TERRORISM AND RADICALIZATION

In recent years, terrorism and radicalization have transformed at both the regional and global levels, morphing into a new security crisis: the 1983 bombings of the US embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut were the West’s first major losses to terrorism; the 9/11 attacks in 2001, with over 3,000 deaths, placed global terrorism on the international security agenda and paved the way for the US intervention in Afghanistan; The 2004 Madrid and London train bombings demonstrated international networks and strategies targeting civilian populations; ISIS’s declaration of a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014–2015 and its capture of Mosul, Raqqa, and Kobani led to attacks worldwide, particularly in Europe—the Paris (November 2015), Brussels (March 2016), and Orlando nightclub (June 2016) attacks were directly linked to this period; and the 2017 suicide bombings targeting Shia pilgrims near Nasiriyah, Baghdad, demonstrated that ISIS also targets local communities through sectarian strategies; Despite the collapse of the ISIS caliphate since 2021, the rise of its offshoots, such as ISIS-K, in Afghanistan, along with the 2024 attack on a Moscow concert hall (claimed by ISIS-K), signaled a regional reshaping of terrorism. This chronology demonstrates that terrorism has shifted from a classic form of non-state violence to a multi-layered crisis characterized by digital propaganda, asymmetrical organization, foreign fighter transfers, sectarian anger, and the exploitation of state security vulnerabilities. Unless international cooperation is strengthened, the cascade of radicalization and terrorist threats will continue.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-genesis-and-growth-of-global-jihad?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/23/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-isis-caliphate?

https://apnews.com/article/new-orleans-crash-islamic-state-lone-wolves-4bb6446c484737fbe9dd1b9c26a899a9

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/28728617/isis-caliphate-islamic-state-terror-threat-britain-us/?