The current war on terror is characterized by the existence of many extremist organizations that are spreading their influence through a religious agenda. It can be said that terrorism and extremism are not just phenomena of the 21st century rather they are a continuation of the previous events and acts of terrorism. The war on terrorism has only been shaped through the use of modern warfare and varying strategies which have currently resulted in the global war on terror. Nevertheless, they are a repetition and amalgamation of an older theme.
The Arab states have been in a chaotic situation since the mid 20th century mainly rooting from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Following the Second World War and creation of Israel as a State, there were many Marxist and anti-West alterations in the Arab world. When the Palestinian world realized they could not confront Israel militarily, they began to gather and follow the lessons they learned from the revolutions taking place in America and South-East Asia. Hence, Radical Palestinians began a series of hijacking, kidnapping, shootings and spreading terror in order to counteract the Israeli opposition. Iran saw the Khomeini Revolution that turned to overthrowing the throne of the Shah backed by the U.S. The Middle East saw many revolutions and increased Islamic movements supported by countries such as Saudi Arabia. (Moore). In South Asia, the formation of the Taliban helped the U.S fight against the Soviets from the Soviet Invasion in 1979 lasting till 1989 which became the source of another extremist group formation, the Al-Qaeda in Yemen. The Taliban created to fight as the ‘Mujahedeen’ in Kashmir against the Indian forces also became the prerogative for the U.S to use them against the Soviets. These groups, however, carried different agendas, began to fight for their causes such as sectarian reasons, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia fighting proxy wars, rebellion in Yemen and Syria which boiled down to the existence of a multifarious presence of extremist groups.
Hence, the current global war on terror is not just a 21st-century phenomenon rather it has deep roots that penetrate deep in the past, clutching on to reasons which are more or less of the same reason and the current global war on terror is a manifestation of the past events in a more diverse manner.
Work cited
Moore, John. “Evolution of Islamic Terrorism: An overview.” Frontline. 2014. Accessed 6 Mar
2016. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/modern.html
