Hezbollah Essays (Examples)

Hezbollah's History, Ideology, Goals And Operational Capabilities

The recent wave of anti-American demonstrations in Egypt and the murder of an American ambassador and three embassy staff workers in Libya makes it clear that America's global war on terrorism has simply fueled the growth of numerous terrorist organizations, including Lebanon's Hezbollah. Nevertheless, representatives of Hezbollah argue that they are not a terrorist organization but rather a political party with legitimate goals, while critics cite numerous instances of the use of terrorist activities by the group. Therefore, in order to gain some fresh insights in this area, this paper provides n in-depth profile on the Lebanese organization, Hezbollah. An examination of the organization's origins, ideology, goals and objectives is followed by a discussion concerning Hezbollah's leadership, funding, and capabilities. Finally, a description of known and suspected weapons and lethal agents as well as their delivery methods, the types of procedures that have…

Hezbollah

Augustus ichard Norton's book Hezbollah: A Short History attempts to provide a balanced and nuanced view of the Shiite Islamic organization. Concerned primarily with the issue of self-rule and self-determination within Lebanon -- at least at the time of its founding -- Hezbollah has come to be labeled as a terrorist organization by many world governments, and Norton critically examines this identification and the events and perspectives that have led to this conclusion. Much of what Norton describes in the book is a simple matter of fact, but his interpretation and analysis of these facts is at times somewhat controversial. This paper will examine Hezbollah: A Short History through the lens of certain critical scholars that reviewed the wor, in order to determine the general consensus (or lack thereof) that exists in the academic community regarding Hezbollah's status.

Defining Terrorism

In order to understand Norton's argument that Hezbollah not…

Hezbollah is a political organization involved in government affairs in Lebanon. Hezbollah may be militant and violent, but it is a far cry from Al Qaeda because it is part of the establishment in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Al Qaeda is very loosely organized and has splinter groups and radical cells in a number of places around the world. It is not known whether Al Qaeda or Hezbollah have access to MD, but because Hezbollah is closely associated with Iran and Syria, this group could gain access to MD. Al Qaeda has used suicide bombers in campaigns and has tried to bring down commercial airliners through creative bomb making, while Hezbollah has pretty much kept its focus on the political and military control it asserts in Lebanon (albeit Hezbollah has lobbed mortar shells into Israel inviting violent confrontations with the Jewish state).

The U.S. presently is using drone aircraft to take out…

The basis of this ideology was set by the leader of the Islamic evolution, Ayatollah uhollah Khomeini. It basically strives to promote freedom of the Lebanese from both Israeli occupation, as well as the threat of the Western "imperialism." The most relevant excerpt in the ideology of Hezbollah is presented below:

The solution to Lebanon's problems is the establishment of an Islamic republic as only this type of regime can secure justice and equality for all of Lebanon's citizens.

The Hizballah organization views as an important goal the fight against 'western imperialism' and its eradication from Lebanon. The group strives for complete American and French withdrawal from Lebanon, including all their institutions.

The conflict with Israel is viewed as a central concern. This is not only limited to the IDF presence in Lebanon. ather, the complete destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of Islamic rule over Jerusalem…

"In the case of arms trafficking," they advise, "there are arms dealers eager to sell AK-47s to conflict zones all over the world. There are shipping and air transport services willing and able to transport the weapons to warlords who are destabilizing much of West Africa. The warlords trade diamonds for guns, and the arms brokers and transporters in turn launder the diamonds with brokers in Antwerp and deposit the money in Swiss banks" (Milward & aab, 2003, p. 413). Likewise, Warah (2004) reports that shortly following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., the Washington Post identified a disturbing aspect of the illegal diamond trade in West Africa that linked it directly with international terrorists. In their article published on 2 November 2001, war correspondent Douglas Farah reported that the Al Qaeda network had managed to "reap millions of dollars in the past three…

Overall Threat Assessment

Literally “the party of God,” Hezbollah has transformed itself from a marginalized radical “clandestine militia” to a “mainstream political party,” (Harik 1). Hezbollah has cells on all inhabited continents, with a particularly sinister presence in Latin America (Byman; Noriega and Cárdenas). Before September 11, Hezbollah was responsible for “more American deaths than any other terrorist organization,” (Byman 54). Its global reach and history of attacks are not the only reason why Hezbollah presents the highest possible threat to the United States. Hezbollah has become a legitimate “state within a state,” funded not only by its native Lebanon but with “significant support from Iran and Syria,” (Masters and Laub 1). Hezbollah has also managed to legitimize itself, developing not only a “moderate” facade (Harik 1), but a political party with “extensive security apparatus, political organization, and social services network,” that appeals to a large number of Shia in…

ed Cell Analysis -- Hezbollah

Its supporters claim that it is just a political party with legitimate goals, while critics charge that Hezbollah is first and foremost a terrorist organization with the stated goal of eliminating Israel and establishing a Palestinian homeland in its place. This paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature together with governmental resources to determine which data collection programs would be best utilized in response to this threat, which members of the intelligence community would be the best collectors of intelligence on Hezbollah, and what intelligence analysis strategies would be the most effective and why. A discussion of these issues is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

eview and Analysis

Data-collection alternatives

Data-collection alternatives for tracking Hezbollah activities are important given the group's stated anti-American agenda. Established in 1982, Hezbollah ("The Party of God") has…

Political chiefs (zucama) from a few powerful families dominated Shici politics into the 1960s and continued their control through extensive support networks. The authority of the zucama varied on their clients' support, but by the 1960s hundreds of young Shici men and women became estranged from old-style politics and were attracted by new political forces. The vision of radical change could only have been appealing to a community whose culture emphasized its exploitation and dispossession by the ruling elites. In Lebanon, as in Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, Shica in great numbers were recruited in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s to secular opposition parties. In Lebanon the resistance took the shape of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), (Cooper & Erlanger, 2011) the Organization for Communist Labor Action, and pro-Syrian and pro-Iraqi factions of the Arab Socialist Bacth (or "Resurrection") Party. Predominantly in the…

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It is well-known that Syria provides Hezbollah with war materials, rockets, money, and more, and hence, Israel sees Syria as an enemy in cahoots with Hezbollah.

