Applying Constructivist Theory to International Relations: A Case Study on the War on Terrorism in Iraq

In recent years, terrorist operations have increased all over the world, although they have existed since ancient times and even since prehistory. However, they were not with this level of ferocity and danger that has become a threat to the whole world. It is difficult to determine the true roots of terrorism or the beginning of terrorism and terrorist operations in general. Some believe that the first human terrorist operations in history is the killing process that Cain carried out against his brother Abel, after he married Adam, peace be upon him. His sons Abel and Cain, the Almighty said: “And recite to them the news of Adam’s son in truth, when they offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one of them but not accepted from the other, he said, ‘I will surely kill you,’ he said, ‘Allah accepts only from the righteous.'” While others believe that this killing is a criminal crime and cannot be called a terrorist operation, and that the first terrorist operations in history are those planned operations carried out by the sons of Jacob (Israel), peace be upon him, which is the story of Joseph, peace be upon him, which was shown in the Holy Quran. The Almighty said: “It is clear that this operation is the first terrorist operation in the history of mankind because it was planned and carried out according to the plan drawn for it by the planners.” However, some references indicate that the first terrorist movements were by the Jews in the first third of the century before the birth of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.

Importance of research

The importance of the research comes as a result of the increasing frequency of talk about terrorism and Islam in the media, and Western media in particular, which aims to harm the Islamic presence and open a new confrontation with the West. Terrorism has affected peaceful coexistence in Iraq.

Search problem

The phenomenon of fear of Islam needs to be confronted with sincere and tireless work and effective dialogue, as the Islamic religion, which calls for peace, tolerance, the elevation of human dignity and the preservation of the rights of its children, cannot be placed in the position of the accused, and its children exploited as tools to kill innocent people and civilians.

Research Objectives

The objectives of the research are to:

A. Study the phenomenon of terrorism in the world and highlight the position of religions away from intimidation and superiority.

B. Identify the causes and motives of terrorism.

C. Find ways to combat terrorism and reduce its danger.

Research Methodology

The descriptive and analytical approach was adopted in writing this research.

Research Sources

The following sources were used to write this research:

A. Researches, bulletins and journals written in this regard.

B. Various media, audio, visual or print.

C. References and books related to this matter.

Search parameters

Many selections emerged on this research, including:

A. The subject of terrorism tops all local and international news bulletins, but Arab references are limited in this area.

B. There are many Western references and writings in this field that reflect the West’s intentionally biased view or lack of understanding of the nature of the Islamic religion.

C. Although the phenomenon of terrorism has existed for a long time, there is no comprehensive definition of terrorism at the international level.

Research hypotheses

Through the research, the following hypotheses will be adopted:

A. Terrorism is an international phenomenon that is not linked to a specific period of time.

B. Terrorism is not limited to a particular religion, race or people.

C. The lack of international consensus to define and address the concept of terrorism.

The concept of constructivist theory

Theories and schools in international relations aim to try to explain and analyze political phenomena and relations between states, with the aim of knowing the causes and motives behind the events taking place between them, and thus trying to predict the course of these relations in the future. Constructivism can be considered closer than a theory; it is an approach because it is an intellectual approach that offers a method for the study of international relations from a sociological perspective. Before the eighties of the twentieth century, it was a philosophical epistemological trend, the focus of which was how meanings are formed in human beings in the context of the interaction between their experiences and ideas. It is an approach that makes it possible for the researcher in international relations to lay theoretical foundations for the phenomena of international politics and enables him to predict without predicting general phenomena by itself.

Origins:

The emergence of constructivism in international relations is closely linked to the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, an event that traditional theories such as realism and liberalism failed to explain. This failure is due to the fact that the principles of these theories focus primarily on power and national interest when studying relations between states.

Constructivism as a social theory:

Like many theories in international relations, constructivism originated as a social theory before it could be applied or used in the field of international relations, so it is very necessary to review its social principles in order to understand its vision towards international relations.

Wolf (John Paul), Algeria and Europe (1500-1830), translated and commented by Abu al-Qasim Saadallah, A.M.N.T., Algeria, 1986, p. 374.
Shwytam (Arezki), op. cit., pp. 81-82.

