After World War II, as the Western colonial empire system collapsed and the state nation pattern formed, the agents implementing terrorism were always viewed as non-governmental, unofficial subversive organizations. Therefore, when people were concerned about the security threats brought by bombs and other weapons of mass destruction proliferation, especially terrorist organizations seeking

1

(British) David Miller, VernonBogdanor, Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science, Beijing: China University of Political Science and Law Press, 1992, page 765. 2 (British) John Gribbin, The History Focus (First Volume),ZhuShanping translation, Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 2000, page 333. 166

such weapons to enhance their capacity to achieve political goals, blackmail, and destruction, they do not consider the US dropping nuclear weapons on Japan in 1945 as terrorism or terrorist activities. The reason is the US nuclear strike on Japan ended the world war launched by fascism, so it was considered morally irreproachable.

6.1.3 Racist terrorist activities after the World War II After the World War II, the international community carried out a large-scale cleanup of fascism, which included both the European and related nations‘ Nazism and the theoretical critique of fascism. However, due to the ingrained impact of racism and the political situation changes, the extreme right-wing forces have emerged in many European countries after 1950s. Its impact in the party and in the socialization process rendered the conservative nationalism and exclusive racism form a civil trend which became the breeding ground of neo-fascism. Especially after the collapse of the global colonial system, the wave of immigration from former colonies forward continued to climb in the 1960s and 1970s, Europe, North America and other countries began to have immigration phobia, the violent and terrorist activities of exclusion and persecution of immigrants have become increasingly aggressive and reached a climax in the 1990s. In this process, except for the traditional racist violence organizations such as the United States‘ KKK, many kinds of neo-fascist violence organizations emerged in dozens of countries in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia. Since the 1970s and 1980s, along with the extreme right-wing parties‘ general rise in status even gained the advantage in Western European Parliaments (including the local parliaments) election, neo-fascist activities were more open, a lot of publications claiming anti-Semitism and defending the massacre came into popular. ―Skinheads" and other parties wearing fascist insignia reproduced and disseminated a large number of "glorious films‖ of the Nazi era, and gave fuel to racial hatred through the burning of synagogues, destroying Jewish cemetery, attacks on non-white immigrants, and setting fires in refugee camps. After the 1990s, American racial extremists attacked blacks and burned their churches frequently, even white police often partake in violence towards blacks and Hispanics. In Germany, "skinheads" and other neo-fascist organizations made thousands of race exclusion violence. This kind of event had different degrees of performance in Austria, France, Belgium, Italy, Britain, and Spain, as well as Nordic countries. After the break-up of the Soviet Union and upheaval of 167

Eastern Europe, extreme nationalism expansion also led to the emergence of neo-fascism in this region. Like the "Liberal Democratic Party of Russia" with Zhirinovsky as the representative was an extreme right-wing organization disseminating fascism systematically. In Romania, the sentinel was revived; in East Germany, neo-Nazi organizations were established in succession; in the Bosnian civil war, the Croatian militia wore black U symbol of "Ustasha" which was a fascist organization dedicated to ethnic vendettas during World War II. Different neo-fascist organizations with "skinheads" as their representatives have no systematic or unified theory, they are not a political party, they developed and exist as street and criminal gangs, but they worship Hitler and violence, and they are cynical about reality. They believe there is a conspiracy against Aryans, and the planners are consist of the devil, Jews, Masons, and any international organizations restricting and influencing national sovereignty, so the neo-fascists want to maintain the purity of Europe, country, race, and nation to return and construct the future, all these beliefs are based on neglecting reality. The dreams for the future can only be enriched through returning to history, but returning to history is only an ideal and action of backtracking to Hitler's fascist era. As to the mass‘s bases of neo-fascist organizations, their ideas and behaviors mainly influence teenagers. Members of ―skinheads" and other neo-fascist organizations are basically teenagers from 15 to 21, which is very similar to early German and Italian fascism. For example, when Hitler seized power, he absorbed a large number of young people aged from 14 to 18 years old to participate in the youth league team and fascist Storm trooper; in 1935, the Italian fascist party had 2.9549 million members totally, the population number of fascist youth combat brigade (18 to 21 years old), vanguard (14 to 18 years old), and fascist youth league (female more than 14 years old) was 868200, accounting for more than 34%.1 Fascists utilized teenagers who are vulnerable to encouragement, belligerent, and blindly advocating to make them the most destructive "force" in early fascism. The folk attack to Jews done by German fascists in the process of grabbing political power showed this feature definitely. Contemporary new fascism and the earlier fascism have something in common not only in the age structure of members but their actions such as the street violence and fascist propaganda. In this respect, Germany's new fascist organizations are very typical, especially in several years after German reunification, racially exclusive events increased dozens or hundreds of times

1

Du Mei, The History of European Fascism, Shanghai: Academic Press, 2000, page 135. 168

year by year, in 1992 alone, more than 3000 violent and exclusive events happened, including the shocking "Rostock incident.‖ In August 22, 1992, nearly a thousand new fascists attacked a refugee camp on the outskirts of Rostock for several days, they set fires, threw rocks, abused and beat the refugees, and chanted "Germany belongs to Germans, foreigners go out." The local Germans applauded this, and this incited several neo-fascist organizations from other cities to respond, and the Jewish memorial hall in Sachsenhausen concentration camp was a victim of this event. 1These neo-fascist organizations tried to cause social attention and shook the public, especially horrifying immigrants from different nations through unchecked violence and terrorist activities. Although these activities can be classified as criminal offences, their terrorist activities, guided by racism and fascism, as well as the collective fear created by them could be considered terrorism. The racially exclusive opinions of political forces often come into practice through these street violence activities. In the classification of terrorist organizations, neo-fascist organizations belong to extreme right-wing terrorism.2However, their political goals and terrorist activities are not all the same. Some organizations view opposing the existing social system as their goal, so their terrorist activities are not aimed at certain racial or ethnic groups, but rather aimed at the society, such as "new order,‖ ―black order," and "core of revolutionary army" of Italy; the "Hoffman military group" of Federal Republic of Germany; "C18" of British; the "American militia Association" of US, and other militia groups. These organizations do have common characteristics; they see overthrowing the existing regime and transforming the society as a political goal, they have a paramilitary infrastructure, they assassinate politicians and innocent civilians, bomb important facilities, and also advocate grabbing political power through Parliaments and other political means. Most neo-fascist organizations take claiming extreme nationalism and racism as a political goal, such as the "skinheads" in Western Europe, northern Europe, Eastern Europe, and the United States of America; "white lightning" in British; "European Federation of national action," "movement for maintaining France‖ in France; "the KKK," "the Aryan nation party," the "order party," and the "Arizona Patriots" in the United States of America; "replacement of Eastern Germany," "the union of German people and the homeland" and "German National Federation‖ in Germany; "Russian National Unity Movement" and 1

Wu Hua, Global Conflict and Dispute (Europe, America volumes), Beijing: World Knowledge Press, 1998, page 234. 2 HuLianhe, Contemporary Terrorism and Countermeasures", Beijing: Oriental press, 2001, page 195. 169

"nationalist alliance‖ in Russia. The political objectives of these neo-fascist organizations are similar in aim with the above extreme right-wing organizations, namely opposing the existing social system and promoting the Nazi spirit, but their main purposes are racial exclusion and publicly racist, their resorts still have street violence characteristics.

6.2 Ethnic Conflicts and Terrorist Activities The human society consists of all nations. Nation was the evolving product of the human community whose forms includes original group, clan, tribe and tribe alliance; nation was formed accompanied by the emergence of nation-state. Nation is different from race, each race contains many nations. Differences between nations mainly laid in culture not in physical characteristics and the difference embodied in social development levels. In a class-based society, each nation has a different degree of class differentiation due to the different levels of social development, the relations between different nations evolved to national oppression due to class inequality expanding to nation inequalities. Therefore, the conquest of oppressing nations and the resistance of the oppressed nations not only became the most prevalent forms of conflicts in the class society, but also constituted an integral part of the class struggle. However, conflicts caused by national oppression have national antagonism in their character, thus the class essence of the cause of national oppression is covered. In this situation, the masses are mobilized by common national history, language, beliefs, customs, and psychology. Nationalism was produced as the ideology of social mobilization, it formed modern political theories in the process of western bourgeois revolution and the establishment of nation-states and became the most influential idea regarding national problems since the 19thCentury, and even was considered as ―one of the most enduring, powerful, and deadly causes "1of terrorism.

1

HuLianhe, Contemporary Terrorism and Countermeasures, Beijing: Oriental press, 2001, page 29. 170

6.2.1 The terrorist activities of nationalism opposing colonial domination In the 20thcentury, the general political awakening of colonial nations is manifested as a rising nationalist movement; especially the practice of the national self-determination principle in Central and Eastern Europe after World War I had a direct impact on colonial national liberation and independence. Oriental nationalist thought, which included Sun Yat-sen‘s three Principles of the People and Kemalism, became one of the important spiritual movements to promote colonial and semi-colonial national liberation movements. In colonies opposing imperialist oppressive struggles, armed struggles of nationalism experienced several stages, including scattered civil uprising, terrorist activities of the nationalist political organization, and the establishment of a unified armed force. In the stage of lacking the populace‘s support, it is a universal strategy for the political nationalist organization to use assassination, bombings, hijacking, and other terrorist means to create a social impact and arouse a public response. This proved that terrorist activity could be used "as a political tool, whether the oppressor or the oppressed can use terrorist means."1Anti-colonialist organizations' terrorist activities are often aimed at politicians, important facilities, and immigrants of colonial forces, as well as the traitors of their own nations. For example, in the time around the World War I, the nationalist‘ struggle against British colonial rule was commenced by "Young Afghan faction" and other organizations in two ways: first, assassinating the pro-British king to weaken British colonial power; second, instigating and propagating in the folk to advocate the people. During this period, the events of attempted assassination on king happened in 1918. Similar events also occurred in 1916. Iran‘s "Revenge Committee‖ carried out 10 terrorist activities against British colonialism and to overthrow the traitorous Vosug. Dora government.2 Moreover, in 1924, a member of the Vietnam Kuomintang assassinated the French Governor in Indochina in Guangzhou, China; from 1930 to 1940, the Irish Republican Army

1

(US)Theodore A.Couloumbis,James.H Wolfe,Power and Justice, Bai Xi translation, Beijing: Huaxia Publishing House,1990, p.474. 2 Peng Shuzhi, The Modern History of the Nationalist Movement, Xi An: Northwestern University Press, 1987, pp. 132, 175. 171

conducted frequent bombings against British colonial domination.1 In 1924, Egyptian nationalists assassinated the British governor in Sudan when he was passing through Cairo; in 1951, the Kikuyu in Kenyan assassinated British ranchers at the beginning of the uprising, and so on."The purpose of all these events was to create terror in the immigrant society, which can prompt many people to leave the country.‖ 2 In 1945,―Haganah," "Irgun," "Stern," and other Zionist secret armed groups launched frequent terrorist attacks such as assassinations, kidnappings and bombings against the British ruling forces, and eventually led to the unprecedented and shocking" King David Hotel‖ bombing conducted by "Irgun" terrorist Rangers in 1946. "Irgun" detonated a "car bomb‖ loaded with 500 pounds of explosives; this bombing blew up the British headquarters in Jerusalem, killing 91 and injuring 45.3Its occurrence, way of presentation, and destructive effects made it not only become an offending example of using modern means to conduct violent terrorist activities, but also forced the British to submit the Palestinian issue to the UN. In the early of national liberation movements, violent and terrorist activity was one of the important means to claim political goals because the anti-colonial forces were in a preliminary and vulnerable stage. Though there was no successful precedent of overthrowing colonial regime, violent terrorist activities did not be condemned morally in the decolonization movement promoted by the United Nations. Of course, even though such activities had an impact on social mobilization and caused a panic amongst colonial forces, it never became a mainstream choice in this struggle, and was limited by the national liberation movement. The Irish Republican Army was announced an illegal organization by the Irish Free federal government in the 1930s.After World War II, the national liberation movements surged and the Western colonialism system collapsed, however, this violent and terrorist activity did not fade away after the struggle against colonial domination; on the contrary, it developed further into modern terrorism under the influence of racial, national, territorial, religious, and other historical "legacies," as well as the hegemonic control. For example, Northern Ireland as the ―reservation" of British colonialism had continued to resort terrorist activities from 1969; Palestinians and Jews incited endless violent

1

Wang Chunliang, Zhai Yunrui, Overview of Contemporary National Independence Movements, Beijing: China Map Press, 1994, page 37,723 2 Roland Oliver,Anthony Atmore, Africaafter the year of 1800, Li Guangyi translation, Beijing: Commercial Press, 1992, page 194,276. 3 Pan Guang,Contemporary International Crisis Study, Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1989, page 76. 172

conflicts because of the British "divide and rule policy" in Palestine. Both sides continued to attack each other and resulted in Palestinian areas becoming the largest site of terrorism in the Middle East, which affected the entire Middle East and the world.

6.2.2 Contemporary national separatist terrorist activities In modern international political theories, nationalism is divided into many types, such as political nationalism, economic nationalism, and cultural nationalism, while political nationalism is the most influential one. From the rising of nationalism in Western Europe to global colonial nationalist movements, political nationalism has became the dominant thought of sovereign and independent countries. The era of colonialism has ended, but the ethnic, territorial and other issues resulted from colonial rule, imperial aggression, and hegemonic intervention, as well as domestic mistakes and errors occurring when independent states tried to solve ethnic problems. Political nationalism still exists within many countries, and its prominent manifestation is national separatism. The national separatist activities refer to the political requirements to establish an independent state, violence, and even military confrontation of non-dominant ethnic groups or ethnic minorities. They are caused by intensification of national problems, and usually happen within countries with independent sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is mainly based on the principle of national self-determination and human rights to seek legitimate political status and the support of the international community and eventually achieve the goal of establishing an independent state or autonomy. National separatist movements (or activities) exist in both developing countries and developed countries, and national separatist forces within the modern sovereign states refers to the extreme nationalist forces which belongs to a non-dominant ethnic groups or ethnic minorities. Extreme nationalists often claim to represent the interests of their own nation and require their national self-determination rights, and thus challenge country's territorial integrity. However, because the non–dominant ethnic groups or ethnic minorities are usually "vulnerable groups" (i.e., their political status, economic status, cultural influence, their population, religion, life, and customs in a non-mainstream position), so to achieve the goal of independence via political mechanisms, it must be through anonymous and underground means. Therefore, 173

taking extreme and terrorist means are its universal features. Its purpose is to cause social panic, political pressure, public attention and international intervention, whereby they can get negotiation advantages, official concessions, and recognition of their legal status. National separatist movements in the contemporary world vary in causes with different historical, political, economic, cultural, religious, and social backgrounds. However, nearly all of them contain a unified political goal to build an independent nation. Therefore, it is difficult to strictly classify them. However, according to the ways they are organized and the different situations in different countries and regions, these activities can also be roughly divided into the following categories. A. Political Movements A typical example is the Quebec sovereignty movement led first by the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) and then by the Party Quebecois. The Quebec sovereignty issue originated from scuffles between Britain and France for Canada as their colony. Tensions between the francophones, Catholic populations of Quebec and the largely Anglophones, as well as the protestant population of the rest of Canada covered a wide range of political, economic, and linguistic clashes. The major francophone groups of Quebec subscribed to the notion that without appropriately recognizing that the people of Quebec were culturally distinct, Quebec would remain chronically disadvantaged against the English-Canadian majority. There was also the question of whether the French language could survive within the geographic boundaries of Quebec and where French-Canadian society and culture fit into what was an increasingly multicultural country. Furthermore, given Canada's founding as a French colony and the constant and consistent influence of the French-Canadian culture and society on Canada's historical development, it became increasingly difficult to determine whether Canada could exist at all, as there was a decline in their political rights, economical position, French language, and French lifestyle. The Quebec sovereignty movements brought widespread changes in the 1960s as other independent movements were all moving forward in the international community. The party won a historic election in 1960, marking the beginning of the Quiet Revolution, which advocated the self-governance and reconstruction of Quebec. The Union Nationale of Quebec, who won the 1966 election, further put forward a request to build an independent sovereign nation. In 1967, the French President Charles De Gaulle publicly expressed his support for the Quebec independence

174

movement at the Montreal International Import and Export Fair, making the independence-soughing Quebec French more encouraged. With this kind of public political activities and support from the home country, Quebec Sovereignty movements were becoming even fiercer and the violence was also aggravated. The ―Front deliberation du Quebec" and "Quebec Liberation Army," who were actively in support of terrorism, appeared during that period of time. In 1970, they kidnapped the British trade commissioner and the officials from the Quebec government 1. In 1980, during a referendum organized by the Party Quebecois, 40.44% of the whole population of Quebec supported independence. In 1990s, as the rise of nationalism and separatism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, a new round of sovereignty movements started. In 1995's referendum led by the Party Quebecois, 49.4% supported independence. Although the sovereignty movement did not succeed and went in decline thereafter, its potential still existed. Such public fights through legal methods for national sovereignty movements also appeared in Scotland, Welsh of Britain, and the Fletcherman area of Belgium. Such movements, led by legitimate parties, sought independence in democratic ways including referendum, congress votes and regional political pressure and had achieved wide public support. As a result, they did not need forms such as extreme violence and terrorism. B. Military Confrontation This type of national separatism refers to those who consult to military or martial ways to achieve independence in a sovereign state. National separatist forces usually have strong military power, material support, and a stable region under their control. Although their political activities, as well as their armed forces, are illegal, they do contain enough power to force negotiations or bargain with the government. A typical example of this category is the Tamil Elam independence movement led by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in Sri Lake. The Sinhalese Buddhists constitute the largest ethnic group in the country, taking up 74% of the total population. Sri Lankan Tamils are the second major ethnic group in the island, accounting for 18% of the total population. Tamils of Indian origin were brought into the country as indentured laborers by British colonists to work on estate plantations. They built the Jaffna Kingdom and controlled the north part and the eastern coastal part of Sri Lanka.

1

John Gribbin, The Historical Focus, PartⅠ, Translated by Zhu Shanping et al, Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2000, P343. 175

British colonists adopted the policy of "divide and rule," taking advantage of the conflicts between the two ethnic groups to intentionally raise the social positions of the Tamil and arrange most Tamils to work in the government and promote their education levels. However, after the rejuvenation of Buddhism and Sinhalese, they deliberately gave them more rights. Following the independence of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese people with their political strength and their ―political monk‖ force had gained access to the secular world.1 They started to strengthen their own political and cultural nationalism and set Sinhalese as the national language and Buddhism the national religion. They even gave Sinhalese students preferential treatment in university admissions and raised the standard for Tamil students. Even in the northern and northeastern areas of Sri Lanka, which belonged to traditional Tamil settlements, ethnic policies that encouraged the Sinhalese to immigrate there were adopted as the policy to "restrict Tamil" caused Tamils' strong dissatisfaction and led to the first ethnic conflicts between the Sinhalese and Tamil in the 1950s. This had emboldened younger Tamils to seek ways to form a Tamil homeland (nation) where the rights and freedoms of the Tamil people could be protected and nurtured. In the beginning of 1970s, the Tamil parties' call for regional autonomy was replaced with the demand for a separate state called Tamil Eelam. In 1972, all Tamil political parties merged and became known as the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). In 1975, terrorism started as the liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam formed and they assassinated the mayor of the city Jaffna. Then with intensified conflicts between Sinhalese and Tamil, violence was upgraded with more frequent riots and chaos. Tamil armed forces with the "tiger model‖as their core value directly confronted with the central government and launched a series of terrorist activities such as kidnappings, explosions, and assassinations. In 1987, India sent peacekeeping forces to Sri Lanka as required by the Sri Lankan government. However, the external intervention caused both Indian forces and Sri Lanka's Tamils‘ opposition, with more intense resistance and violent terrorist activities targeting both Sri Lanka and India. In 1990, Indian peacekeeping troops withdrew from Sri Lanka. In the 1990s, the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, and that of the Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993, in the form of suicide bombing on both occasions, aroused further terrorist activities. In addition, a number of Sri Lanka officials from the government,

1

Song Lidao, The Sacred and Secular: Religions and Politics in Countries with Southern Buddhism,Beijing: Religious Culture Press, 2000, P203. 176

the military and the cabinet were also assassinated. In 1999, LTTE‘s terrorism suicide bomb caused then Sri Lanka's president Kumaratunga's wife a severe eye injury. In LTTE, some young men and women from their childhood were given professional training as human bombs. In 1999, LTTE announced that their suicide squad had assassinated 147 officials of the government. Sri Lanka Tamil terrorist ethnic separatist movement continued developing and it ranked top amongst the current extreme national separatist organizations. Similar movements as Tamil Eelam Tiger of Sri Lanka include Moro National Liberation Front, MNLF in the Philippines. Established in 1969, the MNLF struggled against the Philippine Government (GPH) to achieve the independence of the Islamic Bangsamoro Land (or Bangsamoro Nation, or Mindanao Nation) under the UN principle of self-determination. In 1974, MNLF released its announcement to create the Moro Republic.1 The Philippines government agreed to establish autonomy in the 13 Islamic Southern Mindanao provinces after a difficult procedure. Up to 1990, autonomy was established in four Islamic Southern Mindanao provinces. During this process, divisions in MNLF appeared with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and New MNLF as well as some extreme forces including the separatist of the MNLF in 1991Abu Sayyaf Group, ASG. Besides, Chechnya of Russia also belongs to this category. In history, Chechnya suffered numerous conquests and rules of foreign nations and slowly converted to Islam in the Islamic process of Central Asia and the Caucasus region. There was a fierce and intensified resistance against Russia in the 18thcentury when Russian tried to conquer Chechnya. The Chechnya Rebellions occurred during the Russo-Turkish War, the Russian Revolution of 1905, and the Russian Revolution of 1917. Under the Soviet rule, Chechnya was combined with Ingushetia to form the autonomous republic of Chechen-Ingushetia in the late 1930s. In 1944, the Chechnya republic was dismantled and the Chechens were forcibly deported to Central Asia and Siberia. In 1957, after the 20thSoviet Party Congress, the Chechens were allowed to return to their "own ethnic land‖ during the de-Stalinization movement directed by Nikita Khrushchev. However, as their traditional habitats had been taken up and russofied, conflicts were further upgraded among Chechens, Russian immigrants, and the Russian government. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, although Chechnya became one of the

1

Jiang Binglun, The Study of the South Philippines Molech Resistance Movement,Taibei: School of Law of Taiwan Institute of Chinese Culture, 1999, P167. 177

Russian Federation's republics, it declared independence as a separate nation and established military forces with ever increasing tensions originating from extreme nationalism and religious extremism. As Russia failed to solve the Chechnya issue by political means, the First Chechen War occurred in a two-year period from 1994 to 1996, when Russian forces attempted to regain control over Chechnya, which had already established independence in November, 1991. In 1995, the Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis shocked the Russian public and discredited Chechen guerrillas. Widespread demoralization of the Russian forces in the area and a successful offensive on Grozny by Chechen resistance forces led by Aslan Maskhadov prompted the Russian President Boris Yeltsin to declare ceasefire in 1996 and sign a peace treaty a year later. However, terrorism from Chechen separatist forces continued after that, making it one of the most rampant terrorist sites. In 1999, Russia sent troops to Chechnya and basically gained control. However, it will still require time to comprehensively solve the Chechnya issue. C. Terrorism for Cross-border Unification This type refers to those who belong to the same ethnic group historically while nowadays live in different adjacent countries. They hope, out of some political reasoning, to achieve ethnic unity or merge their territories to establish an independent nation by separatist activities involving armed forces. This type of terrorism covers transnational cooperative activities, which would endanger territorial integrity and regional security. A typical example is the Middle East‘s Kurds, who sought to achieve independence by building an independent nation state of Kurdistan, consisting some or all of the areas with Kurdish majority. Kurds, the 4thlargest ethnic minority after Arab, Turkish, and Persians, are an Iranian people native to the Middle East. The Kurds numbered about 25 million, the majority of them believe in Islam and live in the Middle East, with significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Historically, The Kurds were once conquered and exploited by empires like Greece, Persia, Rome, Seljuk, Khwarizmi, Mongolia, and Turkey and they never had an independent nation. However, as most Kurds were sturdy and brave, they served in military forces for the Persian Empire. Saladin, who defeated the Crusades and became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty, was a Kurdish Muslim. After the 16th century AD, most of the Kurds were under the Ottoman Empire rule and few of them were under Persian rule. As the Ottoman Empire slowly declined in the 18thcentury, the awareness of nationalism

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among Kurds was strengthened. This also drew the attention of the European powers who coveted the Ottoman Empire. During this time, Britain and Russia started to intervene in the Kurdistan issue. In the 20thcentury, Kurds established their own political organization and began to put forward their own political demands and national claimants. Kurdish nationalism emerged after World War I with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire which had historically successfully integrated (but not assimilated) the Kurds, through the use of forced repression of Kurdish movements to gain independence. Some of the Kurdish groups sought self-determination and the championing in the Treaty of Sèvres of Kurdish autonomy in the aftermath of World War I, however, most of which was never put into practice as the interest of European powers. Then, most Kurds joined the Turkish Revolution led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces of Kemal Atatürk caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkeyleaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French mandated states of Iraq and Syria. Kurdistan was divided under the negotiation of Britain and France.After the independence of Turkey, Kemal Atatürk prevented self-determination and Kurdish autonomy and forced Kurds to assimilate. Turkey suppressed Kurdish revolts in 1925 which lasted until 1938 and resulted in more than 70 million Kurds' deaths. Iran and Iraq did the same in the 1920s, accelerating the transnational cooperation among Kurds in 1940s. In 1944, Kurds had their own flag and renamed their Kurdistan Association as the Kurdish Democratic Party in 1945. In 1946, a short-lived Soviet-sponsored Kurdish Republic of Mahabad in Iran did not long outlast the World War II. Kurds‘ efforts went into decline. During the relatively open government of the 1950s, Kurds gained political office and started working within the framework of the Turkish Republic to further promote their interests. In 1958, the Kurdish Democratic Party in Iraq restarted to achieve independence. In 1967, another revolt was launched by the Kurdish Democratic Party in Iran. In both Iraq and Iran, revolts and suppressions were constant. In 1987 and 1988, in the suppression of the Iraq government against Kurds, chemical weapons were used, which resulted in about 5000 Kurds‘ deaths; tens of thousands of Kurds were forced to exile to Iran and Turkey. After the collapse of the Kurdish uprising in March, 1991, Iraqi troops recaptured most of the Kurdish areas and 1.5 million Kurds abandoned their homes and fled to the Turkish and Iranian borders. It is estimated that close to 20,000 Kurds died due to exhaustion, lack of food, exposure to cold, and disease. Under the UN

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resolution and the US and western nations' military intervention, safe havens inside Iraqi borders were established by the Coalition and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was also established in 1992. Since 1983, the Iranian government has maintained control over Iranian Kurdistan. Kurdish revolts have consistently been suppressed. Frequent unrest and the occasional military crackdowns have occurred since the 1990s. The most representative is the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey. Established in 1978, it was an ethnic secessionist organization using violence for the purpose of achieving its goal of creating an independent Kurdish state. From the mid-80s to mid-90s, PKK resorted to forced inscription, forced evacuation, destruction of villages, severe harassment, and extrajudicial executions and even kidnappings of government officials, women, and kids.1 Therefore, PKK was listed among terrorist organizations. In 1991, as the great transformation happened among the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, with the rejuvenation of the 3rd nationalist movements, the Turkish government lifted discrimination laws against the Kurds which had banned the use of Kurdish language in the past. However, it also strengthened its suppression on PKK and even launched massive suppressions by allowing its Air-Ground forces to enter Iraq to clean up PKK. As a consequence, in 1999, Öcalan, leader of PKK, was captured in Kenya, prosecuted, and sentenced to death, but later commuted to life imprisonment as part of European Union membership. Then the PKK announced ceasefire and withdrew from Turkey and even abandoned the goal of achieving independence. The Kurdish movement was basically stagnated. The Kurdish issue belongs to the movement which sought to achieve independence and ethnic unity, but for Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, it was a national separatist movement. Similar ethnic separatist activities include the Albanian issue of the Balkan Peninsula. In 1912, Ottoman influence was wiped out across Europe, and then the Great Albania came into being. During the World War II, Benito Mussolini placed nearly all the land inhabited by ethnic Albanians under the jurisdiction of an Albanian quisling government. That area included the region of Kosovo, parts of the Republic of Macedonia and some small border areas of Montenegro, which formed ―the Great Albanian‖ occupation by the Italians. But after World War II, Albanian borders were returned by the Allies to the pre-war status. Yugoslavia regained its territory, however,

