“Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes and global terrorism have a lot more in common than one would think. In “Seven Nation Army,” Jack White sings to express his indignation about fame and gossip. Not exactly terrorism, but the concept of one person or a relatively small group being able to fight an army seven nations strong is more plausible now than ever. Empirically speaking, acts of terrorism are being committed at a higher rate globally, further proving this point. Until we understand why this is occurring, no viable solution will arise.
Terrorism, by definition, is “the use of violent acts to frighten the people in an area as a way of trying to achieve a political goal.” While one person cannot physically fight seven armies, they could alter the mentalities or beliefs of groups even larger and more encompassing than battalions. As far as relatively small groups like ISIS (with 30,000 fighters, it pales in comparison with the US military, which had 490,000 active Army personnel alone in 2015) and al-Qaeda (200-1,000 core members), they have been remarkably successful in instilling fear. A recent poll has found that 75% of Americans believe that terrorism is a “critical issue.”
As most have seen in the news, acts of terror are being committed on a nearly daily basis. For proof, here is a map of four attacks in Germany that have occurred in the last month alone. Here, one can find more details on all recent attacks, especially on what occurred in Nice, Paris, and Brussels. These attacks have led many (including myself) to ask what “political goal” has a higher value than innocent, civilian lives.
So why has there been an increase in terrorism? Georgetown University's terrorism expert Daniel Byman explains that civil wars breed terrorists. This occurs because civil wars expand both capability and grievances. As far as capability, “Why do they do it? Because they can. … You and I might steal, if there was no penalty...” When the government is handicapped by civil war, it loses its authority, leaving power vacuums for terrorists to fill. With grievances, people under the constant threat of death or displacement will develop resentment. The combination of increased capability and grievances during civil wars is the most thorough explanation of the recent rise in terrorism.
We cannot simply end civil wars and instate stable, competent governments in its place. The problem of terrorism is convoluted, and requires bilateral solutions on the parts of governments and their people. But even if their was a magical solution to civil war, this would not prevent lone wolves. Throughout, I hope to have made clear that there is no holistic panacea to the issue of terrorism. What we must do instead is make it more difficult to harm others, and begin to relieve tensions in the Middle East. Only then will the world begin to see the end to one man armies.
