Radical Transformation:
According to Walter Laqueur (1999), who is authority on the subject, “there has been a radical transformation, if not a revolution, in the character of terrorism”. He compares older tactics of terrorism with modern saying that earlier the terrorists used to strike only selected targets. However, new terrorism is more of an indiscriminate exercise where the fundamental objective is to cause as many casualties as possible. (Laqueur, The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction, 1999)
According to the researcher, another difference in the modern and old form of terrorism is increasing readiness to use extreme violence. If certain demands are not met, the terrorists can go for the indiscriminate use of…show more content… Just 3% of them had any religious affiliation or could be called religious terrorism organizations. However, by the year 1995, the percentage rose to 43%; an increase of 40% in fifteen years.
Now, we’ll briefly touch what historians declare as major waves of terrorism and identify their shared and prominent characteristics.
Four Waves of Terrorism:
Another method to learn the difference between old and new form of terrorism can also be explained through its evolution in four waves. First Wave can be traced back in late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Second Wave was the colonial wave, confined within national geographical boundaries from 1921 until today. The Third Wave was the contemporary wave; it introduced international terrorism, crossing national boundaries.
The fourth and the most dangerous wave started after September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in USA. It is said so because it is symbolized by religious justification for killing anyone and anywhere. This wave has primarily targeted the legitimate order of the world, leading to some controversial terminologies like “new world order”, and “hot pursuits”, where international boundaries lost their respect.
Terrorism in…show more content… If we peed a bit deeper, everything else will be directly linked to any internal or external factor listed above.
Impact of Terrorism on Pakistan:
The impact of terrorism on Pakistan has been devastating. While praising the resilience and bravery of the nation, one must not ignore the human, economic, social, political, and psychological cost that the country had to pay. Probably the biggest pain point of every Pakistani citizen is to make the world realize that we do not sponsor terrorism, instead, are the worst victim of the same. Successive governments have tried to highlight the point on all forums but most of the times, the response is “Do More”.
Here is a brief of what happened to the country since this latest wave of terrorism shook up the entire world. Economic Survey of Pakistan has listed the economic cost of 13 years’ war-on-terror to be somewhere around $102.5 billion (Rana, 2014). Foreign direct investment in the country has significantly declined leading to a range of economic issues.
Just in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, over 1,600 schools have been destroyed or damaged due to war on terror. More 0.7 million students were affected by school destruction in the province and roughly half of the victim students are girls. (Younas,