1

Yang Haocheng, Zhu Kerou, National Conflicts and Religious Disputes,Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1996, P122. 180

efforts to build a ―Great Albanian‖ by Albanians of Kosovo, Macedonia, and Greece continued. In 1990, after the death of Josip Broz Tito, Albanians in Kosovo of Yugoslavia restarted ethnic separatist activities, requiring a merger with Albania. In 1989, conflicts were deepened as Yugoslavia cancelled Kosovo‘s position as an autonomous region. In 1990, with the dissolution of Yugoslavia, ethnic separatist activities were intensified and violence and terrorist methods to gain independence were used by the Kosovo Liberation Army. NATO intervened in Balkan affairs as the suppression by Yugoslavia started to deepen. In 1999, Kosovo War broke out and Kosovo then was under the control of international peacekeeping forces. However, ethnic separatist activities from Greece and Macedonia continued and also gained support from Albania. Such activities to achieve national unification and the Greater Nation by the method of separatism resort not only to public military confrontation but also to publicity such as the Yeke Mongghol Ulus to build a Great Mongolia to unify all Mongolian people and the idea to call on all Kazakhs to return to Kazakhstan. D. Interactions to Achieve Respective Independence This refers to the ethnic separatism happening when different ethnic minorities reject each other and divide in action to achieve their own independence or to build their own countries. These ethnic minorities do not aim to maintain unification of one country but fight for territory and power to achieve their own independence. One thing to notice in this category is that different ethnic minorities usually get the support of other international forces. The civil war of Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to this category. As Yugoslavia went into dissolution with the spread of multi-party system in 1990s, ethnic separatists served as the stimuli of dissolution. Bosnia and Herzegovina was a republic consisted of 3 religions, 2 nations, and a Muslim group. However, with the development of political pluralism and consequent partisanship based on ethnic groups and religions, the Bosnian war broke out in the 1990s. In 1995, when the Dayton Agreement was signed, the ethnical and religious war had lasted for 4 years. An extremely brutal war among the Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat groups, as well as the Muslim group of Bosnia that had started to secure their own territory, especially the Bosnian Serbs. The war was characterized by terrorist activities like bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing and systematic mass rape, mostly led by Serb and, to a lesser extent, Croat forces. During the war, memories of ethnic genocide in history was being woken up. In particular, the Croatian fascist and the terrorist organization The

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Ustaša-Croatian Revolutionary Movement brought up by Nazi Germany were typical fascist genocide killers. Ustasa was responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of citizens of Serbs and Muslim.Even Nazis used the word ―unbelievable‖ to describe the terrorism and atrocities happening in Ustasha. Ustasha reappeared during the Bosnian War. Besides, Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement, the Serb nationalist and monarchist paramilitary organizations who launched a massacre on Croatian and Bosnia Muslims, also reappeared during the Bosnia War. In the multi-ethnic Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the appearance of the Republic Srpska, the Serb part of Bosnia, Autonomna Pokrajina Zapadna Bosnia, APZB and the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia put Bosnia-Herzegovina into a status of division. Under the UN and US‘s influences and the Dayton Agreement, the State of Bosnia Herzegovina was set as of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and of the Republika Srpska. Bosnia and Herzegovina was a complete state, as opposed to a confederation; no entity or entities could ever be separated from Bosnia and Herzegovina unless through due legal process. After the signing of the Dayton Agreement, the future of the country was still under observation. In addition, the 3 parts involved in the war were both backed by some other countries directly or indirectly. Orthodox countries like Russia and Greece supported Serbia, while Catholic countries backed up Croatia, and western countries, as well as the Islamic world, supported Muslim Group with different purposes. The conflicts between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can also be classified into this category. Cyprus is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea with an area of 9000 square kilometers. Cyprus was settled by Mycenean Greeks in two waves in the 2ndmillennium BC. As a strategic location in the Middle East, it was subsequently occupied by several major powers, including the empires of the Assyrians, Egyptians,Persians, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Roman Empire, then by the Ottomans in 1571. It remained under Ottoman control for over three centuries. Although Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots observe different religions, cultural backgrounds, and languages, historically, there were not many ethnic conflicts. In 1828, modern Greece's first president Ioannis Kapodistrias whose maternal ancestors were Greek Cypriots, called for the union of Cyprus with Greece, and numerous minor uprisings took place. Reaction to Ottoman‘s misrule led to uprisings by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, although none were successful. After the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire, Cyprus was leased to the British Empire which de facto took over its administration in 1878. During this time, Britain suppressed

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Cyprus Greece‘s revolt to achieve independence by taking advantage of Turkey, which further intensified the ethnic conflicts. In January, 1959, the Church of Cyprus organized a referendum, which was boycotted by the Turkish Cypriot community, where over 90% voted in favor of "enosis," meaning a union with Greece. After the negotiation by the 3 sides, Cyprus was finally under the rule of both Turkish and Greece Cypriots. The forced peaceful rule did not resolve the conflicts between the 2 ethnic groups. At the end of 1963, bloody conflicts spread to the whole Cyprus. The UN, Turkey, and Greece all intervened in the conflicts. In 1967, as Greece Cypriots invaded Turkish villages with the support of Greece, the two communities separated. Then Turkish publicly enlarged its influence on the whole island which led to the 1974 war between Turkey and Greece over Cyprus. Turkey took up 37% of the land and established a separate Turkish Cypriot political entity in the north with an independent president and parliament. In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established and recognized only by Turkey. Since then, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus became a country inside Cyprus, which made it a hard thorn for the UN, EU, Turkey, and Greece. E. Terrorism with Violence This mainly refers to the category under which terrorist activities are the major ways to achieve nationalist separatism and independence. The main feature of this type is that no wars or confrontations are formedonly terrorist activities. Such organizations with this type of behavior belong to this type. A typical example of this category is the ETA in Spain. Basque is one of the oldest peoples in Europe. In history, no Basque nation was ever established, but its unique ethnic characteristics and cultural traditions have been maintained and preserved for a long time. In 1931, when Spain and France were deciding the borders of their territory, part of the traditional Basque settlements belonged to France, and the voice to gain independence and achieve nationalist separatism appeared. During Franco rule, Basque lost its autonomous position. The discrimination and suppressionled to confrontation by Partido Nacionalista Vasco. After the Second World War, while fighting for autonomy, part of Partido Nacionalista Vasco supported the establishment of Basque Socialist Republic by armed confrontation. In 1958, this part announced a break away from Partido Nacionalista Vasco and founded ETA to launch terrorist violence activities against Spain. ETA regarded Southern France as their base and established its specific organization system and professional division of labor, using

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explosions, assassinations to express its voice to gain independence. During Franco rule, a wide range of support was gained in the areas of the Basque region. However, in 1975, after the rule of Franco and democratic transformation, the Spanish government guaranteed Basque‘s autonomous position to ensure the rights of ethnic minorities. They established autonomy in Catalonian, Basque, and Halychyna, among which, the Basque region was the first to gain autonomy. This, to a large extent, eased ethnic conflicts. However, ETA never abandoned its intention to establish its own country as well as the terrorist activities. The violence of ETA targeted at military and government officials, politicians, and even opposing party leaders, prime ministers, and the King. They also kidnapped entrepreneurs to get ransom as a source of fund. Their activities were anti-society such as the 1961‘s attempt to derail the train and the 1963‘s explosion targeting Madrid‘s biggest telephone exchange center. As most of ETA‘s terrorist activities were conveyed by individuals or commandos, the anti-ETA activities were restricted to Spanish Police arrest actions. As Spanish police and French police strengthened their efforts and an increasingly opposing voice from the Basque people arose, ETA announced a ceasefire in 1998. But one year later, they initiated terrorist actions once again. A similar issue to the ETA group of Spain is the Corsica issue in France. Corsican Island is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1768, France took up the island. As the hometown of Napoleon, it has a unique position in history. However, in 1976, National Liberation Front of Corsica, FLNC started to launch confrontation against non-Corsican estanciero local government in order to preserve the rights of the Corsica people. In 1981, as a result of the brutal suppression of the French government, FLNC adopted terrorist tactics and conducted 45 bombings in both Corsica and Paris. After that, the government announced FLNC illegal and laid severe suppression on it. FLNC also divided into Corsica national alliance and self-determinations with own forces. They were both launching terrorist activities and political fights through parliament for rights. After the mid-1990s, underground forces of FLNC were formed as the efforts to gain independence slowly transformed. Part of FLNC became a terrorist organization the same as ETA and IRA. These organizations launched various terrorist activities like explosions, kidnappings, and associations. From 1988 to 1998, 713 bombings and 362 arson attacks on public buildings were launched, which formed a typical category of terrorism. The above categories are typical types of terrorism, which have developed into considerable political and military forces difficult for nations to eliminate. They resort

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to western democratic theory and terrorist activities to gain independence and autonomy. As they usually are unified with political forces and separatist forces, they are usually characterized by the feature of publicity and semi-publicity and gained negotiation position with the local government. Other nationalist separatism mostly belongs to illegal and underground violent organizations. However, most terrorist organizations except the open Canada Quebec sovereignty movement regard terrorist activities as a necessary phase and method to gain political rights. This is mostly because terrorism is one of the important elements that can threaten a country‘s political and social stability as well as the common citizens‘ psychological status.

6.2.3 Contemporary Ethnic Revenge and Terrorist Activities Ethnic revenge is the result of the escalation of ethnic disputes and violence among ethnic groups as ethnic conflicts are not properly handled, since disputes were accumulated in history and escalate in contemporary times. Revenge killings originate from ancient vengeances, which have a wide foundation among ethnic groups. However, this type mainly refers to ethnic conflicts with political purposes. Like the civil war of Bosnia and Herzegovina mentioned above, this belongs to a typical type of ethnic revenge killing. As all 3 sides of the civil war launched killings for the purpose of establishing their own independent nations, this war was also for ethnic separation. However, some ethnic conflicts are not for the purpose of gaining independence, but simply happened out of the brutality of ethnic hatred. A typical example is the ethnic revenge killings in Africa. At 9 p.m. on April 6, 1994, a plane crashed in Rwanda Kigali International Airport. The presidents of Rwanda and Burundi both died in the accident. The whole world was surprised by the tragedy, and an unprecedented genocide followed. Rwanda and Burundi are both small countries located in east Africa, the population of the two countries consists of Tutsi and Hutu. At the end of 19thcentury, this area was governed by the tall and strong Tutsis. Tutsi people are mostly taller than Hutus and light in skin. The are fewer of them, however. At that time, the two ethnic groups lived in harmony. However, during the colonial rule of German colonists and Belgian colonists after the First World War, the policy of ―divide and rule‖ was adopted. They supported the Tutsis and gave them special treatment to let them govern the Hutus. They even used the height of people as a criterion to decide their qualification for education. These ethnic policies seriously injured ethnic relations and caused ethnic hatred and 185

misunderstandings. In the 20thcentury, as national revolution started to spread in Africa, Belgian colonists, in order to maintain their rule, supported Hutus‘ return to power. In 1959, a massive revenge killing from the Hutus started. They amputated the legs of the Tutsi people to express their anger over inequality, which was quite brutal and horrible. After the independence of Rwanda, Hutu gained the right of rule and their persecution of Tutsis became even harsher, which led to massive a Tutsi diaspora to Uganda, forming Tutsi refugee groups and political forces outside Rwanda. After the mid-1970s, the ethnic disputes were to some extent released. However, as the multi-party mechanism spread to Africa, the multi-party system was adapted to tribalism, which caused more tribal conflicts. In 1991, Tutsi political forces from beyond Rwanda, the RNF, launched armed attacks which led to a new round of ethnic and tribal conflicts. After the death of the Rwandan president, the tribal revenge killings transferred into irrational and public killings, including those of the Hutu people who supported ethnic harmony. At the same time, a similar tribal and ethnic revenge killing started in Burundi. After the independence of Burundi, Tutsi rule inherited the tradition that a smaller group of Tutsis governed and ruled the Hutus, who had a bigger population. From 1962 to 1992, 4 massive conflicts and 5 military coups happened. Despite this, Tutsi rule was maintained. This changed in the 1993 presidential election as the multi-party system spread to Africa. They elected the first Hutu president. Then, the Tutsi army mobilized a military coup and killed the new president. Then ethnic conflicts between Hutu and Tutsi broke out which resulted in a number of refugees. In April, 1994, when the presidents of Burundi and Rwanda flew to Kenya to participate in the conferences aiming at resolving the revenge killings, the crash occurred. After the breakout of the Rwandan genocide, Burundi also fell into a period terror. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, millions of people were killed; 3million escaped abroad and 2 million became destitute and homeless.1 None of the 8 million Rwandans could avoid genocide. After international intervention, a new Rwanda government was formed by the Tutsi Patriotic Front and they also started to punish those who launched and committed the genocide. The UN also established an International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. As Africa was divided into several geometric figures, a lot of ethnic groups had to live across national borders. And ethnic and tribal conflicts were also mutually affected internationally. The Burundi

1

Wu Hua, Global Conflicts and Disputes (Africa), World Knowledge Press, 1998, P90. 186

and Rwandan ethnic revenge killings not only resulted in millions of refugees but also exerted negative effects on tribal relations. For instance, the 1996‘s anti-government military coup under Kabila‘s leadership in Zaire was led by the elites of Tutsi. The genocide of Rwanda and Burundi is a typical example of common tribal conflicts in Africa, which belongs to public revenge killings with terrorist characteristics.

6.3 The Historical Origins and the Current Reasons for Racial and Ethnic Conflicts Racial discrimination and ethnic suppression are the results of class society and also manifestations of the contradictions among different classes. However, racial and ethnical conflicts contain collective exclusive antagonist characteristics. Therefore, the core of those conflicts is always covered by the differences in ethnic groups or races. This will not only cause difficulty in analyzing the reasons of ethnic and racial conflicts but also result in a complicated situation to judge those terrorist activities. However, we can also discover some causes of terrorism from the above examples.

6.3.1 Causes of Contemporary Ethnic and Racial Conflicts: Colonialism and Imperialism Racism formed during the colonial expansion period is a kind of view of separating human beings. Colonial forces advanced their racial suppression and racial discrimination by constructing a racist system, legal system, and policies, which led to inequality of some races at a psychological level, and even made them feel inferior to others or regard themselves as animals. At the same time, during the colonial rule, colonial forces promoted ―divide and rule‖ to escalate the disputes among different races to weaken their strength to defend colonial forces and maintain their rule. Therefore, a number of races and ethnic groups were forced to divide into several parts from their traditional settlements when colonial forces were fighting for their own territory. The drawing of African nations‘ territories and borders are a typical example. This directly affects contemporary ethnic and racial conflicts as political heritages from colonies and quasi-colonies. For instance, common racial

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discrimination, the Northern Ireland conflicts, the Palestine and Israel issues, and the Kashmir issue are all inter-related with the separatist policy of ―divide and rule‖ by colonial forces. Complicated ethnic and tribal disputes mostly are connected with the colonial times. Even the reasoning for the atrocities on the Chinese by the Indonesian people can be traced back to Dutch colonial times when the Netherlands took advantage of the Chinese‘s advantages to do business and exploit locals. Therefore, most of today‘s racial conflicts and ethnical disputes were triggered by the western colonial countries.

6.3.2 Causes of the Internationalization of Contemporary Ethnic Disputes and Territory Conflicts: Power Politics and the Great Powers’ interests Generally speaking, the international nature of ethnic disputes refers to the conflicts among countries caused by foreign invasions. However, imperialist conquest, colonial rule, and imperial powers led to the isolation of ethnic groups and nations, the division of territories when they were deciding their own territories. A number of ethnic groups have had to live in different countries. For example, in the Treaty of Versailles signed after the First World War, the restructuring of Eastern Europe directly reflected the interests of the winning countries and 16 million people from different ethnic groups were forced to belong to other countries and became the ethnic minorities of those countries. This not only caused border disputes among different countries but also led to the internationality of ethnic issues. Hungary‗s focus on Romania‘s Hungarian people and the territory claims on Romania, Turkey‘s dissatisfaction on Bulgaria‘s Turkey people, Albania‘s support on Yugoslavia and Macedonia Albanian people‘s independence movement are typical examples. These issues are common across the world and have become important elements effecting countries‘ relations and regional security. Besides, some countries‘ rejection, persecution, and migration, which cause racial and ethnical conflicts, further enlarges the range of the internalization of ethnic disputes. However, the international nature of ethnic disputes may cause the conflicts between different countries, but this is not the internalization of ethnic issues because under today‘s nation-state political patterns, ethnic issues belong to domestic affairs of a nation. No other countries‘ intervention 188

should be allowed. The internalization of the ethnic issues is turning domestic affairs into international affairs where governments submit issues to the UN or put them under the influence of other forces.

6.3.3 The Escalation of Ethnic Conflicts: Hegemony and Changeable Double Standards In order to maintain western influence on some countries and regions and gain political, economic, and military interests in those areas, they adopt different excuses and means to exert their influence on these areas. Especially the USA, who intervene around the world, not only provide political asylum and support for the activities of dissidents, nationalist separatists, and heresy forces, but also military intervention. According to the statistics, during the Cold War, there were 125 massive military interventions on foreign nations. After the cold war, the number is as many as 40, among which, the most focused were interventions on Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sudan. Most of the United States‘ frequent and broad international interventions are based on ethnic and religious conflicts but the standards change for different countries. In a word, these standards are all for US interests. For example, in order the suppress the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, western countries took advantage of their violence and ethnic revenge killings and made up ―ethnic cleansing‖ of Serbian. However, they intentionally ignored the same crimes committed by Croatians and Muslims. In order to overthrow Saddam‘s rule, the US encouraged the northern Kurds‘ separatist movements, but remained silence on Turkey‘s military suppression targeting them. The United States provided support for their western allies in their suppressions on domestic nationalist separatists, but launched military actions on Yugoslavia when it was trying to preserve national unity and suppress Kosovo because of their separatist terrorist activities. The reason that NATO countries started an invasive war on Yugoslavia to stop its ―ethnic cleansing‖ was that they discovered 40 dead bodies of non-armed Albanians in a village, but did nothing to stop Rwanda genocide which resulted in millions of civilians‘ deaths and the US also rejected to join the UN peacekeeping missions. Such double standards and egoist interventions also make some separatists from some countries try hard to get US support which further strengthens their terrorist activities.

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6.3.4

The

Effects

of

Pan-nationalism

on

the

Internationalization of Ethnic Conflicts Pan-nationalism has appeared in modern history. The typical type of pan-nationalism contains Pan-Slavism, the Germanic socialist, the Turkism, Pan-Arabism, Zionism, and the Kurdish socialist, etc. There are profound historical reasons in the rise and spread of pan-nationalism, which is deeply related with the expansion and conquest of different ethnic groups and empires in history and is strengthened in the world plagued by conquest, power politics, and hegemony of modern western powers. Pan-nationalism happens across borders and mobilizes its people through the so-called common ethnic origin, and historical memories, languages and cultures, promoting the idea of the same ethnic group or nation and even the construction of a ―Great Nation.‖ Although pan-nationalism is different from national separatism in political purposes, it becomes an important international element in agitating and supporting some countries‘ ethnic separatism. The pan-nationalism which promotes separatism of other countries to gain the unification of its own ethnic group is a great nationalist idea with expansion features, which also led to the internationalization of ethnic conflicts. In history, pan-Slavism or pan-Arabism never succeeded but their thought had considerable influence, especially when connected with religion. Their thought presented itself as a trans-national and obvious common religious belief. For instance, in the civil war of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Kosovo war, Serbia was backed up by Russia and Greece, Muslim and Albanians were supported by the Islamic word, while Croatia was supported by Catholic countries like Germany. This to some extent reflects the conflicts of cultures as well as the idea to divide conflicting groups by religion. However, western countries supported Kosovo‘s Albanian Muslims, but stood against Serbia whose Eastern Orthodox civilization came from Christianity, rendering the theory feeble and futile.1After the Cold War, with the weakening of ideological conflicts between the western and eastern world and the strengthening of nationalism, pan-nationalism was also on the rise. Except Pan-Turkism, some worldwide conferences for a single nation were held such as the World Hungarian Meeting 1

Hao Shiyuan, the Empire Hegemony and Balkans the Powderkeg, Beijing: Social Sciences and Academic Press, 1999, P318. 190

(1992), the World Kazakhstan Meeting (1992), the World Mongolian meeting (1993). All of those belong to pan-nationalism.

6.3.5 The Escalation of Ethnic Issues by the Improper Practice of Solving Ethnic Conflicts of Some Countries. Most countries in the world are multi-nation states, which is a prominent feature of the contemporary world. Thousands of ethnic groups belong to hundreds of nations. Ethnic and national issues widely exist in most countries. The proper handling of ethnic issues become an important affair for countries to deal with. The realization of equality in politics, economy, culture, and social life for all ethnic groups is the major way to solve ethnic issues. However, under class-rules, such equality is not possible. Western developed countries regard their democratic system as the most superior and omnipotent in solving national problems. However, there are a wide range of ethnic and national problems and the escalation of racial and ethnic problems, such as the racial issues of the US, the Quebec issues of Canada, the national separatism and racial xenophobia of the Western European countries, and the aboriginal issues of North America, Northern Europe, and Australia. To some developing countries, national liberation movements have been mostly led by the capitalist class, bourgeoisie, and the leadership of the feudalist forces. Those countries, after independence, cannot continue the revolution of different classes. Their domestic national policy was still that of ethnic oppression policy, often because of the inheritance of the colonial period "divide and rule" policy traditions in their domestic national policy. For example, the Philippines Moro Ethnic Separatist Movement originates from the conquest of the Philippines Catholic driven by Spanish people. The United States advanced the forced assimilation policy toward Moros and made the Philippines continue such policy after their withdrawal, which led to massive armed conflicts and terrorist activities. After the independence of Rwanda, Hutus oppressed Tutsis by severe methods. Although it was an adjustment of the colonial policy, it was also the continuing of oppressive policy of ethnic groups by colonial forces. In socialist countries, there were not only national problems, but there was also the improper handling of nationalist and ethnic issues. Soviet‘s arrangements with centralization (of authority) replacing its federalist rights in the Constitutions, openly 191

promoting "Russianalization," and exerted collective punishments on some ethnic groups were totally against the party of the proletariat. First, it violated the principle of Great nationalism, against the use of class methods of the Marxists to distinguish social groups rather than by the national or ethnic groups they belonged to. Like the Soviet forced promotion of such policies, Eastern Europeans also adopted such policies and practices. For example, Bulgaria forced its Turkish people to accept assimilation policies like changing their names. Romania adopted division and assimilation policies to domestic Hungarians. These were all from the influence of the Soviets. So it is unavoidable for these countries to see the negative results on society of the escalation of ethnic problems. Although Yugoslavia got rid of the influence of the Soviets, it delegated powers without limit to prevent excessive centralization and suppress Serbia to balance ethnic relations to achieve the "absolute equality,‖ which led to the strengthening of local nationalist forces. The Soviet Union‘s promotion of great nationalism and Yugoslavia‗s allowing local nationalism were two extremes, but the results were the same. With the characteristic universality, long-lasting features, complexity, importance and internationalism, ethnic issues not only permeates to every field of society, but are often linked with religious problems; they are affected not only by domestic policies and practices to solve the problem, but also by related international factors, especially pan-nationalism and sectarian influence. As national and religious problems are inter-related, this may result in some international forces‘ leading role at some time or during a certain period. Extreme nationalism is easily caused by nationalism‘s emotional, blind, infectious, and provocative characteristics.

6.4 Extreme Nationalism and Terrorism As one of the most difficult concepts in IR theory, there are as many concepts for nationalism as there are for terrorism. Nationalism has its ancient origins but appeared as the product of the modern capitalist revolution. Since the mid-19thcentury, nationalism has exerted a wide range of influences on the world as a unique political role. It is nationalism that led to the appearance of nation-states, it is national chauvinism that led to imperialism, and it is extreme nationalism that led to fascism. Nationalism produced in colonies led to the breakdown of the colonial system and nationalist separatism led to the separation of nations, wars, and terrorism. As a kind of ideology, nationalism depends on the common identity of different classes of one 192

nation-state, which also makes it hard to analyze nationalism within the framework of class politics. Nationalism is a word highly connected with politics and emotions. 1The political nature of nationalism contains the interests of classes while the emotional part could eliminate the common identity of differences among the same classes within a nation. So as the different political inclinations of nationalism, nationalism has a double nature. During the conquering process of western capitalism‘s attempt to build its international colonial system, they were also completing the expansion and conquest of the world. However, what the west did not expect was that nationalism also became a political force of the colonies and a strong weapon for them to overthrow the colonial rule and hegemony there. However, any kind of nationalism has an egoist and exclusive nature, which may transform into extreme nationalism to some extent. Extreme nationalism with expansionist nature will produce imperialism, fascism, and hegemony. Conservative nationalism may lead to exclusivism and separatism. The double-edged sword effect of nationalism is characterized by extremism.

