DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND THE PHENOMENON OF RELIGIOUSLY MOTIVATED TERROR

Unlike the conceptual and judicial debates on the definition of terror, consensus that there has been significant transformation in the nature of international terrorism after the Cold War has grown. There are two possible reasons for this. Firstly, a change in the means and methods applied by terrorists has considerably increased terrorism’s destructive capacity. Secondly, religious motives that can be defined as ‘new’ or ‘modern’ have been adopted by some contemporary terrorist movements. In this regard, terrorist groups motivated by Islam have been particularly prominent. In order to analyse such structures, the present study demonstrates that Islam itself does not in fact provide a theological justification for such organisations. Peculiar ideological formulations that include some religious components have enabled and legitimized radicalism and radical violence. Seen this light, there is little difference between the roles of these religious components and those of any other ideology in the new terroristic structures. It is therefore evident that counter-terrorism must always regard the phenomenon of terrorism itself as the real enemy. Even though religious terror driven by Islamic motives has currently achieved particular prominence, it is clear that terrorism would adapt itself to any future alterations in the structure of international politics and the global system, just as it has in the past.