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Terrorism: Challenges to Politics, Society and International Relations

Terrorism can be defined as the use of violence and intimidation to achieve an objective, that is usually, but not always, political. The targets may be members of the government or organizations who are known to be antagonistic to the terrorists' cause, besides members of the general public. Terrorists tend to indulge in indiscriminate shooting, bombing, hostage taking and hijacking of aircraft. Globalization has not only revolutionized the means of transport and communication, but has also given rise to global insecurity. International terrorist groups act with impunity across nations without being bothered by borders. Terrorism too, like everything else, has become globalized in the sense that terrorists can strike anywhere at anytime. The thrust area of this paper is Islamic fundamentalism and its violent fallout. Unlike other forms of terrorism, Islamic terrorism is qualitatively different primarily because of three reasons: a. Islam can effect a high degree of mass mobilization with the clarion call for jihad or holy war that can galvanize an entire community to action. b. There is a destructive potential in Islam that could be harnessed to achieve the maximum possible destruction. c. Fundamental Islam does not recognize the sovereignty of any single state. It believes only in the broader community or the Umma, and, therefore transcends national boundaries. It has a larger appeal than any political or social ideology among its adherents. 1 Ever since September 11, 2001, which witnessed a horrendous destruction of life and property, leaders of western democracies in general and those of the US in particular have been talking of a 'new kind of war'. The September attacks on the United States, for which the global group alQaeda claimed responsibility, were deadly terrorist attacks with profound social consequences. Citizens of ninety countries (including India) perished in the September 11 terrorist attacks and there was an initial outpouring of