Constructivism states that human relations consist of ideas and not exclusively of material conditions or elements of power. For constructivism, the social world is not a given, that is, it is not something that exists somewhere independently of the ideas and opinions of the people involved in it. It is not an external reality where its laws can be discovered through scientific research or explained through scientific theory as behaviorists have said, for example. Everything within the social world of men and women is made by themselves, which makes it clear and understandable to them. The social world is a world made up of human consciousness, of ideas and beliefs, of principles and languages, of signs and concepts prevailing among human beings, especially among human groups, such as nations and nations. The social world is the domain of shared subjectivity, where it has meaning for the people who created it and live within it, who understand it precisely because they created it and make them feel a sense of belonging and security.

The concept of constructivist theory in international relations:

Constructivism focuses mainly on human consciousness and the role it plays in international affairs, unlike other theories, especially neorealism, which focuses on the material aspect and on how military and economic capabilities are distributed in determining the balance of power and explaining the behavior of states. Constructivists reject this exclusively materialistic interpretation, and consider that the most important element in international relations is social rather than material, i.e., for constructivism, our world is primarily socially component.

Alexander Wendt is considered the most important contributor to the development of the constructivist perspective, and he provided an excellent example of explaining the social construction of our reality when he said that the threat posed by 500 British nuclear weapons to the United States of America

Jalal (Yahya), The Maghreb in Modern Times, Attack and Colonialism, D.N.A., Beirut, 1981, p. 48
Wolf (J.B.), Algeria and Europe, translated by Saada Allah Abou El Kassem, M.O.K., Algeria, 1986, p. 142

It is less than the threat resulting from 5 nuclear weapons to North Korea, because the threat is not caused by nuclear weapons per se (physical structure), but by the meaning given to this physical structure (i.e., intellectual structure). So nuclear weapons have no meaning except when we put them in the social framework that defines the relationship between the United States of America and Britain on the one hand, and between the United States of America and North Korea on the other.

For Wendt, it is the process of interaction between states that determines identities and creates interests, contrary to what realists assume that identities and interests already exist, i.e., states know who they are and what they want before they start interacting with other states in relation to realism. Wendt gives another example: if the United States and the Soviet Union decide that they are not enemies, the Cold War will end, meaning that the collective meaning is the structure that organizes and determines our actions and movements.

Criticism of constructivist theory:

The most prominent criticisms of constructivism were directed by its bitter intellectual opponent, i.e., neorealism, namely:

Realists questioned the great importance that constructivism attaches to social patterns, especially at the international level, and argued that such patterns do exist but can be easily ignored by the great powers when they conflict with their interests.

1- Senén Florensa, Andreu Bassols, Mediterranean Yearbook, published by the European Institute of the Mediterranean, Dar Fadaat for Publishing and Distribution, Amman, King Hussein Street, next to the Jordan Housing Bank, 2011, p. 8.
2- Bouaziz (Yahya), Algeria’s foreign relations with the countries and Mamluks of Europe 1830-1500, Diwan of University Press, Algeria, p. 09

Realists did not accept the idea that states easily enter into friendly relations with each other based on the type of their social interaction, such a goal may be desirable in principle, but it is not applicable in practice, because the structure of the international system forces states to act selfishly.

One of the problems that constructivism has overlooked is the sense of suspicion or uncertainty of each other, i.e., uncertainty of true intentions, whether current or future. The problem of deception was also overlooked, as constructivism considered that social interaction between states should always be honest and frank.

Syrian Researchers, The Constructivist School of International Relations – Part One: Introduction to the Constructivist School, last accessed 01/11/2020 at 21:14

The application of the case study of Iraq on terrorism in Iraq

The phenomenon of terrorism is not a recent phenomenon; some date back hundreds of years; in the first century AD, as mentioned in the Old Torah, a group of fanatics was concerned with terrorizing rich Jews who collaborated with the Roman occupier of the eastern Mediterranean. (1)

