Modern civilization is a movement away from death, wrote the wise Stanislav Lem. This is why a truck speeding along an embankment on the Cote d'Azur, a man with an ax in a Treuchtlingen-Wurzburg train, and the shooting of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge cause such horror.

The perpetrators of these actions were killed, They won't talk about their motives. We judge what prompted them to take these actions only by indirect evidence. But it is necessary to find out the reasons. In order to understand how it is possible to stop terrorists or at least reduce the level of threat posed by them.

But rising in recent times months, a wave of terror is not such news. Half a century ago, militants from various Brigate Rosse and Rote Armee Fraktion terrorized Europe. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Combat Organization of Socialist Revolutionaries shook the entire state mechanism of the Russian Empire. “...We have long been accustomed to taking bombs into account as an everyday phenomenon,” flaunts the character in the story by Alexander Kuprin, who was appointed “the head of one of the western provinces.”

However, "red terrorism" was business of organizations. And the weak point of even the most conspiratorial organization lies in the very principle of conspiracy. As Niccolò Machiavelli wrote, “a conspirator... cannot come to an agreement with anyone except those whom he considers dissatisfied. But by opening up to the dissatisfied, you immediately give him the opportunity to become one of the satisfied... by betraying you, he can secure all sorts of benefits for himself.” The story of Yevno Azef, who actually organized several major terrorist attacks and at the same time was the most important informant for the Russian secret police, is a vivid example of how terrorism can be intertwined with both politics and the actions of the secret services.

But the terror of loners - it's a different matter. How to determine at what moment and in what city a person will take up a knife or get behind the wheel of a car? And to what extent does he realize that his retribution will be death at the scene of the crime? And if he is consciously seeking death, then what can be used to scare him to stop him?

A suicide bomber is not a phenomenon new. Their motives are also repeated from century to century. One of the most famous historical terrorists, Balthazar Gerard, who shot Prince William of Orange in the summer of 1584, was nevertheless captured and during interrogation stated that he was happy to earn the Kingdom of Heaven by killing the main heretic. And Nikolai Rysakov, who blew up the carriage of Emperor Alexander II, claimed that he fought not against autocracy, but “against the system that is called liberal.”

Unfortunately, count on it is not true that progress and order will protect us from this kind of action. There will be plenty of people willing to write their names in the history of terror. As Leo Tolstoy bitterly noted, “among the people there will always be tens of thousands of people who have lost their social position, reckless people who are always ready - to join Pugachev’s gang, to Khiva, to Serbia...”

What is the our days, the loss of that very social position, which, according to Tolstoy, is ready to push a person to Serbia or to Pugachev’s gang? Modernized society has solved many problems that were previously considered a private matter of the individual - in the modern West you have to try hard to live on the street as a sick and poor vagabond. To ensure a comfortable life, a European resident, even one without education or qualifications, does not need to stand at a machine or swing a shovel. Religion? But modern society gives full scope to religion; pray from morning to night. Maybe the traditions of our ancestors?

What if everything is simpler? Russian philosopher Igor Efimov said: “In every country there are people with a passion for killing. They were born that way. And in any country they will find one way or another to quench their passion. Where it is fashionable to kill for faith, they will join the detachments of holy martyrs, where it is fashionable to kill for exploitation, they will join the “red brigades”, and where it is fashionable to kill for money, they will join gangsters.” If, Efimov continues his thought, such people do not find a use for themselves, “they will have no choice but to seize the supreme power in the country and take the monopoly of murder into their own hands.”

This is what it could be truly scary. And only Fyodor Dostoevsky can add optimism to this situation, explaining the motives of the nihilists who greatly frightened the great writer’s contemporaries: “There is no money to hire a mistress, that’s all.”

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The term “terrorism” first became widespread during the Great French Revolution. A distinctive feature of its modern meaning was that in that era “terrorism” had an exclusively positive connotation. A control system called the regime of terror appeared in 1793-1794 and gave rise to the English term “terrorism”. It was established to maintain order during the anarchic transition period that followed the uprisings of 1789 and was marked by disorder and upheaval, as had happened during revolutions in other countries. Thus, unlike terrorism in the modern interpretation, which means some kind of revolutionary or anti-government activity carried out by non-state or subnational organizations, the regime of terror was an instrument of governance of the new revolutionary state. Its main task was also to strengthen the power of the new government by intimidating those who carried out counter-revolutionary activities that undermined the interests of the new government, as well as dissidents who were considered enemies of the people. The Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunal (in modern parlance, the People's Court) were given broad powers to arrest and convict, as well as publicly execute by guillotine, persons accused of treason, otherwise reactionary activities. So, every citizen clearly understood what could threaten him by resisting the new revolutionary order or showing nostalgia for the old regime. Ustinov V.V. International experience in the fight against terrorism: standards and practice. M.: Yurlitinform, 2002.- 560 p.

As surprising as it may sound, terrorism in its original meaning was closely associated with the ideas of virtue and democratic views. The leader of the revolutionary movement, Maximilian Robespierre, firmly believed that virtue should be the basis of motivation for the activities of popular government in times of peace, but in turbulent times of revolutionary upheaval it should be combined with terror for the flourishing of democracy. He always referred to virtue, without which terror, alas, becomes evil; however, virtue, due to the lack of support for terror, becomes helpless. Robespierre declared: terror is nothing other than justice, swift, strict and unyielding, and yet it is an emanation of virtue.

The term “terrorism” from the time of the French Revolution still has, despite such a difference from its later meaning, two important characteristics that coincide with its modern meaning. Firstly, the regime of terror did not have the random or chaotic character attributed to terror by modern media, but, on the contrary, acted systematically, thoughtfully and orderly. Secondly, his only goal and justification that he pursued was the creation of a “new and better society” instead of the old, undemocratic, incurably corrupt political system, which makes the regime of terror similar to terrorism in the modern sense. Indeed, the vague and utopian interpretation of the main tasks of the revolution, proposed by Robespierre, perfectly coincided with the mood and essence of the manifestos imbued with the ideas of a “bright future”, published by many revolutionary terrorist, namely left-wing Marxist organizations. For example, in 1794, Robespierre made an ominous statement similar in manner to the official communications of revolutionary groups such as the Italian Red Brigades and the German Red Army Faction that existed two centuries later. The statement was as follows: “We need an order of things in which the arts will serve as an adornment of freedom that ennobles them, and trade will become a source of wealth for the common people, and not a way of profit that feeds the monstrous luxury of a few. For our country we demand morality instead of selfishness, honesty instead of vaunted honor, law instead of adherence to traditions, fulfillment of duty instead of following moral laws, the power of reason instead of following fashion, ridicule of immorality instead of contempt for the poor...” Zharinov K.V. Terrorism and terrorists. - Minsk: Harvest, 1999. - 606 p.