FIVE: CONCLUSION: The present battle may be on hold between Israel and Hezbollah, but the war is far from over. Years of hatred and loathing between Jews and Arabs in this part of the world will not end with a UN ceasefire. ho is to blame? Both sides certainly share responsibility for the killing, and it remains to be seen if any third party or international organization can step in and bring the warring parties to the peace table. There are observers who believe that Israel made a big mistake by going so far into Lebanese territory, and that Hezbollah was tactically wrong in launching rockets into civilian areas of Israel. Those criticisms having been made, it remains true that in a Middle…

criminal justice and terrorism. Specifically it will discuss whether Hezbollah is a terrorist organization or merely acting in self-defense. Hezbollah is a Lebanese organization made up of Shi'a Muslims that participates in political and social issues throughout Lebanon. The group formed after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and it began as a resistance organization. The original mission of the organization was to gain an Islamic regime throughout Lebanon and to do away with the colonial expansion of Israel. They have repeatedly stated they would like to do away with the Zionist (Israel) state, as well, and that makes them a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah has grown from an entirely military organization to one with incredible power and funding. The group owns television stations, holds seats in the Lebanese government, and funds many social activities, such as schools and hospitals for the Lebanese people. However, they were formed as a militant…

President Obama's remarkable ability to combine his liberal inclinations on humanitarian issues with expertly wielded applications of America's economic and military superiority was presaged in an article published by Harvard Magazine before ballots had been cast in the 2008 election. When professor of international relations Joseph S. Nye Jr. boldly declared that "the old distinction between realists and liberals needs to give way to a new synthesis that you might choose to call 'liberal realism'"4, (2008, pg. 36), he

3 Douthat, oss. "Obama the ealist." The New York Times, February 07, 2011.

4 Nye, Joseph S. "Toward a Liberal ealist Foreign Policy: A memo for the next president." Harvard Magazine 110 (2008): 36-38.

provided a startlingly accurate prediction of President Obama's methodically effective strategy of relying on liberalist motivations to enact firmly realist foreign policy directives in relation to Iran.

Other commentaries on American public opinion towards Iran have focused…

In the event the intelligence detailed by the Israeli administration proves to be accurate with respect to nuclear weapons development, this office is reminded of the words of the late President John, F. Kennedy, spoken almost exactly 45 years ago to the day, on October 22, 1962, addressing the Soviet threat in Cuba:

We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation's security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace." (Sorensen, 1965)

Extraordinary risks to national security demand (and justify) extraordinary actions to prevent them from materializing. A military response will be required to participate with Israel in destroying Iranian nuclear facilities either in possession…

' Indians across the political spectrum, especially the country's powerful nuclear weapons establishment, are critical of the NPT, arguing that it unfairly warps international hierarchies to the disadvantage of the non-nuclear-weapon states" (1998:15). In its efforts to balance the pressures from the international community with its own self-interests in formulating foreign policies, the position adopted by India has been starkly different than other countries. In this regard, Karp concludes that, "Most states party to the NPT accept the unfairness of the treaty as a tradeoff that serves their own and global interests. India's leaders insist that fair and genuine nuclear disarmament must start with the nuclear-weapon states themselves, a demand formalized by former Prime Minister ajiv Gandhi in his 1990 global nuclear disarmament initiative" (Karp 1998:14).

As a result of these events, the 20th century witnessed the formation of various positions in Indian foreign policy that would endure throughout the…

Terrorism

Chapter 10 of Jonathan . White's Terrorism and Homeland Security focuses exclusively on terrorism in Israel and Palestine. However, the author begins the chapter with the Six Day War to immediately discuss the rise of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Factionalism in Palestinian terrorism, the rise and function of Hezbollah and Hamas, Jewish fundamentalism, and the controversial counterterrorism policies in Israeli domestic and foreign policy comprise the bulk of this chapter. Especially given the paucity of space dedicated to this complex topic, White does a good job addressing both sides of the conflict and does so fairly, accurately, and with a minimum of bias.

eaction

One of the only faults with Chapter 10 is that the author does not have enough space with which to properly engage the reader in the multilayered complexity of the issue. The chapter begins as if in media res, with the 1967 war as…

Policy ecommendation in Combating Terrorism

Policy Project Part 1: Project outline

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government and the international community reviewed typologies for the financing of transnational terrorism and examined ways to combat such financing. Unfortunately, evidence indicates that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups apparently affiliated with or inspired by al Qaeda have worked quite economically, using low-budget methods to operate. After reviewing two typologies, this part of the paper discusses applicable legal mechanisms for preventing and prosecuting the financing of transnational terrorist networks and considers proposals for improving the effectiveness of efforts to combat foreign-affinity terrorist financing (euter & Truman, 2004; Carter, 2008).

