Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

lxvi • INTRODUCTIONenvironment: The very technology that has made the world more interconnectedhas also promoted the assertion of “primordial loyalties fueled byethnicity, race and language.” In addition, secular nation-states that onceprided themselves on their openness to cultural and ethnic diversity areincreasingly being challenged by renewed appeals by dissident groupswithin their own societies to an exclusivist religious or cultural hegemonyor dominance. European nations are witnessing a strident militancy amonga small segment of their growing Muslim immigrant populations accompaniedby the backlash of nativist right-wing political groups. India, whichfollowing its independence succeeded in maintaining a democratic societyunder a secular and inclusive constitution, faces the challenge of growingHindu-nationalist movements that seek to use democratic processes tomarginalize non-Hindus in Indian society, a development that can only inflamemilitancy among Muslims and other non-Hindu minorities of India.Lately these tendencies have accelerated, not only as reactions to Westernsecular culture by various fundamentalist groups, but also through thedesire of other subnational groups seeking to protect their own identityfrom the danger of assimilation into a mass society marked by rampantconsumerism and loss of basic spiritual values. These resurgent nationalistmovements have already used the technology of the postindustrializedsocieties against them. The Zapatistas, for example, have used the Internetto dramatize their cause through the use of netwar 19 much in the way thatthe Black September Movement seized the world’s attention through whatis now called the “CNN-drome.” 20 Groups using terrorism as a means ofachieving their goals may increasingly combine ancient loyalties withmodern technology in their quest for identity.This reassertion of traditional loyalties demonstrates that the arbitraryborders imposed by old colonial policies are being not only eroded butdestroyed. Tribes, clans, and extended families will no longer play by therules of international affairs, which were written during the great powerdominance of the Congress of Vienna and which emphasized the centralityof the nation-state in international politics. In the new internationalarena where nonstate actors will grow in importance, former geographicand political boundaries will be replaced by psychosocial boundaries,where individuals and groups may resort to terrorism in a world markedboth by increasing technological interdependence and by a decreasingsense of community with others outside the primordial group.At the same time, the power of the Internet and accompanying technologicaldevelopments will continue to promote the creation of move-