So, the fate of the Great French Revolution was very sad, like other revolutions - it destroyed itself.

But it was terrorist acts that began to appear in the second half of the nineteenth century. For example, in Russia there was a revolutionary struggle against the autocracy from 1878 to 1881. Thus, Armenians, Irish, Macedonians, Serbs, who were part of radical nationalist groups, used terrorist methods in the struggle for national autonomy or independence. But in Spain and the United States, terrorism had its own specifics in the way it used the support of certain groups of the population.

In the United States at that time, the ideas of terrorism were used by many, from representatives of the labor movement - “Molly Maguires”, to the Western Union of Miners.

Thus, the peasant and labor movements in Spain considered terrorism as a means of protection. All these speeches had much in common, despite differences in political specifics: here, on the one hand, there is a connection with the growth of democracy, and on the other, nationalism. The problems of existence that burdened people haunted us before: the oppression of minorities, authoritarianism was the basis that knew no exceptions, but with the advent of the ideas of enlightenment and the growth of nationalism, social conditions that had not previously caused problems began to seem monstrous. However, armed protest was successful only if the leaders agreed to a new game with certain rules, which, first of all, excluded reprisals against dissidents. In general, terrorist groups could only be defeated by a government that despised terrorist methods. This is how paradoxical it all looked for terrorists, and the methods of old authoritarian regimes, which many governments abandoned, were used by new totalitarian states. Razzakov F. Century of Terror: Chronicle of Attempts. M.: Eksmo, 1997.- 432 p.

The terrorist movement "People's Will", which operated in Russia from January 1878 to March 1881, played a special role. When this organization began an armed struggle, a certain Kovalsky, one of its participants, used a weapon, resisting arrest; Later, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg was shot dead by Vera Zasulich, and the first step of this campaign of terror was marked by the murder of General Mezentsev, who was the chief of the Third Section, in August 1878. In September 1879, the revolutionary tribunal of Narodnaya Volya sentenced Emperor Alexander II to death. Earlier, in April, an attempt was made on the life of the Tsar by a certain Solovyov, but he did it for his own reasons. The remaining attempts on the life of the sovereign (an attempt to derail the royal train and a bomb explosion in the Winter Palace) were also not successful. The Tsar was killed on March 1, 1881, and the paradox of the situation was that by that time most of the Narodnaya Volya had already been arrested. This incident became both the apogee and the finale of the campaign of terror, and for about two decades there was a lull in Russia. Chernitsky A.M. Fallen stars of terror. M: Phoenix. 2006. - 480 p.

The second wave of terror was the activity of the Social Revolutionaries. Apart from individual incidents, individual terror ceased after 1911. After the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917, a third wave of terrorism arose. She fought partly with the Bolshevik leaders (Uritsky and Volodarsky were killed and Lenin was wounded), partly with German diplomats and military officers to prevent peace negotiations between Russia and Germany. But the Bolsheviks put out this fire without much difficulty. Volsky V.T. Secrets of political murders. - Rostov: Phoenix, 1997.- 544 p.

In the last decade of the nineteenth and the first of the twentieth centuries, leading politicians in Europe and America were subjected to a considerable number of attempts on their lives. In many cases, the killers were anarchists, and acted according to their own desires, without informing their associates of their plans. At that time, everyone forgot that regicide has a long tradition and that in France, for example, in the same century there were attempts on the lives of Napoleon and Napoleon III. As a contemporary wrote, who showed no sympathy for the anarchists, “it is difficult to blame them for all these numerous atrocities, including attempts on the lives of monarchs.” Putilin B. G. Terrorist international. M.: Kuchkovo Pole, 2005. - 320 p.

Before the First World War, terrorism was considered a sign of leftism, although its individualistic character sometimes did not fit well into the general pattern. But neither the Irish and Macedonian independence fighters, nor the Armenian and Bengali terrorists had anything to do with anarchism or socialism. The Russian Black Hundreds were terrorists, but they fought the revolution: they committed pogroms against Jews and killed those who were in opposition to the autocracy. The Black Hundred, founded with the assistance of the police, was on the right flank of Russian political life. But, as they say, the sorcerer’s apprentice began to cast magic himself. Soon, members of the organization that was created to support the monarchy declared that it was better to live without a government at all than to endure the current one, as there was talk in the country about redistributing land and reducing the working day. The Black Hundreds said that honest officers could bring a lot of good to the country, as in Serbia (a hint at political assassinations in this Balkan country).

After the First World War, right-wing and separatist groups supported terrorist organizations, for example, the Croatian Ustasha, and received assistance from fascist Italy and Hungary. The Croats longed for independence, so they accepted help from anyone. Like the Irish, they continued to fight after the Second World War. In the 1920s, systematic terrorism became widespread in new and numerous fascist movements, as well as among their predecessors, for example the Freikorps in Germany and, especially among members of the Romanian Iron Guard. But in general, militant activity remained within narrow limits. The time has come, both right and left, for mass political parties, and anarchism has outgrown the stage of individual terror. Undoubtedly, in those years there were high-profile political murders - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in 1919, Rathenau in 1922, Yugoslav Tsar Alexander and French Prime Minister Barthou in 1934. The League of Nations intervened because the latest incident was international: four governments were involved. A number of resolutions were passed and several commissions were founded to combat international terrorism. But all the efforts were in vain, since some countries tried to suppress such manifestations of cruelty, while others did not make an effort to fight terrorism in the way it helped their policies flourish. Three decades later, the United Nations faced a similar situation. To this day, the world is struggling with manifestations of terrorism. Razzakov F. Century of Terror: Chronicle of Attempts. M.: Eksmo, 1997.- 432 p.