Typologies

The evolving effects of globalization and the transnational nature of terrorism have combined to create almost limitless possibilities for terrorists looking to finance operations (Sheppard, 2008). One problem with combating terrorist financing is that many forms of…

The New Cold War: Sunni vs. Shia Muslims and the Proxy War Between Saudi Arabia and IranIntroductionDebates over the rightful succession to Muhammad have spawned centuries of ideological and physical battles between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Although not the only source of conflict in the Middle East and Western Asia, the Sunni/Shia divide has undergirded political turmoil throughout the region. Cleavages between Sunni and Shia parallel other geopolitical problems, both within the same nation-states and between nation-states.A current manifestation of the centuries old clash between Sunni and Shia is the proxy war taking place between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran. eferred to as a new Cold War, the proxy wars have tremendous geopolitical implications beyond the immediately affected regions (Saxena & Dews, 2014). As Saxena & Dews (2014) point out, there is a lot more to the proxy wars than just the Sunni-Shia ideological divide. For certain, religious fervor…

Double Standards:

The U.S. role in the current Lebanese crisis is beset with blatant double standards. For example, the Bush administration has accused Syria of being in violation of the UN Resolutions and, therefore, liable for international sanctions, while completely ignoring Israel's disregard of several UN resolutions that called for its withdrawal from Gaza and the est Bank. (Zunes) hile calling for immediate withdrawal of occupation forces from Lebanon, it conveniently forgets the fact that Syria has only 14,000 troops in Lebanon while the U.S. has a 150,000 strong occupation force in Iraq. Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and its occupation of Southern Lebanon until 2000 with U.S.'s tacit approval are not even mentioned in passing. Moreover, the U.S. democratization rhetoric vis a vis its policy in Lebanon and Syria does not carry much credibility as a number of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East continue to be supported…

This when the Army must spread out its resources to engage threat WMDs and WMD networks. The concept applies to counterforce operations, sensors, protection, and training.

Leveraging new technologies. Many of the required capabilities presented in the strategy will be possible only through applications of new technology. The Army must leverage these new technologies.

Enhance training. Unit training is currently more flexible and quickly adaptive in comparison with institutional training. but, it often lacks valuable consistency and standardization.

Institutional training content updates, approval, and resourcing it is tied to processes too slow to remain current. Future training will prepare soldiers and leaders to exercise sound judgment in the analysis of data / information, understanding cultural impacts on operations and to act in periods of uncertainty.

These ideas are providing a background for implementing new technology and key strategies for improving the countermeasures and neutralization of WMDs. However, this research is…

exist for wood and veneer manufacturer Chabros International. he company is located in Lebanon which could cause problems due to the new political unrest which has plagued the country over the past four years. However, Chabros has positioned itself well by diversifying its business to other countries in the region. he business has grown in the past two decades, largely due to its emphasis on growth outside of Lebanon and its focus on the veneer industry. his report use Porter's five forces, a PES analysis and a SWO analysis to determine the advantages of moving to other areas of world. he issue at hand is that the companies sales have been greatly affected by the economic downturn which stopped many projects in its largest area of growth, Dubai. Because the economic situation has been tenuous for the past three years, Chabros has had to study its situation and try to…

terrorist groups; besides Al Queda and Al Jihad that possess both the motive and capability to implement a terrorist attack on the United States and decide which of these two groups pose a greater threat. Examine both the likelihood and potential impact. It will also assess the likelihood of another terrorist attack by the Al Queda and the Al Jihad terrorist groups. Identify and provide examples of the most likely targets in a future terrorist attack.

It seems two of the most dangerous terrorist organizations facing America today are Hezbollah and the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO). These groups are particularly dangerous because they are well funded, and they consistently target the United States in their attacks. Perhaps most dangerous of these two is Hezbollah, also known as the Party of God, who are credited with numerous terrorist activities against Americans since the 1980s. These included kidnapping several Americans in the…

Contemporary Political Issue: The War on Terror

Introduction

On September 20th, 2001, President George W. Bush proposed the new Office of Homeland Security to help confront a new threat to national security in the first step of what became the War on Terrorism (Select Committee on Homeland Security, 2004). One week earlier, Congress had signed off on the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), allowing the president broad scope for using military force against countries or organizations who “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” terrorism (Ackerman & Hathaway, 2011). 17 years and more than $2 trillion later, the War on Terrorism continues with no sign of easing up (Amadeo, 2018). Though President Trump ran a campaign on getting American soldiers out of the Middle East and letting other countries handle the ISIS threat, the war on terror rhetoric out of the White House has continued unabated, with sights now set…

Apparently, Islamic terrorists are the media marketing executives.

Once more, the tendency is to project American viewpoints and values on to supposed Islamist enemies. The same individuals and groups that are utterly alien to America's most cherished beliefs are also masters of manipulating Americans' views of themselves and of using the media to their own advantage. The idea that Islamist groups might possess some sort of legitimate grievance, or might be railing against actual conditions is dismissed in favor of complex marketing ploys. Terrorism is a product, just like everything else that is promoted on American television and in American newspapers and magazines. The only difference is that the Islamist product is a bad product. Other estern media too have taken up the general theme of Islamic terrorism as but the ultimate expression of Islamic failure to grasp the potentialities of the modern world. As presented in the French Canadian…

S. has to be active in supporting the International Law. He argues that our effort should not be to defeat a set of criminals, Osama in Laden, his Al-Qaeda network and a few like-minded groups, but we have to undermine the notion that any action is acceptable for a cause and slaughter of civilian is an acceptable political act.

