Lone Wolf Terrorism

Abstract

Lone wolf terrorism is part of the numerous global issues demanding the attention of governments across the globe. Lone wolf technology threatens the safety and well-being of every individual; therefore, governments have to come up with strategies that can mitigate or offer preventive solutions to the menace.

This paper analyzes the events, journals and any form of material related to lone wolf terrorism and creates an elaborate description of the critical aspects of this field. The study also provides several recommendations on how governments can increase preparedness for lone wolf terrorist threats.

Introduction

Terrorism is one among the leading global issues that has aroused the interests of every individual and government across the globe. Acts of terrorism have become a usually in the news with numerous radical groups expanding the scope of their attacks across the globe. These attacks come at a time where the boundaries between countries are permissive to the movement as well as increased channels of communication. The field of terrorism has diversified with the magnitude and intricacy of the attacks becoming more intense than before.

Problem Statement

There has been an increase the number and magnitude of lone wolf attacks across the globe. People are finding it easier to use violence to spread their ideologies without the least bit of concern about the consequences or repercussions of their actions. This proposed paper focuses on the details of lone wolf terrorism develop an understanding of the causes, motives, implications, characteristics, and mitigation to map out the current state of the world in terms of security and safety.

Literature Review

Overview of Lone Wolf Terrorism

Many people conceptualize terrorism as attacks orchestrated and executed by radical groups to spread chaos and mayhem in the pretext of curing the world or spreading their beliefs. However, the reports and recordings of the numerous attacks on the globe divert from this cliché. Lone wolf terrorism is a form of terrorism characterized by the malicious attacks orchestrated and executed by a person in support of a set of beliefs and ideas or some group or movement. Lone wolf terrorist always act alone. They act outside any command structure and without any form of assistance with resources (Spaaij, 2012). They refrain from making contact with other people or sharing their agendas with other people and always make an effort to accomplish their goals individually.

Causes and Motives of Lone Wolf Terrorism

Even though the actions of these individuals are free from the direction of others, it does not occur in a vacuum. Exposure of these individuals to ideologies justifying terrorism is a key ingredient in the mix of personal vicarious learning experiences that result in a commitment to terrorism (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). The analytical distinction between lone wolf terrorism and group terrorism dynamics is usually puzzling because the inter-group dynamics influences the actions of lone wolf terrorists (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). The circumstances and surrounding of an individual are other causes of lone wolf terrorism. Most of the attacks of lone wolf terrorism are orchestrated and executed on the basis of religious, political ideologies (Moskalenko & McCauley, 2011). Lone wolfs act on a blend of personal and political ideologies that emanate from frustrations with broader political, social or religious grievances. Strong emotional experiences are more than enough to compel an individual to commit malicious attacks against other people (Moskalenko & McCauley, 2011).

Attacks of large-scale murder have to have a motive or any form of agenda that encourages the individual to go through with the attack. Lone wolf terrorists use violence as a form of advocacy for their attacks. They orchestrate and execute attacks with a magnitude capable of drawing the attention of the public to their ideologies. Other lone wolf terrorists use the attacks to spread chaos on the pretext of following beliefs to satisfy their lust for blood and mayhem. In most cases, the lone wolf terrorists will use the attacks to create a sense of relief from the emotional distress build up emanating from political, social or religious grievances (Spaaij, 2012). Lone wolf terrorists obtain most of the ideas and ideologies from grouped terrorists. Therefore, it is to state that a crucial motive for lone wolf attacks is to gratify group terrorists and show solidarity in ideology (Spaaij, 2012).

Methods of Lone Wolf Terrorism

Lone wolf as the name suggests plan and execute their attacks as individuals free from the directions and support of others in terms of resources. The lone wolf terrorists gather other required resources to orchestrate an attack create a strategic plan for the attack by prying on the vulnerabilities of the defenses and execute the attack on a set date (Berntzen & Sandberg, 2014). The technological progress made in the world avails a diversity of resources, opportunities and targets for attacks. Lone wolf terrorists can launch attacks on the Cyberspace to cause massive financial losses or use weapons such as explosives and guns to cause massive fatalities and destruction of infrastructure (McCauley et al., 2013).