It is believed that there were benefits from wars. The weak and old will die - the tribe will unite, become stronger and younger. The defeated will be eaten or forced to work. Then cannibalism went away, slavery ended, and wars remained to ensure the progress of science, technology, and all culture. Many believe that this progress always directly or indirectly depends on the development of the military-industrial complex. We know Archimedes’ Law, and his contemporaries valued the scientist for his “Greek fire” and catapults. The “superstructure” did not lag behind the “base” - wars were considered almost the highest manifestation of the human spirit, with strict rules and codes of honor, which contemporaries always considered eternal.

At the same time, secret wars were going on without rules or codes. It’s scary to think what happened back in the caves, and then with the pharaohs and Solomons. It was tempting to achieve political goals quite simply, without much effort and expense, and even quickly. The sleeping king’s own brother poured poison into the ear of the sleeping king; Borgia and Milady slipped something into someone’s ear. This undermined the very foundations of public life and morality. And in society it caused only horror and disgust, without ever becoming a social phenomenon.

A new social phenomenon - noble terror

For the first time, as far as I know, Nekrasov “poeticized” and sang terror. How many lives were ruined and distorted by his famous: “Go and perish... a thing is strong when blood flows underneath it.” Terror has become, as it were, acceptable in the eyes of the enlightened part of society. Especially young people. Since, they say, everything is clear to you and you are ready to give your own life for a just cause, then you (for the victory of this very Cause) are allowed to judge and publicly execute the guilty, and for the Great Goal, those who are not involved. And not only is it permissible, it is worthy and noble. A matter of honor, glory, valor, etc.

In every society there are always those who deny the value system of those strata of society from which they came, and break with the traditions of the social life of these strata. Usually these are young, superficially educated people for whom everything is clear, the decisions are radical and there are no doubts.
When the restraining traditions of society are weakened for one reason or another, such people can form more or less significant social strata. Sometimes the energy of such a layer can be directed towards withdrawing from society. We saw hippies, flower children, etc. It’s worse when energy is aimed at immediate, speedy correction of society. And by any means necessary. Then terror can become a social phenomenon, as a seductively simple means of solving problems that are, in fact, overwhelmingly complex. And the social layer that supports it becomes a kind of “nutrient medium” for terror. Especially with weakness or, worse, connivance of the authorities.

In Russia of Nekrasov's times, the restrictive, restraining traditions of society were seriously shaken after the abolition of serfdom. New Great Goals have appeared in society. Simple, very noble and seemingly very easily achievable. A “nutrient medium” for terror also appeared – commoners and those who joined them “from a noble rank.” So Nekrasov sang his praises.

From Russia, “noble” and “selfless” terror spread throughout the world no longer as a dirty, but as a downright sublime and chivalrous deed.

In Europe, the “breeding ground” for terrorism seems to be the same. All these “Red Brigades”, “Bader -...” and others are young, ambitious and, alas, poorly, or rather, half-educated. Those to whom everything, well, everything is completely clear. And at the same time, they decisively threw off the notorious shackles of bourgeois (that's where they came from) morality.

And not in Europe? Those same “Muslim fanatics”? So, too, it seems, it seems. Young too. ambitious and also, as it were, “from the educated.” It’s not for nothing that the Taliban were first called “students” in Russia. This term, of course, does not mean at all the same as in Harvard, but it clearly shows - not from a plow or from a machine. The British were shocked to learn that the terrorists who blew up the subway were, as they say, “educated.” It seems to me that it is a big, erroneous and dangerous simplification to consider them religious fanatics, blame Islam for everything, talk, laughing, about the 72 Gurias, etc.

Where did the “Muslim fanatics” come from?

Until recently, no one had even heard of them. And suicide killers, not ancient, but as a modern phenomenon, have become known completely before our eyes. Where did they come from?

When firearms appeared and ended the era of the Great Raids of the Eastern Hordes, the era of Great Geographical Discoveries began for Europe, and then colonialism with the ideology and code of the “White Man's Burden”.
The white man became the “man with a gun” (and guns) for the entire planet, and Europe and (later) North America became what we now call the West.
And in the East, all these centuries, the established, traditional social order was preserved. Religiously sanctified gender relations, property relations, statehood, etc. seemed natural and eternal. The Europeans, as colonial authorities (“The White Man’s Burden”), supported the traditional structure - it ensured stability of government.
But the progress of science and technology, changes in the Western economy undermined the colonial system. And colonialism collapsed. Accordingly, the “White Man’s Burden” was replaced by the ideology of “Human Rights”, which to contemporaries, as always, seems both natural and eternal.
And then Western technologies and various “help” fell upon the East, breaking into the foundations and traditions of society that had developed over centuries. The availability of medicine, food and other essential goods immediately and sharply increased. Infant mortality fell sharply and “suddenly” there were a disproportionate number of children and young people. The availability of food provided an increase in free time and, together with the availability of electronic media, there was a sharp increase in superficial awareness, a “grab” that replaced serious education. Society no longer has time to cope with the traditional education of the “suddenly” emerging multitude of its members, their “digestion” and socialization. It fails not only to involve them in socially useful work, but also to create “jobs” for them. Those. the very possibility of such work. And after the first wave of at least somehow socialized and educated people, the next ones will be born and born, more and more numerous, less and less suitable and, frankly speaking, less and less needed by society.
Thus, in the countries of the “third world”, in the wake of demographic and information explosions, due to the relief of living conditions brought from outside, a new significant layer of society arose. Also, in essence, departed from the traditions of those layers of Islamic society from which he came. And also towards extreme radicalism. But under completely different conditions than in Europe and even Russia. I think sociologists and demographers will be working on this for a long time.

In Russia, following Dostoevsky, they have always emphasized the “great world mysterious destiny” of Russia. Special properties of the Russian Christian soul. Including the ability, as Kuprin wrote, “so generously, so modestly, so disinterestedly and sincerely to throw one’s life down the drain in the name of a ghostly idea about the happiness of the future of humanity.”
This worldview is even stronger in the East. Immeasurably greater is the role of the clergy and its ability to “throw” the next New Great (and very simple, moreover) Goals into a new layer of society. More belief in a “great world destiny.” It is no longer mysterious, but completely clear - to bring Islam to the world. Yes, even with polygamy. The point is not in the languid pleasures of the harem, but in the fact that the number of boys and girls is approximately the same and, if someone has four wives, a house, children, a household, then three have none of this. And it won't. But there is and will be (and there has been for many centuries) a clear understanding that it is possible (and necessary) to achieve at least something in life only through robbery, robbery and war, when all means are good, and you don’t regret the life - neither someone else’s nor your own .
It was this newly emerged powerful and rapidly expanding, clearly passionate social layer that became the breeding ground for the new terror.