The fight against terrorism has to be based not on destroying a certain group of terrorists but as a campaign of human rights. Geneva Conventions and international human rights law specifically establish that terrorism is not a legitimate act of war or politics. These rules specify that civilians should never be deliberately killed or abused, regardless of the cause. Mr. ush's refusal to condemn Israel's bombing of civilian targets in an impotent Lebanon may be politically expedient but it says that United States considers it all right to deliberately bomb civilian…

Deductive Logic and Theory Building

Theory

Poverty is often a significant element influencing individuals to take on a life of crime, taking into account that organized crime leaders tend to recruit their subordinates from underprivileged environments. Poor persons have lesser options in comparison to others and gradually come to consider that committing criminal acts is the only solution they have in order to survive. From the perspective of organized crime leaders poor areas are thus perfect recruitment spots. There is a complex relationship between poverty and organized crime and by analyzing a series of organized crime communities from around the world one is likely to observe that many tend to focus on recruiting underprivileged individuals.

hat the theory will address

hen considering the idea of organized crime, one needs to gain a better understanding of why people resort to joining such groups in order to understand their dynamics. Many organized…

Sanctions in the OPEC World

What sorts of sanctions and punishments should an OPEC nation -- whose petroleum production bring riches almost beyond imagination, and hence is a player on the world's economic battleground -- receive if it launches programs aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons? That is the central question for this paper to review and critique. The best example for what would happen to an OPEC nation that works towards building a nuclear weapon can be viewed by examining what has happened to Iran and its fledgling nuclear program. This paper delves into the sanctions against Iran, and reports the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal consequences of the sanctions that are now being rescinded. This paper also projects what those painful economic and social / political realities would impose on other oil-producing nations planning a nuclear program. This narrative leads to a clear understanding of the question…

According to Stefanie Olson (2001), the Act provides government with increased electronic surveillance, search and data gathering power. Under the guise of tracking down "potential" terrorists, the expansion of Internet eavesdropping technology provides the government with full viewing rights into any private life they choose. In this way, immigrants who enter the country and conduct their business in a perfectly legal manner are now targeted for such surveys (White, 2008).

Local and National Changes in Law Enforcement - the basic mission of law enforcement and foreign/defense policy in the United States has dramatically changed since the events of 9/11 and the subsequent "War on Terrorism." Since 9/11, policies across the United States and abroad have changed from being reactive to being intensely proactive. There, are, however, several challenges faced by law enforcement and the legal issues of defense and foreign policy regarding this new approach to terrorism (Simonson, 2006).

Even…

This unity generally took the form of diplomatic and military opposition to the state of Israel. Egypt's leading role in the acceleration of Arab political unification would have a long-term effect of philosophically influencing such movements as the liberation front of Yasser Arafat in the Palestinean territory, and the host of other terror organizations which have waged guerilla campaigns in search of political recognition.

These examples will be relevant in discussion hereafter on the long-term effects of the conflict. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, it would become clear that these political implications were not accidental. Quite to the contrary, the Arabs understood quite well that they could not anticipate a military victory. Still, "in October 1973, Arab nations led by Egypt and Syria chose war as their instrument of policy -- their primary policy objective in waging war: to recover Arab lands occupied by Israel since the 1967…

But the opportunity for a broader, regional conflict was still decades away in the Yom Kippur War and Six Day War.

Today, the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction makes the region in a more significant condition for war. With Syria and Iran attempting to build nuclear facilities capable of enriching uranium, and receiving support from North Korea in this endeavor, the opportunity for devastating warfare is made all too clear. Not only nuclear, but chemical and biological agents, perhaps carried by Iranian Shahab missiles, pose a grave security threat to not only Israel, but also to the Lebanese government, and moderate rab states such as Turkey. lso, the possibility of Pakistani nuclear weapons being controlled by Islamic hardliners, or falling into (intentionally or not) the hands of terrorist entities makes the possibility of war in this period more compelling. While stability in Iraq and Lebanon is in question,…

The advocator of the Iran Democracy Act incorporates the Iranian Monarchist groups, The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee -- AIPAC, and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs -- JINSA.

It also includes the well established organizations that may get sanctions under the Bill such as Coalition for Democracy in Iran -- CDI- which was formed by Morris Amitay of JINSA, ob Sobhani, President of Caspian Energy Consulting and Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute who were recognized as the staunch supporters of the change in the rule of Iran. Moreover, the advocators also put forth that the previous U.S. funding of opposition groups in other countries was important to promotion of democracy in such countries and Iran cannot be an exception to this. This necessitates the U.S. To include human rights and democracy on its agenda in respect of Iran. (Senator Brown Back Announces Iran Democracy Act with…

They however fail to see the strategic linkage in the U.S. foreign policy. Israel is the most trusted ally of United States in the region. It has the same strategic interest as the United States and has a firm foundation of democratic support.

The Arab governments on the other hand are unpopular, non-democratic and are in power due to the western interest in maintaining the status quo. Overthrow of the Shah of Iran, a most trusted ally of United States shows that the governments maintained in power by western support without the popular support could not be relied upon for maintaining U.S. strategic interests in the region.

