The Process of Radicalization
The term radicalization refers to the process by which one or more people develop extremist ideologies and beliefs and thereby engage themselves in terrorist acts and violent radical actions (Doosje, et al., 2016). It is the process of acquiring ideas and rejecting those in mainstream society. A person can become radicalized for a number of reasons, top of which is perceived harm or injustice upon themselves or people that they love, making personal grievances a top contributor. It is also possible for people to become radicalized due to political grievances, by experiencing some of harm, or by being victims of injustices or threats. Most of the factors that cause radicalization among individuals or at the micro level revolve around feelings of insignificance due to loss of status, poor career prospects, or feelings of humiliation that drive a person to engage in criminal activities (Doosje, et al., 2016). Additionally, a sense of uncertainty can cause radicalization since some will try to find its certainty among some groups and in the company of people they think can assure them of a future.
Radicalization as a Form of Terrorism
Marc Sageman describes radicalization as a form of terrorism and not a scientifically valid phenomenon, meaning an individual exposed to the discovery of the law will face the court and end up in jail serving a life sentence. According to Sageman (2017), contemporary terrorism results from the precise form of political violence that acts as the main factor contributing to radicalization. Therefore, exposing these forms of radicalization to the law as early as possible can prevent the future emergence of terrorism.
The Role of Terrorism Funding
Question 2
Terrorist activities require money and without it, it is impossible for terrorist factions to operate. Most of them get their money either legal or legal activities. The main illicit way of getting money is the links they generate with people who deal in drugs, arms trafficking, and kidnapping for ransom (Kleemans, 2015). Some terrorists make deals with members of the state to exchange operational information with them, thus gaining financial assistant from them while others get money from legal charities through dubious contributions. Tracking and stopping the source of terrorism funding weakens their networks and makes terrorist operations harder to carry out as usual (Kleemans, 2015). Therefore, implementing policies to empower the agencies responsible for these analyses can help in the elimination of terror groups.
The Challenge of Narcoterrorism
Narcoterrorism is a form of terrorism where individuals engage themselves in dealing with drugs and trading them to get money to finance their terror activities (Gomis, 2015). In my opinion, when tracking and stopping terrorism, funding is a crucial determinant of success and narcoterrorism thereby represents a challenge to the effectiveness of anti-terrorism activities.
References
Doosje, B., Moghaddam, F. M., Kruglanski, A. W., De Wolf, A., Mann, L., " Feddes, A. R. (2016). Terrorism, Radicalization and De-radicalization. Current Opinion in Psychology, 11, 79-84.
Gomis, B. (2015). Demystifying ‘Narcoterrorism’. Global Drug Policy Observatory.
Sageman, M. (2017). Turning to Political Violence: The Emergence of Terrorism. University of Pennsylvania Press.