But a “nutrient medium” is not yet terror. Gone are the days when a dozen executors of the people's will, supposedly known to them, could kill the head of a huge empire with an explosion. Today, terror requires the coordinated work of many professional structures and large amounts of money.
And the funds were found.

New global weapons

The desire for domination, preferably world domination (in a known or at least significant part of the world) was the basis of wars long before Islam. Alexander the Great had no idea about Islam, Charlemagne, the most Christian monarchs, Napoleon and even Hitler and Stalin, striving for world domination, were by no means Islamists. Each of them had their own ideology. Islam, as you know, at one time appeared specifically for the military-political unification of tribes for specific aggressive purposes. It was hastily stitched together from more or less arbitrarily pulled and “adapted” fragments of the two most widespread religions in the East. At the same time, Islam, as we know, provided for the complete absence of moral and ethical restrictions in relation to the “infidels”, unconditional intolerance towards any beliefs and ideologies other than Islam and unconditional obedience to the Islamic power system.
The conquest of the Islamists turned out to be very successful, and Islam spread widely in the East.
When, subsequently, the overwhelming superiority of the West in weapons deprived the Islamic East of any illusions or hopes for world victories, Islam, as a military-political ideology, largely lost its significance. It became unrealistic to use Islam for expansion, for its intended purpose. Over the centuries of forced “downtime,” Islam has acquired new interpretations of the Koran, allowing even its most aggressive parts to be softened, as if “used for peaceful purposes.” And, in any case, present it this way to the Western, and indeed to its own, public.

And just recently, when a new passionate social layer arose in the East and began to swell like an avalanche, everything changed.
At first, these new youth poured into the West quite peacefully - they simply had incomparably better living conditions and new opportunities. It soon became clear that their mentality, level and nature of education, and the environment made them untenable in competition according to the rules of the Western world. And more and more waves from the East rolled onto the hospitable shores of the West. All less educated, all less suitable for productive activities in Western, and indeed in any conditions. At the same time, it became clear that the morality and social systems that generations of Westerners had developed through the hard work of generations of Westerners for themselves and their descendants provided visitors with the opportunity to live and reproduce without any difficulty and even better than at home. True, it’s still worse than working “natives”. And this causes an aggressive consolidation of immigrant communities. They are consolidating, of course, not around the awareness of their inferiority and the difficult ways of becoming familiar with the culture of the “aboriginals,” but around the Great (and very simple) Goal - to bring Islam to the world. And, of course, his superiority over the infidels. Thus, pockets of tension appeared deep within the West itself. Other centers appeared where, on the contrary, territories with a Western way of life, for one reason or another, found themselves surrounded by a new passionate social layer. Despite all the political, economic and even geographical differences, for example, Algeria, Zambia and South Africa, everything developed there in approximately the same way. Only Israel stood firm. And around Israel now there is no longer a hotbed of tension, but a war.

Gradually, this ever-increasing and increasingly powerful nutrient layer of terror began to be recognized as a directly new type of weapon. With its own specifics, different, for example, from nuclear weapons, but having the same global significance. And here the money poured in.
New global weapons, naturally, become an incentive to change the existing world order. In this case, as one can assume, it stimulates the revenge of the East in its confrontation with the West. Perhaps - in the form of struggle and interaction of certain transnational organizations.
And various Arafats, bin Ladens, including Abu Mazens, etc. - These are intermediaries and managers in the field of procurement of these weapons, their improvement, testing, information and technical maintenance in working condition. In this regard, it seems to me that it is inappropriate to talk about corruption, for example, of Arafat. This was his business.

Islam and the ideology of terror suited this layer. The superiority of the high spiritual values ​​of the perpetrators of terrorist attacks (up to the readiness for self-sacrifice) over the soulless, variously corrupt and cowardly Western world of purity was clearly shown. In addition, it turned out that terrorist activities pay well. The “nutrient layer” sometimes became a feeding layer. Even teenagers, just by throwing stones, could do a good job of helping their impoverished large family.

This is how Islam came to life in its original form, as a military-political expansionist ideology. It came to life not as a source, not as a cause of world tension, but as a means of consolidating a new social layer.

The Arab-Israeli conflict has become the main testing ground for the development and improvement of new global weapons. The specifics of the emergence of the State of Israel, the specifics of its borders and capital, and the specifics of its military victories and peaceful defeats go beyond the scope of this article. Here I just want to say that after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the defeat of the attacking states, Israel no longer waged any wars with any state. But a war is being waged against Israel - both as a state and as a people. Who is leading it?

We habitually perceive the kind of “autonomy” that arose as a result of Oslo (as part of what?) as something like a state inhabited by the Palestinian people, with an army, a government, headed by a legally elected chairman of the autonomy, etc. But there is none of this. There is not even such a people and there never was.
And there are disparate and often warring armed groups of a swollen and ever-swelling new social layer. It is, I repeat, made up of people who have neither labor skills, nor labor opportunities, nor (now) the need for productive labor. And many do not have a family. Those for whom, as we have already said, all means are good and life is inexpensive. Groups of this social stratum are increasingly beginning to live off of banditry and racketeering of the working population in the territories actually occupied by them, through illegal trade (in drugs, weapons and whatever else they have) and, most importantly, through the sale of their services in the field of any violent activity and, in especially in the field of terrorism. And while the West was talking about the suffering of the occupied Palestinian people, here they were moving from stones and knives to explosives and machine guns. Then, gradually, the tip most adequate to the new weapon was discovered - the suicide killer. And it was experimentally tested in Israel for quite a long time. Then we moved on.

After September 11 and the London Underground, the West began, even if not yet to understand something, but at least to guess. There are still attempts to attribute today's battles in France to "teenage hooligans from poor neighborhoods." But the “First Intifada” began in exactly the same way. Even the detonator pretext that started it is very similar. In the cities of France there are not as many stones to throw as in the Land of Israel, but there are an abundance of cars for arson. And they shoot the same everywhere.