Saddam Hussein of Iraq is another example of a government following pro-U.S. policy and then working against its strategic interests in the region. Dictator Saddam Hussein was a virtual proxy in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and protector of the pro-American dynastic regimes. His…

Terrorism is a global problem that most Americans only vaguely recognized prior to September 11th. We had been aware of the occasional international flight hijacking or a bombing at an embassy far removed from our everyday lives. It also fell low on the Bush administration priority list during the president's first year in office, as Attorney General John Ashcroft favored an agenda far more active in the war on drugs and domestic criminal prosecution than threats of fundamentalist violence. However, when the World Trade Center came tumbling down, the fact that America has enemies became inescapable. Moreover, these enemies were not the bumbling camel jockeys we had been persuaded to dismiss. Rather, they were units of a network both diabolical and sophisticated enough to orchestrate an attack that simultaneously froze the world in shock, shattered the American economy, devastated a cocky culture and did so all in the space of…

Forum on Terrorism

International relations refer to interactions among countries and other global entities. These interactions almost always center on international issues or problems like crime, which affect all of them. Through international relations, nations can influence one another reach decisions most beneficial to all. One most disturbing issue, which affects all nations and impact international relations, is narco-terrorism.

Billions of dollars have been infused into the war on drugs yet too little has been achieved (Cillufo 2000). More than 50 federal government bodies have pooled their resources into this war but chronic loopholes remain. No defined authority lines, overseeing agency, a drug czar or a mandate account for it. Experts believe that a unifying strategy is called for with sustained international cooperation. Diplomatic initiatives must support it unrelentingly. The United States cannot stage this fight aloe. All affected countries need to strengthen their respective legal institutions and social organizations.…

Mexico faces an array of drug-related problems ranging from production and transshipment of illicit drugs to corruption, violence, and increased internal drug abuse. Powerful and well-organized Mexican organizations control drug production and trafficking in and through Mexico, as well as the laundering of drug proceeds. These organizations also have made a concerted effort to corrupt and intimidate Mexican law enforcement and public officials. In addition, the geographic proximity of Mexico to the United States and the voluminous cross-border traffic between the countries provide ample opportunities for drug smugglers to deliver their illicit products to U.S. markets. The purpose of this study was to develop informed and timely answers to the following research questions: (a) How serious is the trade in illicit drugs between Mexico and the United States today and what have been recent trends? (b) How does drug trafficking fund terrorist organizations in general and trade between Mexico and…

Shi'ism in the World & the Shiite Islamic Sect in Nigeria

Shi'ism in the World

History, Objectives & General Outlook

Shiite Muslims make up the second biggest denomination of Islam, with the biggest numbers being represented by the Sunnis. The Shiite Muslims form about fifteen percent of Muslims. However, they are dominant in the nations of Iran, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Bahrain. In addition, Muslims have a plurality in Yemen and Lebanon too (Cave, 2006). These two distinct groups within the Islam community first differed and deviated from each other following the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632. The divide arose from the fact that the followers were not able to come to an agreement as to whether it was right to select bloodline successors or able leaders most capable of following and propagating the tenets of the Muslim faith (Fuller and Francke, 2000).

The Shiite community commenced during the 650s,…

The UAE and IsraelIntroductionIsrael has been, for most of its existence, involved in some form of conflict with the Arab world. However, the Arab world itself is largely conflicted between the Sunni and Shia states. Israels recent pivot toward forming greater relations with the Sunni states has indicated an improvement in relations between Israel and at least part of the Arab world. Yet, making matters more complicated is the fact that Palestine remains largely Sunni, and Palestine has viewed the Sunni states relations with Israel as a betrayal of the Palestinian peoples fight for independence and autonomy. For that reason, Palestine has disapproved the new relations between Israel and the UAE. As a Sunni majority state, the UAE has long sided with the rest of the Sunni Arab world in support of Palestine (Soriano, 2014). But now that has changed to some extent. This paper will discuss why the UAE…

¶ … Terrorism Be Justified Is terrorism justified? A definition of terrorism is hard to put forth, mainly because it depends on which side the definition comes from. However, the UN definition could be successfully used. As such, terrorist acts are "criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act" (UN Security Council Resolution 1566) Arguments pro-terrorism lack Rhetorical Power because they involve the violence and death of innocent people. These people cannot be collectively guilty because (1) they are not making the contested decisions and (2) the scope of terrorism is usually to intimidate and not…

The RIRA on occasion attacks a British army base, or bombs a civilian site just to show it is still out there while FARC is a powerful force that the government has no choice but to negotiate with. Also, the RIRA does not recruit young children for its violent terrorist activities, while FARC recruits and kidnaps thousands of young boys and trains them in guerrilla warfare. The RIRA does not have thousands of acres of poppies (to make into cocaine) that it can within its territory -- the RIRA has no established territory -- that it can exploit (tax) in order to raise money. That said, the RIRA does do some drug smuggling, according to credible sources.

There is an interesting connection between FARC and the RIRA: Evidence shows that the RIRA has been training FARC in "new technology" (bombs/mortars) (www.bbc.co.uk).

orks Cited

Center for Defense Information. (2007). Revolutionary Armed…

The armed activities of resistance or assault committed in these contexts tends to drive a view of Islam as a radical force counterintuitive to the philosophical aims of western capitalism. As Malik (2004) contends on this point, "it is not surprising that islamophobic authors frequently resort to the concept of secularism which they say needs to be defended against an increasing influence of political Islam in Europe." (Malik, 148) It is under this very set of terms that we are given over to a proclivity where the Islamic identity of Bosnia is concerned. Specifically, the secular society in which this Islamic faith has achieved cultural dominance is belied by a brewing discontent in Bosnia.

