TYPES OF TERRORISM
Introduction
Terrorism entails the organized use of terror as a means of attaining some goals that may be religious, political or ideological. Terrorist organizations deploy violent acts directed at the civilians in order to create fear. This puts them in a better position to negotiate their demands. Acts of terrorism have deployed by a number of political organizations in order to achieve their objectives (Bew & Frampton, 2010). Terrorism has been notable among nationalist, religious and revolutionist groups with a universal trend among all types of terrorism involving the indiscriminate deployment of violence directed at non-combatants in order to gain the publicity of the terrorist organization (George, 2010). Despite the widely consented view that the use of coercive violence is unacceptable, terrorism usually attempt to rationalize the use of violence in order to further their cause. The motivations of terrorism can be likened to Becker’s rational choice theory, which states that the acts of an individual or a group are determined by balancing the costs against the prospective benefits in order to engage in an act that optimizes the gain. In the light of this view, terrorist groups are motivated when the potential benefits far outweigh the costs; this serves as a framework through which they rationalize their terrorist acts for the goals. Three types of terrorism are identified in this paper including ideological terrorism, nationalist terrorism and religious terrorism (Lerner & Lee, 2006).
Ideological terrorism
Ideological terrorism is usually characterized by small terrorist groups engage in terrorist acts for the main aim of imposing their political ideologies on others. Ideological tourism is a product of the theories of revolutions and is closely related to the various models of guerilla warfare. Ideological terrorism was at its peak during the reign of Soviet Union, and its collapse resulted to the advent of religious violence. The ideology that usually results to terrorism is mainly due to passion surrounding a concern (Lerner & Lee, 2006).
The Baader-Meinhof in Germany is one of the ideological terrorist organizations that viewed itself as a communist and anti-imperialist urban guerilla that was established with the main objective of resisting what they termed a fascist state. The establishment of the Baader-Meinhof is associated with student protest movement that took place in West Germany (Varon, 2006). During the 1960s, western nations faced social upheavals mainly attributed to the maturity of baby boomers that were born after the Second World War, cold war and the ending of colonialism. The youth identity laid emphasis on issues such the liberation of women, racism and anti-imperialism, which were the central focus on left-wing politics (Lerner & Lee, 2006).
According to Marighella’s urban model, ideological tourism was mainly influenced by anti-colonialism and that the model for this kind of terrorism is based on the notion of urban guerilla and urban terrorism. Another driver for ideological terrorism is the view that western powers have engaged in the dehumanization of non-western people through a destruction of their cultures and reinstating them with the western values. As a result, people from non-western region are under a lasting identity crisis that compels them to deny their heritage if they are to succeed. The native populations are left with no choice but only revolution (Paul, 2001). Decolonization was somewhat a violent process mainly due to the fact that it entailed the replacement of one group of powerful group with another and the attainment of freedom was essentially violent. The rural guerilla warfare served as the basic method of attaining revolution. In the light of this view, Revolutionist terrorist organizations on the hand cannot engage the state in discussions because their main objective is the demise of the state.
The main objective of ideological terrorism is to terrorize western groups and their corresponding followers into submission. Urban terror had the primary goal of imposing mayhem and terrorist acts are extremely brutal in order to instill fear as a strategy for attaining their goals. The basis of ideological terrorism is rooted in violence, which is controlled by small terrorist units. Ideological terrorism heavily relies on public support in order to destabilize the state power in order to ensure government repression (Rudolf & Anissah, 2008). The Marighella’s model of urban tourism would be perfect approach for revolutionists if it were effective. Unfortunately, the model does not work owing to the fact it has not toppled government. Most of ideological terrorist groups deploy the Marighella’s model and have not been successful in achieving their objectives. They are not usually strong enough to establish a new order although they have the capacity of terrorizing a community or a community (Rudolf & Anissah, 2008).