Over the course of several millennia of human civilization, terrorist methods have been used by various states, religious groups, political organizations, and criminal communities.

One of the first mentions of state terror is found in the history of Rome. To deal with his political rivals and replenish the treasury, dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla used proscriptions - lists of persons declared outlaws on the territory of the Roman Empire. The citizen who killed the person indicated in the proscription received half of the property of the murdered person. The proscription system was popular among the lumpen population, representatives of crime and political swindlers.

In the 1st century AD In the territory now occupied by Israel, the Sicarii organization operated, fighting against the Romans and representatives of the Jewish nobility, who collaborated with Rome for the autonomy of their provinces. The armed uprisings of the Sicarii grew into an uprising, then into the Jewish War (in the 6th century AD), and then followed the defeat of the rebels and innumerable troubles for the civilian population.

INXI - XIII centuries The Muslim Shiite sect of the Ismailis, better known as the Assassins, physically destroyed the representatives of the Syrian authorities, i.e. foreign caliphs. Fidai novices, on the orders of their master, a certain Elder of the Mountain, killed anyone doomed to death, despite any precautions. In 1256, the heart of the sect - the fortress of Alamut - fell under the blows of the Mongols, who completely exterminated the Assassins.

INXII - XIII centuries Against the backdrop of Rome's struggle with the royal dynasties of Europe, the religious authorities of the Catholic Church justified the legality of killing monarchs by subjects - monarchomachy. TO XVI V. the ideas of monarchomachy become unusually relevant. Opponents of militant Catholicism were killed: William of Orange (1584), Henry III(1589) and Henry IV (1610).

Historians of terrorism always mention the so-called “gunpowder plot” (1605) by Guy Fawkes, captain of the English army, against parliament and King James 1. It was supposed to blow up the parliament building, in which the king was supposed to be present, and restore Catholicism in England.

In July 1793, French aristocrat Charlotte Corday stabbed Jean Paul Marat, a member of the Convention and chairman of the Jacobin Club, with a dagger. The reason was the bloody terror unleashed by the Jacobins after the fall of the Girondins.

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars share the background and history of terrorism itself. The classic mass terror of the French Revolution demonstrated the model of managing fear and launched the mechanism for the maturation of terrorist tactics. In the 1820s. In Italy, organizations arise that strive to create a national state. A mafia is born in Sicily to fight the Bourbon monarchy. At the same time, in the south of the country, a brotherhood of Carbonari emerged, spreading its network throughout Italy. Initially, the goal of this brotherhood was to protect peasants and agricultural workers from the tyranny of landowners. The Carbonari warned and then killed the most brutal oppressors. Subsequently, the organization of the Carbonari acquired a political character and set the task of fighting Austrian rule. All organizations used terrorist methods, intimidating jailers, landowners, police officers and government officials.

At the same time, terrorism became widespread in France, Austria, and Germany. There were seven attempts on the life of King Louis Philippe of France. In one of them (1835) 18 people were killed and 22 wounded.

In 1858, the Italian Felice Orsiga attempted to assassinate Napoleon III. The Duke of Parma was killed (1854), attempts were made on Ferdinand III of Naples and the Spanish Queen Isabella (1856).

In 1868, the Serbian prince Mikhail Obrenovic III was killed. Prussian King William I and Chancellor Otto Bismarck survived two assassination attempts each. The circle of political movements resorting to terrorist tactics is expanding. Now these are not only national movements, but also republicans, anarchists and others. The ideology of terrorism is being formed. In the second half of the 19th century. terrorism comes to the Russian Empire.

From the 1880s to the 1890s. Europe and the USA are experiencing the heyday of anarcho-terrorism: in 1894, the President of the French Republic S. Carnot was assassinated, in 1881 the US President J. Garfield was mortally wounded, in 1901 the US President W. McKinley was assassinated. At the same time, less high-profile terrorist acts also occurred - bomb explosions in theaters and restaurants, murders of high- and mid-level officials, etc. Anarcho-terrorism began to decline only from 1910-1920.

Terrorism in the 19th century. has become a significant factor in political life. Past XX century characterized by the widespread growth and qualitative transformation of terrorism. International terrorist ties have developed. Terrorism has gripped Latin America and Asia, and has also become a factor in interstate confrontation. Terrorist movements began to receive support from countries acting as opponents of the state targeted by terrorism.

Terrorism is divided into globally and locally oriented. In the 20th century, political movements emerged that had global interests and claims and actively used terrorist tactics. In order of origin, these are international communist, fascist and Islamic radical movements, consisting of leading state sponsors and organizers of terrorism and a wide belt of terrorist organizations in different countries - objects of political expansion.

At the beginning of the 20th century. National liberation and revolutionary movements operating in the territories of the Russian, Ottoman, and British empires actively resort to terrorism tactics. Some yesterday's terrorists are turning into legitimate political leaders. Support for terrorists at the state level has become an element of the international activities of a number of leading states. During the First World War, Germany supported Irish separatists who fought the British army in Ireland using terror methods (explosions at military installations and in restaurants where British officers dined, etc.); Russia supported the militant organizations of the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun (Unity) party operating in Turkey. The authorities of the Ottoman Empire organized the smuggling of dynamite for Russian terrorists.

Before the First World War, terrorist structures operating in Russia: the Socialist Revolutionary Party, Polish and Georgian nationalists received large sums of money from Japan and Austria.

The First World War began in July 1914 with the shooting of terrorist Gavrilo Princip, who assassinated Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. As a result of this war, three empires collapsed. The period between the two world wars of the 20th century. characterized by changes in geography and types of terrorism. Terrorism on the territory of a certain country was increasingly linked to external support. The intelligence services of the interested states are clearly visible behind the terrorist groups. State support for terrorism is becoming one of the main components of the policies of aggressive totalitarian regimes, and the geography of terrorism is significantly expanding. Hotbeds of terrorism are emerging in the East.