A history of ethnic tension, a war still fresh in the memories of all inhabitants, and the new infusion of religious exploration produced by the withdrawal of communist authority are having the effect of diversifying and…

Lebanon's politics today, and how Lebanese politics has evolved over time to become what it is today. Lebanese politics is extremely complicated, and revolves around several different political parties that essentially are formed around religious beliefs. One common element of Lebanese politics is violence, from civil war to Syrian occupation over Lebanon's history. Today, Lebanese politics is complex and volatile, a combination that is not healthy for the country or her people.

Modern Lebanon came to be in 1920, when the League of Nation mandated France to create Lebanon and Syria. Lebanon is made up of what used to be the province of Mount Lebanon, along with the provinces of north Lebanon, south Lebanon, and the Biqa, which was historically part of Syria. This set the stage for ongoing conflict between Lebanon and Syria. By 1926, the State of Lebanon had formed, and they had enacted a Constitution. In 1940,…

FISA's recent rise to fame has been due to attempts by the Bush Administration to apply the law as justification for warrant-less wiretaps of U.S. citizens in apparent disregard of their Fourth Amendment protections. This issue will be examined in more detail below, however, it is important to first discuss some of the key court cases that help establish the Constitutionality of FISA. Specifically, this report will address three cases that directly feed into the Constitutional requirements of FISA: Olmstead v. U.S. (1928), Katz v. U.S. (1967), and U.S. v. U.S. (1972).

Olmstead v. U.S. (1928)

For the civil libertarian, the case of Olmstead v. U.S. (1928) is a nightmare violation of constitutionally guaranteed Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. In the case, oy Olmstead was convicted of bootlegging during the Prohibition years of U.S. history. Without obtaining any kind of judicial approval, federal agents placed wiretaps in the building Olmstead…

Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip and Jordan took control of Israel's West Bank. In 1949 the Green Line was the name of the boundary between Israel and its Arab neighbors. However, the end of the war did not bring peace. he 1950s were marked by a series of skirmishes between Israel and various Arab countries, but none of these skirmishes resulted in significant boundary differences.

he next significant war occurred in 1967, when Egypt, Jordan, and Syria expelled UN peacekeepers and blocked Israel's access to the Red Sea. Israel struck out against these countries, in the Six-Day War. his was had a dramatic impact on Israel's borders, because Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and Golan Heights from its neighboring Arab Countries. By the 1970s, Palestinians were engaging in violent anti-Israel protests, such as murdering Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics. However,…

In addition, he said there could be protocolsfor intrusive monitoring" (Isaacson 2007).

Conclusions

In the scenario of international pressure coupled with domestic forces that do not favor UN sanctions and economic hardships, some believe that Iran would agree to a plicy that only supports uranium enrichment for civilian energy production. The trouble on the other hand is U.S. stance that doubts that Iran would stick to a civilan program and would not use it for its weapons program. The Iran's stance from its weapons program to civilan prgram could be considered a compromise but how far is U.S. willing to go to accept Iran's situation remains to be seen. U.S. is already entagled in Iraq and pursuing a war in Iran does not seem to be a viable option. Mid term results in U.S. have also caused a blow in the Bush administration's position. The threats of sanctions and diplomatic…

Middle East countries, and also former colonies around the world, struggled to find their freedom and independence from any imperial forces. Therefore, being once again in charge of their own natural resources became "paramount to the extent that dictators and human rights abusers were supported"(Shah, 2000). People were sensitive to radical messages and a violent, anti-foreigners speech. Dictators and terrorist groups speculated that "weak spot" and provided the right set of words. Concentrating their message on the fight for liberation and independence from the "invasive" West, cleverly giving it a religious and profound spiritual meaning, fundamentalist rulers became popular and managed to take control over countries like Iraq, Iran or Syria, sponsoring the planning and performing of terrorist acts against symbols of Western civilization. Terrorism cannot do without the help of dictatorial regimes in the region, or without the tacit approval of the people, explained by the common religious beliefs…

At times terrorist succeed and at times they fail. Some times they have larger and long-term goal and some times they have short-term aims. For example, a group hijacking a plane wanted some immediate results like release of the prisoners or financial gain but blowing a plane into a building would definitely mean that terrorists wanted something big out of it. Sometimes terrorists want to just cause panic and fear. They attack to make people realize that they are vulnerable. They just want people to become fearful & terrified to go about their usual and routine activities.

War on Terror

War on Terror' is the phrase that has been used and abused since Americans were attacked on their soil on September 11 in New York's Twin Towers. Today America's foreign policy is defined by the term 'War on Terror'. The attack on twin towers made America vulnerable and they had…

Homeland Security and Information Technology

Security and Technology

iometrics

Cyberterrorism

Geospatial Information System

The 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Center raised the awareness of the American public relative to the need for increased national security. The agency that is in the forefront of providing this security is the Department of Homeland Security. This agency is responsible for a broad range of security issues and, as a result, is confronted with a wide range of technological needs. The agency is forced to confront individuals and organizations who have availability to the latest technological innovations available on the market and the Department of Homeland Security must not only be prepared to confront the latest technology it must also anticipate future innovations.

