Tanvi Patel The greatest threats, the toughest wars, and the most devastating political disasters have

one thing in common:, terrorism. Terrorism is nothing new; it has existed since the dawn of time, but today, terrorism in our society if far more fierce and destructive. The increased severity of terrorism can be attributed to the new developments in society. One of the greatest changes is, such as the cultivation of newer technology. As a result ecause of new developments li!e the "nternet, terrorism has reached a whole new level. Technology, li!e terrorism, is not a new memberelement in human of society. The first man#made flame, thousands of years ago, was the illuminating mar! of technology. "nterestingly, the development oftransition from open fires to controlled fires used in one$s home, too! hundreds, if not thousands, of years to come into existencecomplete. %et today, we are able to advance from one new technology to another within years. The leap from "#Pod &anos to "#Pod Touches is a clear indicator of the speed at which technologies come into existenceaccelerate in our society. This technology and the ease with which we can now spread information is the reason behindresponsible for the '(st century being coined the )"nformation Age.* "n our day and age, information is truly at one$s fingertips and can be accessed by anyone. This is no doubt, an impressive and beneficial advancement, but withat what cost+ Throughout history, we have also seen the continuous abuse of technology by those with an agenda to terrori,e others. "n essence, the information age has led to the widespread prevalence of terrorism which has ta!en over society, and its transformed nature. There is no universal definition for terrorism; the term holds different values for each and every person, but there are some common characteristics. Terrorism incites fear. This is essentially the purpose for terrorists, but many times, some terrorists will also use these attac!s as bargaining chips. -ather than .ust create terror, they will use the terror to push governments into agreeing to their demands. This is not a universal principle; some groups conduct terrorist activity simply to ma!e a point, with no intentions of deals. This does not mean that they have no political aims; on the contrary, their political goals are even clearer. A clear example of this is how /amas fires roc!ets into "srael but refuses to enter negotiations; the goal behind the roc!ets is to essentially scare "sraeli officials into agreeing to their terms. 0hether this is effective or not, there is definitely increased pressure upon the "sraeli government to reach a resolution. "n terms of international terrorism, there is one essential factor; there will always be a political aim. The 1uestion is why does it wor!+ The answer is a bit roundabout. Terrorists have few to no fears. They do not care if they are put in .ail. They do not care if they die. They .ust want to ma!e their statement or die fighting for it. 0hat is more, terrorists often do not even have a personal connection towardswith the causes that they are )fighting* for. 2any of the .3ihadist soldiers fight for )"slamic* beliefs when they have had little to no religious training. They claim to be defending people whom they barely even !now; whose integral ideals are completely different. These essential facts are what warrant the dramatics involved in terrorist activity. The attac!s are most effective when they result in large numbers of civilian casualties and when the acts are almost theatrical. 0ith no fear of the repercussions of their actions, terrorists are able to overtly instill fear in the most terrifying ways. Theis lac! of fear enables terrorists to conduct

Tanvi Patel actions that are not only condemned by society but truly hated. Terrorists do not have tomust neither answer to anyone nor do they have to ensure the safety of a population. This puts them at an advantage over governments. The general public is 1uic! to blame thea government for almost all harm done to the people. 0e 1uestion the lac! of !nowledge, the lac! of preparation, the lac! of )effective* laws. 0hat we forget is that the government has to ma!e each and every decision with hundreds of groups in mind; governments are expected to answer to their constituents, the international community, and critics from countless organi,ations and communities. After the process of considering these groups and ensuring that no further damage is done by their actions, the government is left with a list of very few, if any, actions that they can ta!e. This is the primary reason why terrorists have been so successful. There are some who argue that terrorism has not become worse, but a simple glance into history will clearly depict the dramatic changes that the world has seen regarding terrorism. "n the (456s, when the modern day Israeli-Arab conflict was beginning, terrorism was also in effect. One ma.or example of terrorism in this time period is the 7ind 8avid /otel bombing. The attac! was a mode of retaliation by a 9ionist underground organi,ation, the "rgun, which !illed 4( people and in.ured 5:. These were terrorist attac!s but they also had another goal, to destroy documents which held proof against the terrorist organi,ation. 0hat is more, mass casualties were never the goal; the organi,ation wanted to scare people, but not !ill them. "n order to reduce the number of deaths, calls were made to the hotel and neighboring buildings to warn the people. This is completely different than the terrorism in the "nformation Age. "n the 7ing 8avid /otel bombing, the damage was isolated in one arearegion; there was no way for the group to expand their attac!s or to be recogni,ed at an international level. The comparable lac! of technology at the time was simply incapable of assisting in such widespread actionwould have made that very difficult. Today, this is no longer the case; the terrorist of our time are highly capable to causing enough damage to !ill thousands from thousands of miles away. Because of technology, terrorism is definitely worse in the "nformation Age than any other time period of our past. Why is terrorism so much worse in the 21st century? The answer in one words is technology. 0hile most technological advancements are made to benefit society, they are almost always two#sided. Their effect can .ust as easily be detrimental to society as they can be beneficial. /ow is this )new* problem when scientific discoveries have been encountered all throughout history+ ;nfortunately the answer to this lies with what is considered to be the most revolutionary )invention* of our time: the "internet. The '(st century is almost completely reliant on the "internet and life without it is unimaginable for most of society. "n a world where information is literally a fingertip away and basic education is the priority of every nation, terrorism cannot be restrained. Anyone with the ability to read and write and has access to a computer can become a terrorist. <overnments are often unable to ta!e serious action against terrorists because they are un!nown and hidden within communities of innocent civilians. /ow does one wage a war when there is no battleground, no !nown location of enemies, and never an actual battle+ %et this is exactly what nations attempt to do when they are faced with these tragic attac!s. The attac!s of 4#(( exemplify the extent of terrorist organi,ations$ power. After such attac!s, after such apparent proof of their power, no nation would be able to )put the attac!s in

