Week 5 - Terrorism/War

Hello !
The word terrorism appeared during the French Revolution at the time of terror but its definition has changed over the centuries. Indeed At the French Revolution the term designated violence acts in order to exercise power then this definition has evolved in the 19the century to describe violence acts against the government. Today terrorism knows many definitions but can be designated as the violent use to cause affaid among the civilian population. There are different forms of terrorism, there is individual terrorism committed most often by anarchists or rebels against the government. There is also organized terrorism committed by groups defending a political or religions ideology. There is also state terrorism that is applied by a government on its people or to another state to reign a terror atmosphere. More recently developed cyberterrorism which is to hack the websites of governments or the popilation in order to create panic in society. Terrorist attacks have always existed but for fifteen years the number of attacks worldwide increased and there are nine times more victims of terrorist attacks in the world since the 2000's. Countries suffering most terrorist attacks are Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Syria. They total 57% of attacks since the early 2000's according to the global terrorism index. Between 2000 and 2014 60% of attacks were committed by known organizations like Daech, Boko Haram, the Taliban, Al quaida and al-shabaab. With an increase of terrorist acts in the world, western states increasingly affect on their territories must stengten their defense against groups that change of tactics and of organization.

Hello everyone,

The war and terrorism characterized conflicts between states but the war, especially civil war can be useful. Most of developed country like USA, France, Spain, Russia … have known a civil war. For example, the French Revolution has stopped the monarchy, and the American Civil War between the North and the South, who end on the abolition of slavery. Most of the time, in the civil war, the terrorism is mixed with the “classic war” (with soldiers, and classic weapons). In the most of case, a civil war does a lot of victims on each side but after, this is a swiveling for the state, and brings innovations in the society.

Hi everyboby !

This week, the topic is “Terrorism and War”. That’s why I have chosen to talk about State of Emergency in France.

First of all, it’s important to remember that France is in State of Emergency since the terrorist attacks of 13th November 2015 in Paris.

State of Emergency provides exceptional powers to the government in case of serious crisis. For example, in this situation, some people can be under house arrest, or it can be forbidden to demonstrate. The goal of the actual State of Emergency is to reduce the threat of terrorism through the country.

Even if France is under State of Emergency from almost a year, it couldn’t avoid the terrorist attack of 14th July in Nice… So, we can wonder if this situation is really efficient. I believe that the State of Emergency is efficient but not enough. A lot of politicians think that it worked at the beginning but not anymore. There were around 3500 searches which lead to 400 questionings. So some dangerous people could be arrested but I believe it’s impossible to arrest each potential terrorist.

Then, the establishment of state of emergency can pose the question of human rights. Indeed, this situation implies a reduction of liberties (for example: the ban on demonstrations…). In addition to that, some people can be under house arrest if they are suspected of radicalization, but may be innocent or may not premeditate attacks. So these questions were denounced by several organizations like Amnesty International.

Finally, I believe that the best way to fight against terrorism is the education and the surveillance of propaganda websites.

Good night !!!

Julie Chartier

Hello !

I will speak about a terrorist group that I think few people know about: the East Turkestan Islamic movement. Generally, we hear about the attacks in our country or surrounding countries... but on the other side of the world much less.
This terrorism group comes from north-west China, more particular, the xinjiang region. This region called eastern Turkestan is part of 5 autonomous regions of China. The majority of populations are Ouighours, an ethnic group of Muslim faith. Their main claim affects the independence and the creation of an Islamic state inside the Eastern Turkestan.
Currently, this group counts about 200 members.
1998 marked the beginning of terrorism acts. The first actions took place in xinjiang, then they extended into China.
In 2013, in order to promote their group, they published on the web a propaganda video in which we could see children who were training for armed jihad. Koranic schools were an ideal place to recruit. They learned there to make bombs and to use weapons...
Faced with this situation, after the attack of the station of Kunming which had resulted in 31 dead and 140 injured persons, the Chinese government has decided to use force and deployed massively policemen in the region. The most surprising was that China didn’t want to make a distinction between various groups of ouighours opposition. China considers that all groups are supported by Al-Qaida.

I think these conflations, will not stop attacks, on the contrary, they will participate in the development of new tensions...

Laura Croegaert wrote:Hello !

I will speak about a terrorist group that I think few people know about: the East Turkestan Islamic movement. Generally, we hear about the attacks in our country or surrounding countries... but on the other side of the world much less.
This terrorism group comes from north-west China, more particular, the xinjiang region. This region called eastern Turkestan is part of 5 autonomous regions of China. The majority of populations are Ouighours, an ethnic group of Muslim faith. Their main claim affects the independence and the creation of an Islamic state inside the Eastern Turkestan.
Currently, this group counts about 200 members.
1998 marked the beginning of terrorism acts. The first actions took place in xinjiang, then they extended into China.
In 2013, in order to promote their group, they published on the web a propaganda video in which we could see children who were training for armed jihad. Koranic schools were an ideal place to recruit. They learned there to make bombs and to use weapons...
Faced with this situation, after the attack of the station of Kunming which had resulted in 31 dead and 140 injured persons, the Chinese government has decided to use force and deployed massively policemen in the region. The most surprising was that China didn’t want to make a distinction between various groups of ouighours opposition. China considers that all groups are supported by Al-Qaida.

I think these conflations, will not stop attacks, on the contrary, they will participate in the development of new tensions...

I'm sure that I read that in "politics" this morning.