Security and Technology

In today's world dominated by technology possessing information is even more important than it once was. The old adage is that information is power and the adage…

Badley, Cutis A. And Jack L. Goldsmith "Congessional Authoization and the Wa on Teoism," Havad Law Review 118.2047 (2004): 2047-2133.

This aticle eviews the legal popiety of the United States actions in Ian and Afghanistan in esponse to the actions of the teoists. It aises concens whethe the Ameican actions wee appopiate and whethe actions against teoist who ae unaffiliated with any national authoity ae legally appopiate. The authos also conside to what extent the U.S. govenment has authoity to detain and ty teoists. Afte setting the stage on these issues, howeve, the aticle goes on to justify the actions of the Bush administation and defend the ight of the executive banch to asset the authoity of the U.S. militay without congessional authoity when the cicumstances demand it. Futhe, the authos defend the ight of the United States to pusue teoists in attempt to defend the nation's integity and safety.…

S.; b) assess correctly the readiness of America's partners to back up the sanctions; and c) engender the support of minor trading partners ("black knights") to increase their willingness to trade with Iran as the big players leave in obedience to the U.S. led sanctions (Kozhanov, 145).

The Russian writer uses some of the space in his article to review the history of U.S. sanctions against Iran, and mentions a brief thaw in the bitterness between the two countries. That came in 1998, when a team of American wrestlers visited Tehran and were welcomed with flowers. In that moment of detente, the U.S. lifted the ban on exported medical and agricultural goods to Iran, and allowed imports (dried fruits, caviar, and carpets) from Iran into the U.S. But along came the new Iranian president, hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took up the slogan "Death to Israel and the U.S.A." And made…

invisible cities all over the world like Ahwaz in south of Iran, that suffer through horrible tragedies and the world won't pay attention to. They are the real life invisible cities. Through literature one is able to empathize to people and situations that otherwise would never be seen or known. Calvino's Invisible City explores the imaginative world of Kublai Khan and Marco Polo.

The book discusses the descriptions of cities by an explorer, Marco Polo. The book is put together as a conversation between the aging and busy emperor Kublai Khan, a busy man with many emperors who talk to him about the state of his expanding and vast empire, and Polo, the boundless explorer. The largest percentage of the book is of short prose poems describing 55 cities, narrated by the explorer Marco Polo.

Every five to ten cities, there are small dialogues that act as transitions between the…

While on one hand, the Nile gets the highest discharge from rainfall on the highlands of Ethiopia and upland plateau of East Africa, located well outside the Middle East region; on the other hand, discharge points of the other two rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, are positioned well within the Middle East region, prevailing mostly in Turkey, Syria along with Iraq. In other areas, recurrent river systems are restricted to the more northern upland areas of Iran and Turkey, in common with the coastline of Levant (Peter eaumont, Gerald H. lake, J. And Malcolm Wagstaff, 1988).

The conflict in the Future

It is widely believed by many experts that those who control the waters in the Middle East; control the Middle East; and those who control the Middle East; control the oil supply of the world (David M. Hummel, 1995). From the above mentioned facts it is clear that the water…

Terrorism has a long and violent history and incidents of terrorism have been recorded from at least 2,000 years ago. Acts of terrorism have included political assassinations, violent political revolutions, hijackings, skyjackings, and bombings intended to attract attention, shock, intimidate and instill fear. Before the 911 terror attacks the threat of terrorism, though always a potential danger, was of an episodic nature, and seemed to be under control. The devastating attacks on the orld Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, however, have brought terrorism to the center stage of world politics and exposed the vulnerability of soft civilian targets to a small but determined group of terrorists. The issue of terrorism and home security now dominates the foreign policy of most countries including the United States. The focus on terrorism has also forced people to think deeply about its root causes, which may have historical, cultural, political,…

8).

Likewise, the Institute of Agriculture required a quorum of two-thirds of its members for voting purposes and for the balancing of votes according to the size of the budgetary contributions (owett, 1970). While this analysis of these early forms of public international unions is not complete, it does suggest that they were beginning to identify the wide range of interests involved in modern international commerce and what was required to mediate disputes rather than war over them. According to owett (1970), despite the growing body of research into the history and purpose of international public unions, the authorities have not reached a consensus on their classification; however, the constitutional developments and innovations made by the public unions are important considerations for policymakers today because they presaged those made by contemporary inter-governmental organizations (owett, 1970).

In the first instance, the trend towards permanence of association was distinct, no matter whether…

Financial and law enforcers, military and reporting of intelligence are carried out by respective agencies drawn on limited coordination efforts (Whitmore, 2002). While agencies can pull and push intelligence data, these structures lack a centralized system for collecting intelligence. This limits the ability to conduct a meta-analysis of data across inter-agencies systems. Lack of proper coordination efforts reduces the usefulness of financial intelligence thus making it difficult to link the financial intelligence with other useful information. Critics claim that financial evidence is useful in supporting a case; it does not lead to prevention of terrorism attacks (Linden, 2007).

