An Age of Terrorism
In the post-Cold War period, large-scale open conflict between sovereign states was rare. Instead, individuals unaffiliated with any government committed terrorist acts in Western Europe, South America, the Islamic world, and the United States that intimidated and murdered civilians.
Conflict in Northern Ireland Most of Ireland, the portion dominated by Roman Catholics, gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1922. However, Northern Ireland, which was dominated by Protestants, remained part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland Catholics suffered discrimination, and many wanted their region to join the rest of the Irish Republic. Northern Ireland Protestants fiercely refused.
The Catholic-Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland became more violent in the 1960s, with Catholics fighting as part of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Protestants with the Ulster Defence Association. Between 1969 and 1994, some 3,500 people died in the conflict. Some members of the IRA took their independence campaign to England by engaging in acts of terrorism, the use of violence to achieve political ends. These acts included setting off bombs in London and other cities. In 1994, the two sides reached a cease-fire. Later the IRA renounced violence and turned to politics to achieve its goals.
Separatists in Spain Another group that used terrorist tactics to advance a political agenda was the Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA) organization, founded in 1959, which wanted independence for the Basque region in northern Spain. ETA actions killed more than 800 people and injured many others. In 1973, members of ETA killed the hand-picked successor to longtime dictator Francisco Franco. (See Topic 7.4.) Over the years, ETA announced several cease-fires. In 2011 it declared an end to violent actions and promised to work within the political system to achieve Basque independence.
Peru’s Shining Path During the 1970s, former philosophy professor Abimael Guzmán built a revolutionary organization called Shining Path based on the ideas of Mao Zedong and Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge. In 1980, the Shining Path began decades of bombings and assassinations in Peru in order to overthrow the existing government and replace it with a communist one. Shining Path’s 20 years of terrorism caused an estimated 37,000 deaths. Guzmán was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in 1992, though the Shining Path continued its attacks through the late 1990s. In 2011 one of the group’s top leaders admitted defeat and began negotiations with the Peruvian government.
Islamic Terrorism Several small groups used a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, one widely condemned by mainstream Muslims, to justify terrorism. Among these groups were the Boko Haram in West Africa, al-Shabaab in East Africa, the Islamic State of Iraq, the Levant (ISIL) in the Middle East, and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Most victims were Muslims. Some high-profile attacks occurred in European cities such as Madrid, London, and Paris.
One of the deadliest groups was al-Qaeda. Financed by Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda carried out attacks in many countries, including one in the United States on September 11, 2001. In this attack, terrorists killed themselves and more than 3,000 people when they hijacked and crashed planes in New York City, near Washington, D.C., and in rural Pennsylvania. Most of the world, even bitter foes of the United States such as Iran, rallied to support the United States. Focused efforts by the United States and its allies severely weakened al-Qaeda. Bin Laden was killed in a raid on his home in 2011.
Terrorism in the United States While the September 11 attack was the deadliest act of terrorism in the United States, it was not the only one. Acts of terrorism in the United States come from different sources and groups, including domestic groups, some of which are associated with white-nationalist or extreme right-wing views. One of the largest of these occurred when two anti-government extremists bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people. Other attacks targeted Muslims, Jews, and blacks.