Tanvi Patel the past* without ta!ing action. 8espite the many controversies associated with the issue, one truth exists; the armed conflict that began in "ra1 is a perfect depiction of war in the "nformation Age. This is a war where the soldiers can never truly be prepared for battle because they never !now where or when the battles will be. Terrorism is used in every aspect possible, from car bombings to suicidal human bombs. The use of fear was not one#sided in this situation; the soldiers who were deployed there were often forced to use terror tactics in hopes of achieving order. "nternational terrorism has forced countries to also adopt terrorismt tactics in the hopes that fighting fire with fire will showcase the ineffectiveness of the terrorist$=s attempts in scaringto intimidate these countries. There are thousands of civilian casualties in these wars; innocents lose their lives when caught between the two enormous egos of terrorist organi,ations trying to ma!e their mar! and world dominating countries try to !eep their respect. The two different groups use different modes of terrorism but the result is the same, innocents die. >ountries must fight these wars where they are continuously on the defense; wars where very little is !nown about the actual power and capacity of the opponent. This is war in the "nformation Age. There are some who argue that terrorism has not become worse but a simple glance into history will clearly depict the dramatic changes that the world has seen regarding terrorism. "n the (456s, when the modern day "sraeli#Arab conflict was beginning, terrorism was also in effect. One ma.or example of terrorism in this time period is the 7ind 8avid /otel bombing. The attac! was a mode of retaliation by a 9ionist underground organi,ation, the "rgun, which !illed 4( people and in.ured 5:. These were terrorist attac!s but they also had another goal, to destroy documents which held proof against the terrorist organi,ation. 0hat is more, the mass casualties were never the goal; the organi,ation wanted to scare people, but not !ill them. "n order to reduce the number of deaths, there were calls made to the hotel and neighboring buildings to warn the people. This is completely different than the terrorism in the "nformation Age where much more is possible. "n the 7ing 8avid /otel bombing, the damage was isolated in one area; there was no way for the group to expand their attac!s or to be recogni,ed at an international level. The technology at the time was simply incapable of assisting in such widespread action. Today, this is no longer the case; the terrorist of our time are highly capable to causing enough damage to !ill thousands from thousands of miles away. Terrorism is definitely worse in the "nformation Age than any other time period of our past. 0hy is terrorism so much worse in the '(st century+ The answer in one words is technology. 0hile most technological advancements are made to benefit society, they are almost always two#sided. Their effect can .ust as easily be detrimental to society as they can be beneficial. /ow is this )new* problem when scientific discoveries have been encountered all throughout history+ ;nfortunately the answer to this lies with what is considered to be the most revolutionary )invention* of our time: the internet. The '(st century is almost completely reliant on the internet and life without it is unimaginable for most of society. "n a world where information is literally a fingertip away and basic education is the priority of every nation, terrorism cannot be restrained. Anyone with the ability to read and write and has access to a computer can become a terrorist.

Tanvi Patel http:??topics.nytimes.com?top?news?international?countriesandterritories?ga,a@strip?index.html http:??topics.nytimes.com?top?reference?timestopics?organi,ations?h?hamas?index.html