However, a centralized system of coordination may be an effective way of exploring financial data through linking it with other useful information. This can be made useful if the agencies improve their overall understanding of the financial networks of terrorists. The new homeland security departments are signals that there are efforts for…

Thus, weak institutions, frequent military takeovers, and corruption in government ranks, both civilian and military has resulted in present state of affairs of Pakistan. Syria: Syria's history has been one that was dominated by family rule, foreign interventions, and inability to successfully run the affairs of the country by the ruling elite. The Assad family has held the power in Syrian since last four decades and this has caused significant deterioration in institutional and other forms of governance (Zisser 2003, 15-19).With independence from the French forces in 1946, Syria remained internally polarized and externally vulnerable to the tensions of Middle East. Her confrontation with Israel and support for Hezbollah has considerable historical background. Thus, the issues today being faced by Syria are a continuation of its acts of historical omissions and commission by ruling elites.

Influence of leadership: Influence of leadership on both Syria and Pakistan has been largely negative…

America's engagement with China, with historic ice-breaking between the two countries carried out by Henry Kissinger, has been complicated. I would suggest that it were the U.S. domestic preoccupations and compulsions that did not allow me to take any bold stance on the issue of Dalai Lama. I disagree with notion that U.S. betrayed the cause of human rights while not choosing to visit Dalai Lama.

It must not be forgotten that unlike ussia, China's geography allows her to exert much more influence than the former. In the words of Kaplan (2010), China is both a land and a sea power. Thus, my foreign policy towards China has been reflective of this potential next power of the world. The U.S. has benefited from the Chinese market significantly in the wake of financial crisis. The author failed to acknowledge the huge compulsions that China faces in meeting its energy and other…

shift of terrorism to the international level. It defines terrorism, the reasons it is carried out, and the parties involved in terrorist acts. It also discusses the reasons due to which, certain states are covertly sponsoring terrorism to fight against their rival states without starting a conventional full scale war, and saving huge costs. It highlights how the military actions involved in the global war against terrorism are fuelling the terrorist movements and strengthening their numbers.

War and Terrorism

War can be defined as an armed conflict between two states, where both the states' main focus is to impose their own will on the rival state. During the last two centuries, the conventional ways of fighting a war have changed immensely due to technological advancements, but the reasons to initiate and fight a war remains the same. A war is fought in order to occupy and control a piece of…

persecution of early Christians under the oman Empire is a matter of great interest and intrigue to many, even today; as is the matter of distinction and distrust between early Jews and Christians. Furthermore, the ironically similar behavior of orthodox Christians towards heretics rouses the curiosity of many scholars. This paper will discuss the effect of Christianity on omans and their perceptions towards Christians, Christian perceptions and treatment of Jews. The relationship between orthodox Christians and heretics will also be discussed.

ome before Christianity

The empire of ome, at the time of Christ's birth, was one of the two greatest kingdoms and was steadily continuing to flourish and expand, even then. Soon, it covered most of what we now know as Western Europe. The conquered land began from Spain in the west and ended in Syria in the east, while the great countries of England, France and Greece, and the…

Changing Nature of arfare

According to generals like Rupert Smith and David Petraeus, postmodern conflict is radically different from warfare between industrialized states, such as the American Civil ar and the world wars of the 20th Century. It does not begin with a condition of peace or return to it after the total defeat of the enemy, but rather is a "continuous crisscrossing between confrontation and conflict," often with indecisive results (Smith 19). Confrontations with North Korea and Serbia, for example, continued long after the end of the actual fighting on the battlefield, and the political issues that gave rise to the conflicts remained unresolved. These types of conflicted often dragged on for years or even decades, as in Afghanistan and Somalia, and were always fought among the people, with enemies who had a strong tactical advantage over their better funded and equipped opponents because of their familiarity with local…

Technology changed Security and Terrorism?

Terrorists have evolved in their warfare and now they exploit modern technologies to facilitate every stage of their operation such as recruitment, training, planning and attack. Counter terrorism efforts therefore require more effort, continued research and high tech solutions to prevent, protect and to safeguard innocent citizens. The key to victory is not just the volume of information at our disposal but more importantly how effectively the information is analyzed and disseminated among anti-terror vigilance networks in different nations. Only a coordinated approach to counter terrorism would yield fruit, and for this, standardization of security measures across the international checkpoints is indispensible. There is no one solution to solve the problem of terrorism but with the development of newer technological solutions such as iometric identification, iosensors and terahertz imaging systems and other software solutions we can look forward to achieving the objective of a safer…

Terrorism seems to have taken over the world. No matter how hard the industrialized countries try to find ways to achieve peace and stability in the world but somehow the opposite happens. Today's world is predominantly inhabited by hatred that is visible in the never-ending terror and fear produced by the attacks of September 11th and the military responses undertaken by Super powers. Wars apparently carried out in order to eradicate terrorism are seen by the affected countries as excuses to simply dominate more countries and establish and American hegemony or new colonialism all over the world.

The reasons for escalating terrorism are complex and more than often not understandable. However, some of the reasons are as follows: The growth in the number of terrorist groups is instigated largely by the religious imperative that is greatly funded by the state governments of the Islamic countries; the highly advanced technology and…

history of Terrorism

There are many different definitions for terrorism, depending on the country or organization. Broadly speaking, the first deliberate acts of violence registered in the history of the human civilization that were conducted with no regard for human life or dignity, aiming at spreading and controlling though fear could be labeled as acts of terror. Terrorism is generally thought to include the idea of spreading fear for the purpose of controlling a group of people, communities or entire populations and influencing decision making at different levels. So, terrorist acts are the result of radical, extremist thinking, being produced because some people need to make their voices heard and think that fear is the best, most efficient, the only way to do it.

Government officials and academics alike, have a hard time coming to a consensus when it comes to a definition of terrorism, especially for the purpose of…