6.4.1 The misunderstanding of nation-state and the abuse of national self-determination by extreme nationalist separatist forces Extreme nationalism is the radicalization of political goals and the rejection of dialogue among different nations or ethnic groups. Extreme national separatism is the production of the misunderstanding of nation-state and the abuse of nations‘ self-determination. This kind of extreme nationalism is a typical egoism. It aims at building an independent state based on its corresponding nation by absolutely exclusive means stressing on the supreme national interests. Therefore, the escalation of ethical conflicts in a multi-national state easily leads to extreme nationalist separatist forces. In the evolution process of human society, the human community developed through the forms of clan, tribe, tribal alliance, and ethnic groups while nations developed through the formation of city-states, empires, national monarchy, and 1

Guo Shaotang, Nation-States and International Order, Beijing: Capital Normal University Press, 1998, P10. 193

nation-states. From the perspective of nation-states, they were formed by multi-ethnic groups since ancient Rome and ancient Greece. However, as the development of human civilization on different continents could exhibit the entire human social development history, the forms and development of nations are also different at different phases. Therefore, all ethnic groups have ever built their own nation. During the 16thcentury when the Spanish invaded America, there were only the Inca Empire and the Aztec Empire. During the 17thcentury when Westerners arrived in Australia, the aboriginals were at the stage of blood clan organization. In the 19thcentury when western powers carve up the African continent, they were still at tribal society stage. Even in the 18thcentury before the French revolution, European powers did not have the concept of nation-state. From the beginning of the French Revolution to Europe‘s 1848 third revolutionthe "National Spring Movement"nationalism, as well as nation-states, have entered human history. The one nation, one state principle promoted by nation-states was supported and pursued by many people. But they gradually ignored the fact that ―one-nation" here was defined as a sovereign and independent country with an integrated territory. People within a nation state have their identity. These citizens were no longer loyal and servile to the emperor or monarch but loyal to the national emblem, the national anthem, and the national flag. Such nation-states formed on the foundation that all citizens were a political nation. In this sense, nation and state are interrelated. Nation-states contain a lot of natural or historical ethnic groups or nations. The differences of language, culture, religion, and their own identity and psychological status can be seen in those fields. However, in general, the main body of a nation-state‘s population often belongs to natural and historical characteristics of a great nation. Their ruling classes are also those who could get hold of the nation‘s political power. Social mainstream consciousness and culture also reflect this. The integrity of social citizens and ethnic groups also need the efforts of other forces of the society. Of course, national suppression and forced assimilation brought by national efforts may also lead to the oppression of minority ethnic groups who even wish to establish their own country under the principle of ―one nation-state.‖ The upsurge in nationalism and the mode of nation-state in Western Europe first led to the rise of national liberation movement in Central and Eastern European areas like Austro-Hungarian, Osman, Russia, and the Reich Empire. The end of the First World War and the breakdown of empires in the East and Central Europe and Western Asia

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resulted in the 1st upsurge of nationalism in the 20th century. More than 10 nations were restructured and established as a result. It is a nations‘ self-determination rights that exert the most influence on the wave of establishing their own countries. During Russia‘s "October Revolution" stage, based on the conclusion that the Russian Empire was the prison of all ethnic groups, Lenin advocated proletarian self-determination of different nations and established the goal to build a socialist country with all ethnic groups being equal. After the First World War, the United States involved itself in European affairs. The Fourteen Points put forward by Wilson were put in ―the treaty of Versailles‖ and implemented in the restructuring of countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Almost at the same time, the thought of eastern nationalism started to rise with Yat-sen and Kemal as representatives, which exerted direct influence on the national liberation movement in Asia, Africa, and Latin American countries. After the Second World War, the national self-determination principle was written into the Charter of the United Nations, becoming a common understanding in the international society. The following colonial national liberation movement lasting for decades fully utilized nationalism and national self-determination principles to achieve national liberation and independence. This constituted the second wave of nationalism in the 20th century. From 1945 to 1990, member states of the United Nations increased to 104 and the nation-state pattern took shape. Therefore, in 1994, when the last trust territory Palau of the United Nations achieved independence, the colonial national liberation movement basically ended. The principles of national self-determination had also completed their mission. In the process of dealing with the heritage of colonialism, national self-determination rights were mainly embodied in maintaining national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent domestic policies. Therefore, contemporary national self-determination is closely related with preserving national sovereignty with its political goal against hegemony. Its application is exhibited at the international community level rather than the domestic one. After 1990, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European upheaval, the 3rd wave of nationalism in the 20th century came about. The number of United Nations member states increased by 20. And the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia's disintegration were also under the banner of nationalism and national self-determination. But, for those who had achieved national independence and sovereignty, their ways in the national liberation movement for independence were completely different from the colonial countries‘ efforts to achieve independence. This kind of self-determination caused by national division and national disintegration

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appeared as those nations failed to settle their own nationalist issues under the penetration of western countries and the US as well as the Soviet‘s political confrontation. And it was a misunderstanding of those nationalist political forces to regard national self-determination principles applied to colonies as appropriate to apply to some nations‘ domestic conditions and this was also the result of the United States‘ and other western countries‘ misleading of national self-determination to win their ideological war. This was because that the west had realized that "the non-Russians‘ political longing was the Achilles' heel of the Soviet Union."1After the World War II, those western countries had nothing to do but admit the independence and self-determination of the colonies and opposing nationalist separatist activities in sovereign states. This was largely because there were threats of nationalist separatism in their own countries. However, for the Soviet Union and socialist states who disintegrated in the late 1980s, they not only "temporarily deviated from the general practice that they do not support colonists‘ self-determination.2 Instead, they helped to add fuel to the aggravation of the division. In fact, although the nationalist movements of the Soviet Union and some socialist countries were for the pursuit of ―one nation, one state,‖ they even launched wars to realize this idea such that there was absolute rejection of other nations; the result was still not a pure "nation." Of all the new countries established after the integration of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, all nation-states were multi-ethnic. Only the savage could make a national boundary in accordance with territorial borders. 3 However, even the barbarian method couldn‘t make it. But it is an undeniable fact that ethnic revenge killings like those happening in the Bosnia-Herzegovina war, led to direct terrorism and armed separatist activities like those organized by Yugoslavian Albanian separatists. Those separatist activities originating in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe with the purpose of achieving national self-determination agitated other national separatists in other parts of the world. In the early 1960s, during the time when the United Nations was promoting the decolonization process, the efforts to put human rights as part of national self-determination made national self-determination a collective human right. However, as the United States and other western countries regarded human rights as

1

Brzezinski, Game Plan, Beijing: China's Foreign Translation and Publishing Company, 1988, P117. Xiong Jie, The Anarchy and World Order (Translated by Yu Xunda, Zhang TieJun), Hangzhou: Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 2001, P171. 3 Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism, Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2000, p.161. 2

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an important means to achieve their hegemony and even claimed that human rights was above sovereignty, they provided even more powerful support for those nationalist separatist forces who abused the concept of national self-determination. In fact, ethnic separatist forces, such as Spain's ETA, IRA, and even Canada‘s separatist political party forces, didn't represent the people they relied on. Their actions did not win the support of the Basque people, the Irish people, and the people of French Quebec. Instead, more and more Basques were against ETA; two referendums by the French Quebec failed. Although ethnic suppression and oppression could lead to national separatism, national separatist forces were not part of the national liberation movement.1 Both in history and in reality, there is no record of an ethnic group seeking the establishment of their own country achieving success. The disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia was the disintegration of the federal republic entity. So the brutal and bloody ways the Bosnian and Herzegovinas used to achieve independence ended up forming a multi-ethnic nation. However, the divisions and disintegrations of those countries as well as their principle of national self-determination to achieve ―one nation, one state‖ might lead to the misinterpretation and misunderstanding of other nations who might turn those divisions into the excuses to develop extreme nationalism, religious fanaticism (such as Indonesia's Aceh), and regional separatism (such as Italy and Brazil). At the same time, as there were double standards in the concept of human rights, "self-determination will also be used for political purposes and strategic means by external forces,2 becoming a choice of hegemony to encourage national separatism in some countries. So, under the doctrines that encouraged weakening national sovereignty and placing human rights above sovereignty promoted by the United States and other western countries, the national separatist forces of some countries received great inspiration in a way that they not only catered to and used these "new interventionist" theories, but also strived to make their own political appeals internationalized, trying to achieve their political goals with the aid of the United States and other western countries. The most effective means to make national problems internationalized is, on the one hand using the public opinions made by those exiled abroad to get international

1

For the details of national separatism, please refer to Chapter 2 “Contemporary Ethnic Separatist Terrorist Activities". 2 Xiong Jie,The Anarchy and World Order (Translated by Yu Xunda, ZhangTieJun), Hangzhou: Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 2001, P183. 197

support; or on the other hand instigating riots and terrorist activities to arouse social unrest to expand their influence and position. This kind of terrorist activity has a dual function: they not only cause social unrest but also lead to more severe repression and suppression by host countries, which may win them the sympathy of the international community, especially that of western countries or even make those countries adopt humanitarian intervention. So, the purpose of these terrorist actions is not only damaging the social order, but also getting international influence. This effect is also one of the reasons why terrorist activities are aggravated.

6.4.2 Extreme Nationalism and Terrorist Organizations A common characteristic of various types of terrorist organizations nowadays is their extreme political goals and their use of violence to achieve purpose. So, in the classification of the definitions of terrorisms, extremism is a common feature of such terrorist forms as the ultra-right type, the ultra-left type, and the "religious extremist type." In the classification of the definitions of hundreds of terrorists include 109 kinds of elements of violence defined before 1981 occurred at the frequency of 83.5%, 50 kinds of definitions of violence defined after 1982 occurred at the frequency of 92%1. So, extremism and violence fit in with each other, with national terrorism and folk terrorism featuring characteristics of both. As mentioned above, ethnic separatism is the product of extreme nationalism, which is also the basis of terrorist activities. The contemporary national separatist organization is different from national liberation movements which also belong to nationalist movements in the colonial era, just as the political organizations of the Palestinians who are seeking an independent country does not belong to an ethnic separatist organization. But there are also Palestinian political organizations dedicated to the use of extreme terrorism. And this kind of force and terrorist activity not only can do nothing to realize the political goal of an independent country but also will cause the internal division of the Palestinian national liberation movement. Besides, the Palestinian extremists‘ terrorist activities also become an excuse to combat international terrorism and prevent Palestinians achieving self-determination rights from Israel and its supporting countries. The typical examples of ethnic separatist

1

Hu Lianhe, Terrorism in Contemporary World and Countermeasures, Beijing: The Orient Press, 2001, pp.16, 17. 198

terrorist groups with the goal to build an independent country in contemporary sovereign states mainly include the Spanish "ETA," the IRA, and its transformed versionthe Real IRA, the French "Corsica national liberation fronthistorical faction," Sri Lanka's "liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam," the Philippines‘ "Molech Islamic liberation front," and "the Abu Sayyaf, Turkey‘s "Kurdistan workers' party," Iraq and Iran's "Kurdistan democratic," Russia's Chechnya armed forces, Yugoslavia‗s KLA, and the Albanian armed forces of Macedonia, etc. In recent years, organizations like the KLA have been banned and dissolved. Some have already been disarmed, such as the IRA; some like Turkey‘s "Kurdistan Workers' Party" have announced the abandonment of violence; others are at a diffusing state under the crackdown of the host country such as Russia's "Chechnya armed forces." Looking at the situation of national separatist terrorist organizations, terrorist organizations in the world have low numbers. However, racist and nationalist backgrounds of terrorism still exist. A lot of terrorist organizations in the international community are based on extreme nationalism only with different political orientations. For example, most ultra-right terrorist organizations, such as the various kinds of Neo-Nazism organizations in Western Europe, North America, Russia, and Eastern Europe, pursue racism. Although those that are listed as "ultra-left" terrorist organizations usually belong to the revolutionary type with the aim to overthrow the regime and change the social system, this type also includes organizations relying on ethnic groups. For example, the mass foundation of Peru's "Shining Path" is Indians, and its political goal is to establish an Indian country through the subversion of the current regime. Similar organizations include the ―EZLN― in Mexico. In the Islamic world, pan-Islamism, extreme fundamentalist religions, and rejection of all foreigners and Jews are their prominent characteristics. For instance, the Abu Nidal Organization, the Abu Abbas, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine all have a strong characteristic of extremity. Although they have the same goal to establish independent nations, those promoting HAMAS exhibit stronger religious extremism. Similarly, extreme nationalist terrorist groups, such as Kach and their branch Kahanc Chai with the aim to establish a Great Israel country or promote Great Jewish nationalism also exist in Israel. Before the 1970s, nationalist movements were the most widely committed movements around the world. After the 1970s, with the development of Iran's Islamic Revolution, the Islamic revival movement exerted more and more extensive influence on the world. The principle that ―the prosperity of a religion is the prosperity of a

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nation‖ promoted by Islamic fundamentalism made religion a strong power to unite the Islamic world crossing the border. Therefore, the confrontation and nationalist movements by Islamic groups show more extreme religious nationalism. Accordingly, extreme nationalist political claims advocated by Islamic nations and the following violent terrorist activities highlighted the religious extremism of the Islamization of countries and their will to launch holy wars. There are a number of such religious conflicts between India and Pakistan and in Israel, Lebanon, (including the Arab-Israeli conflict), and even the area of Indonesia and the Philippines. In the 1990s, the influence of the Islamic fundamentalist extremism extended to the Balkan Peninsula, Central Asia, and the Transcaucasian region, rendered a strong and extreme religious nationalist color to the civil war of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Tajik civil war, the Kosovo conflict, and the Chechen war. Numerous "jihad" went everywhere to support their Muslim brothers in the name of ―defending the religion,‖ providing foundations for the internationalization of the following terrorist activities and making all the religious conflicts internationalized. In this sense, Islamic Shia and Sunni‘s extremist forces are interrelated, which exerted more extensive influence on the internationalization of Islamic fundamentalist extremism. Therefore, it is terrorist activities that led to the mutual influence of religion issues and ethnic issues. This is obvious not only in Islamic countries but also in terrorists‘ efforts to develop their network and system of the international terrorist organizations. Extremity is a widespread value among all the thoughts and behaviors in human society. Extreme consciousness and action may appear in knowledge or understanding of the ideological system toward anything. When the European white met the African black, the racial concept based on the classification between man and animal and the biological view of racial superiority definitely lead to the enslavement and annihilation of blacks in the way they did to beasts. This thought of extreme racism and the related racist system, policies, and ideology not only maintained and preserved "white supremacy," but also played down and depreciated the human dignity and survival of blacks as slaves. So during the American Civil Rights Movement, it was no wonder that the thought of ―black is beautiful‖ and violence toward whites appeared. The lesson that things will develop in the opposite direction when they become extreme is quite obvious in the confrontation among races, ethnic groups, and religions. This kind of conflicts based on integrity and socialization transformed into a massive movement covering the facts of a class-society. But the interests and claims of certain political forces who launched the social mobilization

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were covered under religious, national, and racial identities, the common understanding of the anger and the extremist sense of the masses. Therefore, nearly all the actions it led to were without rules and regulations, even in the form of blood revenge and religious wars. In the Rwanda tribal conflict, the way that Hutu people unleashed resentment and hatred was amputating Tutsi legs so as to eliminate their superiority due to their height. The use of terrorist and violent methods to achieve equality or the ruling position formed the foundation and original forces for current racial, religious, and national terrorist activities, which were also strengthened in the period of class society and colonialism. With the influence of various political theories and the establishment of social regulations in the international society, political characteristics of racial, national, and religious contradictions and conflicts were more and more apparent. Especially after the Second World War, when the nationalist movement achieved victory in the struggle against colonialism, the pursuit of self-determination to achieve independence became a wide spreading trend. The emergence of the "third world" in the international society and the political positions they gained enhanced their self-esteem and self-confidence. However, the Cold War and hegemony suppressed the development of the "third world." The heritage of colonial history and the interferences of hegemonies made most of the newly independent countries sink into difficulty in the environment of contradictions between West and East, and North and South. Most of them were dragged into the hegemonic US-Soviet Union system to some extent. The following political control, economic attachment, military threat, and cultural repression further aggravated the social contradictions within those countries, including their ethnic contradictions and religious conflicts. The escalation of these contradictions would definitely activate the extremity and power of these activities. The misunderstandings of nation-states and national self-determination from nationalist extremism as well as the intentional misleading of western countries resulted in more riots and threats in these countries. So various confrontations and conflicts including the new round of nationalist movements after the Cold War, to a large extent, were a collective unleashing of suppressed and produced conflicts during the hegemonic period. The extremity reflected in this unleashing of nationalism became a motivating factor for current ethnic and religious extremism and its terrorist activities. One thing to note is that the standard to judge terrorist organizations is usually made by the United States. Every year, the US State Department announces terrorist

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organizations worldwide and their support countries. However, the standard to define terrorist organizations reflects the interests of the US and its western allies. Those against the United States and the western countries, those with the characteristic of division, disruption, and threatening social instability in the western world and those with communist coloring are all classified as terrorist organizations. Some organizations in developing countries with the characteristics of national separatism are never on their list. This is because these countries are the targets that the United States is trying to weaken, divide, and westernize. For example, the KLA of Yugoslavia and the Chechnya armed forces of Russia are never on the list. The double standards of western countries aggravate some countries‘ national separatist activities. Of course, the double standards based on the United States‘ ideology also put them under the terrorist attacks. Al Qaeda was first fostered by the United States against the Soviet Union and it later became the US‘ number one enemy. The double standards and hegemony of the United States not only resulted in the 9/11 terrorist attack, but also brought new threats for peace and development of human society. There are many kinds of explanations of terrorist theories, among which the ―frustration-attack‖ theory is somewhat representative. This is because it at least reveals the psychological state of terrorist organizations and terrorists to commit crimes in the forms of violence, abusive killings without discrimination, and confrontation with the society, i.e. the frustration of some nations, ethnic groups, or individuals under certain circumstances. They cannot get relief through normal or public ways and have to resort to extreme methods to confront, avenge, or change these conditions. They may even choose to perish together to get rid of these psychological feelings or avenge others. In history, the appearance of German fascism was directly related to Germany‘s defeat in the First World War, the deprivation of all its colonies, as well as a large amount of war compensations inflicted on it. This led to a rise of extreme fascism, national terrorism, and large-scale outward conquest. In reality, the emergence and escalation of fascism and racism, extreme nationalism, and extreme religious doctrines were not only due to some historical and realistic reasons. The increasingly intense hegemonic pressures caused by the western modernization mode, and so-called "universal doctrine" values in terms of political, economic, and cultural aspects are not only weakening developing countries‘ rights to participate in international affairs in an independent and just way, but also result in the degradation of developing countries‘ ideological, cultural, and psychological values. In this respect, the United States is the most representative example. The United States has produced

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a rigid view among its superiority as the center of ideology. It overestimates the negative lifestyle views of other nations and even depreciates the skills, accomplishments, and emotions of others. They regard these nations‘ cultures as backward or obedient, which form a rigid illusion in Americans‘ mind, making them think that making these nations undergo national political reforms and economic development will be very easy. Whenever Americans meet stubborn resistance, they naturally feel frustrated and regret and even think in an extreme way that these people do not have human nature so that they resort to violence. This model was first used in dealing with the relations with the American black and aboriginals, and then used on the people of the third world.1 The global political rallies caused by Americanization promoted by American hegemony also make the United States one of the world‘s most attacked countries by terrorists. The US is also the country bearing the most destructive consequences of those attacks. The formation of frustration is attributed to many factors including the influences of all kinds of extremist forces in developed western countries. And it is also directly related with the development of western society and the social conflicts in the aspects of politics, economy, culture, and other factors in the post-industrial era. The research into the new fascist forces like ―the skin head party‖ in western countries reveals the social and psychological reasons for this phenomenon and attributes it to a kind of lifestyle produced by the post-modern subculture during capitalist times. However, the westerners have not done enough research on extremism in the Middle East. Actually, people who live in Palestine, Lebanon, or other countries with long-term poverty and war, especially generations growing up in the decades of war and continuous interferences of great powers; they have their childhood characterized by playing weapons and have been accustomed to the death of loved ones. People who grow up in such an environment have no other will or hopes regarding their life but are filled with hatred, intentions of war, revenge, and death. Similarly, it is difficult for them to realize how precious the value of others‘ lives is. Under this circumstance, should they be immersed in the effects of national interests and religious beliefs, they would be very likely to cultivate a kind of dedicated spirita ―Man of Sacrifice.‖ The terrorist activities of suicide attacks fully exhibit the so-called "weapon of the weak" to an unprecedented extent.

1

Michael H hunter, Ideology and the US Foreign Policy (Translated by Chu Lvyuan), Beijing: The World Knowledge Press, 1999, P189. 203

6.4.3

National

extremism,

religious

extremism

and

international terrorism International terrorism is the internationalization of terrorist activities. There are two types of terrorist organizations with international characteristics: First are terrorist groups smuggling drugs and their international networks; second, terrorist organizations with racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds, and their international networks. The latter can also be divided into different types. The first type is racist organizations in Europe, North America, especially the neo-fascist organizations; their performance of internationalization is to establish international links. These links include not only cooperative relations between domestic extreme right-wing political parties, which consist of personnel exchanges, public materials exchanges, providing financial support, presence of meeting mutually and the like, but also the contact with international extremist organizations. For example, a newspaper entitled "Jerusalem" ran by a Russian extreme right-wing organization is funded by Arab ―merchants,‖ Russia and Germany‘s right-wing extremists touted a certain leader of an Islamic country in this newspaper; a very active extreme right-wing organization in Germany established branches in Moscow, and cooperated with Islamic extremist forces of Sudan and other North African Arab countries, they became the spokesman of Hamas; 1 the performance of the links between violent fascist gangs represented by "skinheads" included access to each other, concerted action, exchange of information, disseminating fascism publicly via materials (books, video tapes, and music), as well as propagating racism and fascism via the Internet. The second type is the backing and support forces of national separatism. This type of international terrorism mostly results from the cross-border living of nations or nations having large groups of immigrants in foreign countries. Such as Sri Lanka ―Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam‖ separatist force, it was supported by more than 50 million Tamils in southern India, established promotional agencies or offices in more

1

(US)Walter Laqueur, Fascism - the Past, Present and Future,Zhang Feng translation, Beijing: Beijing Publishing House, 2000, page 190.

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than 50 countries in the world, and relied on Tamil immigrants to seek political and economic support for its independence movement; Spain's "ETA" built its headquarter in the Basque area in southern France and built several strongholds in Latin America. As for the Kurdish problem in the four West Asian countries is more typical, ―Kurdistan‖ nationalist movement in any of these countries can get support and shelter from Kurdish inhabited areas of other countries. Millions of Kurdish refugees in Germany and other European countries, not only morally support the ―Kurdistan‖ independence movement, but also put pressure on European countries and constrain their political and military support to Turkish repression on Kurdish through the riots and sabotages. The internationalization of national separatism forces leads to internationalization of terrorist activities; a typical example is Tamils assassinating former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The third type is a global terrorist organization system established by Islamic extremist forces, namely ―Al-Qaeda,‖ formerly lead by Osama bin Laden and its international network. The ―Al-Qaeda‖ terrorist group founded the largest and most complete terrorist system. It has an independent economic base and strong financial support, it established contacts with dozens of terrorist organizations around the world, and set up more than 10 training camps in Afghanistan and other places, it also funded nationalist and religious extremist activities in some other countries. Moreover, it has not only a large number of terrorist "loyalists" but also some highly educated experts on financial, intelligence, information, and weapons. This international terrorist group set up its headquarter in Afghanistan and is protected by the Afghan Taliban regime, it created a number of major terrorist incidents against the United States and Israel, and supported almost all Islamic national extremism and religious extremism; this support included providing staff training, financial support, and information services, as well as sending "jihads" and ‖Islamic fighters" to other countries, especially to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, and Russian Chechnya to participate in fighting. Among various extremist terrorist organizations, extremist forces in the Islamic nations are the most prominent in terms of the number of members, scale, and the devastating effects, so, they are called ―Islamic threat" by the Western world. However, regarding a nation or religion as enemy is the ideological roots of religious conflicts, ethnic conflicts, and racial conflicts, and it is not helpful to solve racial discrimination, ethnic conflicts, and religious conflicts. Extremist forces in the contemporary world can be divided into many kinds, such as the extreme white racist organizations and fascist neo-Nazi groups in Western countries. International public

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opinions, however, have never linked them with the Americans, Germans, whites, or Catholic. Contemporary international terrorism has a national and religious background, but no nation or religion pursues terrorism. In history, there were terrorist organizations actually using terrorist activities to seize power and rule the country, such as the Nazi German Third Reich, but the contemporary international terrorism has become irrational and abnormal, just covered with signs or beliefs. Terrorist organizations with national or religious background can be called national extremism or religious extremism, but this does not mean they represent the nation and religion. Although Bin Laden‘s international terrorist groups operate in the name of national interests and religious beliefs, the way they realize their value has divorced the, from their own nation, from their own beliefs and human society, and become different professional terrorist organizations. For example, the so-called "jihadists" have become mercenaries; in fact, those from Islamic countries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Chechnya conflicts were not the selfless defenders of ―the Muslim Brotherhood‖ but career soldiers receiving commission. The only difference between them and other types of mercenaries was that they just fight for Muslims; the Philippines's Abu Sayyaf and the Chechnya extremist organizations which kidnapped hostages for ransom frequently and engaged in drug trafficking and other criminal activities have become violent criminal gangs, their occupational and professional characteristics were reflected in the planners and implementers‘ careful planning, cultivation of dedication spirit, preparation of knowledge and skills, and operation of the "9/11" incident. These organizations conducted terrorist activities through certain ethnic or religious conflicts and public sentiment, their purpose is to maintain ―the authority status‖ and the ability of ruling the people. While they cause destruction and fear in other nations and countries, they create fear and blind obedience of people in their own nations or groups. In this situation, their national and religious beliefs are more mandatory, affirming that the people will not rebel. Therefore, extremist terrorist forces are full of a desire for totalitarian rule. In class society, the confrontations and conflicts between races, nations, and religions are the result of the ruling class passing on class contradictions, they are effective means to split humanitythey are the roots of racism, extreme nationalism, and religious extremism. Contemporary international terrorism is threatening the entire human security, if we regard terrorist organizations that have racial, national, and religious background as representative of related groups, its result can only be to

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expand mass bases of terrorism, enhance their reasonable status and fuel their arrogance, thereby cover up their anti-human extreme nature. (Researcher in Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Hao Shiyuan)

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7 Religions Issue and Terrorism In respect of the organizations and activities of contemporary terrorism, many are being carried out in the name of religion or with a fanatical religious nature. Thus some concepts like ―religious terrorism‖ and ―Islamic terrorism‖ appear. This popular view, filled with emotion, simply partitioning and generalizing the intricate contemporary terrorism, certainly blurs or misleads our in-depth analysis and recognition of terrorism, and therefore contributes to some of the prejudices and erroneous tendencies. Because terrorism is very active in the Islamic world and Islamic revivalism has long been regarded as a threat by the West, Islam suffers even more common and severe misunderstandings. John L. Esposito, an American scholar, points out that due to this long-standing tendency, ―Islam and Islamic revivalism are being reduced to the prototype of the anti-Western Islam, war against modernity from Islam, Muslim anger, extremism, fanaticism and terrorism. Fundamentalism and terrorism are indissoluble bonded together in many people‘s mind. This selective deduction becomes biased analysis, which increases our ignorance rather than knowledge, narrows our horizons rather than broadens our understanding, exacerbates the problem rather than opens the way for new answers.‖1 Therefore, we need to make distinctions between religion and politics, religion and nationality, religious denomination, and religious extremism according to the nature of religion and its social function so that we can accurately grasp the status, function, and impact of religion upon contemporary terrorism by referring to the precedent in the history of religion, and thus conclude properly according to such a classification.