During the interwar period, fascist regimes came to power and strengthened in a number of states. At the stage of the struggle for power, these political movements used a combination of legal and illegal forms of activity. Along with parliamentary parties, these movements had underground cadres and militants. The fascists used terrorist tactics on their way to power, and also for some time after formally coming to power - before creating an effective apparatus of state violence. At this stage, militants were brought in to deal with opponents of the new regime. For example, in Germany - the terror of the Röhm stormtroopers from the moment Hitler came to power until the “night of the long knives,” when the stormtroopers were destroyed (1933 - 1934). Having gained a foothold in power and created a system of punitive bodies, the fascists move on to systematic state terror, when the tactics of terrorism are also carried out abroad, turning into one of the tools of political expansion.

Fascist regimes, solving the problems of political expansion, sponsored terrorism. In 1934, during a failed attempt at a fascist coup in Austria, Anschluss supporters assassinated Chancellor E. Dollfuss. That same year, the Ustaše (Croatian nationalists) assassinated the Yugoslav king Alexander I Karadjordjević and the French foreign minister Louis Bartha. The Ustaše, who fought for the independence of Croatia, worked in contact with the intelligence services of Nazi Germany. This terrorist attack undermined one of the instruments that ensured stability in interwar Europe - the military-political alliance of Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia under the common name “Little Entente”, created under the patronage of France. The murder, inspired by the Nazis and carried out by nationalists, is one example of how the leadership of Nazi Germany solved its problems.

The interwar period saw the activation of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), one of the most famous terrorist societies created in 1864 in the Southern states of the United States to fight the black population, which had received three years earlier as a result of the civil war between the North and the South. freedom from slavery; The KKK positioned itself as a secret society dedicated to protecting the property and interests of white citizens from “black bandits and marauders.” Quite quickly, the KKK turned into a right-wing radical racist organization, the ideology and policies of which are based on the principles of chauvinism, racism, religious intolerance, and sadism. The society killed not only blacks, but also those who provided assistance to blacks; the society enjoyed such support from the population of the southern states of the United States that not a single member of the society was convicted of committing crimes and was punished. Let us note that members of the KKK acted and act almost openly.

In the early 1920s. The KKK was re-established and still consists of many numerous and independent groups.

The Second World War is another stage in the development of terrorism. In the post-war period, terrorism becomes an almost global phenomenon and experiences another qualitative transformation. Before 1939, the targets of terrorism were predominantly government officials, military personnel, and persons collaborating with the regime, but not civilians. Hitlerism, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 (destruction of civilians as a result of atomic bombing by order of US President Henry Truman) changed the attitude towards the price of human life on a global scale. The theory has been formed and the practice of modern terrorism is taking shape. Now the subject of terrorism is a powerful professional organization, supported by the state sponsor of terrorism. The direct targets of terrorist violence are civilians, foreigners, and diplomats. A terrorist attack is a mechanism of pressure on the authorities through public opinion and the international community. The confrontation between terrorism and the liberal state is a confrontation between two cultures that are radically different in their attitude to the value of human life.

After the war, the focus of national problems finally shifted to the East and South. Fascist regimes that sponsor terrorism are disappearing. In the 1960s An Islamic circle of states sponsoring terrorism is emerging. These states are headed by both secular pan-Arab nationalists of a fascist persuasion and Islamic fundamentalists.

From 1945-1948 One of the superpowers, the United States, the only one of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition that did not suffer damage on its territory during the Second World War and received enormous social and economic dividends practically at the expense of the suffering and blood of the European peoples, moved to a new level of state terrorism. Standing in the way of the United States to complete world domination in these years was the Soviet Union, which bore the main hardships of the fight against fascism, has enormous authority throughout the world, and has enormous resources, both natural and human. In particular, the scientific and intellectual potential of the Soviet Union created the possibility of the peaceful use of atomic energy, human space travel, exploration of the riches of the World Ocean, etc.

In 1948, the founder of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), A. Dulles, formulated in detail the strategic provisions regarding the main rival of the United States, the USSR, which at the same time possesses the largest reserves of natural resources in the world: “Having sowed chaos there, we will quietly replace their values ​​with false ones.” and make them believe in these false values. How? We will find like-minded people, our allies and helpers in Russia itself. Episode after episode, the grandiose tragedy of the death of the most rebellious people on earth, the final, irreversible extinction of their self-awareness, will play out.

We will in every possible way support and raise the so-called “artists” who will plant and hammer into human consciousness the cult of sex, violence, sadism, betrayal, in a word - all immorality.

We will quietly but actively contribute to the tyranny of officials, bribery, and unscrupulousness. Bureaucracy and red tape will be presented as a virtue...

We will create chaos and confusion in government. Honesty and decency will be ridiculed and will not be needed by anyone; they will turn into a relic of the past. Rudeness and arrogance, lies and deceit, drunkenness and drug addiction, animal fear of each other, shamelessness, betrayal, nationalism and enmity of peoples, above all enmity and hatred of the Russian people, cleverly and imperceptibly cultivated, will bloom in full bloom.

And only a few, very few, will have any idea what is happening. But we will put such people in a helpless state, turn them into a laughing stock, and find a way to slander them. We will take on people from childhood and adolescence, we will always place the main emphasis on youth, we will begin to corrupt, corrupt, and corrupt them. We will make young cynics, vulgarities, and cosmopolitans out of them.” 1

In recent years, the United States has intensified the policy of double standards: Usanaben Laden receives support and weapons from the United States, he carries out the tasks assigned to him by the Americans in Afghanistan, but becomes enemy No. 1 for the United States after he turns weapons against his overseas masters; Shamil Basayev is included in the US list of international terrorists, but leading television channels provide him with their screen (July 2005) to promote terrorism in Russia...

A number of separatist movements have been active in Europe since the war. The largest of them are the Irish Republican Army (IRA) (after Ireland gained independence in 1914, it is fighting for the annexation of Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom; IRA activity has especially increased since 1970 2) and ETA (Euskadi ta Ascatasuna ), created in 1959 in Spain to fight for the complete independence of the Basque region. ETA leaders came to a combination of nationalism and Marxism; ETA activity peaks in the 1960s and 1980s. (one of the most famous actions is the assassination of Spanish Prime Minister Carriero Blanco in 1973). Currently, ETA's activity has been reduced, the organization has experienced a series of defeats and arrests, and its popularity and support among the masses is falling. In addition to the IRA and ETA, we can mention the British and Corsican separatists in France, the Walloon separatists in Belgium.

A striking phenomenon in the history of the post-war West was “leftist” terrorism. It covered Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, USA. The most powerful onslaught of left-wing terrorism was experienced by Spain, Italy and Germany.