In the era of the Romans, it was difficult to distinguish between political crimes and terrorism, and after the Roman era, the world knew terrorism as a means used by feudal lords to control their province and the slaves who used them in fiefdoms, and with the beginning of the seventeenth century, European countries began to control the global seas and began to increase the size of ships carrying trade between East and West, and piracy appeared with it, which was considered a form of terrorism and continued until the beginning of the twentieth century, and then we find that the practice of terrorism over time is a social phenomenon that develops with the development of societies, and the forms taken by the phenomenon of terrorism have evolved due to scientific and technological development. Despite the widespread use of the concept of terrorism, there is no agreed definition of this concept, whether at the international or scientific level, and this is due to the different ideological factors related to this term in addition to the different cultural structures, that is, what is considered a terrorist act from the point of view of a state or society certain does not necessarily have to be so in the eyes of another country(2)

Helmy, Nabil Ahmed, International Terrorism in accordance with International Criminal Policy, Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, Cairo 1988, p. 23.
Akra, Adonis, Political Terrorism, (Dar Al-Tali’a, Beirut, second edition 1993), p. 136

The concept of terrorism in the 1937 Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism came within one framework stating that terrorism is the terrorism of individuals directed against the State, and the Convention was characterized by the fact that it specified specific crimes, in order to be considered terrorism.(1)

In the book “Political Terrorism”, Alex Schmid reviewed one hundred definitions of terrorism developed by experts and researchers in this field and concluded that there are common elements between these definitions, including: It is an abstract concept without essence, and one definition is not enough to limit all the uses of this concept, and many different definitions share general factors, and that the meaning of terrorism derives from the victim targeted.

Brian Jenkis defines terrorism as “it can be based on a set of specific actions, primarily intended to cause terror and fear.” Eric Morris also defines terrorism as “the use or threat of extraordinary and unusual violence to achieve political ends. Acts of terrorism are usually symbolic of achieving a psychological rather than a physical impact.

Therefore, we must not stop only at the concept of terrorism practiced by individuals or some groups, but the meaning of terrorism must expand to include “state terrorism”, so that there is no double definition of the concept, for example, what Israel is doing is only described as state terrorism against an unarmed people defending their right to self-determination.(2)

A group of researchers: terrorism and peace, jurisprudential and scientific research from the point of view of Islamic law, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyya, 1st Edition, Beirut – Lebanon, pp. 36 and 49.
Al-Hamad Turki: When Concepts Mix: Contemporary Islam and Democracy, Center for the Study of Philosophy of Religion, Baghdad, 2004, pp. 36-37

The concept of terrorism is one of the most ambiguous concepts in contemporary world political thought, defining it as “any use of indiscriminate or organized violence against innocent persons with the aim of terrorizing them and achieving political or interest goals.”

On the other hand, political sociology defines terrorism as any human behavior or behavior that tends to use a measure of coercive force, including coercion, physical harm, illegal use of weapons and traditional and modern torture techniques that violate basic human rights recognized by divine laws and international conventions in dealing with the management of human relations including differences in the cultural, social, economic and political spheres (1) in order to achieve goals in these areas ranging from subjugation, pressure, modification, marginalization (exclusion) and may affect others who are not targeted. This coercive non-peaceful human behavior occurs between individuals, groups or authorities towards each other within a particular society or between certain communities and certain elements. Terrorism may sometimes be an act and often a reaction, and in both cases, it targets a specific group or persons with the aim of inflicting terror and panic in them on the one hand, and on the other hand, the party to whom the act of terrorism occurred may not be a goal in itself, but rather a means of inflicting influence on another party so that it generates the desire or compulsion to submit to the will of the first party. The party targeted by terrorism is often the weakest party and is therefore targeted, while the second party (the one who is the victim of the act of terrorism) has strong factors(2)

Muhammad Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman Al-Ismail, Terrorism and Terrorists, 1st Edition, (Al-Ahsa: Al-Husseini Modern Press, 1994, p. 25.
Muhammad Moanes Mohieldin, Terrorism in Criminal Law, PhD thesis, Faculty of Law, Mansoura University, p. 893.

