Letnik 9/2, september 2007 - Slovenska vojska

Denis Čaleta
terrorism” which is even more lethal and difficult to control than terrorism we got
used to in the near and more distant past It is obvious that modern terrorism is in
close correlation with the process of globalisation and that it exploits all influences
which this process brings in the 21st century. Also in the past one could not connect
terrorism only with one religion or socio-political system. Terrorism has been
connected with different activities of persons and organizations which operated
in a certain closed region. Terrorism is these days in terms of its dimensions
international and transnational and this means that national borders have lost their
traditional meaning. Terrorist targets, even if connected only with one state, could
be found anywhere in the world 2 . Attacks performed by the international terrorist
network on selected targets in the most industrially and militarily developed
state had a very deep message and symbolic meaning. Threats brought by global
terrorism are possible any time and any place in the world. There is no total
security and it is impossible to ensure it. This recognition has been even stronger in
our minds after terrorist attacks on the USA, Madrid, Beslan and London.
It is very important that after the Cold War, violence has become a legitimate part
of this system in international relations. States and international organizations try
to keep their monopoly over the execution of violence. In view of new global force
proportion it is justified to ask ourselves if the role of states in this area is reducing
because lately more and more non-state actors appear which seem to be directly
collaborating in arranging international relations. A large increase in the number of
non-state actors and their clear wish to directly cooperate in settling international
relations evidently present a certain “threat” to states and their monopoly over
executing violence. Based on a concrete relationship between the globalisation of
terrorism and terrorist groups on the one side and the role of the state on the other
side we can’t with all certainty confirm essential reduction of its role in international
relations. On the one hand, international terrorist organizations still have certain
direct or indirect support by some states. 3 A very important dimension of modern
terrorism is also the changes in motivation patterns of terrorists. On the scene, there
is a new wave of terrorists who are joining in the network structures composed of
groups of ready and highly motivated individuals with religious persuasion and
pervaded with religious hatred. The second important group of terrorists is violent
right wing extremists and various sects who believe in apocalypse or the end of the
2
As an example, the most evident are the attacks on the USA and Israeli embassies and other facilities
3
The supporters of terrorism are considered to be the states whose ideological and political framework
is in accordance with goals of terrorist organizations.
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