CC BY
54
Section 9. Political problems of the international relations, global and regional development
Kasumov Ruslan Tofikovich, the 1styear Master student of IAAS MSU.
E-mail: kasumovrk@mail.ru
Modern terrorism as a product of globalization
Abstract: In this article, the affirmation of terrorism in a new form is associated with global processes. The author perceives this not only in technical equipment, organization and scale of modern terrorism. To a greater extent update of the terrorism is seen in its political aspiration expressed in the claim to statehood. The author argues this position based both on the essential principles of terrorism and post-modern trends of the world politics.
Keywords: terrorism, globalization, traditional terrorism, global terrorism.
"In today's world, when a nuclear bomb made the use of military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon".
A. M. Sakharovsky first, initial phase, terrorism appears as a sporadic phenomenon in centuries, when the essential moments are hostile aggression and demonstration of small force possibilities against a large force. In its second phase, terrorism rather serves as a means of achieving political goals being closely intertwined with nationalistic aspirations, and its essential bases are enriched by various ideologemes. Finally, the third phase, which we can mention as a stage of large-scale terrorism institutionalization, is its functionally determined form when its essential features are amplified by globalization.
Regarding this, the problem of the "terrorism" concept interpretation gets additional arguments. And this is despite the statement of the fact that there was no single approach to defining the essence of this phenomenon, and that all attempts of the term meaningful interpretation are currently at an impasse. Some researchers totally refused to give any definition to this phenomenon because of its strong blur [1, 5].
This state of affairs has its own explanation, and above all due to the fact that terrorism is a collective and synthetic concept. It covers a wide range of
Rooted in the mists of time, at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries terrorism influenced by globalization processes has acquired new shapes and meanings essentially changing the entire world order. This concept has become an integral part of contemporary political discourse. Now the word "terrorism" increasingly appears in the mouth ofpoliticians, it is associated with any violent action of hostile parties, whether the acts committed by a lone maniac, an organized group or state. Broadcasted in the media as a "bargaining chip" in the international relations, the terrorism has become synonymous with the universal evil, but the very term "terrorism" is not defined, unless, of course, falling into truism. It is certain that terrorism is a generic term, on the basis of which we must distinguish its kinds, especially traditional terrorism incorporating ethnic and religious terrorism, and modern, global terrorism, which produces horror as a transnational event and has become the main tool of geopolitical confrontation in the XXI century.
Presenting terrorism from its origins to the present day as a special way of violent behavior, we will distinguish three main phases of existence. In the
Modern terrorism as a product of globalization
social and political life phenomena — from the actions of extremist religious and ethnic groups to any armed conflict, which does not fit into the framework of the traditional understanding ofwar. Jeffrey Simon notes that there are currently about 212 definitions of terrorism, about 90 of which are used by states and other international institutions [2, 29].
However, such an abundance of characteristics indicates only extended functional-semantic meaning of the term "terrorism" and that it covers various aspects of social and political life inside and outside the state without changing its essence.
Therefore, defining terrorism, we should not list all its features and characteristics by the principle of "all in one basket". In fact, we meet an approach, when specific characters of terrorism in their set prevail over its essence. When we almost omit the fact that the main feature of terrorism is violence with the aim of demonstrative fear spreading.
However, the purpose of this article is not to define and describe the foundations and origins of terrorism genesis, but to consider its modern transnational types and the role given to it in the current political realities and marked by the society itself.
It is no secret that the society of modernity already goes into oblivion in many spheres, and that postmodernism comes to its place, yet obscure and poorly studied, with its denial of human and rethinking of the fundamental concepts. In terms of postmodern trends and growing globalization, traditional terrorism is known as a violent way of achieving the goals with "small means" and clearly not on the battlefield gets a special political status and development. This is primarily due to the fact that terrorism itself has long gone beyond one country borders or even one sphere of influence. Its role has increased dramatically in international relations, and it became increasingly perceived as a transnational phenomenon. The reasons for this transformation can be found in the global processes of political and economic integration and unification united by a common concept of "globalization".
As known, the motive force for the globalization (as we are interested only in its political and economic aspects) was the appearance of the first multinational companies in Europe in the XVII century (1600 — East India Company, 1602 — Dutch
East India Company), and as a consequence, the spread of European economic and financial models around the world. For the first time, the term "globalization" was used by Karl Marx in a letter to Engels in late 1850s: "Now the world market actually exists. With the participation of California and Japan in the world market, the globalization is accomplished" [3, 192].
Further, the process of globalization only increased its speed ultimately leading to the almost complete elimination of any economic, political and cultural barriers between countries and the creation of large economic and political integration areas. Reduction of state intervention in the economy and increase of political influence by large transnational corporations have led to a weakening of the national states and reduction of their sovereignty. The modern state has become a hostage of influential international organizations, increasingly delegating its powers to them.
This kind of anti-national and anti-state processes have led to the fact that traditional terrorism, which got a powerful impetus to development in the XX century due to the collapse of colonial empires and beginning of the world struggle for independence by colonized peoples of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, at the turn of the centuries goes out of the narrow national and government frameworks and becomes global. It is a mistake to believe that the modern terrorism is an antiglobalist phenomenon, a peculiar form of protest against the world order. The XXI century terrorism, used by the world's political and economic elite as a means of pressure on the domestic politics of sovereign states, is becoming one of the main "locomotives" for the world globalization, its indispensable component. The problem is in the fact that the terrorism as a transnational space continues expansion having the "power — society" relations sphere as a priority target.
The terrorism, as a phenomenon of global importance and an effective factor in the political life, includes both the very action — terror and the perpetrators of these actions — terrorists infected with nationalist and extremist ideas. The unity of these components (the terror, the subject/object of the terror and the ideologem) and the interest of some forces to use terrorism as an instrument (tool) for
their own benefit now determine the essence of the globalist terrorism as an institutional formation designed primarily to produce total fear.
The development of computer technologies and, above all, the Internet, which made the entire world to be a target of terror, plays a significant role in the globalization of terrorism. From now on, messages of fear and terror can reach absolutely anyone, and this fact testifies to the global nature of terrorism and its increasing role as a factor of political life, which assesses the effectiveness and legitimacy of the government and international coalitions.
The basic principle of terrorism, by which it has successfully adapted to the globalist world, is the principle of "economy". This principle of "economy" should be seen as a feature of globalization that unites politics with the economy. The main credo of large multinationals — "minimum costs and maximum income", which became the basis of economic globalization, is now perceived as an effective means to achieve political goals. According to this standard, customary political achievements set the tone of in-
ternational relations. Terrorism thus replaces the "great war" as an economical means, because today the terrorism is acceptable at the level of interstate relations, and most importantly, it is cost-effective means to achieve geopolitical goals making the very nature of international relations more unofficial and controversial.
Modern terrorism keeps pace with the time developing both in scope drawing more and more young people into its ranks and in depth continuing to improve organizationally and technologically. However, even with this, the lumen is still planned in the distance, as evidenced by political orientation to the fact that the terrorism can be eradicated. This can be achieved only through the application, in accordance with the UN Charter and international law, of sustainable comprehensive approach that includes active cooperation of all states, international and regional organizations, and by redoubled efforts at the national level. In short, global terrorism should be fought in a global scale, but what prevents the implementation of such an approach?
References:
1. Laqueur W. Terrorism. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1977.
2. Jeffrey D. Simon. The Terrorist Trap. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994.
3. Attali J. Karl Marx or the thought of the world. Moscow, 2008.
4. Terrorism as a social and political phenomenon. Countering today. Moscow, 2015.