7.2 Religion and Terrorist Activities 7.2.1 Terrorist activities in the history of religion Historically, there is no necessary link between terrorism and religion. In ancient and medieval times, religion, running the whole society, commanded the highest (Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p257. 1

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respect. From education to law, from the farmers to pastoralists to scholars and officials, from world outlook and methodology, from social system to daily life, everything was more or less influenced by religion. Consciously or unconsciously, people look up to the religion as the standard to guide their thoughts and actions. Therefore, all the political, military, and economic activities, to a certain degree, are wrapped in a veil of religion. Throughout thousands of years of religious history, violent and bloody events like religious persecution and religious wars have recurred again and again. For instance, the Middle Ages Crusades, European Christian Inquisition in the 13-16thcenturies, both result in long-time and large-scale affright. However, all those are not themes of this book. Religious events in history, similar to contemporary terrorism, are of rare occurrence. Two of the most outstanding events are Judaism‘s Sicarii in the 1stcentury, and Ismaili Assassins of Islam in 11thcentury. After analyzing the two cases, it is concluded that religious terrorist activities only occurs in those areas with furious national and regional conflicts or political struggles, and are conducted by a few zealots with extreme advocates. The late ancient Judaism had experienced a period with sharp ethnic and social conflict. During the late Hasmonean dynasty, the Idumaean Herod family took place of the Maccabees to rule the dynasty and became the vassal of Roman Empire. Facing the oppression of alien ruling and impact of Greek culture, Judaism broke up into four sects. Sadducees, named from the high priest Zadok of King David, originated from the priest class and was supported by the nobility and wealthy landlords. The Pharisees, meaning ―to separate,‖ was made up of scribes and teachers coming from the underclass. It may be named from its rival- Sadducees‘ censure of its miss-explanation of Hebrew Bible. Religiously, Sadducees remained committed to the written law originated from the Hebrew Bible and refuse to accept any idea outside the scriptures; while Pharisees emphasized that besides the written law, the spoken law burning from sire to son and taking the responsibility of protecting and inheriting Judaism‘s tradition was the complement to written law. However, some comments went on that ―the interweaving of the two sects originally stems from politic, not theology. That is to say, there is no borderline between their explanations of the Torah.‖1What the two sects contested was the leadership of Jews. The other two sects were small-scale and extremely inclined. One was the Essenes, famous for their relationship to the origin of Christianity. Essenes advocated clean

1

(Chinese) Roth, Cecil. A Short History of the Jewish People, Jinan: Shandong University Press, 1997, p95. 209

rituals and devout practice of religion, similar to the abstinence group. They were opposed to the secularization of Judaism upper class and Hellenization promoted by Roman Empire. Therefore, they retreated to remote mountain areas and formed a closed monastic community, doing penance and expecting the incarnation of Messiah. Thus, Essenes had little impact on political affairs. Another sect were the Zealots, who were radical on politics. Religiously, Zealots hold the same ideas as the Pharisees, caring only about religion, fanatically propagating the coming of Messiah, and firmly opposing Roman rule. Zealots considered themselves the defenders of Judaism‘s laws and Jewish tradition, believing that accepting the rule of Rome was disobeying God; thus, they organized several activities against Roman rule in Galilee and Jerusalem in 63BC, which attracted lots of underclass people (Jewish proletarians, poor artisans, and peddler). In the 6th century, the Roman Empire conducted a census in Palestine to provide a population basis for taxing, and announced that those who resisted would be reduced to slaves. Zealots launched an armed uprising to resist the census in Galilee. The uprising was suppressed and Zealots spread to other areas while the martyrs‘ spirit still inspired its supporter. Owing to the increasingly acute contradictions between the Jewish nation and the Roman Empire, Zealots‘ influence and role became increasingly more significant. Some radical Zealots advocated employing assassination and violent means to attack those Jews who supported Rome. They often hid a dagger or knife under their clothing, so they were named Sicarii (meaning ―people with a knife‖), and were also called the Knife Party. They often assassinated pro-Roman Jews in public or congregation. In remote areas, they killed anyone who behaved closely to Romans without any scruples. Especially during the Pilgrimage festivals in Palestine, their slaughters became more intensified and horrible. They were also called an ―assassin group‖ by their enemy, meaning anti-Roman terrorists. The common people accumulated plenty of resentment due to the cruel exploitation of tax farmers and the wealthy landlords who rose to power and position under Roman rule. The discontent atmosphere from Galilee spread around and became fierce. Thus, a radical group, Sicarii (or ―Knife Party‖), came into place, and they often rushed down from the hills to attack villages and towns, killing the pro-Roman Jews and destroying their residences. Sometimes, one would pay with their life for marrying non-Jewish people. The attempts of the Roman governor, Flick, to suppress the uprising ended in total failure. However, Eleazar, leader of the uprising, was cheated and arrested; then he was sent in custody to Rome and died there afterwards. Eleazar‘s death kept his followers in higher spirits to fight against Rome. When their

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scope stretched from Galilee to Judea, even Roman followers in Jerusalem were feeling unsafe, afraid of being killed by a zealot who may hide in the crowd and disappear without trace after the assassination. Even high priests believed to be patriots were killed because of suspicion of conspiracy.1 Through the note below, Cecil Ross makes an interesting comment: Obviously, this is very similar to the Ireland after 1916 (also same with America at early stage of the Independence War). It should be pointed out that what we know about the so-called “Zealots” all come from the literature written by their enemy, which describe Zealots as a group of gangsters with a blast of original patriotic motives. If we put aside partisan concept, it can be said that Irish gunmen in the 20th century is completely no difference with the patriotic "assassination group" in the 1th century. This comparison could extend to the revolution in 66AD, when those gangsters became national leaders.2 Driven by the Zealots and Knife Party‘s fighting, the First Jewish War broke out in 66AD. The Zealots took over the power in Jerusalem, leading the anti-Roman war. They advocated that the end of the world, and also the end of Roman rule was coming. The holy war against Rome's brutal rule would accelerate the arrival of God‘s fair and righteous kingdom. They expected to rout Rome just like the Maccabean defeated the Seleucid Dynasty two centuries prior, cleaning the stained holy Temple and building an impartial Jewish regime after their victory, and being blessed by God ever after. However, the actual outcome was that Jerusalem was razed to ground, and the Jewish nation lost their sovereignty and their Diaspora began. The Zealots and Knife Party also vanished forever in Judaism. Another case is Hashshashin, an extreme sect of Ismaili belonging to Shiites, a branch of Islam. The killers trained by the sect would take Hashish, a kind of cannabis, before assassination, so they were called Hashshashin (meaning people taking Hashish). They were also named Assassins, derived from a Latin word ―assassin.‖ In Islam, Hashshashin is also called Nizaris. In 909AD, the Shiite established the Fatimid Dynasty in the North Africa and Middle East. In order to contend against the Sunni Abbasid, the Egypt-based Ismaili, continued to send missionaries to the East, disseminating creeds and extending power. Founder of Nizaris, HassanIbnSabah, was one of these missionaries. When the eighth Fatimid Caliph, Ma'ad al-Mustansir, died

1

(Chinese) Roth, Cecil. A Short History of the Jewish People, Jinan: Shandong University Press, 1997, p118-119. (Chinese)Roth, Cecil. A Short History of the Jewish People, Jinan: Shandong University Press, 1997.

2

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in 1094, the Prime Minister put Caliph‘s second son on the throne. However, Nizari, the elder son, could not reconcile himself to be deposed, so he levied a war on the new Caliph. Unfortunately, he failed and was poisoned to death in prison after failure. The Ismaili in Syria and Persia led by Hassan Ibn • Al-Sabbah, swore allegiance to Nizari and severed relations with Fatimid. Thus, a new independent community was established in the mountains of southwestern Iran. Hassan Ibn • Al-Sabbah called the fort Aluh Amut, meaning the "Eagles Teaching." The creeds Hassan Ibn • Al-Sabbah disseminated also changed, so they were also called the new Ismailis. A General History of Arabs describes them as follows: The general missionaries and his disciples launched surprise attacks to seize the other fort from Alamut in all directions. They only asked the purpose, unscrupulous abuse of the dagger. Assassination had become a kind of art. This secret organization, based on Ismailis, developed of agnosticism with the aim of liberating the initiate from the shackles of old creeds, inspiring him, saying that the prophets of the ages are superfluous, taking nothing on faith, and eventually training him to be a fearless and lawless people. Below the general missionaries, there were lots of missionaries, each responsible for an area. Below the missionaries, there are still many ordinary advocates. The mutual-aid grassroots organizations, including fidai (self-devotee), stood ready to implement any order of the general missionaries, even at the expense of their lives.1 On the training methods of fidai, who conducted assassination, Marco Polo left us a vivid description in his travelogue; although what he recorded was hearsay, it was only handed down information. He first painted a colorful gorgeous garden for the general missionaries and built in a scenic canyon, with fruits and flowers, pavilions, as well as the four rivers of wine, milk, honey, and water in the paradise mentioned in the Qur'an. Then, in order to prevent outsiders entering the elegant secret garden without his permission, an extremely strong castle was established at the entrance to the Canyon, with only a secret channel leading to the valley. A group of young people selected from areas near the mountains aged twelve to twenty received military training in the Court to cultivate a brave temperament. The missionary discussed with them every day about the paradise preached by the prophet and his own absolute power to enter the paradise. Within a certain period of time, he would anesthetize ten or twenty young people in advance, and then send them to each palace of the grand

1

(Chinese) Hitti, Philip. History of the Arabs, Beijing: The Commercial Press, p531-532. 212

garden. These young people, after awakening from a coma, were astonished to find that everything around them was what they dreamt about and just same as the missionary described for them. They mistakenly thought that they were really in the very paradise, inextricable and commiserative, and could not bear to leave. They spent four or five days in this in this warm and tender land, cheerfully and joyously. Then, they were anesthetized again and sent out. When they were brought to the front of the emir and asked where they had visited, they replied ―the paradise, gift of King." Then they were arranged to propagate their happy experiences in paradise in front of all the courtiers, which made the courtiers feel surprised and horrified. Then, the emir would take the opportunity to announce that ―our Prophet blesses those who support his master, with the opportunity to enter the paradise. If you faithfully obey my orders, good luck also is waiting for you." Everyone was inspired by his words, feeling honored to be able to perform the master's orders and were willing to risk life for his service. The consequences were that any neighboring princes and dukes or others who offended the emir would be assassinated by the assassins he trained. These assassins served only for their own masters‘ will, and even sacrificed their lives when necessary. Since his assassins had already thrown their lives away, the emir‘s dictatorship turned into a cesspool of terror for it neighboring nations.1 In the fight against the Seljuk Dynasty, Hashshashins assassinated its minister, Nizam al—Mulk, and sultan, Malik Shah in two months. In the 11thcentury, under the unrest situation caused by the Crusaders, Hashshashin established a fortress in the northern mountains of Lebanon and Syria and murdered al-Amir Bi-Ahkamillah, the tenth Fatimid Caliph, Raymond II of Tripoli and Conrad of Jerusalem, making Crusaders tremble with fear. Therefore, its leaders had got a greatly boosted reputation, being named as Shaykh al-jabal (meaning ―the mountain chief‖) by Crusaders. In 1256, its strongholds in Persia were occupied by Mongol army led by Hulagu. Subsequently, Mamluk army took the opportunity to eradicate its strongholds in Syria. The above examples illustrate that even at the time of sharp ethnic conflicts and political struggles, the mainstream within the religion were opposed to extremist and

1

(Chinese) Polo, Marco. The Travels of Marco Polo, Fuzhou: Fujian Science and Technology Publishing House, 1991, p31-32. 213

terrorist activities. The Sadducees and Pharisees of Judaism are unanimously opposed to any acts of violence. The Essenes advocated asceticism and piousness, looking forward to the coming of Messiah. Within the Zealots, despite holding a radical stand against Roman rule, the extreme Knife Party members, who carried out the assassination, were still small in number. As for Hashshashin, they not only had to confront the Sunni, mainstream of Islam, but were also at odds with the Shiite majority. To sever relations with Fatima became a tool for the minority Ismaili to maintain their political interests and fulfill personal ambitions, being called ―Mulahida‖ (meaning "a stray people who abandon justice‖), or Murai (meaning "hypocrite"). Thus, it was not surprise when they eventually lost their mass base and died out.

7.2.2 Social functions of religion and terrorism Religion is a complex, historically cultural phenomenon, and its social function is varied. However, its main function is unifying various communities, individuals, and social groups through a common faith, religious feelings, and sense of identity, and legalizing and sanctifying the existing social order and traditional etiquette with the power of creeds. This is the so-called social integration and control functions. In order to consolidate their domination, rulers of past dynasties, on the one hand, rely on the dictatorship of state power; on the other hand, resort to the power of spirit. Religion, as a special kind of spiritual power, has a common characteristic with politics and law, which philosophy, art, and ethics lack; that is, it is the conceptual and institutional superstructure, influencing people as an intellectual tradition and governing people as a ritual system. Due to its all-inclusive contents, religion can penetrate every social field to integrate all strata of society, and cover the secular intention with sacred aura. Realizing the social function of religion, rulers would definitely sharpen it as a spiritual pillar for consolidating the ruling order; while religion, being a historical and cultural tradition, in order to survive and develop, must attach itself to the state power, demonstrating the rationality of real world and becoming part of the existing system. Almost all the important religions in the world have turned into the institutional or State religion, which proves that religion is indeed propitious for maintaining political order. Thus, generally speaking, religion, as the superstructure and ideology, commits its mission of inheriting the cultural traditions, alleviating social contradictions, and maintaining the established order, conservative and tending to moderate in politics, 214

advocating the doctrine of means and resisting extremes in behaviors, and condemning violence, cherishing life, and opposing to terrorist activities in social life. In the history of religion, some religions have been subjected to persecution and repression of the ruling authorities in the early days, and thus have a vehement hatred for the existing society and rulers. When the religion becomes the legitimate or State religion, its relationship with the rulers will change as the variation of the component of its believers. Early Christianity experienced 300 years of persecution and repression in the Roman Empire. The uprisings of the Jewish nation were brutally repressed by the Roman Empire in Palestine in the 1stcentury. Deprived of realistic hopes, the lower classes anchored their hopes on the coming of the Messiah to serve justice and establish the Millennium-long Kingdom to get rid of suffering. Adapting to this social need, the early Christianity gradually generated from a small sect of Judaism. Christians originally came from slaves, colonus, artisans, and small businessmen, which reflected the lower classes‘ revolt against Roman rule and oppression. Such a strong hatred had a vivid manifestation in the Revelation of New Testament. By the end of the 3rdcentury, Christianity expanded from the slaves and lower classes to the wealthy class of the Roman Empire, as well as the intellectual and ruling class. The organization and political attitudes of Christianity also changed. Some initial creeds such as emphasis of equality, advocacy of mutual assistance, contempt for reality, and hatred of Rome were re-interpreted and disappeared. After 313AD, Christianity became a legal religion. From then on, the Roman Empire began to foster and make use of it, and officially declared Christianity the state religion in 392AD. At the same time, the Empire began to intervene in the appointment of personnel and creed elaboration of the Church. Any sects holding non-orthodox creeds would be announced heretical and persecuted. After being declared the state religion, Christianity advocated obedience to the Roman Empire's rule in politics, gradually becoming the spiritual pillar of the ruling class. Judaism as a national religion has a long history of evolution. Since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, its history is full of bloody events including battles and massacre. Conquering Canaan, fighting with Philistines, the militaristic Kingdom of Israel, and later the national uprising, led to considerable fraud, violence, and banditry, which were lengthily and tediously narrated in the Bible. However, the moral commandments embodied in the Ten Commandments have always guided the Israelis beliefs and behaviors. Extreme groups such as the knife party were rare. It should be said that the terrorist activities in Palestine designed by modern Zionism have been

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isolated from Judaism since a few extremists‘ transitory and sporadic actions during the period of alien aggression or slavery should not be regarded as the result of religious belief or creeds. Initially, Islam was persecuted by Mecca's ruling clan and tribal nobility. Thus, scriptures of the Quran repeatedly stressed that all Muslims should be ―striving in the way of God‖ (of jihad), many of which are associated with the image of fighting on the battlefield. Some scriptures even more clearly to encourage the ―Jihad,‖ regarding ―escaping jihad‖ as a crime of injustice, and ―dying for the road of Allah‖ as martyrs. Since the establishment of the Caliphate Empire, Kharijites, on behalf of the lower classes, held a radical position in politics, constantly launching armed uprisings against the Umayyad dynasty and the Abbasid dynasty. They believed that faith should be accompanied by acts, and observance of the scriptures required the implement of Jihad; anyone who is guilty, even the Caliph, is no longer a Muslim. So they insist that jihad is the basic obligations of Islam. To the extreme sect, Azariqah, evasion of jihad is regarded as apostasy. Those non-Kharijites muslins that haven‘t held the re-joining admittance rites were to be killed. The extreme ideas and cruel actions held by Azariqah were condemned by the majority of religious scholars. Since the formation of Fiqh, according to the consensus of religious scholars, jihad is not classified as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Religious scholars, in the scholia of Koran, makes a broad interpretation of the scripture as ―striving in the way of God,‖ disseminating Islam through ―pens of scholars, mouths of missionaries, and donation of the rich‖ is also considered as valuable ―jihad.‖ Some scholars even regard spiritual fighting against evil, improving moral quality as a high-level form of ―jihad,‖ and consider fighting on the battlefield as a low-level ―jihad.‖ Of course, in the history of Islam, lunching war in the name of ―jihad‖ still appears. Especially in modern times, since most parts of the Islamic world were gradually reduced to the plundered objects of Western colonialists, resistance movements against colonialists under the name of jihad consistently broke out. As one falls, another rises. Although religious scholars or leaders play a key role in a few cases, they are largely out of political need to mobilize people, and Islam still does not classify "jihad" as a basic religious duty. In the contemporary Islamic revival movement, it is emphasized that jihad is a religious obligation that is being forgotten, but this is only the extremist interpretation of Islam holding by part of the minority organizations. On the contrary, someone recently pointed out that ―from the historical view, religious extremism, with a history of more than 2,000 years‘ history, is one of the

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oldest types of terrorism." The examples cited in the text are ―fanatic Judaism believers,‖ ―a Shiite Muslim secret organization,‖ and ―a secret Muslim group of zealots who specially assassinate the Christian Crusaders.‖ From the English term ―Zealot‖ and ―Assassin,‖ they should be the Zealots and Assassins mentioned above. It goes on to say that, historically, the combination of fanatic religion and terrorism has a long history, and the fanaticism of religion plays a significant role in breeding, spreading and promoting terrorism. David Rapoport and other experts even points out until the generation of nationalism, anarchism, and other ideological in 19th century, religion provides the only acceptable defense for terrorism.1In fact, the combination of religious fanaticism and terrorism is the main incentive leading to the continuous generalization of terrorism. The next section―Typical of extremely religious terrorism‖ indicates that ―In the contemporary world, terrorist activities launched by Islamic fundamentalism and extremism are of the highest frequency, as well as the most harmful ones.‖ In fact, the example given is mere Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist extremist organization.2 With regard to the version quoted above, firstly, it is in contradiction with the definition given in the beginning itself. The article states that "extremely religious terrorism is the terrorist activities launched by the emerging religious sects or cult groups with clearly religious fanaticism color or banner of religion fanaticism" 3 However, ―with clearly religious fanaticism color or banner of religion fanaticism,‖ is it a religion? Evidently, religions listed with random and unverified statistics in the article hasn‘t distinguished religion and cult groups. Whether there is a strict definition of ―extremely religious‖ is still unclear. Second, to determine that religious terrorism consists of nearly two thousand years of history from a mere two words of English-Chinese dictionary are, at the very least, inexact and serious. Then, the article treats Islamic fundamentalist, extremist forces, and extremists as equals, which doesn‘t reflect the actual situation and will be discussed later. Regarding religious extremism, its history is indeed very long, but its main manifestation modes are asceticism and immortality rather than terrorist activities. Therefore, the quoted conclusions of the above article lack of factual basis in religious history and are not

1

(Chinese)American Political Science Review, Vol.78, p659. (Chinese)Hu, Lianhe.Contemporary International Terrorism and Countermeasures, Beijing: The Eastern Publishing Co. Ltd,2001, p.49-57. 3 (Chinese)Hu, Lianhe.Contemporary International Terrorism and Countermeasures, Beijing: The Eastern Publishing Co. Ltd,2001, p.48. 2

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supported by religious theory. Since religion is one of the most complex social and cultural phenomenon in the history of mankind, and contemporary terrorism is so complicated and confusing, to make such generalized conclusions will certainly be misleading and lead to a mistaken direction and prevent us from an accurate understanding and analysis.

7.2.3 The Clash of Civilizations and Islamic threat theory Currently, the theoretical understanding of terrorism in influencing Western media and academia, the Clash of Civilizations, and the Islamic threat theory are the most basic and popular ones. The theories are interrelated, with US scholar Samuel P. Huntington being the most prominent representative. The views quoted above are clearly influenced by his ideas. In the book Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Huntington points out that since the end of the Cold War, the future source of conflict in the world is no longer the conflict of ideology or economic interests, the differences between civilizations are becoming a major factor of human conflict. Moreover, every nation state will determine their own interests based on civilization, so that global politics will become civilized politics, that is, the clash of civilizations will dominate global politics, and the fault lines of civilization will be the borderlines of future wars. He believes that, at the regional level, the clash of civilizations takes place between neighboring countries or different civilizations within a country, the conflict between Islamic civilization and non-Islamic civilization providing a representative example at this level; at the global level, it takes place between the core countries of different civilizations, which is mainly the conflict between Western civilization, Islamic civilization, Confucian civilization at present world. Determined by history, language, culture, tradition, religion, and other factors, every unique civilization develops ―the longest and most violent conflict‖ in their long history. ―However, because religious beliefs are the main features to distinguish different civilization, therefore, the borderline of war almost always commences between nations with different religious beliefs.‖1 From the perspective of developing trends, he holds that the clash of civilizations will inevitable result in the alliance of homogeneous civilization, forming 1

(Chinese)Huntington, Samuel.The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Beijing: Xinhua Press, 1998, p283-285. 218

the ―relatives national collection‖ beyond political ideology and nation-state. Thus, other countries or groups, based on the similarity of civilization, will unite with each other, forming different ―collections‖ of civilization to defense against it. In short, "civilization is the ultimate human tribe; the clash of civilizations is the worldwide tribal conflict.1 In its analytical framework, terrorism is not only the product and external manifestation of a clash of civilizations, but also a means of conflict between civilizations, ―the weapon of the weak.‖ Conflicts between regions or ethnicities often lead to serious violence and terrorism, especially on the fault line between the Islamic civilization and non-Islamic civilization. For example, in Chechnya of Russia, Caucasus, Kosovo, Central Asia, the Middle East, Kashmir, Sri Lanka, East Timor, and Africa, the conflicts around the fault lines all lead to war and terrorist activities. ―These conflicts, probably filled with violence and evil on both sides, involve massacre, terrorism, adultery, and torture. The key areas of contention often symbolize the history and national identity for one or both sides, as well as the Holy Land where they have the absolutely inviolable rights.‖ 2 He also draws ―a bloody Islamic boundary,‖ stressing that the Islamic civilization is ―militant‖ and ―incompatible.‖ Up to the global level, he believes that it is the clash of Western civilization and Islamic civilization, not just Islamic fundamentalism, that ultimately leads to conflicts between the Islamic world and the West, and terrorism is only the weapon of weak countries. On the one hand, Islam is considered as ―a root of terrorism‖ and main threat. The US government lists Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Sudan as ―terrorist states;‖ on the other hand, the West is also reckoned as the ―root of all evil‖ and the target of jihad in the Islamic world. In the conflict, ―one party takes terrorism, and the other takes air strikes, covert actions, and economic sanctions.‖ As a consequence, terrorism targeted at the West thrives. Huntington‘s ―Clash of Civilizations,‖ with speciously dazzling arguments, becomes the ―Islamic threat theory.‖ However, the wrong places have also been noted. Firstly, the assumption of inevitable conflict between civilizations cannot be established. Esposito thinks that although considerable historic conflict and violent confrontation truly exist, they don‘t represent the whole picture of history. In fact, the

1

(Chinese)Huntington, Samuel.The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Beijing: Xinhua Press, 1998, p228. 2 (Chinese)Huntington, Samuel.The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Beijing: Xinhua Press, 1998, p283. 219

positive interaction and impact also once occurred in history. Islamic civilization, regarding to its origins, should be grateful to the West because by these origins, Islamic civilization could borrow, absorb from the West, and thus develop a high degree of civilization, which enable it to make their unique outstanding contribution in the field of philosophy, science and technology in the Dark Ages. Similarly, the West in turn regains the innovative philosophy and scientific heritage from the Islamic civilization, which later became the basis of the European Renaissance. In modern times, Muslims are free to take up the achievements of modern science and technology. In many ways, they are facing a period of re-examination, re-construction and re-revitalization. Like Religious Reform of the west, it is not only a process of rational stimulation and religious controversy, but also a process full of religious and political unrest, violence and revolutionary.1 Secondly, the clash of civilizations theory shows that the role of religion and culture in global politics and international affairs in the past has been neglected, and now has been exaggerated by taking the risk to label all Muslims, in fact Islam itself, as violent, while not carefully identifying the radicals and the mainstream, as well as those who manipulate and misinterpret religion to validate their behavior and the Islamic tradition itself. We have carefully applied those differences, that is, we have discriminated religion and ethnic groups from the extreme minority, and distinguished the liberation or resistance organizations from terrorism when we judge the Partow Lycan terrorist group in New York, the Jewish defense league, the Irish Republican Army, the mafia, or those Christian extremists who bomb abortion clinics, all claiming to be the brigades of God. When it comes to Muslim extremism, there is not such clear compartmentalization. This situation becomes worse and chaotic because some people make a stark contrast between Judaism-Christian tradition and Islamic tradition regarding peace, violence, Holy War, and revenge. Not only do they talk about religious and ethnic differences, but also talk about the direct opposition of principle and values, which are irreconcilable differences and will inevitably lead to the generation of alienated, marginalized and radical consciousness for both sides.2 Again, this theory simplifies the complex phenomenon, thereby covering up the real causes of conflicts and terrorism. Although using the sacred religious aura can

1

(Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p275. 2 (Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p284-284. 220

justify and legalize war or terrorism, ―the future global threats and war will be less likely originating from the clash of civilizations, but from the interests and economy and other contrary facts."1Moreover, ―observing Islam and the Islamic world through the lens of violence and terrorism would result in neglecting the breadth and depth of contemporary Islam, ignoring the multiplicity of its directions, and diversity of its manifestations;‖2 especially overlooking the real root of terrorism.

7.3 Terrorism in Ethnic and religious Conflicts 7.3.1 Northern Ireland Contemporary international terrorism is very complex. From extreme left wing to extreme right wing, each has its own form of expression. Besides, religion each has its own features. Even under the same name, the doctrine, ritual, practice, emotion, and especially the social and political ideas responding to modern society of a specific religion will change with different nations, classes, occupational groups, and individual interests. In order to facilitate the analysis, those terrorist activities associated with religious conflicts or religious extremism will be divided into three categories, which are religious separatism, religious extremism, and religious cult terrorism. Regarding the religious separatism terrorism, the most histories and typical one is the terrorist activities in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland problem has a long time. Early in the 12thcentury, since Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, a large number of British immigrants poured in, but they could not assimilate the Irish. The bitter pill of ethnic conflicts caused by British colonialism has worsened since the religious reform in the 16thcentury. In 1529, British Parliament passed a series of religious reform program, and in 1534, Britain formally announced separation with the Roman Catholic Church. The British immigrants in Ireland converted to Anglican, headed by

1

(Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p274. 2 (Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p308.