Causes of terrorism

Before delving into the underlying causes of terrorism, it is imperative that we know that if there are terrorist acts that deserve punishment, there are other acts related to political and social issues stemming from the grievances suffered by some oppressed peoples, as well as if terrorism must be eliminated, it is imperative to identify its causes first, and every attempt to remedy that ignores the root causes will not be of benefit, and the United Nations has recognized in a report, about two decades ago, that the issue of terrorism is difficult to solve, because it is a very complex issue, and to search for this phenomenon must take into account the backgrounds causing terrorism and violence in many parts of the world, and the United Nations has accused the major countries of bearing the largest share of responsibility for the spread of the phenomenon of terrorism that shakes the world, and mentioned several reasons, the most prominent of which was the exercise of the veto power in the United Nations Security Council, and the negligence of major countries to carry out their duties, as well as the complicity and bias of major countries, which led to failure in achieving international cooperation and solving economic and social problems among the countries of the world, in addition to usurping the rights of vulnerable States, which have been unjustly inflicted on them. The Special Committee on International Terrorism of the United Nations General Assembly has identified political, economic and social causes of terrorism, which are as follows:(1):

A. Political reasons.

(1) The domination of one State over another (for colonization).
(2) Racial discrimination.
(3) Use of force against weak states.
(4) Interference in the internal affairs of other states.
(5) Foreign occupation (in whole or in part).
(6) Practicing oppression and violence to displace or control a particular people.

B. Economic reasons.

(1) Imbalance in the global economic system.
(2) Foreign exploitation of the natural resources of developing countries.

C. Social reasons.

(1) Violation of human rights (torture, imprisonment or reprisals).
(2) Hunger, deprivation, misery and ignorance.
(3) Ignore the suffering of a people who have been oppressed.
(4) Destruction of the environment.(1)

-Ibid., p. 56

I think that some of the reasons so far are still unknown, and in complete hiding from all people, except for security officials who are directly related to the investigation of the arrested terrorists. Perhaps they had motives for their bombings, destruction and sabotage, and whatever the reasons, it is not justified for them to carry out their heinous act and their terrible criminal act, but I say: Perhaps there were hidden reasons that were not seen only by the people concerned in that, and in general, they are mysterious about many, but perhaps they spread and appeared after a while of eternity, and do not anticipate events. The coming days carry with them an explanation of the unknown and a solution to the mystery. (1) There are main reasons, including:

The first reason is doctrinal deviation: because of the false doctrine that many young Mujahideen received abroad from students of knowledge who strayed from the path of righteousness. They thought that they had reached knowledge that Abu Bakr and Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) did not reach, so each of them thought that he was able to perform ijtihad and issue fatwas. This led the nation to plunge into the current state of arbitrariness, injustice, violation of sanctities, and killing of innocent souls.

Add to that the large number of intellectual currents there, until the situation there became a field for instilling the thought of extremism, exaggeration and takfir (excommunication of Muslims). They disbelieved the entire Islamic nation, so if Muslims are disbelievers in their belief, then who is a Muslim? They have disbelieved everyone who sought the help of the infidels, so the governments are infidels, and the people are infidels because they did not denounce and did not go out against their guardian. So they took the blood of everyone, and they saw that they are thus mujahideen for the sake of Allah, so they have Paradise, and others are disbelievers who have Hell. Glory be to Allah the Almighty, how did they not read the hadith of Usama bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with them)?

The two sheikhs (Bukhari and Muslim) narrated from the hadith of Usama ibn Zayd ibn Haritha (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent us to Huraqat, a tribe of Juhayna. He said, “We attacked the people in the morning and defeated them.” He greeted me and said to me, “O Usama! Did you kill him after he said, ‘There is no god but Allah?'” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, he was only trying to protect himself.” He kept repeating it to me until I wished that I had not become a Muslim before that day.

It was narrated that al-Miqdad ibn ‘Amr al-Kindi said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): “Do you see if I meet a man of the disbelievers and he fights me, and he struck one of my hands with a sword and cut it off, then he took refuge in a tree from me and said, ‘I surrender to Allah,’ shall I kill him, O Messenger of Allah?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Do not kill him.” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, he cut off one of my hands and then said that after he had cut it off.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Do not kill him, if you kill him, he is in your status before you kill him, and you are in his status before he says his word which he said.”

The two hadiths indicate that it is forbidden to kill a soul that testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. However, it was stated in the hadith of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I have been ordered to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and that they should pray and pay zakat, and if they do that, they will spare me their blood and wealth except for the right of Islam, and their account is against Allah.”

