Terrorism

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a cost-benefits analysis of terrorism. It particularly focuses on the terrorism of 9/11 in the United States. The paper discusses if there can ever be a situation when terrorism is acceptable in promoting political agendas. The paper suggests that terrorism is justified when it is the most effective form of social or political persuasion available against a government or group whose actions cause worse harm than the terrorism itself.

From the Paper:

"This is indeed a serious concern for terrorists such as ELF, whose actions are aimed at decreasing a social phenomena of urban sprawl and environmental degradation. One might well argue that ELF's overall harm in a few arson cases is less serious than the harm caused by sprawl - however, there is an additional harm inherent both in the backlash it creates against political environmentalists and also the way in which it weakens democratic process as a whole. Though I do not consider government itself sacrosanct, and actually think terrorism may be most useful when it is aimed at destroying or altering a government (as was the case in the fictional story of V for Vendetta, and the true history of Zionism), I would suggest that the harm to that system and to the less obvious fabric of social trust must be taken into consideration."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Frey, R.G. & Morris, Christopher W. Violence, Terrorism, and Justice. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
• Hirschkorn, Paul. "New York reduces 9/11 death toll by 40." CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/29/wtc.deaths/
• Jenkins, Andrew. "Annual Smoking Related Deaths in Perspective" Central Washington University. <http://www.cwu.edu/~jenkinsa/smokingdeaths.htm>
• Morris, Christopher. "A Crime or an Act of War?" <http://ethics.acusd.edu/Resources/PhilForum/Terrorism/ChristopherMorris.html>
• Yount, David. "The 'ethics' of terrorism: one philosopher's perspective." Speech to the Center for Global Tolerance and Engagement, Dec 4 2002. <http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~yount/text/ethics-of-terrorism.pdf>

More papers on Terrorism:

• Analytical Essay # 74138 : "History of Terrorism"
• Research Paper # 97443 : "International Terrorism"
• Term Paper # 90681 : "International Terrorism"
• Analytical Essay # 134387 : "Terrorism and Conflict Theory"

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