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the King of England; however, Irish people adhered to the original faith of the Catholic Church, which further exacerbated the contradictions and conflicts between the two sides. In the 17thcentury, a large number of Protestants and Scots moved to the northeast of Ireland under the support and encouragement of the British Government. Under the aegis of colonial rulers, these Protestant immigrants started to plunder the Irish land. In 1653, Cromwell promulgated the Migration Act after suppression of the Irish nationalist uprising, deporting a large number of Irish to the desolate and barren southern marshes and establishing the Protestant immigrants‘ domination in the northern region. When anti-British uprising broke out again in Ireland in 1916, a radical nationalist party Sinn Fein mastered the political leadership of the national liberation struggle. In 1919, Sinn Fein refused to attend the British Parliament, and convened Parliament on their own in Dublin, building military forces and announcing the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. In 1921, the British government was forced to sign a treaty to allow the 26 counties of southern Ireland to set up the Irish Free State. In 1948, Ireland was formally separated from the Commonwealth and acquired independence, but the Protestant-dominant 6 counties in Northern Ireland still remaining under British rule. Northern Ireland has a population of about 1.6 million; of which 2/3 are the descendants of Protestant immigrants, dominating in political, economic and social life. Irish Catholicism has more than 50 million people, and most of them hope Northern Ireland will separate from Great Britain and unify with Ireland. For more than half a century, the Protestant local government in Northern Ireland implemented discriminatory policies both in social and economic fields. Some radical Protestant groups advocated the Orange Order of "pure Protestants" in Northern Ireland to foster hostility to the Catholic Church. They treated Irish nationalists and Catholic as equals, claiming that the aim of Catholic ―autonomy‖ that the Irish advocated was actually the establishment of the ―rule of the Holy Sea.‖ Ethnic and religious conflicts between the Protestant and Irish Catholic continued to develop. In the major cities, the followers of the two groups zoned and governed their own land without connection. In 1969, serious conflicts broke out in Belfast, Londonderry and other big cities, which almost caused a civil war. For a long time, the British Government‘s poor performance in dealing with Northern Ireland led to the deterioration of the conflict. The Londonderry tragedy in 1972 inspired Irish nationalist sentiment. Most of them strongly demanded wield the Northern Ireland authorities according to population rate; however, the Protestant residents who accounted for more than 2/3 of the population refused

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decentralization. In 1973, the Northern Ireland referendum rejected the Irish advocacy of separating from Britain. All of these factors induced the sharp rise of the Irish nationalist movement, and extremist factions represented by the Irish Republican Army frequently carried out terrorist activities in this context. Nationalists in Northern Ireland can be divided into two factions: the constitutional faction and the radical faction. Since the 1960s, part of the moderates initiated the Irish civil rights movement and formed the Social Democratic Labor Party which had gradually become one of the main political parties. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is the representative of the extreme organization of Ulster nationalism. It was a secret military organization of Irish Catholics created in January, 1919, with the purpose of forcing the British Government to abandon the rule of Northern Ireland and realizing the reunification of Ireland under its leadership. In order to achieve its goal, the Irish Republican Army did not hesitate to take on violent and terrorist measures. Since its establishment, it has been engaged in guerrilla and terrorist activities from time to time. In 1969, ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland became exacerbated. Some radical members of the Irish Republican Army splintered from the organization to form the Provisional Irish Republican Army; however, it split in 1972 when a small part of member organized another group named Irish National Liberation Army. Among these factions, the Provisional Irish Republican Army had the largest energy and engaged in the most activities. The extreme claim of Provisional Irish Republican Army was achieving the unity of north and south Ireland through ―guns and bombs.‖ They forayed across the UK, implementing bombings, hijackings, assassinations, and other terrorist activities. It can be said that most significant terrorist activities of the Irish Republican Army in the past thirty years were carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Similarly, Protestants also had armed organizations. The legal armed group was Ulster Defense Regiment composed by local Protestant inhabitants and controlled by the military. Ulster Defense Association, established in 1971, was the largest Protestant paramilitary force, aiming to restore a single Protestant ―Orange Order‖ in Northern Ireland. Although the President of the Association openly advocated fighting terror with terror and its member often implemented violent attacks and terrorist activities against the Irish, the Ulster Defense Association, under the aegis of the government, maintained legal status for a long time. In addition, other active extreme Protestant factions included the Ulster Freedom Fighters, the Ulster Volunteer Force, and Orange Volunteers. The first two organizations engaged in terrorist activities against Irish and were declare illegal by the British government, and

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the last one was known for organizing Orange Day parade on July 12 each year. Religion plays a significant role in Northern Ireland conflict and the process of peace talks. Extremist forces from both the Protestant and Catholic churches played a fueling and guiding role in the conflicts, especially in the late 1960s to early 1980s. Fundamentalist forces represented by Ian Paisley were the most prominent ones. Ian Paisley established the conservative Presbyterian Church in Ireland in the early 1950s, being considered the representative of the Protestant Orthodox. He opposed any compromise with Irish Catholics because that would lead to the Protestant foothold loss and the Catholics re-occupying the dominant position in Northern Ireland. When the Irish civil rights movement rose, he actively organized the Ulster Constitution Defense Committee and Ulster Protestant Volunteers to carry out anti-Catholic procession and engaged in street conflicts with the Irish members of the civil rights movement. After the declaration of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1985, he organized a mass rally to protest. Since the 1990s, he and the Democratic Unionist Party repeatedly set up barriers in Northern Ireland peace talks, exercised constant vigilance towards London and Northern Ireland authorities‘ ―betrayal conspiracy,‖ and continued to incite anti-Catholicism and Irish Republican Army wave. Similarly, some forces in the Irish Catholic Church provide considerable support for the development of IRA. In the 1970s, due to dissatisfactions with the left deviation of the orthodox faction in IRA, the church began to covertly support these defense organizations represented by Provisional IRA. The former Cardinal Thomas O. Fitch publicly showed sympathy for the Irish nationalists, refusing to accuse certain actions of IRA members violating the creeds. Since the late 1980s, the mainstream of the two Churches began to make every effort for the realization of peace in Northern Ireland and have done a lot of fruitful work towards a ceasefire and peace talks. The process of Northern Ireland peace talks were still ups and downs. The two sides, insisting on their long-term political goal, conflicted sharply on the disarmament and establishment of the Protestant-Catholic coalition government. However, the international and domestic environment of Northern Ireland as a whole was conducive to peace. Suffering from decades of bloody conflict, people averse to violence and terrorism were looking forward to a peaceful and stable life. In order to remove terrorist activities, Ireland, the United States, the European Union, and other international forces, had been involved resolving the Northern Ireland problem. Moreover, the Protestant and Catholic Churches also made efforts to solve the conflict. After long-term negotiations, the British Government and the Northern Ireland

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factions finally reached an autonomous framework that could be accepted by both sides. The peace agreement signed in 1998 and the establishment of the joint self-government indicates the two main ethnic groups of Northern Ireland entering a track of dialogue and cooperation. Although the peace talks would still encounter obstacles and setbacks, efforts to combat terrorism have achieved a preliminary success.

7.3.2 Sri Lanka Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka also relates to the legacy of British colonial rule. Historically, the southern Indian Tamils migrated to Sri Lanka, mixed with the main ethnic Sinhalese. In the 13thcentury, Tamils controlled the northern provinces. In the 14thcentury, Tamils established the Kingdom of Jaffna Tamil, extending their forces to the eastern sea, which formed a tripod with the Keti Kingdom in the west and Kandy Kingdom in the south established by Sinhalese. This is the historical basis for the Tamil nationalists to seek independence in the northeast when Sri Lanka achieved independence. In the 19th century, British colonial invasion unified Sri Lanka, but in order to prevent the people from uniting against colonial rule, the British introduced a "divide and rule" policy between the Tamil and Sinhalese, resulting in Tamil and other minorities enjoying preferential treatment in politic, culture, and education. The proportion of Tamils in government civil servant positions, professionals, and college students was higher than their proportion in the country's population. Sinhalese people were dissatisfied with this phenomenon, which became the direct incentive for the intensification of ethnic conflicts after independence. The British colonial authorities implemented long-term ―divide and rule‖ policy, deepening estrangement and misunderstanding between two nations which had already had differences in terms of religious beliefs, cultural tradition, and cultural practices. However, the contradiction between the two nations was mainly confined to a power struggle before independence and ordinary people were not involved in the vortex of ethnic conflicts. After independence, the Sri Lankan government applied mistaken policy again and again, finally leading to violent conflict, terrorism, and military confrontation. Sri Lanka has a population of about 19 million, with 74% Buddhist Sinhalese and 18% Hindu Tamils. In the 1950s, the Sinhalese launched a publicity campaign to stipulate Sinhala as the national language and Buddhism as the state religion, setting off the prelude of endless ethnic conflict and unrest. In 1956, the Government enacted 225

a Sinhala Only Bill with provisions stating that Sinhala was to be theonly official language. The Government's education policy, immigration planning, and economic policy, to a certain degree, all damaged the interests of the Tamils, which greatly harmed their national pride. Thereby, bloody conflict and religious riots broke out twice in 1958 and 1965. In 1972, the Sri Lankan government promulgated a new constitution, providing ―Buddhism the highest position‖ and Sinhala the sole official language, which not only once again stirred up conflict between nations, but also greatly exacerbated the movement towards separation of Tamils. Also, in the same year, the Tamil formally proposed the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam, and announced May 22 that the new constitution was promulgated the day as a National Day of Mourning. At the same time, the three former Tamil political parties officially merged to form the Tamil United Front. Armed groups of Tamil young people emerged. The Tamil New Tigers were formally founded in Prabhakaran. In 1975, the Tamil United Front won the local election in the Northern Province, which was regarded as a resolution that Tamil people would establish an independent state through exercising the right of self-determination. However, the radical nationalists gradually lost patience and confidence for achieving national independence through political means. In May of that year, to revitalize the entire Tamil nation, the Tamil New Tigers was renamed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which is now known as the Tamil Tigers, and began its reign of terror and assassination activities. In 1978, to ease the ethnic conflicts, Sri Lanka‘s Government recognized the requests of the Tamils in education, immigration, language, and employment by enacting a new constitution to replace the 1972 constitution. However, the extreme wing of the Tamil youth rapidly rose up, and armed Tamil groups became even more determined to seek independence. The terrorist activities carried out by armed groups intensified ethnic contradictions once again, leading to extensive, bloody clashes between Tamil and Sinhalese. The Sri Lankan government then announced six armed groups, including the LTTE as illegal organizations. In 1979, the Congress passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, announcing that the Tamil-inhabited areas were in a state of emergency. To 1981, nationwide riots appeared again. Tamil moderates quickly lost prestige and extremist forces took advantage to expand influence, controlling the process of ethnic conflict. On July 24, 1983, LTTE ambushed a military truck of government troops, leading to a nationwide riot called the Black July Riots by the media. This was the most serious bloody ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka since

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independence, as well a turning point for upgrading ethnic conflict. The tactics adopted by the Sri Lankan government combined fear and rhetoric, giving priority to physical conflict. LTTE, under a siege of the government army, applied a tactic combining guerrilla and terrorist attacks. Due to the escalation of guerrilla war and LTTE gobbling other Tamil armed groups. By the end of 1986, Sri Lanka‘s ethnic conflict evolved into a military confrontation between government troops and the LTTE. Invited by the Government of Sri Lanka, India sent over one hundred thousand troops to Sri Lanka in order to restore order and stability as quickly as possible, and promote the two sides solving the ethnic problem through negotiation. However, the Indian peacekeeping force ultimately sank into the quagmire of armed conflict with LTTE, not only leading to strong protests of Indian Tamils, but also intensifying the contradictions of Sri Lanka because the LTTE frequently carried out bloody terrorist activities both in Sri Lanka and India as revenge. In the second year, India withdrew troops from Sri Lanka. That year, Rajiv Gandhi, former Indian Prime Minister, became the victim of a suicide bomb attack carried out by LTTE. The LTTE is now widely recognized as a terrorist organization. LTTE had a close-knit internal organization and strict discipline, training its members from a young age. After swearing allegiance to the leader, members of LTTE were asked to learn religious and ethnic knowledge and military technology. The subordinates absolutely obey the leader, which forms a secret cult of personality within the organization. He who was regarded as a stumbling block of the great mission would be eradicated at any price, by hook or by crook. The means used were extremely brutal and blood-thirsty. The LTTE carried out bloody massacre of Sinhalese and Muslims for their religious beliefs. Any member arrested was required to swallow cyanide. LTTE also had two female organizations―Black Tiger Team‖ and ―Free Bird‖famous worldwide for acting as human bombs to assassinate political figures. The reason why LTTE could develop into an armed force that could maintain confrontation with government forces, the reasons are: First, the protracted ethnic and religious conflicts in Sri Lanka continued to intensify, which provided a social basis and political purpose, as well as spiritual support for terrorist organizations. Second, India's 50 million Tamils strongly supported the Sri Lanka Tamil independence movement, so Tamil Nadu in southern India became the stronghold of the LTTE. It is also said that LTE‘s training bases were in Tamil Nadu. Third, support from over 900,000 overseas Tamils enabled the LTTE to have ample income and an extensive

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overseas support network, including a worldwide arms procurement network. LTTE now has 10,000 soldiers, of which 3000 are the core backbone equipped with advanced weapons; they can launch formal war with government forces at any time. Therefore, contrary to Northern Ireland, ethnic conflict, and terrorism in Sri Lanka is still without any sign of an end.

7.3.3 Chechnya Chechnya, located on the north side of the North Caucasus Mountains, is one of the 21 republics of the Russian Federation. With an area of about 17 million square kilometers and a population of about one million, Chechnya is a traditionally Islamic region. The long period of clan society and self-sufficiency in economic life cultivate a carefree lifestyle in Chechnya; the harsh living conditions and the hardships suffered from alien invasion create a rebellious, fierce, and brave valor. In the early 19th century, Tsarist Russia conquered the Caucasus. During the war, stubborn resistance of the Chechen people never stopped, leading to heavy losses for the Tsarist Russian Army. After the October Revolution in 1918, due to the influence of historical Russian chauvinism and incorrect administrative and national policies, conflict and confrontation between different nations in Chechnya became even worse. During World War II, the 11 ethnic minorities in Chechnya were accused of collective mutiny and betrayal of the motherland, forcing them to migrate to Central Asia and Siberia. By 1957, Chechens rehabilitated their reputation and were allowed to return home to re-establish the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic. However, things are still there, but men are no more the same ones. Chechen people found that their territory narrowed and they faced the pressure of ethnic assimilation. Hatred toward tsarist Russia over a hundreds of years conquests, the mistaken policies of Soviet-era, and ethnic conflict between Chechens and Russians were poised to take off. This is the context that Chechen ethnic separatism rose in. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a stream of ethnic separatism emerged in the former Soviet Union areas. After the 8/19 incident in 1991, Dudayev staged a coup. He was elected the President of Chechnya a month later and announced the country would secede from Russia. On November 1, Dudayev, regardless of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, ordered the establishment of a sovereign statethe Republic of Chechnya. At the same time, he occupied office buildings and arsenals by force, obtaining 86 million firearms, 150,000 hand grenades, 260 planes, 228

and 100 armored technical vehicles, which enabled him to found a well-equipped Chechen National Army in a short time. At the beginning of the crisis, Yeltsin issued a federal presidential state of emergency, immediately sent troops to occupy office buildings, and collect the illegal armed weapons. Chechnya declared a state of war to contend with the Russian military. North Caucasus republics and autonomous states with Islamic beliefs, and the Republic of Tatarstan near Volga River actively claimed solidarity with Chechnya. The Caucasus Mountain Nation Federation, composed of 14 nationalities, even announced the mobilization of volunteers to fight against the Presidential Decree. Under this pressure, the Russian authorities were compelled to seek political means to resolve the dispute. Since then, illegal Chechen authorities have become more emboldened. In its three-year confrontation with the federal government, it robbed trucks, looted buses, intercepted oil, and stole property of the federal government, causing huge losses to the Russian economy. In 1994, since all political means to resolve disputes were proved to be unsuccessful, and the Chechen authorities still adhered to the same tough stance, Yeltsin gave the command of solving Dudayev Group with military forces and resuming constitutional and legal order in Chechnya. Thus, the Chechen war broke out. By early 1995, Russian troops captured Grozny and basically destroyed theDudayev regime. But the Dudayev Group didn‘t accept the military defeat. On the one hand, Dudayev Group withdrew most of the troops to the southern mountains, continuing to fight against the Russian Army; on the other hand, they applied kidnapping, hijacking, explosions, and other means of terror aimed at innocent civilians to attack the Russian federal government. Terrorist activities launched by Chechen ethnic separatists were extremely serious and cruel, especially those aiming at civilians. On June 13, 1995, Russian troops captured the last great stronghold of Chechen rebels in the south. On the next day, Dudayev Group took risk carrying out the world-shocking hostage incident in Budennovsk. They occupied a hospital, abducted more than 1,000 people, ad 120 people were killed, forcing the Russian authorities to stop Russian military activities in Chechnya and re-open negotiations. From June 19 to July 30, the two sides reached a package agreement on ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners, disarming Chechen troops, stopping terrorist activities, phased withdrawal of Russia troops, and holding free elections in Chechnya. But the agreements were not seriously implemented by either side. The Dudayev Group took the opportunity to redeploy troops, and continued to provoke the Russian army and engineer murders, bombings, and other terrorist activities. On December 4, a bomb went off in Grozny, killing a large number

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of Russian troops and innocent civilians. In January, 1996, Chechen terrorists attacked an airport and train station in Kizlyar, Republic of Dagestan. They occupied another hospital, holding more than 3,000 innocent civilians hostage, and finally led to more than 180 people dead. In April, Dudayev was killed by a Russian military missile; the arrogance of the Chechen extremists suffered a heavy blow. In May, the Russian prime minister and Yandarbiyev, the new leader of Chechen armed forces signed an Armistice Agreement. But, Chechen terrorist activities did not stop; on the contrary, it became more serious and directly aimed at Moscow and other big cities outside Chechnya. From June to July, bombings repeatedly occurred in Moscow. In August, an explosion also occurred in Makhachkala, capital of Republic of Dagestan, and the finance minister of Dagestan died in the explosion.1 On August 31, 1996, the Russian authorities and the illegal Chechen regime signed the Khasavyurt Peace Agreement, in which both sides agreed to shelve the Chechnya status issue and resolve it five years later, officially marking the end of the first Chechen war. Since then, Chechnya‘s calling for an independent position had not changed; and they asked the Russian government for war reparations, which undoubtedly meant the recognition of its sovereignty and independence. Then, it announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with Russia, claiming to join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and the United Nations (UN). Internally, it declared faithful obedience to the Islam creeds, fully implementing Sharia law in Chechnya, and governing the state according to Islamic teachings. At the same time, the terrorist activities of Chechen separatists did not stop; hey became more rampant and serious after 1997. Kidnappings not only included innocent civilians such as middle school students and hospital patients, but also expanded to news reporters, representatives of international organization, foreign businessmen, as well as Russian officers and soldiers. They treated hostages cruelly and some hostages were even sold to international criminal organizations for money. Bombings occurred frequently across the country. At the same time, a series of assassinations aiming at political leaders also occurred. After July, 1999, the Chechen armed terrorists snuck into Dagestan in batches to help local Islamic extremist forces overthrow the existing government. According to the special feature of Liu Gang, a reporter for the People's Daily in

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(Chinese) Center for Ethnic and Religious Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations: Collection of Global Ethnic Problems, Beijing, Current Affairs Press, 2001, p27-28. 230

Russia in August 11, these armed terrorists and religious extremists in Dagestan threatened to establish a unified Chechnya-Dagestan Islamic country. They founded Dagestan Islamic Shura (Shura, the Arabic word for ―consultation,‖ meaning the highest authority of modern Islamic state), and announced in the name that ―We Muslims in Dagestan, officially announced the resumption of an independent Dagestan Islamic country‖ and ―to defend the Islamic country is the obligation of every Dagestan Muslim, and every Muslim should have been fighting until putting all the infidels away from the Muslim territory.‖ They also announced that the whole territory of Dagestan was in a state of war, and the newly established military organization appointed Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev as a military leader of the holy war. Meanwhile, the Chechen terrorists engineered several explosions in Moscow, and city of Buynaksk and Volgodonsk of southern Russia, killing over 300 civilians. For safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and defending social security and people's lives, the Russian government sent troops again in September, which marked the outbreak of the Second Chechen War. Drawing on the experiences and lessons of the first Chechen war, the anti-terrorism and military operations progressed smoothly. In March, 2000, an army of Russian Federation basically controlled the situation in Chechnya, and the seizing of Raduyev, the Chechen rebel leader, marked the victory end of large-scale combat. However, problems remained serious. There were still a lot of Chechen terrorists that had fled into the mountains, and the reconstruction of Chechnya faced a sea of troubles. Long-term national trauma and historical grievances caused by conflict and war continued to exist. Although military actions could eradicate all illegal Chechen armed terrorist, it is difficult to completely extricate its social and psychological roots, and dig up the cornerstone of national separatism and religious extremism. From the Chechen problem, it could be found that, after the end of the Cold War, ethnic and religious conflicts intertwined with each other, becoming more and more severe. The reason is very complex. First, it is the product of the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of Cold War, as well as the result of strengthened American intervention. In recent decades, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the disappearance of the balancing mechanisms for restraining ethnic conflicts, ideologies and the power vacuum arose in former Soviet Union regions and its sphere of influence. Therefore, some nationalist forces and religious powers, newly emerged or long-repressed, came up to take advantage of the vacuum and become the leading force in changing the developing direction of these countries or regions. At the same

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time, the United States and some Western powers, under the banner of democratization, human rights, freedom of religion, interfered in the internal affairs of other countries. The double standards they implemented intensified local ethnic confrontation and religious conflicts. As for these countries and regions themselves, imbalance of economic and cultural development, social inequality, and political instability caused by errors of ethnic and religious policies and historical grievances were a hotbed of ethnic and religious conflicts. The former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the African continent, became hot spots of ethnic and religious conflicts, mostly due to the above reasons. Thus, what is basis for ethnic separatism and religious extremism to intertwine? In short, the distribution and conflicts of benefits, the pursuit and struggle for power, are the basis conducive to the combination of national separatism and religious extremism. When a nation‘s interest groups have conflicts and contradiction with the dominant nation or other nations for their own power and interests, they often start their ethnic separatist movement under the banner of religion and the whole nation. The devotion of religion, a symbol of faith, a force of tradition can provide a sacred aura, cultural color, and fanatical passion for the political purpose of ethnic separation. Religion and cultural traditions become the most convenient and effective means to mobilize and organize people to fight for or defend national interests, implanting unusually stubborn and paranoid attitudes toward ethnic separatism. The Chechen problem is only one of them.

7.4 Religious Extremism and Terrorism 7.4.1 Sikh extremism The second category of religion-related terrorism is terrorist activity based on religious extremism. According to the recently popular view, Islamic extremism has almost become synonymous with terrorism; however, terrorism is not a unique phenomenon of the Islamic world, nor is it a product of Islam itself. ―Contrary to

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common views, the growth of terrorism doesn‘t just influence Islam, but also develops in Jewish and Christian fundamentalist sects.‖ 1 In addition, another significant example is Sikh extremism. Sikhism, a religion formed in the Punjab region of India in the 16th century, was comprised of moderate reformers within Hinduism and was supported by the Mughal dynasty. Later, with the development of Sikhism, the upper layer was involved in the political struggle of the royal family, eventually leading to conflict with the Mughal dynasty. Facing the apparent weakness of his followers, the tenth Sikh Guru Ji, Gobind Singh (1675 ~ 1704) decided to turn them into a powerful force fighting for justice. In 1699, he founded Khalsa, a new Brotherhood, to foster a martial spirit and turn Sikhism into an armed religion. He announced that everyone who joined Khalsa should participate in a special dedication ceremony named the sword ceremonysprinkling water stirred with double-edged sword on the body. Then they should vow to abide by the canons law. The most important is the ―five-Ks‖, which are Kesh, Kanga, Kara, Kacchera, and Kirpan. After the ceremony, the men were given the name Singh (Lions), and the woman Kaur (princess). Gobind also decided to terminate the individual guru inheritance system, and leaders were elected by the Khalsa Church. Then, Sikh leader Banda possessed the power of the secular monarch. Besides, because of their unique religion, language, culture, and economic life, the Sikhs gradually developed into an independent nation. After Gobind was assassinated, Banda, adopting the title of ―King of Truth,‖ fought with Mughal dynasty for independence, but it was repressed by the Mughal army in 1715. During the mid-18thcentury, Sikhs made a comeback in the struggle against the Afghans. Then, they established an independent Sikh Kingdom (1765~1849). Later, due to internal division, they were conquered by the British colonists. In the early 20th century, the Sikhs joined the liberation movement in India. In 1919, Sikhs, regardless the ban of the colonial authorities to hold celebrations, had been cruelly suppressed. In the following year, they held a Sikh Congress in Amritsar and set up a central temple management committee, launching a sensational Akali campaign. The extremists also set up Akali Dal Lions organization, calling for violent uprisings, the adoption of terrorist tactics, and forcing the British colonists to enact the Sikh temple law in 1925 to lift the ban. In 1943, Akali Dal, on behalf of the Sikhs,

1

(Chinese)El País(Spanish), The New Area of International Terrorism, Spanish message of Xinhua News Agency,11 August, 1998. 233

took advantage of the crumbling British colonial rule, passing a resolution of establishing a free Punjab. The next year, they formally proposed to establish an independent Khalistan (Sikh). Leaders of the Congress Party promised to establish an autonomous Sikh state in India and consider other requirements of Sikhism after India achieved independence. So, Sikhs agreed to stay within the Indian Union. During the process of the India-Pakistan partition in 1947, Punjab was divided into two. Sikhs were a minority in Indian Punjab, and the state government was completely dominated by the Congress Party and Hindus. The plan for establishing a free Punjab fell through; strong dissatisfaction among Sikhs arose. In April, 1949, Akali Dal held the All India Sikh Conference, proposing the establishment of the state of Punjab for the first time. In 1960, Akali Dal captured the leadership of the central temple management committee from the hand of the Congress Party. Although Akali Dal directly controlled all Indian Sikhs through the committee, they had never been able to obtain majority status in the Punjab elections. In May of that year, Akali Dal started a political action committee to advocate for the immediate formation of a Punjab state. However, the action was repressed harshly, causing even greater resentment among the Sikhs. Meanwhile, Hindu political parties required the formation of a large Punjab state in order to maintain the dominant position of Hindus in both numbers and strength. Both sides organized a series of strikes, demonstrations, and protest rallies; conflict happened one after another, and many times this led to violence and bloodshed; terrorist activities occurred occasionally. In March, 1966, the Indian government was forced to make a decision to reshuffle Punjab on the basis of language. The reshuffle began in November. Those districts speaking Punjabi built up a state, still using the old name Punjab; the areas speaking Hindi formed a new state named Haryana. As for the former state capital Chandigarh, it was directly under the control of the Central Government to be the joint capital of the two states because the two sides couldn‘t reach any agreement on its ownership. In Punjab, Sikhs accounted for 55.48% of the population, and 79% of the country‘s Sikhs. In 1967, Akali Dal passed a resolution, putting forward a series of religious, political, and economic requirements in order to expand the autonomy of the Sikhs in Punjab. But these requirements were reckoned as a separatist program by Indian authority, and thus refused. In the 1980s, extreme forces in the Sikh community continued to thrive, and moderates lost power within Akali Dal. Many extremist factions or terrorist organizations, such as the Dal Khalsa, All India Sikhs Committee, and its subordinates Khalistan commando were established. In August, 1981, in order

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to force the Government of India to accept the requirements of Sikh autonomy, Sikhs continued to carry out offensives under the leadership of Akali Dal, including organizing mass demonstrations, blockading railways and highways, blocking traffic, and deliberately being arrested by the police. Sikh extremists were trying to separate from India to establish an independent Khalistan. Under the support of overseas Sikh extremist groups, such as Khalistan National Review and World Sikh Organization, they even established a government in exile abroad and developed a national flag, issued a currency, and initiated a massive Khalistan movement both at home and abroad. Meanwhile, conflicts between Sikhs and Hindus also intensified. Arson, assassination, robbery, hijacking, and other terrorist activities occurred one after another. Government and Sikh leaders held several talks, but failed to resolve the problem. In October, 1983, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the Punjab Government to conduct presidential governance. On March 19, 1984, the Indian government extended a period of presidential governance and announced that the All India Sikh Students Federation was illegal. On April 25, the government authorized police forces stationed in the Punjab to jail Sikh extremists two years without trial. On the other side, Akali Dal announced a Holy War on the whole state. Sikh militants set up their headquarters at the Golden Temple of Amritsar to command all the terrorist activities, and threatened not to withdraw until the establishment of a Khalistan state. Akali Dal also declared that from June 3 onwards, all Indian Sikhs were to start carrying out a ―non-cooperation movement‖ to stop the provisions of Punjab food. Because 50% of India's commodity grain came from Punjab, a ―non-cooperation movement‖ is certainly a huge threat to the Government of India. Thus, the Indian government accused somebody of harboring criminals and weapons in the Golden Temple of Sikh Holy Land, and sent troops to surround the Golden Temple on June 2, then seized the Golden Temple on 7th. Bhindranwale, leader of Dal Khalsa, Emlak, leader of the All India Sikh Students Federation, and 492 Sikhs were killed in the conflicts.1 On October 31, Indira Gandhi was killed by Sikh guards in the premier‘s office. Large-scale conflicts between India‘s Sikh and Hindus broke out immediately and the riots continued for five days. Through the joint efforts of the Indian Government and leaders of the Sikh moderates, religious and ethnic tensions eased. However, in the second half of 1986, the situation re-deteriorated. Sikh extremists had

1

(Chinese)Wu, Yongnian& Ji, Ping. Research of Contemporary India, Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1998, p241-262. 235

never given up the requirements of establishing an independent Khalistan, then a spate of terrorist activities happened. On January 26, 1987, they held assembly with a million people in the Golden Temple, burning Indian flags and raising the flag of Khalistan. In April, they attacked shops and buses, so a large number of Hindus were forced to move. On May 11, the Indian government announced the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly to conduct direct presidential governance. Sikh extremists, refusing to yield, attacked a bus again and shot more than 70 Hindus in early July in revenge. Sectarian conflict also happened in Hindu-dominant Haryana and a large number of people were killed or injured. Although the situation has stabilized, the deep-rooted sectarian feud is difficult to bridge, and the eradication of terrorist activities of Sikh extremists remains unrealized.

