The Evolution of US policies Against Terrorism

Sficenec

Sujets

• Arts

Informations

• Publié par: ycyzadom
• Nombre de lectures: 76
• Langue: Français

Extrait

The Evolution of US policies Against Terrorism

ELIOT E. SCHMIDT

The Pennsylvania State Univeristy

Introduction

Terrorism is the new buzzword in American politics.

The fear of it has

become so ingrained in our collective consciousness that seemingly every news

story about an industrial accident or fire includes a question about links to

terrorism.

But what terrorism really means and what it means for US domestic and

foreign policy are often lost in the rhetoric.

To say that terrorism is a “new” threat would be an oversimplification.

For

as long as mankind has made war, terrorism has been used as a tactic by

governments and resistances (call them what you like, freedom fighters, guerillas,

insurgents, etc – the semantic debate is another subject entirely).

What can be

considered new is the scale, sophistication, and frequency of terrorist attacks. The

attacks of September 11

th

were well coordinated and of unprecedented scale, as

were the bombings in Bali on 12 October 2002, in Madrid on 11 March 2004, and

in London on 7 July 2005.

That said, the 1998 African Embassy bombings were

well coordinated, as were the barracks bombings in Beirut in 1983.

So what

changed to make modern terrorism “new” or different from previous forms of

terrorism?

I argue that it is US policy towards terrorism, and not terrorism itself, that

has changed.

President Reagan reacted differently than President Clinton, who

reacted differently than President G.W. Bush.

Using a historical analysis of select

terrorist strikes, I will show how US policy towards terrorism has evolved and

grown more aggressive over time.

I will first address the difficulties of defining

terrorism and then provide a working definition from which to discuss US policies

towards terrorism.

I will then outline US policy towards terrorism across three

administrations in the context of specific events:

the Beirut bombings of 1983

during the Reagan administration, the African Embassy and USS Cole bombings

during the Clinton administration, and the September 11

th

attacks during the Bush

administration.

While these four attacks represent a tiny fraction of terror attacks in

the past three decades, I believe that they are four of the most informative for a

discussion of US policy.

Finally, I will show how September 11

th

represented a

shift from generally reactionary policies towards a policy of prevention.

Defining Terrorism

Establishing a working framework is crucial to the study of something as

complex and nebulous as terrorism.

There is great debate among scholars,

politicians, and pundits over what terrorism actually means.

Benjamin Barber