In Spain in the mid-1960s. The pro-Maoist Communist Party of Spain was created. As a militant organization of this party in the mid-1970s. The “Revolutionary Patriotic and Popular Front” (FRAP) and the “Group of Patriotic Anti-Fascist Resistance of the First of October” (GRAPO) performed. The peak activity of these structures falls in the second half of the 1970s.

In 1970, the Marxist organization “Red Brigades” emerged in Italy. The peak of its activity occurred in the second half of the 1970s - early 1980s. The most high-profile action was the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the leader of the Christian Democrats Aldo Moro in 1978. Another anarchist organization, Workers' Autonomy, gravitated towards mass actions and sought to unleash urban guerrilla violence (picketing, seizure of enterprises, damage to equipment, etc.) - C early 1980s Italian terrorism is in crisis.

Left-wing terrorism in Germany dates back to the student riots of 1968. The organization “Red Army Faction” (RAF) had the goal of unleashing a proletarian, communist revolution in the country and was exclusively active in 1970-1972. After its defeat, the “July Movement” arose in Germany, taking as its emblem a red star and a machine gun. The maximum activity of this organization falls in 1975. Terrorists took major politicians hostage in 1974 and killed the President of the Supreme Court, Gunther von Drenkmann. The most famous action of West German terrorists is the kidnapping of the chairman of the Union of German Industrialists, Hans Schleier, in 1977. In response to this terrorist attack, the country's government created special units to combat terrorism. In 1981 -1982 The police crushed terrorist organizations. Most of their members were arrested; the survivors emigrated and hid.

In the USA in the late 1960s. The group "Weathermen" appears. Following the peak of its activity in the early 1970s. followed by its defeat. Another organization, the United Liberation Army, declared itself in the early 1970s. The peak of her fame is associated with the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst, the daughter of a newspaper magnate, who then expressed a desire to join the ranks of this organization. In subsequent years, left-wing terrorism in the United States rapidly declined.

Quite a serious onslaught of terrorists since the late 1960s. Japan survived. The largest organization is the Red Army Faction, later the Japanese Red Army. Japanese leftist terrorists were characterized by an authoritarian style, Maoist rhetoric, samurai-like dedication to cause, and contempt for death. They became known after the massacre at Lod airport (in 1975), where 25 people were killed. Soon the organization was defeated and left the territory of Japan, transferring its activity to unleash a world revolution, first to Europe and then to Asian countries.

In the 1960s, a new front of left-wing terrorism opened - Latin America. The Cuban Revolution set the impetus for the development of guerrilla and terrorist movements in Latin American countries. Having come to power, Fidel Castro's supporters began to energetically organize the “export of revolution.”

A specific situation has developed in Turkey, on the border of Europe and Asia. Along with the Kurdish separatists, both “right-wing” and “left-wing” terrorist organizations operated here.

In the 1970s The country was experiencing an acute modernization crisis, expressed, among other things, in the confrontation between right and left extremism. Right-wing organizations were fascist, and left-wing pro-Maoist organizations fought intensively with the government and with each other. Targetless terror was widely practiced - explosions at public places. The peak of activity occurred in the late 1970s. The government managed to localize the Turkish terrorists themselves, and the activity of the separatists from the Kurdish Workers' Party was reduced only recently, which was facilitated by the arrest of its leader Abdullah Ocalan.

It has grown dynamically since the 1960s. until the beginning of the 21st century. area of ​​eastern terrorism. Historically, terrorism of the 20th century. in the East grew out of the Palestinian problem. The terrorist organization Fatah (one of the names of the Palestine National Liberation Movement), which emerged in the 1950s. in Egypt, declared its goal to fight Israel until its destruction and the creation of a Palestinian state. In 1968, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed, and Fatah leader Yasser Arafat became its chairman in 1969; The PLO waged a long, stubborn struggle to achieve Palestinian statehood. The creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 became possible on the basis of a political compromise, which provided for the PLO’s renunciation of the elimination of Israeli statehood and the methods of terrorism, which were not recognized by all of its members.

The Palestinians continue to fight for the creation of a fully sovereign state and the acquisition of acceptable borders, using legal and illegal forms. Formally, the PLO and the Palestinian leadership abandoned terrorist methods. However, on the territory of the Autonomy, under the wing of the PLO, the terrorist structures Hamaz, Islamic Jihad, and others operate.

Features of Palestinian terrorism: widespread use of targeted terrorism, preparation and use of suicide bombers on a massive scale, planning and implementation of high-profile actions aimed at world public opinion (airplane hijackings, etc.), flexible use of terrorist acts as an element of politics.

Thus, for more than four decades there has been an almost continuous war, which has long gone beyond the confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians. The growth of terrorism in the East reflects a dual process - the intensification of Islamic extremism and the growth of its opposition to the Western world. The support of Israel from the United States and the solidarity of other states with the people of Palestine drew many countries of the world into this confrontation. The inclusion of countries of the Islamic world in modernization processes destabilizes traditional societies and mobilizes them to resist the source of modernization processes. Factors such as the collapse of the colonial system, gigantic revenues from oil exports, and the growing solidarity of Islamic states associated with the processes of “Islamic revival” contributed to the formation and growth of the terrorist complex.

In the 1970s The Western world was experiencing the peak of the terrorist offensive. At this time, the system of international terrorism was finally formed. The tactical goals of a variety of players coincided in one thing: both terrorist organizations and sponsoring states interacted in the name of a common goal - to destabilize the West. For example, the famous terrorist Venezuelan Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez worked both for groups that broke away from the PLO and for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

At the end of the 1970s. In the Islamic world, a turn begins from secular guidelines to Islamic values. The Iranian revolution of 1978 marked the era of the onset of religious fundamentalist radicalism, characterized by extreme passions and global aspirations, and the transition to a sacred, borderless “war on the infidels” - jihad.

The situation in India deserves special mention. Multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Indian society is developing very painfully.

Interethnic clashes and sectarian riots occur regularly. Terror has become a persistent element of Indian reality. Among the most notorious acts were the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1984) by Hindu fundamentalists, the assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (1991) by members of the Sri Lanka-based Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam. One of the stable centers of terrorism in India is the states of Jammu and Kashmir, adjacent to Pakistan and populated predominantly by Muslims.