Abu Dawood narrated from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought an effeminate man who had stained his hands and feet with henna, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “What is wrong with this?” It was said, “O Messenger of Allah, he imitates women,” and he ordered him to be exiled to an oasis, and they said, “O Messenger of Allah, shall we not kill him?” He said: “I have forbidden the killing of worshippers.” Abu Usama said, “The oasis is one side of the city and not in Al-Baqi’.”

Here are hadiths that show a satisfactory statement that it is forbidden to kill a Muslim who professes the testimony of monotheism and performs the rites of religion, especially the five pillars of Islam, so that a Muslim should never be killed, except what is proven from the hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The blood of a Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah is not permissible except in one of three cases: A life for a life, the married adulterer, and the one who abandons his religion and separates from the congregation.”

Those who have strayed from the path of righteousness and have fallen into the path of error and temptation should judge their minds in what they do, return to their senses, revise their thoughts, adhere to the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and abandon those who have seduced their references and guides who lead them to destruction, and beware of fighting their brothers, their fellow countrymen and their compatriots and the falsehood and misguidance that their preachers are pleased with. It is only as Pharaoh said to his people: “I will not show you except what I see, and I will guide you only to the path of righteousness” [Ghafir 29], and then the Almighty said, explaining the foolishness of Pharaoh’s opinion and the destruction of his people when they followed him: “We have sent Moses with Our signs and a clear authority to Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they followed the command of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s command was not rightly guided. He will go ahead of his people on the Day of Resurrection and lead them into the Fire, and wretched is the place to which they are led.” [Hud 96-98] For those who preach misguidance will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection for their fatwas, and they will bear their burdens and the burdens of those whom they led astray, as will be explained further, by the permission of Allah (SWT).

The second reason is the expulsion of disbelievers from the lands of the Two Holy Mosques: This is a matter that the citizen alone does not have control over, and he does not have the freedom to interfere in political matters about which he knows nothing near or far. If people were left to delve into political matters, the nation would collapse, and the fires of the enemies would burn it, because pleasing people is an unattainable goal. Then, the expulsion of disbelievers from the lands of Islam is contingent upon the urgent need for them, and an explanation of this point will also come, God willing.

The third reason is providing job opportunities that accommodate the youth: This matter is not without a country from the countries of the world, whether advanced or lagging behind. Every country suffers from unemployment, and unemployment is not a reason for taking lives, destroying properties, and demolishing potential.

Perhaps there were economic and political reasons that prevented finding a job for every citizen, but there are other matters that young people can work in, such as freelance work, working in companies and governmental and non-governmental institutions, working in commercial stores, even if the salary is somewhat meager. Working for a salary is better than sitting without money. Then the youth can progress until suitable job opportunities become available. The state will spare no effort regarding this issue.

The fourth reason is the interrogation and torture methods to which many young Mujahideen were subjected in Afghanistan after returning from there, without any sin they had committed, as they say. Whenever a sedition occurred in the country, many or most of them were arrested and imprisoned for investigation, and perhaps some methods of torture were used. Some of them accepted the status quo and knew that this was a necessary measure to be taken. They were patient, endured, and came out carrying all love and appreciation for their country. Others started planning and taking revenge. The hands of treachery and malice from various lands of disbelief seized them until the country and the people suffered from destruction, sabotage, bombings, killings, intimidation, anxiety, and security destabilization that can only be complained to Allah Almighty. I ask Allah Almighty to restore matters to their proper course and situations to what they were of security, reassurance, prosperity and abundant good.

Motives of terrorism

Economic factors:
Economic factors play an important role in directing the behavior of terrorism when the economic needs of people and human societies are not satisfied by any possible alternative. The large number of economic problems inevitably leads to the destruction of civilization and the foundations of social construction and leaves its effects on the general economic conditions of society members. Economic deprivation causes the growth of certain hostile social relations, whereas if people are economically satisfied, it causes cohesion and social cohesion. Although the opposite generates hostile behavior and violence.