7.4.2 Islamic extremist and terrorist activities Islamic extremism, being the representative of international terrorism is believed to be the world's most widely distributed, deeply influential, and seriously threatening terrorist activity. In this regard, we must first make clear that the Islamic world is the area with the most acute contradictions and conflicts in the modern world. As a response to the problems of history and reality, the Islamic Revival Movement or fundamentalism becoming a social movement swept across the Islamic world. Islamic revivalism or fundamentalism is the conversion of the Islamic teachings in regards to the modern conditions to re-interpret political and social opinions. When it is used to mobilize and organize the masses to criticize and deny this reality, religion is inclined to be politicized and politics becomes religious in nature. Islamic extremism is the deformed product of this social and political context, and Islamic extremists engaged in terrorist activities, are mainly the radical factions that have split away from the political opposition or fundamentalist organizations of these Islamic countries. Their concepts and practices have a strong religious atmosphere, but are further away from Islam itself, misinterpreting Islam for their own sake. Terrorist activities in the contemporary Islamic world originated from the political struggle of 1940s, when the terrorist activities consisted of the assassinations of politicians and celebrities. It was the members of Muslim Brotherhood that were engaged in terrorist activities. For example, members of Iran's Islamic death squads (Muslim Brotherhood of Iran) assassinated historian Kasrawi; a member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Egypt Prime Minister Nukrashi. Egyptian 236

authorities immediately took actions to retaliate, and the Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan Bana was assassinated. In the 1950s, Iran's Islamic death squads assassinated Prime Minister Ali Raz Mara, causing its leaders to be repressed by the authorities. Besides, the two Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members attempted to assassinate Nasser, but failed. After the conspiracy was brought to light, a large number of Muslim Brotherhood members were arrested and several important members were sentenced to death, leading to great loss in the Brotherhood organization. Later, with the rise of the Islamic Revival Movement, some extreme ideas and thinking became popular. Small radical or extreme organizations or factions established in droves, engaging in organized and planned terrorist activities, spreading from domestic to foreign countries, and becoming a new form international terrorism. In the 1970s, due to the needs of changing policy, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat released members of the Muslim Brotherhood from prison and legalized the Muslim Brotherhood. Hence, the Muslim Brotherhood made a fresh start by giving up terrorist activities and engaging in the parliamentary struggle, emerging as a moderate political opposition. Only a small number of members split away to form a variety of extremist organizations, such as the atonement and migration organization, Jihad group, Islamic Liberation Party, Islamic Group, and other specialized organizations. They engineered specialized assassinations, hijackings, kidnappings, bombings, and other conspiracies to subvert Egyptian society. Terrorist activity in Egypt became increasingly active. In Palestine, opposing Arafat‘s policy of seeking a political solution to the Middle East issue, some members of the extreme wings split away from the Palestine Liberation Organization to establish terrorist organizations, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah Revolutionary Council (Abu Nidal Organization), and the Islamic Jerusalem Jihad. They all had engineered and organized a number of shocking killings and plane hijackings. After the victory of the Iranian Islamic revolution, the Islamic Revival Movement became a worldwide trend; Islamic extremism also developed greatly. By the end of 1979, Islamic extremists secured the Great Mosque in the Islamic holy sites, Mecca. In June and August of 1981, the president, Prime Minister of Iran‘s Islamic revolutionary regime, General Secretary, and other senior officials of Islamic Republican Party were killed in two explosions. In October, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot dead at a military parade, attracting worldwide attention. It could be said that the 1980s were the most active period of the terrorist activities in the Islamic world. A new batch of extremist organizations such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine were established.

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Islamic extremists carried out a string of violent and bloody events, including suicide attacks. In the 1990s, the governments of Islamic countries began to repress and crack down on terrorism. Through the joint efforts of an international anti-terrorism coalition, terrorist activities decreased sharply, but the terrorists did not stop there. By the end of 1991, in order to prevent the Islamic Salvation Front, who had won the elections and were wielding power, the Algerian military forces announced the cancellation of the elections and took over power. Radical wings of the Islamic Salvation Front turned to adopt violence and terrorist activities to fight against the military authorities. Terrorist organizations like the Islamic National Salvation Army, and Armed Islamic Groups not only engaged in armed conflicts with the authorities, designing terrorist activities towards foreign embassies, business organizations, and tourists, but also sent members to Europe for bombings, hijackings, and other terrorist activities. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak, who had severely repressed terrorism, was attacked by armed terrorist forces on the way to Ethiopia to attend the African Summit in 1995. A spate of terrorist activities also happened along with frequent Arab-Israeli conflicts in the Israeli-occupied West side, Gaza Strip, and southern Lebanon. In the marginal areas of Islamic world, from Kosovo, Bosnia, Chechnya, to Philippines, due to the fierce regional and ethnic conflicts, terrorism developed rapidly. It is noteworthy that the number of acts directly aimed at America and engineered by Islamic extremists also rose, and their aims also expanded from outside of America to the inside. In 1993, Islamic extremist Rahman planned the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. The US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were almost at the same time attacked by powerful car bombs in August, 1998, which showed that behind a series of terrorist attacks on the US hid a well-organized international group, controlled by Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi merchant. However, people weren‘t too aware of Bin Laden and his terrorist organization until his attacks on New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001. Terrorist activities planned by Islamic extremists shocked the world, but were still far from ending. It should be noted that the basic teachings and Sharia principles of Islam requires Muslims to act leniently and graciously in life, and indiscriminate violence on innocent civilians and destructive behavior are prohibited by Sharia. It is impossible for those who engage in terrorist activities in the name of Islam to find justification in the Koran. Those terrorist activities, under the banner of religion, are extremely

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deceptive and confusing. However, in reality, they have violated and harmed the interests of the people, such as those in Palestine, which continues to undermine the peace process. If the social and political contradictions can be resolved, and the economic interests of the people be protected, then terrorist activities by extremists will be unpopular, just like what happened in Algeria. It must also be pointed out that those crimes terrorist committed under the banner of religion are in the name of religion, but for political aims. Their purpose is political, not religious. It can be said that they not only take advantage of and misinterpret religion, but also damage and undermine religion at the same time. Although terrorism is accompanied by extremism in the name of Islam, we should still separate Islam and religious circles from terrorist organizations and the teachings misinterpreted by them. Hence, the Islamic Revival Movement or fundamentalism is not equal to Islam, and Islamic extremism does not mean Islamic revivalism too. Those who are eager to engage in terrorist activities, after all, are only a handful of people.

7.4.3 Analysis of Islamic elements In regard to terrorist activities planned by Islamic extremists, they are a type of radical political action without any connection with religion by their very nature. However, on the surface, they are considered to have strong religious overtones. This is not because of their Muslim identity, but the name of the banner of Islam they are under. It is also because that they are living in an Islamic world not only influenced by traditional culture, but also impacted by contemporary Islamic revivalism or fundamentalism. Generally speaking, they are moving from fundamentalist political activism to extremism, and for that matter, their attitudes and actions are closely linked together by a kind of Islamic spirit, or share a common Islamic element. The Islamic elements are at least reflected in the following aspects: First, extreme interpretations of the Islamic ideas like ―sovereignty is in God‖ and ―Teachings first‖ enable the extremists to deny the existing political and legal authorities and maintain contempt for the secular moral and social norms in order to legalize their terrorist activities and put a sacred aura on their claims, and finally show off the glory of striving for justice and enforcing Heaven‘s law. The processes of modernization of Islamic countries are still in the toddler stage, with a low political participation of the people. Repression and arrests by governments always put the extremists to the forefront of the political struggle. Along with the prevalence of 239

political corruption, the disparity between the rich and the poor, economic stagnation, and educational backwardness, these extremists become strongly dissatisfied with secular society and a sense of isolation emerges. In order to establish a new Islamic order, Islamic community, and Islamic country, they have to destroy the existing order and society. Only religion can provide them with such spiritual strength. Second, the religious ideology deduced from Islamic revivalist or fundamentalist provide them with a set of political ideals, values, and a belief system, so they have a ready-made weapons to criticize and deny the reality of society and its development towards secularization and modernization, and this eventually drives them to fulfill the political aim of revitalizing morality and reconstructing society with an unusually paranoid and uncompromising attitude. This ideology not only attracts the lower classes, but also fascinates young intellectuals, turning them into the critical weapons of Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic extremism. Therefore, among the Islamic extremists who advocate violence and engage in terrorist activities, most of the backbone and activists are well educated, many of whom have had modern Western education. After conducting a survey of Islamic extremist organizations, an Egyptian expert concludes that ―The typical social background of the Islamic extremists can be summed as young, from rural or small towns, and coming from middle class or lower class families, high achievements in motivation, generally having accepted science or engineering education, and usually having a stable family.‖ Then, he commented that ―social science research often finds that people attracted to radical religious movements are those people being alienated, marginalized, or psychologically abnormal. People we surveyed mostly belong to the model of Egyptian youth.‖1 This is related to religious ideology deduced in modern society. Third, the tendency of politicized religion and religious politics enable the extremists to take advantage of the moral authority and spiritual power of Islam to serve the profound psychological and social needs. Faith ties, feelings of brotherhood, religious sentiments all rise up into the political arena, planting identity and loyalty in terrorist organization, providing a vague sympathy and support in the community. Thus, every terrorist considers suicide bombing as an act of martyrdom, preferring justice to life, dying a hero‘s death. It is the shortcut to the kingdom of heaven with God, so they could look death calmly in the face. Besides, it is particularly cruel and

1

(Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p178. 240

tragic to engage in terrorist activities in the name of religion. In particular, extremists detonating suicide bombs with a smile most typically demonstrates the great intrinsic driving force of the religious extremism of terrorist activities. Islamic extremists advocate that ―preaching, jihad, and martyrdom "are the three stages of the struggle. Terrorism is a way of blood and martyrdom. By this token, the spiritual strength to support terrorist activities from extreme religious sentiments will become more and more intense and important in brutal struggles. Fourth, through historical development, Islam formed a unique set of words and concepts, which are generally accepted by all Muslim and have enduring impact. Since the 18thcentury, the religious meanings and values of this set of words and concepts are to remedy the unbalance caused by the traditional social collapse, and to respond to external shocks and challenges. Due to fuzziness and ambiguity of religious words and concepts, it can be open to different interpretations for different political needs, and of course, for extremism. It can be transformed to the political ideology denying reality, or depict the blueprint of the ideal society. Moreover, these legitimate bases of identity links, loyalty, popular theory, authoritative standards, and behavior motivation, are all applied by terrorists. For instance, words like "jihad" and "martyrdom," "consultation," "public discussion," "choice," "ignorance," and "devil" are frequently adopted by radical organizations to motivate people and have become increasingly prominent in the Islamic world in modern times. This is the reason why Islam is often mistaken for supporting violent attacks or being warlike. What is expounded above are only the shallow Islamic factors. If combining with the external or international environment, the extremely active terrorist activities in Islamic world have their own deep-seeded reasoning. We will simply put the following points out: First, the process of modernization of Islamic countries is generally frustrated and the rapid conversion from traditional society to modern society brings about spiritual confusion and social unbalance, so that people are disappointed about the development modes in both the east and west. This is the social reason for why they return to tradition and extremes. The Contemporary Islamic Revival Movement is the response to this phenomenon. They believe that the decline of the modern Islamic world is because of the deviation from right way of Islam; the solution is that every individual and the whole society must regress to traditional Islam. In Politics, they advocate implementation of Islamic law, maintaining justice, and reconstructing society according to the Islamic law to regain the past prosperity and glory of Islam.

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Radical or extremist factions further require urgent and duty-bound fulfillment of the command of Allah, opposing existing secular regimes and the West who side with Israel. Thus they move from extremist to terrorist. Second, the brilliant historical achievements of Islam and Islamic civilization cultivate a sense of combining historical achievements with future development for those Muslim nations who are trying to find a way of self-reliance under the influence of Western hegemony. They draw strength from examples of history and Islamic fundamentalism, with the hope that it will be helpful when they are trying to find a way to solve existing problems. However, the Islamic Renaissance or fundamentalism can only cause a negative response towards reality, but cannot propose a perfect program for future building. Humiliation left by colonialism and imperialism cannot be easily erased. Therefore, ―centuries of memories of the West‘s hegemony, accompanied by the continued dependence on the West, leaves a deep scar and resentment, which can easily become the pretext of social failure and the fuse of extreme Muslim politics.‖1 Humiliating memories often emerge in retrospect, and there is always little vision to explore the road ahead. Therefore, some people fall into despair and become the yeast of terrorism. Third, the Arab-Israeli conflict drags on; the Arabs, having been defeated again and again, severely hurts the religious and national feelings of the Muslims. Thus, it becomes a hotbed of Islamic extremism and terrorism. Reality is often more complex than theory. To distinguish between aggression and self-defense, resistance and terrorism, it often depends on where a person standing. The Israeli security zone and peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are the occupying forces in the eyes of many Lebanese and Arabs; Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are considered as fighters against war, but for Israelis, they are terrorists. On the one hand, the US government refused to make a concessions to the British Government‘s repeated request that the United States should curb and stop the involvement and support of Irish Americans to the Irish Republican Army, because the latter is labeled by the British government as a terrorist organization rather than the resistance movement or freedom movement; On the other hand, the United States does make a concession to Israeli and American Israeli organizations‘ requests that America should take action to restrain radical Islamic fundamentalist organizations. This kind of policy inclination

1

(Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p254. 242

makes the situation even more complicated. People always believe that those in power are legitimate, regardless of whether they are autocratic or oppressive. An agent of the government (police, army and security forces) can use "legitimate" forces while the armed opposition groups are often described as extremists or guerrilla groups engaged in violence and terrorist activities. The question is: What is an extremist group? What is terrorism? The conclusion often depends on where each person stands.1 Double standards caused by different positions are especially prominent in the Arab-Israeli conflict. In the call for national liberation and rights, many people are affected by this stimulation and participate in extremist organizations, forming a hatred of the United States and Israel. Therefore, some people believe that a fair and reasonable solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict is the key to maintaining sustainable peace in the Middle East and effectively contain or eradicate terrorism. Otherwise, even the most severe repression and anti-terrorist international cooperation cannot completely root out terrorism from the source. Fourth, the major powers adopt double standards and pragmatic policies towards terrorism, conniving at certain terrorists while containing others, which is to cherish a snake in their own bosom. The most typical example happened in the Afghanistan War. In order to deal with the Soviet army‘s invasion of Afghanistan, the United States funded the establishment of military training camps, training a large number of anti-Soviet guerrilla fighters, some specializing in terrorist activities. At the same time, the Bin Laden family and Prince Saud al-Faisal jointly founded the Islamic Salvation Foundation, controlled by Osama bin Laden, who had received training in the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The foundation based in Peshawar of Pakistan recruited thousands of Arab volunteers to participate in the anti-Soviet war. After the Soviet withdrawal, these Afghan Arabs turned into mercenaries or professional killers, but also Islamic extremists. After the outbreak of the Gulf War, Bin Laden believed that the invasion of the United States became a threat to the Islamic world, and then he established the World Islamic Front in August, 1990. Staffed with these Afghan Arabs, Bin Laden incorporated a variety of radical extremist groups in every Islamic country, establishing a base for terrorist training and expanding the ranks of jihad. From Chechnya to the Philippines, he explained his support for the Muslim ethnic separatism, planning armed terrorist activities and organizing an international network

1

(Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p273-274. 243

of terrorist activities. In February, 1998, in Peshawar, he set up the Islamic Jihad Front against Jewish and Crusaders which clearly stated in its first Sharia that ―we call on all Muslims, all devout followers who are willing to obey Allah commands, to kill and rob Americans anytime and anywhere.‖ International terrorism had a qualitative change. This organization has strong capital, high technology, and advanced weapons, and its members are distributed all over the world. The organization has strict discipline with everything well departmentalized, well-planned with scientific means, and zealous faith. In order to achieve its political and strategic purpose, they unscrupulously adopt various forms of terror, which makes terrorist activities even more harmful and impossible to defend, increasing the difficulty for the international anti-terrorist struggle. The 9/11 events in the United States are typical proof. Eventually, it still must be pointed out that, even though Islam has a certain objective effect on terrorist activities, it is not the influence of religion. The situation is still complicated, and it cannot be concluded that Islam inclines to or supports terrorist activities. Moreover, using only religious or ethnic conflicts to explain the active terrorism in Islamic world cannot fully reveal the truth since what is behind the religious or ethnic disputes are the most crucial factorsthe political and economic conflict.

7.5 Cult Terrorism The third category related to religious extremism is the terrorism of religious cults or false religions. The definition of "religious extremist terrorism," quoted above, is ―terrorist activities launched by emerging religious sects or cult groups with clearly religious fanaticism coloring or a banner of religion fanaticism,‖ and is suitable for this type of terrorism. The fanatical cult, under the name of religion, is called pseudo-religion. From a political point of view, it is called cult according to Chinese tradition. For simplicity, we will call it cult terrorism. Since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, a variety of fanatical cults, or pseudo-religious organizations under the name of religion have rapidly developed around the world. Although these organizations are diverse and bizarre, their original aim is to promote the world's "doomsday," regarding it as the spiritual shackles to deter or control its believers. The leader is usually claimed to be God or a Prophet, bearing the mission of salvation, enticing or coercing the believers to absolutely obey 244

or worship his power for the sake of being rescued. However, the leader uses mystifying intrigue and tricks through threat and deception to collect money and gratify his lusts, doing whatever he wants. In order to prevent the repentance of believers and possible social intervention, the leader usually cultivates an anti-social idea in the mind of the believers through heresy, maintaining a status of rivalry and isolation towards the outside world. At the same time, the leader would send his cronies to buy weapons and ammunition, executing paramilitary training, and implying using violence against society or government intervention. Taking thePeople's Temple in the United States as an example, its leader, Jim Jones, was a former Christian pastor. In 1965, he predicted that American society would fall and war would break out, so he led a group of believers to live a collective commune life in the Sequoia Valley, north of San Francisco. The prophecy had not yet come true, but it still attracted many followers to follow him. In 1967, he founded the People's Temple. His anti-capitalism opinions and the welfare system he implemented brought great reputation and wealth for him. In 1975, he renamed himself ―Father‖ of his believers and ―God‖ of human beings (previously he claimed himself the spokesmen of God), while no person shall be contrary to his will. When someone defected from People's Temple and the outside society criticized and exposed him of purchasing land and building cities in the Guyana jungle, he led his followers to move to a fortification in 1977. Leo Ryan, a US Congressman, led a reporter to investigate it in 1978. When they were ready to leave, Jones ordered to shoot them. Then, he assembled his followers and announced that the "doomsday" had arrived, requiring all of them to commit suicide through cyanide together. So on November 18, the 912 members collectively committed suicide by taking poison, shocking the whole world. Another example is the Branch Davidian of United States. Its leader, David Koresh, was born to a divorced family, and had been piously religious since his childhood. When he controlled the Branch Davidian in 1988, he officially claimed himself Jesus. In order to defend his indulgence, he proposed the doctrine of the ―sinful nature of Jesus,‖ claiming that only the divine sinners could save the mortal sinners. In 1990, he began to promote the notion that the doomsday was coming soon, then he would clean up the earth as the God of War, and enter the heaven together with all the saints. To prepare for this end, Branch Davidian not only reserved large amounts of weapons and food, but also asked his followers to participate in military training to fight against the Antichrist on the coming doomsday. When what Branch Davidian did, such as stockholding of weapons and raping women, were discovered by the police,

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Koresh realized that his catastrophe would come soon. So he regarded the police raid as the symbol of the world‘s doomsday, which fit entirely with the last Armageddon between good and evil depicted in Revelation. On February 28, 1991, when the police got close to their station, they killed four and injured more than ten of them. The confrontation between the two sides lasted for 51 days. On April 19, the occurrence of a conflagration burned the 86 believers of Branch Davidian to death, only 9 survived. Up to now, violent terrorist activities of cults have mostly been inward-facing, manifesting as suicide, self-immolation, and internal murder. Such as the Solar Temple, whose faith was a hodgepodge of all kinds of mysticism, symbolism, and eschatology. Its leader, Luc Jouret, claimed he was Jesus come, a new Christ, and people could only survive the doomsday by joining his sect. The Solar Temple considered suicide as a soul travel, flying to the sacred world of Sirius, which was the real relief. They believed in the magic of fire, and only through the baptism of the flame could they travel through time to enter the Sirius. So they were to be burned by fire during the collective suicide. In order to greet the coming of the doomsday, they amassed property and reserved weapons to cope with unexpected events. In 1993, Jouret was punished by police on charges of arms smuggling and possession of weapons. He became wanted for threatening to murder four parliament members and blow up the Quebec power station. Jouret fled from Canada to Switzerland and hid. Mass suicide by firearm happened from 1994 to 1997; amongst the 74 dead there were some famous people. At the site of the suicides, the dead bodies were arranged in a circle, like a sun, and were burned by an automatic detonation device. The police confirmed that some of the dead did commit suicide, and there was also obvious evidences showing that some were premeditated murders. However, the violent and terrorist activities of the cult are sometimes outward-facing, such as the People's Temple killing Congressman Ryan and an accompanying reporter, and the Branch Davidian confrontation with police. What is more serious is a trend that in order to confirm the prophecy of the leader, or to show the end of the world really is coming, the cult would plan to carry out terrorist activities in society, resulting in significant damage. For example, in 1995, a group of Japanese Aum Shinrikyo followers carried out a poison gas attack by releasing Sarin on the Tokyo subways during rush hour, resulting in devastating consequences, killing 10 people and poisoning more than 5,000. Since then, with the roll-out of the police investigation, the Aum Shinrikyo was found to be involved in drug trafficking, killing sect members, purchasing weapons from Russia, armed training, and developing

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biochemical destruction products. People were surprised to find that the Aum Shinrikyo was completely a terrorist organization partaking in indiscriminate violence. In the United States, on April 19, 1995, in retaliation for the US FBI siege of Branch Davidian, Timothy McVeigh engineered the world-shocking Oklahoma City bombing, killing 169 people and injuring more than 400. The case was regarded as a terrorist attacks caused by cult. Terrorist activities caused by cults lack political purposes, and their social harm is still not very severe, so they are not taken seriously. However, because the cult leaders are self-proclaimed Gods, the followers are faithful subject to the spirit of the leader and don‘t know right from wrong regarding injuring life or harming society as the will of God and symbol of doomsday. Therefore, they are willing to jump through hoops, exercising violence fanatically and blindly. Thus, the consequences of cult terrorism, with unimaginable dangers, are difficult to predict. Therefore, this type of terrorism should be paid attention to, governments should be stepping up investigation in advance and guarding against it in time. (Xiefan Zhou，Researcher at the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

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8 The Three Major Wars and Terrorism In the 1990s, less than two years after the end of the Gulf War, America, the world's most powerful country, suffered hugely from terrorist attacks one after another, attracting worldwide attention. These terrorist attacks have three characteristics: First, the main body of the terrorist acts is a secret religious organization with extremist tendencies, such as the al Qaeda led by Bin Laden and Egyptian Islamic Jihad with Abdul Rahman as its spiritual leader. Second, methods of these terrorist attacks are special. A variety of appalling terrorist attacks are implemented in the name of Islamic jihad. Third, these terrorists have similar background. They are mostly from Arab countries, who had participated in the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan, and claimed themselves Afghan Arabs. These phenomena suggest that religion and war both seem to have a relationship with violent terrorism. To go along these lines, two questions must be answered. Firstly, since the Islamism is widely popular in the Middle East where terrorist activities cluster together, what is the relation between Islamism and terrorism? Secondly, apart from the Iran-Iraq war, three wars have broken out the Middle East since World War II, which are Middle East War, Afghanistan War and the Gulf War. So what is the relationship between war and terrorism? Because violent terrorist activities in the name of religion have been accompanied by and are related to the Islamic revival movement which has deep and wide effects on political life of the Middle East, our discussion should start from talking about the movement.1

8.1 Definitions and background information In the field of Religious Studies, being a major leading issue, the contemporary Islamic revival movement has attracted close attention of Chinese and foreign scholars, and the research has reached a relatively high level, including a consensus achieved on definition and use of related concepts. However, in the field of international politics, whether abroad or in China, little research involves this subject, and the relevant religious academic language hasn‘t been widely adopted, which will

1

(Chinese) Wu, Yungui & Zhou Xuefan, Thoughts and Movements of Modern Islam, Beijing: Social Sciences

Academic Press, 2000. 248

inevitably cause a sense of strangeness. Therefore, before we get right into the topic, some introductions of related concepts and comments of Islamic revival movement are needed. In fact, this information is very necessary for our in-depth understanding of religious terrorism, not digressions. Let‘s first talk about Islamic fundamentalism. In Islamic tradition, fundamentalism refers to a kind of thought incline to returning to the original nature of Islamic teachings through radical reform. Islamic fundamentalism arose in the 18th century in the Arabian Peninsula. The creeds of Wahhabi, the state religion of Saudi Arabia, were the initial source of Islamic fundamentalism. However, Wahhabi lacks modern thought, so academics call it Islamic fundamentalism. Modern Islamic fundamentalism is the religious response to Western colonialism. From the outset, it was opposed to the modern Islamic reformism that arose in the 19th century and subsequent secular nationalism. Modern Islamic fundamentalism is represented by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood founded in 1928. So far, fundamentalist sects around the world either maintain contact with it in the organization, or are influenced by it in terms of ideological creeds. The close contact and extensive cooperation of national fundamentalist forces make it become a worldwide phenomenon, thus, fundamentalism is also a kind of pan-Islamism. Generally speaking, the representative figures of the fundamentalists have accepted modern western education, but they excluded Western political ideology, development patterns, and values. The fundamentalist forces‘ advocacy of politicization of religion and religionization of politics indicates that they are in fact the political opposition of the Islamic countries. They advocate social Islamization and Islamic development modes through opposing secularization and westernization. These fundamentalist actions and advocacy reflect a combination of political radicalism and cultural conservatism, just as what the slogans, like "No East, no West, Islam is the best‖ ―no Constitution, no law, the Koran is everything" and "Islam is the solution" reveal. The mainstream of fundamentalism opposes violence and advocates carrying out the legitimate struggle, while it's extremist sects often adopt violent and terrorist activities against their own government, the United States and Western powers, which are regarded as demons. Then, let‘s say something about religious extremism. As far back as 1970s when the Islamic revival movement arose, governments of Islamic countries, from Tunisia in North Africa to Malaysia in Southeast Asia, have repeatedly warned people to be alert to the religious extremism and religious fanaticism, but they haven‘t explicitly put forward the concept of religious extremism. The term "religious extremism" emerged

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for the first time in academic works of western religious studies in the early 1990s.1 Although not defined, the implication is clear. What it indicates are the violent anti-government or anti-Western terrorist activities in the name of religion for political purposes, including the extreme one-sided interpretation of the religious belief system. In 1998, Chinese leaders clearly expressed their principled stance against religious extremism, ethnic separatism, and international terrorism. The "religious extremism" mentioned here is a political and legal concept, referring to all illegal and criminal activities engaged in the name of religion. Chinese academia hasn‘t yet reached a consentaneous definition on "religious extremism." What is mentioned here are the opinions of the author. "Religious extremism" can be understood as a fallacious and one-side interpretation caused by the erroneous understanding of a religious belief system. Its essential characters are against the teachings, unreasonable, deviated from the "right way (the accepted creeds)," and the illegal tool to achieve certain political purposes. Although religious extremist sects claimed that their interpretation of the Islamic teachings are the most correct, religious communities of each country are clear about what is the behavior of religious extremism, and keep their distance. The last term needing to be explained is terrorism in the name of religion. Recently, University of California Press published a book entitled Terror in the Mind of God, in which the author used the term "religious terrorism." This phrase links terrorism with religion which adopts peace as its goal, so people are likely to form a misunderstanding about religion. But we should also recognize that the phenomenon of conducting terrorist activities in the name of religion does exist in today's world. The use of this concept is based on two considerations: First, to distinguish the evil and barbaric terrorism from religion which is the spiritual symbol of justice and culture through the standardization of language; second, to draw attention to the complexity and particularity of terrorists in the name of religion. Although this kind of terrorism is linked with religion only in form, its distortions of religious teachings and religious culture are extremely deceptive. For example, it is of great danger that it frames the heinous acts of terrorism as an executive order from God, Allah, and deities‘ to punish the wicked. Since the world's major religions all have a version of ―what goes around comes around‖ and ―Justice is always done,‖ the distortions of religious teaching are evidently delusional and deceptive. In another example, the

1

(Chinese)Esposito, John. The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?,Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999, p1. 250

religious extremist forces engaged in violent and terrorist activities in the name of Islam often carry out illegal activities in the name of jihad against the infidels. Due to their distortions, jihad, originally inclined to self-defense, has now become synonymous of violent terrorism. For terrorists, jihad is everything; jihad is unscrupulously used to do what they want regardless of the object, condition, and consequences. However, jihad does exist in Islam and to fulfill the obligations of jihad has been regarded as the highest merit of Islam. Therefore, it can be apparently observed that terrorism in the name of religion is likely to result in ideological misconceptions, confusing right from wrong.

