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The events of 11 September 2001 taught us many things about ourselves, others, and the world we live in. We learned who and what was important to us, what it felt like to be victimized, and how developments in other countries could threaten our homeland. We also learned what it felt like to thirst for revenge. The experience has left us with a number of unanswered questions. To this day, we ask “why?” We have found there are no easy answers.
We are realizing that understanding the phenomenon of terrorism in general and apocalyptic terrorism in particular is one of the greatest challenges of the millennium. This chapter hopes to explain some of the unanswered questions by (a) examining the nature of today’s terrorism, (b) exploring some of its deep rooted causes and conditions, and (c) analyzing the relationship of apocalyptic terrorism with the basic human need for identity. Our goal is to encourage the reader to look beyond his or her own biases and historical assumptions -- to look beyond the symptoms and beyond the enemy images. Only then can we build an understanding of the underlying causes and conditions of terrorism. In the end, our understanding will contribute to the resolution of the problem.
This volume, follow-on to an earlier set of essays on terrorism produced as a collaborative effort between the Advanced Systems and Concepts Office and the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, examines a specific, and potentially catastrophic, threat to the international community, that of apocalyptic terrorism. In a series of essays it examines the nature, causes, objectives, and motivations behind a type of terrorism that sees few bounds, both as to targets and as to the means used to attack them. It is a threat that haunts political decision-makers and has led to the expenditure of literally billions of dollars seeking to defend and protect populations from the ravages of terrorists whose means and ends seem to converge. Yet, if these essays analyze this extreme type of terrorism, they do not attempt to hype it; rather, through varying perspectives, they hope to provide greater understanding both of the nature and the causes of rage that might lead individuals and groups to employ apocalyptic means to achieve their goals.