The History of State Terrorism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The History of State Terrorism - Article Example Through a historical perspective of terrorism, a student of the evolution of terrorism recognizes the various essential aspects that make contemporary terrorism of today different from traditional terrorism of the past. Whereas the nature and means of terrorism have changed over the past centuries in history, the results and effect of terrorism remain unchanged through different ages. When the history of state terrorism is explored in detail, one is reminded of the saying 'The more things change - the more things remain the same'. It is common that the terrorist party tends to appeal strongly to emotion when the state machinery is essentially rational. Similarly, the terrorist movement instills its politics with a powerful moral tone and a weak-versus-strong strategy reliant for the most part on its psychological impact on the adversary, where the state machinery operates on the basis of 'realist' policies and an understanding of the balance of power. "Today's terrorism is what speci alists call group or bottom-up-terrorism, but top-down (state) terrorism has been far more prevalent throughout history. It enjoyed its heyday in the twentieth century with the advent of totalitarianism. In terms of victims, top-down terrorism has taken a vastly higher toll than its bottom-up counterpart." (Chaliand and Blin, 2007, p 6). Therefore, top-down or state terrorism has been a reality through various periods in the history of terrorism, though it is most treacherous and malicious in the twenty-first century. Although there have been several significant attempts to counter the threats of this terrorist tendency, including the Global War on Terrorism, the state of affairs with regard to state terrorism has not changed greatly. That is to say, historical evaluation of state terrorism confirms the concept of the saying - 'The more things change - the more things remain the same'. Whereas terrorism has a long history of its development and state terrorism has been in place for quite long centuries, not many talked about 'state terrorism' until very recently. That is to say, state terrorism was not given great importance until in recent times and a profound understanding of state terrorism is essential to realize the concept of the saying - 'The more things change - the more things remain the same'.  Ã‚