8.2 Middle East War and Terrorism From 1948 to 1973, due to the territory dispute of Palestine, Arab countries and Israel waged four wars, named the Middle East war or Arab-Israeli war. From the consequences of the four wars, the third one broke out on June 5, 1967, and was the most influential and important one. This war lasted six days; Israel initiated a sudden attack, while Egypt, Syria, and other Arab countries lacked preparation, and thus suffered a crushing defeat. Arab countries lost the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), Golan Heights (Syria), the West Bank (Palestine), and the Old City of Jerusalem (Jordan) in the war, while Israel occupied the 8 million square kilometers of land, with their original territory expanding fourfold and completely getting rid of the passive situation of being surrounded by Arab countries. Today, large-scale fighting has become the past, but small-scale bloodshed and violent and terrorist activities have not stopped. The Middle East‘s peace process aims to make progress. From a historical perspective, what needs to be done now is to reflect and evaluate the relationship between today‘s violent and terrorist activities with the wars that fundamentally changed the configuration of Middle East. In other words, the stimulating effect of the wars in the Middle East on the violence of terrorism should be studied in-depth.

8.2.1 Middle East wars and revival of pan-Islamism Traditional pan-Islamism arose from Ottoman Empire in the second half of the

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19thcentury, with its impetus was mainly from the feudal rulers led by the Ottoman monarch (Sultan). Pan-Islamism, with an attempt to unite all the Muslin groups inside or outside the empire with a common religion and form a unified front against the European powers, advocated jihad to defeat the European powers under the leadership of the Ottoman Sultan. Pan-Islamism has become a historical phenomenon, but the political legacy it hands down in the form of religious culture will be utilized for a variety of different political forces when the time comes. In regard to the impact on future generations, this political legacy has two important aspects. One is black-and-white, dual-contrasting religious way of thinking. Pan-Islamism always tries to simply divide the world into the Islamic world and non-Islamic world, and divide people into Muslims and non-Muslims. Everything is an either/or question. The other one is the idea that jihad is above all else and more important than all the traditional religious ideas. In accordance with this concept, if a war happens between an Islamic state and other non-Islamic countries, then all the Islamic countries should help the Muslim Brother by the name of jihad. The third Middle East war has greatly stimulated the religious feelings of the Arab Muslims, providing historical conditions for the revival of traditional pan-Islamism. The first three wars in the Middle East were in fact a contest between Arab nationalism and Zionism, having nothing to do with religion. However, after the Third Middle East War, the situation changed fundamentally. Since Israel occupied the Old City of Jerusalem which was regarded by Muslins as the third holiest site of Islam, the burning of the mosque located in the Temple Mount of the Old City sparked off the anger of Muslims throughout the Middle East and around the world. Thus, religious factors became increasingly more significant in Middle East politics. In addition, the defeat of the Arab countries seemed to be a proof to the world that Arab nationalism as a banner was not sufficient to defeat Zionism, and a new source of strength was needed. Throughout the Arab world, only two flags existnationalism and religion. Therefore, religion took the place of nationalism since the latter suffered a disastrous defeat. At that time, in the Arab world, it was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who considered itself as the guardian of Islam that held high the banner of religion. Early in 1962, Saudi Arabia established the Islamic World League, an international religious organization with pan-Islamic nature, to contend with the Arab nationalist bloc led by Egypt. In the view of the difficulties that nationalist forces faced, they certainly will not miss this rare opportunity. On the other hand, in order to recover and heal the wounds of war, Egypt, Syria, and other Arab countries displayed great initiative in

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getting closer to the Islamic Group led by Saudi Arabia. Given the grim situation Arab countries faced after the end of the Third Middle East War, and under the initiative of the Arab countries, heads, and representatives of 26 Islamic countries of Asia and Africa held a meeting in Rabat, Morocco in September, 1969, to exchange views about the issue of setting up the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). On March 12, 1970, two meetings of Foreign Ministers of Islamic countries were respectively held in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Karachi (Pakistan), reaching an agreement on the establishment of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and passing the Charter of the Organization. In May, 1970, less than three years after the end of the Third Middle East War, the Organization of Islam, an international political organization with a pan-Islamic nature, was officially inaugurated, which was the first time that Islam was involved in the field of international politics after the World War II. The Charter of the OIC stresses that the common religious belief is a strong spiritual bond contacting Muslims in all Islamic countries, calling for vigorously promoting solidarity and cooperation among Islamic countries. The Charter also stipulates that members of the OIC should make joint efforts to defend the Holy Land, and actively support the struggle of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights and liberate their homeland. 1 Since then, all resolutions adopted by OIC include content of condemning Zionism, support for the Palestinian people's just cause to restore the Holy Land. Obviously, the Third Middle East War rekindles Muslims‘ enthusiasm for pan-Islamism in need of national interests, promoting religion as a significant force in the international political arena. Although the involvement of Islam in political affairs is limited to the level of international relations, its negative effects, like its positive effects, are difficult to avoid. In traditional concepts, pan-Islamism is inseparable from jihad against the infidels; however, jihad is a double-edged sword. To interpret it in an extremely one-sided way could easily become the moral foundation of terrorism. This suggests that the ideological and cultural roots of terrorism can be the fallacious interpretation of religious traditions, which is caused by a particular political environment and historical conditions. A macroscopic understanding is needed in dealing with this problem.

1

(Chinese) ―Organizations of Islamic Conferences‖ The Islam Encyclopedia，Chendou: Sichuan Lexicographical Publishing House, 1994. 253

8.2.2 Middle East Wars and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism The negative impacts of the Third Middle East War were particularly severe in Egypt, cultural and political power in Middle East. Egypt and other Arab countries, with abundant human and material resources, became vulnerable during the military contest with Israel which was only a tiny area, leaving Arab nationalism represented by Nasserism suffering a fatal blow. Losing land, forfeiting sovereignty, and national humiliation led to the plummeting of prestige of President Gamal Abdel Nasser who was once considered as Genghis of Arab countries. Arab nationalism lost credibility when the public reflected and investigated who was responsible for the failure of Arab countries. Then, a serious crisis of faith emerged in Egyptian society. Soon, after the Six Day War, some right-wing Egyptian newspapers bluntly attribute the failure of Arab countries to the ―deviationism,‖ meaning state leaders did not act according to the will of Allah. A signed article published in an Egyptian Journal Motherland titled A Turning Point claimed that "The Jews are faithful to their religion and thus win, why we are defeated is because our faith in Allah is not strong enough.‖ 1 In order to shift responsibility, Nasser chose to echo such absurd opinions that religious belief determinism. In his broadcast speech, he passed the buck to the invisible ―hand of Allah,‖ meaning that it was destiny that defeated the Arab nations. It seems today that the failure in the war was indeed a historical turning point for Egypt and other Arab countries. The symbol of the turning point was the end of Nasserism and the rise of Islamic fundamentalist thought in Egypt and other Arab countries directly resulting from the failure of the Third Middle East War and Nasser's premature death. After the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970, Anwar Sadat became the president of Egypt. Since then, the church-state relations in Egypt have entered a new phase, with the salient features of introduction of the policy of "non-Nasser" in the political field, and the spread fundamentalist thought in the field of religion. In order to eliminate the effects of Nasserism and consolidate power, President Sadat, shortly after he took office, played a dangerous game of political checks and balancestaking advantage of the right-wing Muslim Brotherhood against the left-wing Nasserists. In the name of a ―Corrective Revolution,‖ he successively released a large number of core Brotherhood members who were 1

Dekmejian,R. Hrair.Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1985, p85. 254

detained in prison by Nasser, encouraging them to obtain legal status under the name of members of student unions, clubs, and cultural groups. The pragmatic policy of Sadat‘s ―setting a tiger free‖ fit with the thought of returning to the religious tradition in Egyptian society, directly leading to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. During the Nasser period, the Muslim Brotherhood was abolished for plotting to assassinate Nasser, and in Syria Muslim Brotherhood was declared an illegal organization in 1963 by the Baath Party government. Therefore, influential fundamentalist forces in the entire Arab almost disappeared. However, since Sadat‘s rise to power and the return of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, fundamentalist forces breathed new life and rapidly developed to be an international phenomenon under the influence of the Islamic Revival Movement. Fundamentalist forces in all countries are in fact the political opposition faction under the guise of religion. They try to pressure the government with the slogan of revitalizing the social vitality and political dynamic of Islam so as to seize the power and establish a clericalism country based on religious law when the time is ripe, whose political meaning is self-evident. Being a statesman that believed the Western political philosophy, President Sadat constructed a mutual relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, their political ideology was diametrically contrary. In the early period of his administration, Sadat made many concessions to fundamentalist forces out of political need, including stipulating Islam as the official religion of Egypt in the Constitution, announcing Islamic law as one of the main source of national legislation. Through these methods, Sadat obtained the political support of fundamentalist forces, once known as the ―believer president.‖ However, among the three policies he pursued, two policies aroused strong resentment among the Brotherhood. First, the Muslim Brotherhood would strongly oppose the Sadat‘s foreign policy of ―pro-America far from the Soviet Union‖ because they believed that the United States had always taken the attitude of favoring Israel in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Middle East peace process chaired by the United States would never achieve positive results, only bring Arab Muslims endless sufferings. Second, the Muslim Brotherhood strongly opposed free economy and open-door policy. They believed that all the corruption of the Egyptian society rooted in the increasing secularization and Westernization, and opening to the United States and the West meant opening to the devil, which would bring nothing good. Islamic fundamentalism rising with the Middle East wars and social changes in Egypt are not equated with terrorism, but it has some connection with terrorism. The mainstream of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood condemned violent and terrorist

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activities, advocating legal struggle in the current system of parliamentary democracy, which was the main difference between it and the extreme wings advocating violent terrorism. However, in the religious and political ideas, including their attitude towards the Egyptian government and the US-led West, only the ―degree‖ differentiates moderate and extremist factions from each other. It was noted that in the statements of retaliation against the United States in recent years, many terrorists would always enumerate all the evil committed by the United States on the Arab people or Islam. These condemnations not only vent the anger of a very small number of terrorists who carried out terrorist activities, but also aroused emotional resonance in a large number of fundamentalists. This ideological link is a reflection of the complexity of today's terrorism.

8.2.3 Middle East Wars and terrorist activities in the name of religion Violent terrorist activities can appear in any society; therefore, it seems that there is no causal link between terrorism and the Middle East Wars. But if terrorism refers to terrorism in the name of Islam, then there is inherent logical connection with the consequences of the Middle East Wars, which has long been an indisputable conclusion. It can be found that the intensification of Egypt social contradictions and the growing trend of violent and terrorist activities both appeared after the Third Middle East War; even many Western scholars do not deny this fact. Some scholars attribute the rise of Islamic fundamentalism to the social environment crisis, personal identity crisis, national political legitimacy crisis, intensified class conflict, failure of foreign war, lose of modernization, and the modern religious and cultural crisis. However, most of these factors are closely related to the chaos of the war and domestic and foreign policies implemented by the Egypt government after the war. To use a word to summarize the relationship between them, the consequences of the Third Middle East War lead to the decline of Arab nationalism and the revival of Islamic fundamentalism, and the differentiation of fundamentalist factions leads to religious extremism. Extreme fundamentalist terrorism is terrorism in the name of religion. What is recounted above is only a logical analysis, then more facts will be used to prove the conclusion. 256

First, the policies the Egypt government adopted to deal with fundamentalist forces. In the early period of the rise of Islamic Revival Movement in Egypt, Sadat clearly announced a fundamental principle: religion without politics and politics without religion. According to this principle of secularism, even though the Muslim Brotherhood made a great comeback, it only had qualifications in engaging in non-political activities as a mass organization, and could not be upgraded as a political party and fought parliamentary elections as an independent political party. The principle restricted the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood to a certain extent, but its members could still participate in political affairs through a flexible way. For instance, some members took part in the election as candidates of other political parties or as independents, and some of them were elected as Members of Parliament. Although they were elected Members of Parliament, they still held a severely critical attitude towards the existing government and coordinated with the anti-government forces in society. Second was the basic strategy the Muslin Brotherhood took after its comeback. During the Nasser period, the left wing of the Brotherhood took on violent and terrorist activities against the Nasser government, leading to the entire organization being banned. Therefore, after its comeback, the Brotherhood leadership, summing up past experiences and lessons, and especially cherished rare freedom, and no longer resorted to violent terrorism. A basic strategy they adopted was paying attention to the most influential tertiary institutions, attracting college students, teachers, and unemployed educated youth in various ways, so that the personnel structure of the Brotherhood became younger and more knowledgeable. It should be said that the strategy the Brotherhood took to penetrate into university turned out to achieve remarkable results. According to the related data, the 1978 members of the Brotherhood became dominant in the Egyptian College Student Union election, and in the same year, fundamentalists supporting the view of the Brotherhood won 60% of the seats in the election. Another statistic showed that over 1000 Islamic Association were established across the country since 1970, but the leadership of most associations was controlled by Brotherhood members. Therefore, in the National Islamic Associations and Organizations Conference held in July, 1977, the fundamentalist points of view become the key and the dominant tendency of the conference. Then, members of the Brotherhood became better-educated and younger in age, leading to the increased tendency of violent terrorism caused by internal factional

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differentiation. On the one hand, the mainstream of the Brotherhood extensively criticized both internal and external policies of the Egyptian government through various channels; on the other hand, the extreme factions and the newly-formed secret religious extremist organizations apparently embarked on the road of violent attack. These religious extremist organizations are what we call terrorist organizations today. Many reasons contribute to this situation, but mainly it is due to the pro-US and pro-Western policies the Sadat government eagerly implemented. The criticisms and censure of the Egyptian religious political opposition made on the government clearly reflect the sharp conflicts between traditional Islamic values and Western secular values, which focus on the following questions: First, fundamentalist factions in support of the religious conservative forces required the full implementation of Islamic law based on the Koran, known as the ―law of Allah;‖ however, the reform program of Muslim Family Law promulgated by the Sadat government, which was reckoned to be secular law filled with western ideas, had not satisfied the requirement. Second, religious and political opposition believed that the ―Ramadan war‖ (the fourth Middle East war) of Egypt and the Arab countries launched in 1973 was a ―political game‖ since the Arab side took the initiative to negotiate peace while they could win the war, which was a surrender to the US pressure and shameless betrayal of the Palestinian people; however, the Egyptian government has its own position and strategic considerations on this problem. Third, religious political opposition strongly condemned the weak position and policy of the Sadat government in the Arab-Israeli conflicts. Sadat‘s visiting Jerusalem with a complete disregard of the strong opposition at home and abroad in 1977, participating in the Camp David talks for Middle East peace process in September, 1978, concluding the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem in March, 1979, all had been strongly condemned by the opposition, which deepened the contradictions. Brotherhood‘s magazine Missionary, which had a circulation of 80,000, published an article in one headline to condemn the ―perfidious acts‖ of Sadat government, declaring that the historical experience showed that there could be ―no peace with the Jews at all.‖ What the use of ―perfidious‖ referred to was Egypt‘s unilaterally violation of the ―three no's policy‖ (no compromise, no negotiations, no separate peace) it had reached with Arab countries. In 1980, the Israeli president visited Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement demanding the expulsion of Israeli diplomats and a collective resignation of all cabinet and parliament members. During Ramadan of 1981, Israel had repeatedly carried out air strikes on the PLO military facilities and the Palestinian

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refugee camps in southern Lebanon, causing huge civilian casualties. All the Arab countries had made a serious protest on this atrocity, except for Egypt. Therefore, the Muslim Brotherhood mobilized 100,000 people to initiate a massive protest in Tahrir Square of Cairo. The intensification of violent terrorist activities in the name of religion was the results of the division of Egyptian religious political opposition, which differentiated Egypt violent terrorist organizations from other terrorist organizations because they possessed the general characteristics of religious organization. From the late 1970s until the 1990s, both Sadat and Mubarak administrations are bothered by the violent and terrorist activities for a long time. Suppressing terrorist activities to maintain social security and political stability had become the primary work of the Egyptian government. The earliest terrorist organization, the Islamic Liberation Organization (also known as "The Youth of Muhammad) split from the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamic Liberation Organization launched a military coup in April, 1974, and once captured the Cairo Military Technical College. However, it was crushed by governmental troops. Then, another terrorist organization named Organization for Atonement and Migration (also known as the Muslim Group) came in eyes and it also had close relationship with Muslin Brotherhood, which kidnapped and murdered the former Minister of Religion Fund Hussein Daha in July, 1977. The former two terrorist organizations were both severely crack down, but its remnants resurrected and later set up a large secret Jihad Organization. On October 6, 1981, a branch of the Jihad Organization brutally assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in the name of punishing treason. After it was declared a terrorist organization and suppressed, some members moved to foreign countries (Afghanistan, the United States), and members stayed at home made a face-lift to establish the Rescue Hell Organization to continue to carry out terrorist activities, which was impossible for the Egyptian government to defend effectively. It is worth noting that violent terrorist activities in the name of Islam in the Arab world are a fairly common phenomenon. Relevant statistics show that, until 1985, there were 91 terrorist organizations in Arab countries, with 24 in Egypt.1 The most typical organization was the Jihad Organization in Egypt which had three compelling features. First, its members were from all sectors of society, including the presidential

1

Dekmejian, R. Hrair. Islam in Revolution, pp.179-191. 259

guard, the army intelligence officer, civilian national civil service, radio and television staff, as well as university teachers and students. Second, under the leadership of a unique spiritual leader, it had a common ideal, beliefs, and mission within the organization. The reason why they were engaged in terrorist activities was neither for wealth nor revenge, but for the restoration of social justice; therefore, they believed that Egypt should become a true Islamic country to uphold justice. Third, religious extremism was the guiding ideology of its terrorist activities, which was strongly proved by the promotional brochure secretly distributed after the assassination of Sadat. This brochure declared that rulers of the contemporary Arab countries were raised on the imperialism table. They had betrayed Islam, and their creed is the Crusaders or Zionism. Therefore, executing these Islamic traitors through Muslim jihad was for the good of people, as well as the obligation that Muslin have to Allah. All these facts indicate that in Middle East terrorism in the name of the Islamic jihad has deep historical, cultural, and social roots. It has been deeply interwoven with political geopolitics and the reality of powers in the Middle East. Unless Middle East peace process makes substantial progress, it is impossible to eliminate terrorism in the name of religion in the Middle East, because religion is not the root of terrorism, but rather a tool for some groups to express political dissatisfaction, although this barbaric form of expression will not help to solve the problem.

8.3 Afghanistan War and Terrorism Reflections on the relationship between war and terrorism turn our view to another war in the marginal areas of the Middle East, which is Afghanistan war in Central Asia. The outbreak of the war in Afghanistan during the Cold War was a war for Afghanistan people to fight against the Soviet invasion and defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a proxy duel between the United States and Soviet Union striving for strategic interests in Central Asia. However, neither the United States nor Soviet Union had seriously considered what would be the sequel to the war and how to deal with the sequel since the Cold-war period was often regardless of consequences. The Afghanistan war can be divided into two stages. For the first 10 years, it was a patriotic war for Afghan national resistance forces to resist invasion with external assistance. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, war first broke out between 260

the national resistance forces and pro-Soviet puppet regime, then, it was a continuous civil war between the warlords from various quarters of the resistance forces. Since 1996, Afghan Taliban forces, with external support, gradually gained advantage in the civil war and captured the capital, Kabul, controlling more than 90% of the country's territory and proclaiming the establishment of a new regime named the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan based on Taliban forces, which was recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. However, intermittent fighting between the Taliban and anti-Taliban northern coalition was still deadlocked. A large number of facts indicate that the continuous civil war and political instability in Afghanistan was not only because the ethnic, religious, factional conflicts in Afghanistan that were difficult to resolve, but also because of the internationalization of the Afghan issue. Pakistan, India, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia, as well as other neighboring countries involved themselves in the Afghan civil war in various ways. Each of them hoped that Afghanistan would eventually establish a regime favorable for its own strategic interests. In a sense, it can be said that the chaos of war in Afghanistan are the consequences of big powers‘ intervention and geopolitical influence.

8.3.1 Chaos of war and spread of terrorism Since the withdrawal of Soviet troops and Afghanistan declaring victory of the anti-Soviet war in 1990, the United States also stopped military aid for Afghanistan resistance forces (Afghanistan Islamic Jihad, ―the seven-party alliance‖), and Central Intelligence Agency and other American aid staff were starting to withdraw from Afghanistan. After the establishment of the Taliban regime, in the view of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other countries having given diplomatic recognition, the United States sent a delegation to investigate and assess the new regime in Afghanistan and considered establishing diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime. The inspection results were not disclosed. According to the American news media, the delegation came to the conclusion that ―the Taliban is internally quite dark.‖ Perhaps this was the reason why the US Department of State changed its attitude towards the Taliban regime at the last minute. Not only the American investigating team thought that the Taliban regime was ―quite dark,‖ almost every foreign reporter went to Taliban-controlled areas hold a similar conclusion. To be fair, what they reflected results from the long-term war-torn environment, but the Taliban regime‘s failure to effectively treat the wounds of war and restore social order is also an important reason. 261

Four aspects of the problem are most prominent. First is rampant drug trafficking. The drug tax was one of the main sources of revenue for the Taliban regime. Early in 1994, Afghanistan surpassed Southeast Asiathe Golden Triangleto become the world's largest narcotic producer with an annual output of 3000 tons, which was respectively 500 tons greater than Myanmar and Laos. In 1999, which was the third year after the Taliban came to power, according to the figures announced by the United Nations anti-drug trafficking organizations, the annual output of Afghan opium grew to 4.6 thousand tons, accounting for more than 3/4 of global opium production, and of which 96% was produced in Taliban-controlled areas. Drug income was not only used to purchase arms for civil war, but also used to finance anti-government armed groups engaged in terrorist activities in some Central Asia countries. Second is the prevalent smuggling trade. Afghanistan is a landlocked country with poor transportation conditions. So land trade is the basic form of its foreign trade, and the smuggling trade in Afghanistan has a long history. Since the rise of Taliban in 1994, the smuggling trade grew increasingly year by year. The first fight Taliban conducted was to protect a trade fleet from neighboring Pakistan. In the first year Taliban took power, the smuggling trade with Pakistan increased from the original 128 million US dollars soared to 266 million US dollars. According to a World Bank assessment, the smuggling trade in Afghanistan surged to 2.5 billion US dollars, accounting for more than 50 percent of the Afghan gross domestic product. Third is the inundation of religious extremism. Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Originally, there was no ground for the outside world to interfere the religious policy it implemented. However, since Taliban came to power, it promoted political radicalism and implemented extreme conservatism in religion, making itself isolated even in Islamic countries, which became not just a religious issue. The policies the Taliban implemented raised the social status of the religious forces based on mullahs who had only low education level and conservative religious thought. They gave orders around court and implemented a series of foolish policies. The most prominent example was to discriminate and oppress women by prohibiting women from education and participating in social work, forcing employed women to go back home to serve the husband and raise children, compelling women to wear ―decent‖ uniforms. They were forbidden to walk on the streets and sometimes would be punished with whippings as per religious polices. The Taliban‘s discrimination and oppressive policy towards women runs counter to the kind and liberal ideas for women advocated in the

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Koran. In addition, the Taliban's cultural obscurantist policy has reached an incredible extent. The Taliban‘s mullahs forbade people to watch movies, TV, and videos in the name of opposing idolatry; even worse, they ordered the destruction of the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas. Fourth was supporting worldwide terrorist activities in the name of jihad. The Taliban-controlled Afghanistan became the center of international terrorism. This situation for a long time failed to arouse people's attention. Until the exposure of New York World Trade Center bombing in 1993, people began to link international terrorism with the sequel of Afghanistan war. When the United States Federal Court heard the case in 1996, they unexpectedly found that several major suspects involved in the 1993 terrorist attacks had similar backgrounds and motivation. Most of them came from Arab countries, had received terrorist training and taken part in the war in Afghanistan and claimed to be veterans of the Islamic Mujahideen. This finding was later confirmed in other countries. Intelligence agencies and the justice departments in Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and other countries also reached the same conclusion in investigating and hearing a number of major terrorism cases. For instance, the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Jihad Organization, Abdul Rahman, was accused and wanted for participating in planning the assassination of President Sadat in 1980s. Later, he managed to flee to the chaotic Afghanistan and his Jihad organization also developed to more than 300 people there. Then, he moved to the United States, and was also prosecuted of involving in the World Trade Center bombing. In addition, the backbone of Algeria‘s terrorist organization, the Armed Islamic Group, had about 1,000 peoplemost of them took part in the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, claiming to be veterans of the Arab Afghans. These cases mostly happened in the early 1990s before the Taliban came to power, so it was not definitely enough to link international terrorism with the Taliban regime and Osama Bin Laden, whom it protected. After the Taliban controlled most territory in Afghanistan and Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan to return to his former career in 1996, the three world-shocked cases of international terrorism became directly connected with Taliban and Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden. The three major terrorist attacks were car bombings at the US embassies to Kenya and Tanzania in August, 1998, assault on the US warship Cole in October, 2000, in Aden portthe capital of Yemeni, and the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The United States found that these terrorist attacks were engineered by Al Qaeda led by Bin Laden, who was under the aegis of the Taliban regime.

