The concerns about terrorist attacks have risen sharply over the past few years as the majority of people believe that the world is at combat with radical Islam (Crenshaw 481). Most people believe that an extremist violence in the United States ensuing in large fatalities is probable to occur in the near prospect. Terrorism seems not just more lethal and more common but widespread in the sense that it captures almost all corners of the globe. In 2015, terrorist attacks took place in over 90 countries and ISIS appears to be strategically gaining sights abroad as it losses ground in Iraq and Syria (Crenshaw 481). The fears related to a possible future attack by terrorism have elevated and ISIS and other terrorist groups are viewed as the top threat edging out the dangers of economic instability and climate change. The objective of this paper is to assess the possibility of a possible future terrorist attack as a public issue through assessing controversial claims and selecting suitable evidence to support them.
Possibility of Possible Future Terrorist Attack
The truth of the matter is that terrorism should be viewed as an ongoing problem that can only be managed but not is defeated (Mueller and Mark 34). Governments cannot win the war on terrorism like they do to crime, poverty or drugs. It is because it is impossible to keep terrorists out since all borders and coastlines are permeable. There are no adequate soldiers and police force to monitor every inch of coastline or borders. Apart from watching the borders, it is important to note that the threat is already inside. Good examples to illustrate this sentiment are the 2005 radical assaults in London that were conducted by the British residents (Mueller and Mark 44).
Moreover, the Boston Marathon assault was also effected by the United States national as well as the Paris attack that appeared to have been coordinated from inside by the French citizens. Therefore, it is a clear indication that every nation on the globe has its young men that are either angry with the regime or the society as a whole. As a result, the possibility of future terrorist attack is still imminent and a reality that cannot be ignored (Mueller and Mark 51).
Similarly, defeating one terrorist group will not make terrorism go away because there are numerous groups of terrorists across the globe. Prior to ISIS, there was al-Qaida and in the past, there was Hamas and Hezbollah (Roberts 61). The terrorist groups recruit thousands of young men across the world to the battlefields. The ones that survive go back home as hardened committed terrorists who are bloodthirsty. They also have strong skills of evading detection from the law enforcers, communicating through the encrypted platform and assembling explosive materials for carrying out complex attacks (Roberts 64).
Once these veteran jihadi return home, they affect the marginalized minority in the community and connect with already disaffected individuals. They magnify the extremism of their views and then give them weapons hence turning them into a real jihadi. If a terrorist can recruit young people into the society and enable them to return without being noticed, then that indicates that there is a high likelihood that devastating terrorist attacks can happen in future (Roberts 69).
Impossibility of Future Terrorist Attacks
Many security experts' points out that many terrorist groups are not expected to last long into the prospect and even if they do they would not prosper in hurling mass fatality attacks like the devastating September 11 (Freilich 356). Ten years from now the conservative terror networks that are refined are integrated and will probable to marginalize by forceful military intelligence collection and law enforcement efforts. Besides understanding the root causes of radicalism can lead to strategies for deterrence and dropping the possibility of assaults (Freilich 342). By focusing on intelligence, it is clear that extremist attack is comparatively easy to carry out. Modern civilizations offer numerous exposed and defenseless targets such as the airport, celebrations in packed places among others.
The potential weapons, on the other hand, are too many to count. To prevent the possibility of terrorism to happen, security strategies must be based on brainpower (Freilich 347). Intelligence means comprehending the control organization, the motivations and developing a strategy to that can forestall and acclimate to their continuously altering their tactics. Most significantly, the conceptual dimension should not be overlooked since it clarifies the excesses to which the radicals are eager to reach. Embracing integration should also be instrumental in that the immigrants in the country should not feel as second-class citizens because it can exacerbate detestation than the feeling of being left out and can trigger ethnic, religious and ideological radicalization (Freilich 356).
The European and American history shows that terrorism has its roots in the Middle East but this is not to say that there are no presently extremists in the Middle East because the normal citizens of Iraq and Syria are their main fatalities (Crenshaw 481). Terrorist continue to take many forms around the world. For instance, non-jihadist terrorists have killed more people in the United States since the aftermath of 9/11. However, it is through the influence of the hardcore terrorist that the non-jihadist gets the guts to carry out the attacks (Crenshaw 481).
Therefore, assessing the roots of terrorism and the groups such as ISIS through identifying their leadership is very important in reducing the possibility of future terrorism occurrence. For instance, the leader of ISIS is Baghdadi and he is highly significant as a spiritual front-runner within the group and as the commandant of the faithful (Crenshaw 481). Having known that, it is important to take out the leader because this tactic is likely to hasten the end of terrorist groups such as Aum Shinrikyo and Hamas (Crenshaw 481). However, there are cases where removing the leader of the group can increase the violence of its activities or decrease the discipline among the filed fighters and rank. But what is important is that removing the leader will disorient and demoralize the group hence reducing their possibility of conducting attacks in future (Crenshaw 481).
Conclusion
It is clear that there is a high likelihood that terrorism can happen anywhere, anyplace and at any time given the rate of attack that has been experienced in many countries in the recent years. As much as security personnel is working tirelessly to curb this menace, one cannot deny the fact that it cannot be fully defeated. However, putting establishing appropriate policies such as intelligence gathering and integration is critical to ensure that terrorism is curbed to some extent. What is worrying is that there will be other terrorist groups in future even if the world governments defeat the current groups hence indicating that there is still the possibility of devastating future terrorist attacks no matter the approaches and policies.
Works Cited
Crenshaw, Martha. "The strategic logic of terrorism." Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War and Peace33 (2015): 481.
Freilich, Joshua D., Steven M. Chermak, and Jeff Gruenewald. "The future of terrorism research: A review essay." International journal of comparative and applied criminal justice 39.4 (2015): 353-369.
Mueller, John, and Mark G. Stewart. "Trends in Public Opinion on Terrorism." Posted at politicalscience. osu. edu/faculty/jmueller/terrorpolls. pdf (2015).
Roberts, Adam. "Terrorism research: Past, present, and future." Studies in Conflict " Terrorism 38.1 (2015): 62-74.
