ULUSLARARASI POLİTİKA - Deneme Sınavı - 3

In modern history, industrial revolution is the process of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing. This process began in Britain in the 18th century and from there spread to other parts of the world.

The process of economic globalization was accompanied by the ending of the Cold War and the triumph of liberalism as a political and economic ideology over communism in 1990s. Both of these two developments, more specifically, the rising interconnectedness of economic activities supported by the advancements in technology and the transformation of the international system, have caused an ongoing transformation not only on the economic activites but also on almost every aspect of the human life.

In contemporary politics, religious activism as a component of conflict and opponency to the state mechanism reveals itself in two ways. Religion becomes politicized; and coversely, politics are religionized. The contradiction and asserts that the underlying cause of the global resurgence of religion in the last decades is “the secularization of the sacred that has been at the center of the process by which the civilization of the western world developed” (2005, p. 2). Within this context, the secular nation state is criticized from the religious point of view by the adherents of different religions. Nevertheless, the relationship of the nation state, religion and nationalism as an ideology is quite complex.

As a non-governmental organization (NGO) refers to the organizations which are not established or coordinated by a government or any public institution, a civil society organization (CSO) is also an NGO. However, a CSO is also expected not to be attached to interest groups in the society which gather to secure or promote financial interests, e.g., business organizations.

The ideological rivalry was an important source of conflict during the Cold War period. In the aftermath, divisions based on cultural and religious
differences immediately took the place of the ideological rivalry.

The European Commission defines violent extremism (VE) as “The use of and support for violence in pursuit of ideological, religious or political goals.” The concept of VE is not limited to be part of a violent act. Supporting, advocating, planning, organizing etc. such kinds of attacks are also regarded as components of VE.

The Jewish Zealot movement is regarded as the first terrorist organization and thus, predecessor of all the terror groups. It emerged as a reaction to the Roman Empire’s rule in Palestine during its Imperial period, and its increasingly oppressive measures against the Jews and gradual loss of their autonomy within the Empire.

The word assassin is widely believed to be originated from the terror group active in a wide area from Iran to Syria and Egypt, led by Hasan-i Sabbah, acting with an ideological motivation derived from İsmailiyya branch of Shi’ism. Hasan-i Sabbah was widely regarded as both the propagandist of its strict sectarian stance, a military and ideological leader of its organisation, and a strategic mastermind behind selection of critical targets and capturing almost unconquerable castles and cities in order to hide its militants.

The Reign of Terror was a response to the rise of oppositional groups especially in Vandée resulting in a civil war and rising threat of being surrounded by enemies.

The anarcho-terrorism in Russia in the 19th century is widely regarded as the predecessor of many modern terrorist organizations. Their “success” in assassinating quite high level officials, even including a tsar himself, namely Alexander II, and even more importantly their use of dynamites which opened up a new page within the context of the methods of terrorism made them a very important case in the history of terrorism.

Whereas extreme left terrorism reached its peak point in Europe during the Cold War years, Marxist extreme-left wing terror groups are still active in many countries and regions from the Latin America to the Middle East and Southeast Asia. On the other hand, coupled with rising Islamophobia, xenophobia, and anti-refugee discourse, extreme-right radical ideas and ensued violent acts are on the rise once again especially in Europe and the United States.

The tragic incident of the 9/11 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda and subsequent declaration of a “Global War on Terror” by the then US President George W. Bush resulted in a higher attention to the subject more than ever. Even though Al-Qaeda and ISIS/ISIL/DAESH are the two most “famous” examples of this category, various groups with different religious motivations resorted to terrorism over centuries.

The year 1979 was a key turning point after which studies about religion’s increasing significance to international politics became a hot topic. That year witnessed not only the Revolution in Iran but also the beginning of the Soviet efforts to invade Afghanistan.

In 2003, in Sri Lanka and Birmanya, Buddhist monks encouraged people to attack Muslims and even took part in the attacks killing dozens of Muslims. Similarly, in 2017 only, an ultranationalist Buddhist group called Ma Ba Tha, led by Ashin Wirathu, ignited violence against Muslims in Rohingya.

De-radicalization is a cognitive process with the goal of cutting the link between its target audience with radical ideas.

Cold War ended with the fall of Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in December 1991. This meant the plethora of views, actions, and debates on security in international politics from the stance points of both intellectuals and officials in the post-Cold War era.

Alan Collins supplies ten different definition of security that contains national, individual, and group security in terms of material and non-material threats against their core values (Collins, 2013: 1-9). Collins touches upon wide range of security issues in the context of security studies. He deepens and broadens the subject of security by including topics of military, regime, societal, environmental, and economic security.

The Liberal views do not deny the importance and influence of international system on the behavior of states. Having said that the Liberal perspectives argue that international system is not as influential and determinant factor on states’ behavior as the power and choices of national actors and internal political systems.

According to Terriff, Positivism shows four connected characteristics in social sciences: First, “there is an objective truth that can be discovered.” Second, “the means of discovering that truth is reason and there is only one correct form of reasoning”. Third, “the tool of reasoning is empiricism, which enables the analyst to test propositions”. Fourth, “there can be a distinction between observer and observed”.

The Constructivist approach pays great attention to view that ideas, identity, and interaction are of great importance in international system. For the Constructivist security, as international system is itself a constructed ‘reality’, so is the concept of security in international politics.