Accordingly, some of the economic causes and factors arising from the growing phenomenon of terrorism can be summarized at the internal and external levels:

1- Internal factors: They lie in some of the main problems produced by society, including:
a) Underdevelopment: Mainly resulting from economic policies that are incompatible with the social reality of the state, so that a gap gradually widens between the poor and the rich, between the educated and the uneducated, between those with broad economic interests and marginalized economic groups. In short, between those who own and try to increase this property in any way, even if this leads to the impoverishment and marginalization of large segments of society, and between those who do not have and those who are ready to sacrifice their lives in order to achieve status or get rid of the reality of life, especially among youth groups.
b) Unemployment

Complementing the above, noting that the separation of these factors from each other is for the purposes of academic study. When in fact, they are interrelated and interconnected, unemployment and its widespread spread among young people, especially whether it is real unemployment or disguised unemployment, generates a sense of helplessness and despair on the one hand, and their sense of frustration on the other hand. In addition to the feeling of these young people associated with the bitter reality of life that they have nothing to change or maintain by continuing to live, this reality is interconnected with entities or groups willing to provide large funds in exchange for small businesses sensed by young people as doing something, even if it is violent or bloody in nature, but for them it is purposeful work worth the effort expended. A young person who does not find a job opportunity is an easy target for various extremist religious or political tendencies or fraud gangs and armed robbery.

c) Poor distribution of wealth and resources necessary for development and providing the basic needs of people: In other words, there is an imbalance in social justice that produces a growing amount of injustice, collective social boredom and relative deprivation among increasing sectors of the population. Here relative deprivation is not necessarily the result of poverty and lack at the individual level, because the individuals carrying out terrorism may be rich themselves, but based on a sense of marginalization and inferiority by the state, which creates a state of anger and resentment among a certain group.

d) Government administrative corruption: Contributed by most countries and ongoing economic crises ranging from inflation and economic depression to cases of graft in illegal deals with statesmen or entering into illegal deals to pass dozens of types of corrupt goods by the efforts of influential people in the state. The phenomenon of bribery and the failure to follow up on the eaters of public money from employees, regardless of their cultural salaries and social and tribal weight, and the absence of a program of “Where did you get this?” Such practices generate in young people or disadvantaged people a violent aggressive behavior of repression that quickly explodes with organized aggressive action targeting persons, institutions or the state itself, which leads to the deterioration of the socio-economic structures of the state. Here terrorism takes many forms, including cases of looting and organized kidnappings accompanied by the payment of a certain financial ransom used to finance terrorist operations at the political level, such as organizing armed campaigns and others. On the basis of the above, an equation can be formulated that explains that: ignorance + poverty and lack + repression, exclusion and marginalization + lack of justice = the phenomenon of terrorism.

2- External factors: The external environment and its link to the phenomenon of terrorism are mainly related to the dimensions of external policies and forces that exert direct or indirect pressure on a country to force it to follow an approach or policy, which generates a state of hostility and conflict among large classes that can be exploited to fuel internal and external conflicts.

The result is to spread a spirit of fear and threat in a certain group with the intention of achieving certain goals, which may be political, economic or social… In view of the multiplicity of approaches through which the phenomenon of terrorism can be known and diagnosed economically at the external level, it can be noted that the United Nations General Assembly in 1972 had formed a specialized committee to study the motives and reasons behind the economic, social and political prevalence of the phenomenon of terrorism.

The continued existence of an unjust international economic order could lead to a state of anger and hostility between the various peoples of the world.
Foreign exploitation of national natural resources, which can result from the phenomenon of dependency.

Destruction of some countries’ population, neighborhoods, means of transport and economic structures
Injustice and political, economic and social exploitation.
Poverty, hunger, misery, disappointment or frustration
The deterioration of the international economic environment and the domination of the major Powers in the global economy

These factors together constitute the focus of the causes of the spread of the phenomenon of terrorism globally, and it is natural to examine and study other factors behind this phenomenon. The most prominent of which are the cases of competition and conflict in the international political arena. Events have confirmed that the unequal development between developed countries and the States seeking to develop, and the phenomenon of dependency characterized by the domination of developed States and the spread of multiple patterns and methods of organized crime, which are the result of a rebellion against the lived reality with the widening gap between the developed world of the North and the South, have led to the emergence of multiple methods of committing terrorist acts that express a state of rejection of dependence, colonialism and exploitation at the international level.