The defeat of left-wing terrorism was immediately preceded by the collapse of the communist camp. But the Arab-Muslim, Western-sponsored hotbed of terrorism persists and grows. In addition, traditional separatist terrorism persists in Europe, India, Sri Lanka and other countries.

In recent years, a so-called “arc of instability” has emerged, stretching from Indonesia and the Philippines to Bosnia and Albania. One of the signs of this arc is terrorism directed against carriers of non-Islamic (Christian, Judaic, Hindu) identity or carriers of secular values ​​in traditionally Islamic countries. This allows such major theorists of international relations as Samuel Huntington to talk about the confrontation between the Islamic world, which is experiencing a modernization crisis, and the dynamic civilization of the West.

In the 1990s. A new hotbed of terrorism arose on the territory of the collapsed Yugoslavia. Various ethnic and religiously oriented forces resorted to his methods. Recently, as the political situation has stabilized, there has been a decline in terrorist activity here. However, Yugoslav terrorism is alive. The political assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djijic in 2003 shocked the entire country.

In the 1990s. a hotbed of terrorism emerged in Algeria. In 1992, the ruling secular regime overturned the results of elections in which the fundamentalist political organization, the Islamic Salvation Front, had won. The consequence of this was the unleashing of a wave of terrorism. The authorities responded with the most severe repressions. Almost a civil war broke out in the country. The terror of the authorities and the terrorism of religious fanatics led to monstrous casualties. Tens of thousands of people died. Algerian terrorism was distinguished by the widespread use of mass, untargeted terror. The situation returned to normal only towards the end of the last century.

In Israel, the pressure of terrorism increased throughout the 1990s. Terrorist attacks occur almost daily. A stalemate has developed: Israel cannot destroy the infrastructure and base of terrorism, and anti-Israeli forces cannot force Israel to comply with their demands.

A sign of the last decade of the 20th century. - endless wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Yugoslavia. On these sites, terrorist organizations mature, terrorists become professionalized, and an international community of Jihad warriors takes shape. In 1988, Al-Qaeda was created - an international organization of Islamic fundamentalists, carrying out military operations around the world. Its creation and development was largely facilitated by the United States, which sought to expel the USSR from Afghanistan. According to unofficial data, the CIA allocated about $500 million annually for training and military assistance to the Mujahideen. Among the largest recipients of American weapons was Osama bin Laden, which Americans do not like to remember. Most of those weapons are still in use.

Al-Qaeda's main goal is the overthrow of secular regimes in Islamic states and the establishment of an Islamic order based on Sharia law. In 1998, Bin Laden announced the creation of the international organization “Islamic World Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders,” which, along with Al-Qaeda, included Algerian, Pakistani, Afghan, Kashmiri and other terrorist organizations operating almost throughout the entire Islamic world (in Afghanistan, Algeria, Chechnya, Kosovo, Pakistan, Somalia, Tajikistan, Yemen).

The New York City shopping mall bombing on September 11, 2001 was another milestone in the history of terrorism. The creation of an international anti-terrorist coalition, the declaration of terrorism as the leading danger to world civilization, and its elimination from world practice have been elevated to the rank of priority problems facing the world community. Russia, having experienced noticeable blows from terrorism, entered the anti-terrorist coalition. The collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the expulsion of al-Qaeda from the country did not stop terrorist activity. The fight continues.

Any decent person has repeatedly asked himself the question where terrorism came from and why it continues to exist. It is impossible to reduce everything to the fact that the cause of terrorism is mentally ill or very bad people. Ingoda has heard the opinion that in order to put an end to terrorism, it is necessary to catch or destroy all terrorists. This is also not correct. New ones will take the place of the destroyed and arrested bandits. In order to eradicate terrorism, one must understand the various causes of this phenomenon.

The first reason, let's call it objective, is that there are prosperous and disadvantaged countries and regions in the world. Some countries have developed industry, transport, and many material and spiritual benefits. In others, poverty, hunger, and disease are rampant. It is in such regions that desperate people are ready for any, even ill-considered, actions. The leaders of the terrorists suggest that “the culprits are those who live well” and supply the recruited “fighters” with weapons and explosives. Most of the world's famous terrorists come from such poor countries and regions. In a prosperous country, only isolated acts of mentally unstable people are possible, but terrorism as a phenomenon is weakly expressed.

Poverty, disadvantage, and lack of education are the most important friends of terrorists. That is why the Russian government allocates huge funds to help individual regions and republics, trying to prevent economic, educational, and cultural inequality. That is why terrorists try to destroy schools, hospitals, bridges and railways, and kill businessmen and teachers.

Another reason can be called social instability. The emergence of a large number of unsettled, aggressive people is facilitated by major changes in society, strong shocks (wars, revolutions), which create the basis for extremism. Extremism is a commitment to extreme views and actions, an attempt to change the world through violence. People who do not know what awaits them tomorrow exhibit unstable, often extremist behavior. Over the past two decades, our country has experienced many changes: political, economic, ideological. This has led to the emergence of socially unsettled people, especially among young people. Some cannot find a job, some feel the loss of their homeland with the collapse of the USSR, some, on the contrary, are carried away by the ideas of independence of their small homeland (district, republic), thinking that it will be easier to live this way. The greater the social instability, the greater the likelihood of the emergence and development of terrorism. That’s why the terrorist leaders don’t like the stabilization that’s happening in our country.

The emergence of terrorism is also influenced by the value of human life accepted in society. Let us remember the essence of terrorism - by threatening and destroying defenseless people, terrorists demand that society and the government implement their demands. The terrorists’ calculation is simple - since the life of any person is of the main value to society, then let society and the state, in order to preserve the lives of individual members, sacrifice other values ​​- pay a lot of money, release murderers and swindlers from prison, renounce the territorial integrity of the country. The objects and targets of terrorism are, to a greater extent, citizens of those countries whose leadership recognizes the need and shows responsibility for the safety of the lives of their citizens. Terrorism is impossible in totalitarian and authoritarian societies, where the leadership is indifferent to the fate of individual people. In Russia, where the value of human life is quite high, terrorists are trying to cause the death of civilians to cause public discontent with the policies being pursued and influence the decision-making of the authorities.