Active vocabulary

1. rightist and leftist objectives;

2. to wit­ness great changes;

3. practice terrorism;

4. To adopt terrorism as virtually a state policy;

5. to be picked at random;

6. public im­pact;

7. lethality

8. A contested homeland;

9. communi­cations media;

10. to happen into terrorist situa­tion;

11. grievances;

12. psychological warfare;

13. unpredictable violence;

14. electrically detonated explosives;

15. to view something as religious heresy;

16. perpetration of hoaxes;

17. in the latter half of the 19^th century;

Comprehension check

I. Answer the following questions to check how carefully you have read the texts:

1. What objectives are usually pursued by terrorism?

2. What was the role and place of terrorism throughout centuries and throughout the world?

3. Can terrorism be used in the framework of a state policy? Dwell on such cases in history.

4. Do you think terrorism is the only means of settling various con­flicts in societies?

5. Speak of the role of communications media in terrorism's public impact.

II. Now decide whether the statement is true or false; correct those that are wrong:

1. The practice of using terrorism in its form of unpredictable violence throughout the contemporary world cannot be denied.

2. But for terror during the French Revolution Robespierre would have never entered the period of his political dominance.

3. Technological advances of the 20th century brought no changes into the practice

of terrorism.

4. In order to encourage adherence to the national ideology and the declared political goals of the state Nazi Germany put no obstacles to terrorism.

5. The anarchists of the 19th century were always close to the political mainstream and put forward quite realistic demands.

6. Due to modern communications media, millions of viewers are di­rectly exposed to the terrorists' political goals.

Text c types of terrorism

1. Nationalist

2. Religious

3. Left-wing

4. Right-wing

5. State

6. Islamic

7. Ethnic

8. Bioterrorism

9. Narcoterrorism

10. Domestic

11. Nuclear

12. Anarchist

13. Cyber

14. Political

5 State terrorism

State terrorism, is a controversial term that is separate from the more common term, State sponsored terrorism. State terrorism is defined by some as violence upon a national population committed by national governments or their proxies. State terrorism can be effected directly, at the hands of national military or security forces, or indirectly, through state sponsored terrorist organizations. States can terrorize their own populations, to secure rule and suppress dissent, or foreign citizens, to support favoured or destabilize unfavoured foreign regimes.

State-sponsored terrorism

For many years, terrorism was perceived as a contest between two sides: on the one hand, a group of people or an organization, and on the other, a sovereign state. However, during the course of the second half of the twentieth century, various countries began to use terrorist organizations to promote state interests in the international domain. In some cases, states have established "puppet" terrorist organizations, whose purpose is to act on behalf of the sponsoring state, to further the interests of the state, and to represent its positions in domestic or regional fronts. In other cases, states sponsor existing organizations, on the basis of mutually interests.

The patron state provides its beneficiary terrorist organization with political support, financial assistance, and the sponsorship necessary to maintain and expand its struggle. The patron uses the beneficiary to perpetrate acts of terrorism as a means of spreading the former's ideology throughout the world, or in some cases, the patron ultimately expects the beneficiary to gain control of the state in which it resides or impart its ideology to broad sections of the general public.

State sponsored terrorism can to achieve strategic ends where the use of conventional armed forces is not practical or effective. The high costs of modern warfare, and concern about non-conventional escalation, as well as the danger of defeat and the unwillingness to appear as the aggressor, have turned terrorism into an efficient, convenient, and generally discrete weapon for attaining state interests in the international realm.