In addition to those external factors represented by the policies of developed countries, the policies followed by international financial institutions, especially the IMF and the World Bank, through their programs of economic reform and structural adjustment conditional on the adoption of certain policies by the countries applying those programs. The implementation of these programs by these countries has led to poor income distribution, deterioration of purchasing power, widening poverty and marginalization, in addition to the manifestation of violations of economic and social rights in the significant growth that has occurred in unemployment figures, in addition to the State’s abandonment of the obligation to appoint graduates of institutes and universities that have generated a rise in crime and terrorism rates in those countries.

There is also economic terrorism, which is information terrorism represented by the use of information resources such as information networks, computers and the Internet for the purposes of intimidation or coercion for political purposes. This information terrorism is largely related to the very advanced level that information technology has become playing in all areas of life in the world. Information terrorism can cause paralysis to command and control and communication systems or cut off communication networks between units and central commands and disable air defense systems.

Conclusion

Terrorism and the systematic use of terrorism is a means of coercion in the international community. Terrorism has neither universally agreed nor legally binding objectives, and its definition of criminal law as well as common definitions of terrorism refer to those violent acts aimed at creating an atmosphere of fear, directed against certain religious and political adherents, or an ideological objective, and in which the deliberate targeting or disregard for the safety of non-civilians is deliberate. Some definitions now include unlawful acts of violence and war. Similar tactics are usually used by criminal organizations to enforce their laws.

Due to political and religious complexities, the concept of this phrase has become sometimes vague and sometimes controversial. It is worth noting that Christians have suffered from it because of the targeting of extremist groups and also Islam at the present time has received a share of this phrase for political reasons governed by international and regional conflicts.

The subject of an expression of terrorism has become a major threat to the world at this time, as the world has recently witnessed many terrorist incidents that have killed millions of people and destroyed many countries, especially in the Arab world. Terrorism begins to provoke fear and terror in man in order to force him to do something or embrace a certain thought and then tends to destroy everything that is stable and secure in order to implement a certain scheme whose values and principles on which it was raised and raised change, and terrorist ideology spreads as a result of the religious environmental and living conditions, where the individual grows up and becomes vengeful against the society in which he lives and turns into a tool in the hands of terrorist organizations that aim to destroy certain countries and groups.

Proposed solutions

Proposed solutions to solve the problem of terrorism at the economic, social and political levels:

Ways to address the phenomenon of terrorism: In view of these economic, political and social causes and motives causing the phenomenon of terrorism, whether direct or indirect, some solutions and proposals can be developed, at least on the economic side and from the economic point of view, to avoid the dangers of this phenomenon and thus end its existence.

Among the most prominent of these proposals are:

• Equality between all classes of society, and addressing the phenomena of underdevelopment and unemployment, which are the remnants of chronic economic deprivation and the repercussions of continuous social oppression.
• Redistributing wealth and development resources and meeting the various basic needs of the individual citizen in a balanced manner that makes them have the ability to give, build and avoid aggressive behavior and actions inherent in the phenomenon of terrorism.
• Combating administrative corruption and bribery in all state facilities and departments and building a developed economic base that secures the basic needs of citizens.
• The need to give a wide range of freedom and expression of opinion to different categories of young people in order to avoid marginalization and to open training and rehabilitation centers for young people that develop their abilities and enhance their talents.
• Rehabilitate the communications and information sector in all joints of the state so that large strata of society can be informed of scientific and technical developments and break their state of repression and stagnation.
• Controlling the geographical borders of countries (land, sea and air)
• Eliminate the phenomenon of divorce and street children.

Sources:

First: The Holy Quran

Second: Books

Ibrahim Eid Nayel, Criminal Policy in the Face of Terrorism, Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, 1996, p. 3
Ahmed Yusuf al-Tal. Terrorism in the Arab and Western Worlds, 1st Edition, Amman: Department of Press and Publishing, 1998, p. 18
Ahmed Al-Saeed Al-Zaqrad, Compensating for Necessity Arising from Terrorist Crimes, Research Published in the Journal of Legal and Economic Research, Mansoura University, April Issue, p. 889
Ahmed Shawky Abu . Khatwa, Compensation of Victims for Damages Arising from Terrorist Crimes, Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, p. 88
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