Nationalist terrorism
Nationalist terrorism is primarily concerned with maintaining of territory, while revolutionary terrorism primarily focuses on mobilization. The outcome of nationalist terrorism is the establishment of a new state in the country of dispute. In addition, the demands imposed by nationalist terrorist groups are open to discussion. The primary difference that exists between ideological terrorism and nationalist terrorism is in terms of their goals. Ideological terrorism usually opposes the economic and social structure associated with industrial capitalism in the sense that they aim at creating a new order (Lerner & Lee, 2006). On the other hand, the nationalist terrorism usually embraces capitalism and aim at fighting for ethnic self-determination. Nationalist terrorism yearns for the attainment of economic opportunity with strong national identity. Nationalist terrorism is successful and stays for long but ideology does not stay for long. Mobilization is also evident with regard to nationalist terrorist organizations like Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in Sri Lanka, although they are mainly constrained within the limits of territorial goals, in order to enhance the bargaining power of the terrorist groups. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in Sri Lanka deploys the use violence in order to engage in dialogue with the state under dispute. The terrorist organizations usually rely on increasing the consequences of their activities so that the government can abandon the territory. Nationalist terrorist groups attempt to gain penetration into the society using diverse strategies. This implies that such terrorist groups are likely to diversify their resources beyond terrorist activities such as involvement in welfare provision (Bew & Frampton, 2010).
Nationalist terrorism is closely associated with separatist goals. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam considers itself a separatist group that has aiming for the attainment of a homeland for the ethnic Tamils, who feel that they are a minority group and mostly persecuted by the ethnic majority in the country, the Sinhalese. The organizational structure of Tamil Tigers makes significant contributions towards its success. This results to a complexity in its structure, making it difficult for authorities to access and penetrate the organizations. The terrorist group has diverse operations in order to ensure its survival and operate with minimal financial and operational constraints (Bew & Frampton, 2010).
Religious terrorism
Religious terrorism is mainly motivated by religious interpretations and influence. In the present day, especially with the decline of the notions of nationalism, revolutionists and anarchists, terrorism is significantly motivated by religion. Terrorism in the modern day is carried out under the disguise of religion and ethnic identity (George, 2010). Terrorism is usually justified under the interpretation of religious values, and mostly initiated with the perceived objective of protecting the religion that the terrorist organization is affiliated to. Hoffman Bruce note that the contemporary religious terrorism is characterized by the use of religious scriptures in order to rationalize and describe the violent acts and recruit, and clerical figures usually play a forefront role in the terrorism acts (Paul, 2001). Apocalyptic images associated with destruction are sometimes deployed by the perpetrators. The success of religious terrorism is that it is easy to initiate since it embodies the notions of suicide terrorism and self-sacrifice. This makes it efficient, cheap and easy to organize. This is a perfect instance of the rational choice theory because this approach to terrorism results to maximum damage that is imposed at minimal cost. Religious terrorism usually glamorizes suicide terrorism as a strategy to gain public support. In addition, retaliation to religious terrorist activities usually serves to increase the sense of victimization and commitment of the members of the group (George, 2010).
An example of religious terrorism is the alleged Iranian state-sponsored terrorism. The US perceives Iran as playing a forefront role sponsoring terrorism activities. Iran is engaged in active support of terrorist organizations, especially the Lebanese Hezbollah. The main aim of state sponsored terrorism is to have an indirect political influence elsewhere (George, 2010).
Conclusion
This paper has identified three types of terrorism, mainly ideological terrorism, nationalist terrorism and religious terrorism. Ideological terrorism were mainly carried with the main objective of revolution, while nationalist terrorism is carried with the main objective of attainment of separatist goals. Religious terrorism such as state sponsored terrorism is mainly used in exerting political influences in other regions.

References
Bew, J. & Frampton, M., 2010. Talking to Terrorists: Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country. London: Hurst & Co.
George, A., 2010. Western State Terrorism. New York: Polity Press.
Lerner, B.W. & Lee, L., 2006. Terrorism: Essential primary sources. New York: Thomson Gale.
Paul, W., 2001. Terrorism versus Democracy: The Liberal StateResponse. London : Frank Cass.
Rudolf, R. & Anissah, E., 2008. From terrorism to politics. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Varon, J., 2006. Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the Sixties and Seventies. California: University of California.