Terrorism

In the book Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, Robert Pape argues that that the main motivator for suicide terrorism in particular is nationalism. Politically disenfranchised groups use suicide terrorism to target large democratic state entities in order to secure territory and gain international recognition. However, to boil down terrorism to a singular cause like nationalism would be grossly and dangerously oversimplifying the phenomenon. After all, eco-terrorism is one example of a type of terrorism that is clearly not linked to a nationalistic cause. Terrorism is a strategy and quasi-military tactic used by individuals and groups to draw attention to a specific message or set of messages. In many -- if not most -- cases, nationalism is a major terrorist message. As with eco-terrorism, nationalism itself is not the issue. The issue is power and control over resources. Terrorist groups of all types use violent tactics...
[ View Full Essay]