Terrorism In Western Culture

Terrorism is a term that seventy years ago was nearly unheard of in Western civilization. Today, it is a word we are all too familiar with. We can find acts of violence all throughout history. We see acts of violence develop into terrorism as early as the eleventh century and progress to become more organized and politically driven from that point. While politics are often a target or goal, terrorists are also motivated by monetary gain and religion. An official definition of terrorism has never been agreed upon, however I will input my opinion on the subject and how terrorist attacks since the turn of the millennium have changed and affected Western civilization. The assassination of Julius Caesar, acts of the French Revolution, and …show more content…
Since the 9/11 attacks, every American knows the names of terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and hear about anything that may be related to terrorist groups. Western media run stories on terrorism daily. Case in point, the official Associated Press app averages about two stories per day related to terrorism. Western media, especially American, is one of the major targets of terrorist groups today. Margaret Thatcher once made a metaphor that publicity is the oxygen of terrorism. Terrorist groups want their message to be heard by as many people as possible, so they will seek out targets that American media will take note of. Whether they attack military or civilians, their goal is to get the attack on television, radio, and the internet to have it seen by millions of people. Although terrorist attack frequency is at the lowest point it has been in twenty years, media coverage of these attacks is at an all-time high. Advances in technology obviously plays a role in this, but the attacks on the Twin Towers sparked American interest. We had been attacked. We were the victims. Now terrorism was our problem and we wanted to hear all about it. (Spindlove & Simonsen, …show more content…
Therefore, it may seem logical to deny them their outlet. If we take away their access to media coverage, then they will not be able to intimidate people nearly as effectively. Why is it then that we do not limit the amount of news coverage terrorism receives? Hypothetically, if we were to take away their media coverage, their hold of American fear would quickly dwindle away. Spring of 2013, North Korea had the world believing they had an armed nuclear missile, and they were prepared to launch it at either South Korea or the United States. However, after a few weeks of no bombings or missile launches, the threats seemed to be illegitimate. Fear of North Korea quickly diminished to the point that Americans are now making comedy movies about and laughing at one of the most volatile countries in the world. I would argue that if we were to limit the amount of news about terrorism while maintaining military diligence in thwarting their attacks, their grip of fear on the world would diminish, making them immeasurably less powerful. One may argue that a terrorist group with limited access to news coverage would do something especially atrocious in order to get on the