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8.3.2 Stimulating effect of war on terrorism Some basic information and facts illustrated above link terrorism with the chaos of war in Afghanistan and the policies that the Taliban regime adopted, but this only explains the root of terrorism on the surface. In fact, the war is not what Afghanistan made of it, but was imposed by external forces. Moreover, the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden phenomena are also the products of war politics. Therefore, it is necessary to unearth the deep root of terrorism because it is related to who morally should be blamed for terrorism. After the end of the Cold War, under the new world pattern, both the United States and Soviet Union, the two protagonists of the Afghanistan war, should have a more clear understanding on past war experiences. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev made it clear that the invasion of Afghanistan was a wrong decision for Soviet Union. US senior leaders until now have not yet said any words of "apology" about the Afghanistan war. However, centering around the World Trade Center bombing, both US academic and political field had conducted an interesting debate. Some scholars had pointed out that, the US government had always regarded Iran's outputting revolution as support for terrorism, and considered it as a huge threat to US national security, but this was only an ideological difference, and was not fact-based; then, from the World Trade Center bombing, it could be discovered that many Egyptian Jihad members who participated in the planning and implementation of terrorist attacks had been trained in camps set up by US instructors, and even the international network, the Jihad Organization, used to carried out terrorist activities was established with the help of US intelligence agencies. How could the US government explain this? On this issue, an American assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs said the basic principle of US foreign policy-making was ―thinking only today, ignoring the consequences in tomorrow.‖ 1 This government official admitted that the only goal of the United States at that time was to expel the Soviet Army from Afghanistan at any cost. In his view, the United States being attacked by terrorists was actually the price that the United States paid for that war; this actually acknowledged that terrorism was a consequence of the Afghanistan war and US policy. Now let us analyze the relationship between terrorism and the pragmatic policy the

1

Kramer,Martin.The Islamism Debate, Tel Aviv :Tel Aviv University Press, 1997, p.116. 264

United States adopted in Afghanistan. First of all, the aid the United States and its allies supplied to Afghanistan greatly stimulated the growth of religious extremism. The Islamic Unity of the Afghanistan Mujahideen (seven-party alliance), rising in the anti-Soviet war, divided into two forces: ethnic groups and religious groups. However, the aid policies determined by the United States and its allies Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, was inclined to and beneficial for the Islamic group. This policy was based on three considerations: First, the United States believed that the Islamic group was more powerful and more resolute to fight against the Soviet Union and communists; second, Pakistan had ethnic conflicts and territorial disputes with Afghanistan in the past, and to weaken the Pashtun nationalism was in accord with Pakistan‘s interests, so it was better to only support religious groups; third, Saudi Arabiabeing a theocratic country, considered itself the leader of the Islamic world. Central Asia was the stated objective of its Islamization, so it also agreed to more support for the Islamic group. Thus, a direct result of this policy was that religious groups received more advanced weapons and equipment, so the armed militia of the Afghan Islamic Party with radical Islamic fundamentalist tendencies became the most powerful forces of the Afghan resistance movement. The consequences not only provided capital for the faction to dominate the situation in the later civil war, but also facilitated its stragglers to carry out terrorist activities in the name of jihad in every corner of the country. People who are familiar with the situation in Afghanistan know that those who first engaged in terrorist activities based in Afghanistan are not the Taliban or Osama bin Laden, but those illegal armed groups who received US military aid and claimed to be the Afghan Mujahideen. Second, the aid program in favor of religious groups provided advantageous opportunity and convenient conditions for the fundamentalist forces to establish an international network. Three representatives of religious groups in Afghanistan (Burhanuddin Rabbani, Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, and Rasul Sayaf) all had studied in Azhar University in Egypt, so they were inevitably influenced by the extreme factions of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Later, every one of them became the main leaders of the three Muslim resistance forces in Afghanistan, so they were eager to establish international links. The program most in favor of the religious groups adopted by the United States and its two allies seemed to convey a well-meaning supporting signal for international fundamentalist forces. Therefore, under the slogan of ―Helping the Muslim Brotherhood,‖ they continued to penetrate into Afghanistan

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and established an extensive international network and cooperation mechanisms. Pakistan's Islamic Council, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and al-Salafiyyah of Saudi Arabia were the three most active organizations, which agitated the extremist fundamentalism through preaching. These legitimate international religious organizations actively supported jihad activities, which facilitated illegal religious organizations to fish in troubled waters. After the assassination of President Sadat, Jihad members could unexpectedly transfer to Afghanistan, which was apparently due to the protection of legitimate religious organizations. In addition, in many cases, private religious organizations and official aid agencies were well coordinated, so it was difficult to separate them. For example, the universally acknowledged terrorist leader, Bin Laden, was the Chairman of the Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Salvation Foundation, and until 1988 he still connected closely with Saudi Arabian Prince Faisal Tours, for they were both responsible for assistance in Afghanistan. Third was offering military training to Islamic Afghan Mujahideen. Many terrorists in United States and other Western countries condemn today were those ―freedom fighter‖ whom they supported vigorously in the Afghanistan war. In this sense, it could be said that it was the wartime policy of the United States and its allies that cultivated terrorism. To improve the effectiveness of the Afghan resistance militia, the United States and its allies gradually established a number of training camps in the security zone controlled by resistance forces around the Afghan-Pakistan border to train war skills for the armed Mujahideen. According to relative statistics, beginning in 1982, a training program began when the resistance forces held a advantageous position in the anti-Soviet war;in total, about 80,000 people completed all planned training items. During the time from 1986 to 1989, the training of foreign voluntary jihadists from other Arab countries was included in the special training program, and was carried out by intelligence officers of the United States, Britain, and Pakistan. These foreign jihadists, coming from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Jordan, and other Arab countries, reached a number of more than 150,000. Claiming themselves ―Arab Afghans,‖ they possessed the most firm conviction of jihad, and was directly instructed and trained by special agents from theUS Central Intelligence Agency, Britain's secret intelligence agencies, and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Bureau. This powerful team initially joined the armed forces of Islamic Party of Afghanistan which had the strongest fundamentalist ideology. Since the Taliban got the upper hand in the civil war, they turned to the Taliban and supported the Jihad of the Taliban. Moreover, the American CIA and the

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British Special Air Force still trained Arab volunteers in their military bases in Saudi Arabia and Oman. After those trainees graduated, they marched to the front line in Afghanistan to participate in the anti-Soviet war. Today, America and the West attributed the rampant international terrorism to Al Qaeda bin Laden led in Afghanistan; however, what should not be forgotten is that many of these bases were set up by the United States and its allies out of the needs of war. In addition, a large number of armed personnel of the 055 Brigade of Arab jihadists led by Bin Laden were also trained and instructed by the United States, Britain, and Pakistan in the training camp. Today, they have become a well-trained and most resolute anti-American terrorist army. Although military training is necessary during the war years, the side effects also seem to be very clear. First, training under the special environment of anti-Soviet action lead to the unlimited expansion of religious extremism centering on the concept of jihad, which becomes the ideological foundation for future terrorist activities. Second, the specialized training enabled gunmen of jihadists to use modern weapons and master the military skills of espionage, kidnapping, assassination, and demolition, providing conditions for their future violent and terrorist activities. Third, training camps painstakingly managed for years and arsenals left from the wartime period provide a material guarantee for today's violent and terrorist activities. In the early 1990s, with the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, thousands of Arab jihadists lost their direct enemy. When they returned to their places of origin, they came under an unscrupulous wave of troubles. Since then, a series of terrorist attacks happened in succession in Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Jordan, where they furnished larger numbers of voluntary jihadists and almost all of those attacks were carried out by these veterans who claimed themselves to be from Arab Afghan Mujahideen. Other jihadists, including those who committed crimes, dared not come back, or attempted to make a living in Afghanistan, were employed as occupational terrorists. In the name of supporting jihad, they were sent to some of the hotspots with prominently ethnic and religious issues to carry out terrorist activities and intervene in the internal affairs of other sovereign states. Therefore, in the civil war instigated by the separatist forces in Tajikistan, in the armed insurrection launched by extreme fundamentalist forces in Uzbekistan, in the two large-scale armed revolts initiated by Chechen rebel forces in the North Caucasus of Russia, and in the Bosnian war and the Kosovo war in Balkans, people could always perceive the figures of the Afghan Mujahideen. These evil forces have long been recognized as terrorists by some sovereign states. The

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reason why they fail to expose themselves to the United States and Western media is because the United States and the West have adopted a double standard in the struggle against terrorists out of political need, and sometimes even condone or support them as freedom fighters. Even after the 9/11 attack in 2001, the United States and its Western allies only bent to combat the Taliban regime and Bin Laden with military force, while not making even a little symbolic reflection and review on its Afghanistan policy. The reason why we link terrorism with Afghanistan war does not mean that terrorism is justified, but that terrorism has its specific historical environment. Only by respecting history can we truly find out the root of terrorism, and take on effective policies to combat terrorism.

8.4 Gulf War and Terrorism 8.4.1 Hatred’s Seeds in the Gulf War The Gulf War was the first large-scale and widely-influential war that broke out after the Cold War. It is also the first time the United States used large-scale military forces in the Middle East since World War II. Both foreign and domestic scholars have made a systematic exposition about the cause, nature, process, and results of the war, so there is not much new to say. However, at the end of the war, since the threat of terrorism to world peace and human living environment is not as serious as today, writings of the Gulf War in general are unlikely to have certain predictability to link terrorism with the Gulf War. So what we discussed here is a basic question that the past studies inevitably neglected or missed, which is the relationship between the Gulf War and terrorism. A fundamental point of view presented here is that Gulf War is the direct fuse of the sudden intensification of terrorism in the name of religion. Shortly after the end of the Gulf War, numerous violent attacks aiming at America occurred continuously in the Gulf region and around the world, with larger scale and more severe consequences. The earliest one was the bombing of New York's World Trade Center on the February 26, 1993, which killed six people and more than 1,000 people injured. Less than a year later, an explosion occurred in a subway station near the World Trade Center, injuring 45 people. On November 13, 1995, a US military facility in the Saudi capital Riyadh was attacked, killing five Americans. On June 25, 1996, the US Dhahran Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia was attacked with a car bomb, 268

with a total of 319 people killed or injured. A month later, violent terrorists launched an attack on a US barracks in Saudi Arabia on July 25, 1996, and 19 US soldiers were killed in this incident. On August 7, 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, almost at the same time, were attacked by car bombings, killing 224 and injuring thousands of people. Two years later, on October 12, 2000, the USS Cole was attacked in Aden, Yemen when it was refueling, killing 17 US sailors. The most recent large-scale terrorist attack that shocked the world was the 9/11 event in 2001, causing heavy casualties and huge economic losses. The atmosphere of terror generated is still present today. The reason why we enumerate these violent terrorist attacks against the United States in detail is to provoke reflective thoughts in the form of questions: Considering a series of terrorist attacks on United States, are there any common political motives behind these attacks? Since these incidents all occurred after the end of the Gulf War, are there any grounds to link them with Gulf War? On these issues, answers could be found from the consequences of the Gulf War, and post-war US foreign policy, especially the Middle East policy of America. In fact, even if many civilians not specializing in international issues would realize some truth from the daily reports of current affairs about the high-handed style of American foreign policy in recent years. They ask: ―Will the United States one day undergo retribution for its unilateralism with no regard for the consequences?‖ although they don‘t know that the United States will really suffer from such serious terrorist attacks one day. Regarding the war happened 10 years ago, two major problems again and again come into reflection. One is the nature and cause of the Gulf War. On this issue, the vast majority of countries and people can be said to have achieved a broad consensus, which is that Iraq's occupation and annexation of another sovereign state in Kuwait by force is a behavior of aggression. Another major problem in the Gulf War is the legitimacy of US military intervention. Iraq hasn‘t violated the territory of the United States, did not directly infringe the interests of the United States. The United States sending troops to the Gulf region to fight with the Iraqi army without just cause is difficult to make sense of under international law. After World War II, even during the Cold War and before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States often used military force in overseas areas for various reasonsthe Korean War and Vietnam War are the most prominent examples of this. Therefore, in favor of or against US military intervention, in fact, is a question of whether or not to agree that the United States should continue to play the role of international police after the Cold War. Although different voices came from all over the world, it could not stop the world's

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only superpower from using military force in the Gulf region, which was directly related to strategic interests. Just people could criticize American behaviors with words of power politics, but they are powerless in the changing the reality of power politics. Even more tragically, as the winner of the Cold War, the United States was looking for an opportunity to demonstrate its role as world leader. At this time, Saddam Hussein provided a rare opportunity and excuse for intervention. Therefore, President George Bush immediately seized the fleeting opportunity to obtain political advantage on behalf of the anti-Iraq multinational alliance and realized power politics with the victory of multinational forces. Observant people would notice that in the two speeches when President Bush announced to send troops to the Gulf region and after the Gulf War, he regarded the Gulf War as a decisive battle between ―good‖ and ―evil.‖ In his view, the United States won the war, which also marked the victory of ―just power‖ represented by the United States. Through this movement, the United States proved its necessity and ability to dominate the world, which was the basic meaning of the ―new world order‖ America talked about. The problem is that in the current world, no matter how powerful America is, it is difficult to impose its own will on other countries without their objections. During and after the Gulf War, various forces in the world held opposing views towards US military intervention, which is strong proof for such things. The United States sending troops to the Gulf region first led to the split of the Arab League, only 12 of the 21member countries of the Arab League supported the US action, just over half. The other 9 countries held opposing opinions and believed that the war between Iraq and Kuwait was an internal affair of Arab countries and it should be coordinated and resolved within the League of Arab States, so the United States and any other external forces had no right to interfere. The Arab League, of course, was unable to challenge the United States, but internal voices were still worthy of attention. Opinion divergence also arose within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) which already had 46 member states then. Although advertising to ―speak with one voice,‖ OIC no doubt became helpless when the war broke out between two of its member states, showing two different attitudes to American military intervention. At the same time, Saddam Hussein who was in passive and unfavorable circumstances, also began to adopt a plot to divide the anti-Iraq coalition. Arab nationalism and Islam became two powerful trump cards in his hand. On the one hand, he associated Iraq's annexation of Kuwait with Israel‘s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, putting forward a package of solutions to the international community; on the other hand, he

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wantonly created public opinions in an attempt to make people believe that the Gulf War was a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West, just like the war between crescent and cross in history. Therefore, the world's Muslims should unite to defeat the modern crusader war of aggression launched by US-led Westerners through carrying out the Holy War. It should be acknowledged that the two trump cards of Saddam had no hope to win, but what he did embarrassed the United States, Arab, and Islamic countries because although the Arab-Israeli War was naturally different from the Iraq-Kuwaiti war, the issue remained very similar, which was to uphold justice and oppose the double standards in dealing with international disputes. This episode in Gulf War can help people come to this conclusion: if someone uses terrorist attacks to retaliate the unjust behaviors of America for siding with Israel, showing off military forces and adopting hegemonic policy in the Middle East, people may not be surprised. If the power will cause terror, it is inevitable for those who use power to retaliate because of the seeds of hatred such intervention plants.

8.4.2 The Gulf War and politics of war War is the continuation of politics. A particularly striking political phenomenon in the Gulf War can be called the ―Islamic war politics,‖ which also arises from the legitimacy dispute regarding the United States sending troops to the Gulf war. Except for the United States and its Western allies, Arab countries, Islamic countries and non-governmental religious organizations who claim to represent public opinion, without exception, all use Islam to validate their position on this important issue. The religionization of politics has been ignored by outside forces, but it is important for people to understand the reason why terrorism often takes the form of religion. Soon after the United States changed the ―Desert Shield operations‖ to ―Desert Storm Operation,‖ Gulf region launched a fierce debate between those who supported and opposed US military action against Iraq. This debate has been described as ―war of fatwa and the fatwa war‖ by some scholars. The word ―fatwa‖ originally means ―teachings‖ or ―canon‖ in Arabic. In the history of medieval Islam, every time when the puzzled and difficult things occurred, including the big issues like war and peace, and if there was no answer in the Koran and Hadith, they should be submitted to the authority of religious scholars to explain. The oral or written formal legal opinions they issued were called ―fatwa.‖ Although ―fatwas‖ were not released by any state, a devout Muslims were bound by them. In modern times, issuing a fatwa is no longer 271

common, but some Islamic countries still had the duties of "Mufti," whose primary responsibility was to issue a fatwa, if needed, to help the government explain their policies from a religious point of view. In addition, with the boom of fundamentalist thought, unofficial religious leaders and even ordinary religious believers were claiming themselves to be a governor of Allah on earth. Besides, they often release anti-government fat was to mobilize people to pressure the government on some resentful policies. Therefore, fatwa had become a tool for expressing political views in the guise of religion. Since all the fat was released during the Gulf War contradicted each other, sayings of ―war fatwa‖ and ―fatwa war‖ appeared. During the Gulf War, Egypt was the representative country that supported US military action against Iraq. Therefore, the Egyptian government promulgated a 57-page fatwa, known as the Islamic Verdict on the Gulf Crisis through the general Mufti Mohammed Syed Tantawi. The English version of the fatwa was distributed by the Egyptian Embassy to the United States to expand its influence. The fatwa expounded the basic principles of war and peace in Islam with the language of a decree, stressing that peaceful coexistence was the basic norm of international relations, and only when a country‘s faith and security was threatened by enemy invasion could it launch a defensive war. The fatwa called on Iraq to restore its senses and return to the correct position. Besides this, the fat was especially focused on the problem of Islamic countries seeking assistance from non-Islamic countries, which referred to whether King Fahd of Saudi Arabia allowing American troops to station in Saudi territory during the Gulf War was in line with Islam or not. Since there was no basis in Islamic Scriptures to prove that Islamic countries could seek assistance from non-Islamic countries, the fatwa had to bring back to life the words of a religious prophet, indicating that when facing a stronger enemy, an Islamic country could ask non-Islamic countries for military assistance to effectively stop aggression. The fatwa also specifically pointed out that this would take a huge risk, but who should be condemned was ―the country that forced its neighbor to invite foreign troops to be stationed in its territory,‖ 1 who in this case was Saddam Hussein. Obviously, according to the fatwa issued by Egypt, both US military action against Iraq and Saudi Arabia allowing US troops to be stationed in its own territory were in line with Islam. This official fatwa emphasized the principles of pragmatism, and its starting point was

1

Muhammad Khalid Masud, Brinkley Messick and David S.Powers, Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and Their Fatwas, London: Harvard University Press, 1996, p.298. 272

the need of political interests rather than religious dogma. Thus, it wasn‘t deviant to form a military alliance with America. What contradicted the official fatwa in Egypt was the civil fatwa issued in Iraq. In fact, the civil fatwa was introduced according to an Iraqi official plan. In December, 1990, the Iraqi government took the initiative to convene at the first International Islamic religious scholars Conference. The participants were the religious scholars who supported Iraq in politics, and were mainly from Sudan, Yemen, Jordan, Iran, Palestine, and some celebrities of Saudi religious circles who were dissatisfied with the Saudi royal family. Then, the conference declaration was issued in the form of a fatwa to support Iraq, accusing those Arab leaders who cooperated with the United States and participated in the multinational forces were the rebellion of Islam and the agents and tools of the Crusader States, and appealed to all Muslims to overthrow them through jihad and revolution. All these religious scholars who supported Iraq were of the extreme tendency of fundamentalists, but to make judgments only from the literal meaning of the Islam scriptures, one should admit that their explanations on whether Muslins should ally with the infidels were more in line with the original intent of the Islam classic. The Koran (5:51) clearly warned that ―Muslims shall not ally with Jews and Christians since they are respective allies to each other. Those who ally with them are one of them, and Allah will not guide the unjust people.‖ However, the Gulf War was not a religious war. There were only sectarian conflicts in the modern world, but no large-scale religious war, so the scriptures Allah revealed couldn‘t help Saddam Hussein. However, what we are talking about here is not a question of right or wrong. What should be noticed is that earlier, during the Gulf War 10 years prior, or even earlier, anti-American sentiment has emerged in Gulf region. Since most Gulf countries are politically conservative Islamic countries, anti-American sentiment here is almost always expressed in the form of religion, especially on the issues about war and peace, which is also the basic meaning of ―Islamic war politics.‖ It is worth noting that anti-American sentiment in the Gulf region increased rather than reduced after the Gulf War, and thus developed into strong dissatisfaction with their government. In Saudi Arabia, the religious and political opposition had signed an advisory memorandum to King Fahd in September, 1992, requiring the full implementation of the reform, expanding democracy, and changing pro-US policy. A total of 107 religious people signed this 45-page petition. King Fahd refused the request of the religious and political opposition, excluding the opposition from the

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political process and arrested 110 opposition members, which intensified the conflict. Since then, two attacks against US military facilities in Saudi Arabia occurred in succession. Two organizations named the Islamic Reform Movement of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf Tigers announced that they were responsible for each of the two bombings. Then, they issued a statement requiring all crusaders to withdraw from Arab territories, and an end to the rule of the Saudi royal family. They also warned that if the Americans didn‘t leave the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as soon as possible, they would continue to take actions. These attacks on US troops are the two earlier ones we previously mentioned. Things are very clear now: After the Gulf War, a fundamental reason why America is constantly being violently attacked is that some devout Arab Muslims regard theUS military presence in the Gulf region as an illegal aggression of Islamic territory and American troops are the occupying forces, just like the Crusaders earlier history. A leading figure of the Saudi religious and political opposition, Safar Hawa Li, the former president of the Mecca Islamic College once pointed out that ―If Iraq occupied Kuwait, then the US occupied Saudi Arabia. So, the real enemy is not Iraq, but the West.‖1 Hawa Li is one of the authoritative figures of Saudi Wahhabi. Although his political views can only be expressed in a peaceful way due to his status and education, they still will influence other violent people and encourage them to carry out terrorist activities. Thus, it is not difficult to perceive the causal relationship between anti-American sentiment and violent terrorism.

8.4.3 Terrorism and the Bin Laden phenomenon Now people always associated the violent terrorist attacks against the United States with Osama Bin Laden. Reports and rumors about this man are numerous and difficult to verify. However, as long as we figure out the reason why Bin Laden turned from an ally of the United States to its sworn enemy, things will become more clear. After the Afghanistan war, Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia as an honorable hero of jihad. After the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1990, Bin Laden, who had maintained a close relationship with the royal family of Saudi Arabia, came to meet with the Minister of National Defense, giving advice that Saudi Arabia could conquer Iraq without relying

1

Esposito, John. Political Islam: Revolution, Radicalism or Reform?Boulder: Linne Rinner Publishers, 1997, p.60. 274

on the US military. He became very dissatisfied when his advocacy of ―resisting enemies with faith‖ was rejected. So he moved to Yemen in protest, and spent a year of his life in exile there. Then, he went to live in Sudan, which was governed by fundamentalist forces, and established contacts with the Saudi religious and political opposition both at home and abroad. In 1994, he established the Defending Sharia Consultative Organization in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and publicly announced support for anti-government human rights organizations established by the Saudi opposition figures in exile in London afterwards. Therefore, the Saudi government announced the deprivation of Bin Laden's Saudi citizenship in April, 1991. Since then, he has not only opposed the Saudi government, but also opposed US military occupation, and thus he became enemy of the United States. Due to pressure of the United States, Bin Laden could not continue to live in Sudan, so he left Sudan and returned to Afghanistan to resume his old business in 1996. The bases he set up in Afghanistan also became the stronghold of a series of terrorist attacks against the United States. The experience since Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia clearly indicates that it was the Gulf War which fundamentally changed the attitude of Bin Laden regarding the United States. Now, let us enter the inner world of Bin Laden to see why he was announced as the top terrorist by the American government to specifically actagainst the United States. The Bin Laden family, with close ties to the Saudi ruling family, was a prominent family in Saudi Arabia, having both assets and power. Osama Bin Laden himself was highly-educated and quite wealthy. He could have lived a carefree and superfine life by virtue of his family background and personal wealth. However, the his devout religious beliefs and personal attitude towards life urged him to choose a completely different life. His firm religious beliefs and ideals played an important role in urging him to live a life of jihad. This king of example was not rare in the long history of the Islam. From strongly supporting the Afghan anti-Soviet forces to leading an anti-American jihad, the decisive factor for Bin Laden to choose his career was his polarized and generalized religious philosophy. In March, 1997, Bin Laden had talked about his ideals, beliefs, and mission when he was interviewed by aUS Cable News Network. He firmly believed that ―Allah's religion‖ was bound to win in his home of the Arabian Peninsula, and Muslim Arabs and the world would eventually establish a just society and live a virtuous life according to the laws of the Koran and Allah just like Prophet Era of Islam. Therefore, the evil should be replaced by justice, and savageness by civilization. The only way to achieve this religious ideal was the road

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of Islamic jihad that Allah had already specified. The modern civilized world may condemn his practice to realize his ideal as a brutal terrorist, but Bin Laden believed that extremist means were completely forced by the US. This was the logic of his thought. Why did Bin Laden target on the United States? Bin Laden said in an interview that the reason why they used jihad against the United States was because the US government was an unjust, shameful, and brutal government. Later, bin Laden repeated his condemnation of America in a jihad polemic jointly issued by several terrorist organizations. The "unjust, shameful, and brutal" things Bin Laden said referred to three events associated with the United States: First, in the Gulf War, the US occupied the two holy places of Islam and the Arabian Peninsula, using them as bases to invade Iraq. Second, the US government, regardless of the suffering caused by war with the Iraqi people, continued to bomb Iraq after the Gulf War, resulting in a humanitarian disaster. Third, the United States used war to weaken the Arab countries, which was in the United States and Israel's interests to divert people's attention on the Palestinian issue. Whereby Bin Laden concluded that United States was attempting to conquer the Muslin world and eradicate Islam like the Crusaders in the Middle Ages. Therefore, each and every Muslim had no choice but to respond to the call of Allah and adopt jihad to kill all Americans and their allies so as to defend justice and faith. For this purpose, violent acts of terrorism were justified for Bin Laden and his supporters, which was also necessary for the anti-American jihad. Even in the United States, Bin Laden‘s opinion had also been confirmed. An opinion poll recently issued by Newsweek showed that the majority of those surveyed think the US attitude toward Israel was the main reason that led to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. No matter whether people are in favor of this view or not, the three basic facts given by Bin Laden as the reasons for jihad are undeniable. Different points of view towards this are determined by the different positions of people. It can be perceived that growing terrorist attacks against the United States after the Gulf War originated from the increasing anti-American sentiment that lies in the inner hearts of Gulf Muslims, while so-called jihad or violent terrorism are only tools to express the feeling of discontent. People can condemn and oppose this irrational extremism, but cannot deny that for everything there is a reason. In modern political language, the reason for terrorism is power politics. This can also lead to another conclusion: Bin Laden is not a person or an organization, but a symbol of traditional spirit, a religious social thought, and an extreme force with a particular social basis, which is exactly

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the characteristics of the terrorism that are manifested as religious extremism. Therefore, only in eradicating the root of terrorism can we ultimately defeat it. The fight against terrorism still has a long way to go. (Yungui Wu，Researcher at the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

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This book is the result of a co-publication agreement between Social Sciences Academic Press (China) and Paths International Ltd. This book is published with the financial support of the Innovation Project of CASS. -----------------------------------------------------------

The Global Threat of Terrorism: Perspectives from China Author: Wang Yizhou et al Translator: Zhang Yidan Polisher: Jonathon Richard Gartner ISBN: 978-1-84464-464-3 EBook ISBN: 978-1-84464-465-0 Copyright © 2016 by Paths International Ltd and by Social Sciences Academic Press, China All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The copyright to this title is owned by Social Sciences Academic Press (China). This book is made available internationally through an exclusive arrangement with Paths International Ltd of the United Kingdom and is only permitted for sale outside China. Paths International Ltd www.pathsinternational.com Published in the United Kingdom