Implications of Lone Wolf Terrorism

The fact that lone wolf terrorism involves attacks executed by single individuals does not mean that they are not capable of unleashing numerous implications. Lone wolf terrorist act alone therefore, have to have an open mind to execute attacks capable of inflicting fear and panic. There is a diversity of implications of lone wolf terrorism. First and foremost, lone wolf terrorism causes the death of scores of individuals across the globe (Simon, 2013). Lone wolf terrorist at times use weapons capable of mass destruction and murder. They take advantage of the vulnerabilities in the security system to plan attacks where an attack will cause the largest number of fatalities. These attacks instill fear and panic among the citizens of a country (Phillips, 2011). The thought of a lone wolf terrorist bombing a park on a busy day or appearing in the street with massive guns and indiscriminately shooting is more than enough to cause fear among the people.

Lone wolf terrorist attacks also have adverse effects on daily business operations in a state or country. An analytical analysis on the sociological, economic and psychological characteristics of the behavioral patterns of any individual including clients and investors indicates that lone wolf terrorist attacks have the potential to affect people’s judgment (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). The panic created from the occurrence of an attack is enough to scare potential clients or investors in a region. People value safety the most across the globe. They rarely want to engage in risky ventures or visit risky places. Lone wolf attacks affect the preferences of tourists across the globe (Caruso & Locatelli, 2014). People tend to avoid terrorist hot spots or areas known for increased violence and crime. It affects a countries ability to attract foreign investment that subsequently creates a stunted growth in the economy (Phillips, 2011).

Demographics of Lone Wolf Terrorism

Studies indicate that lone wolf terrorist attacks are still relatively rare; nevertheless, their frequency and magnitude has increased between in the past few decades in the US and across the globe. Lone wolf attacks in the late 1960s constituted a small percentage (1.8%) of the total terrorist attacks. The number increased from 30 attacks in the 1970s to 70 attacks in the 2000s, a growth of 143% (Simon, 2013). A significant percentage (74%) of terrorist attacks executed between 2009 and 2015 were carried out by one person of which 10% were lone wolf terrorist attacks (Spaaij, 2010). Further analysis of these trends indicates that antigovernment ideologies within a broader were the basis of motivation for 49% of these attacks. The individuals considered themselves as patriots working for a good cause (Spaaij, 2010). Ideologies of hate ranging from extremist interpretations of Islam to misogyny were the basis for the attacks took the larger share of the remaining percentage (Spaaij, 2010). A study shows that the United States was and remains the primary target of lone wolf terrorist attacks. Out of the one hundred and ninety-eight of the lone wolf terrorist attacks performed between 1968 and 2010 across major Western countries, 57% (113 attacks) occurred in the United States. The recent trend in lone wolf terrorism includes increased law enforcement (LE) and military personnel targeting, vast use firearms to conduct attacks, radicalization through the internet and proclamation of individual ideology.

Mitigation and Prevention of Lone Wolf Attacks

Governments have to come up with strategies that can place lone wolf terrorism in place. Normally, these attacks are more dangerous because they are difficult to pinpoint in the vast population. However, preventing these attacks is achievable. The government should invest more in increasing the intelligence networks that monitor people activities not just within the nation but across the globe (Spaaij, 2012). The intelligence assists governments to monitor and identify illegal activity such as the purchase of weapons or suspicious communication between individuals. The government should invest in equipment and technology that allows it to identify and respond to threats like facial recognition technology (Bakker & De Graaf, 2011). The governments can also increase the training and empowerment programs for law enforcers to increase their proficiency in responding and handling lone wolf terrorism incidents (Bakker & De Graaf, 2011). In instances where the local or state authorities can not deal with lone wolf terrorist attacks, the government can give the public power to defend themselves as the final line of defense (Bakker & De Graaf, 2011).

Conclusion

People are gaining the courage to express their ideologies through violence. Lone wolf terrorism is a manifestation of this violence and is becoming a throbbing menace to the society. The government has an obligation to deliver the safety, well-being and prosperity of its citizens. Therefore, it has to develop a full understanding of lone wolf terrorism to identify patterns that might help it make predictions and create safety measures capable of protecting the citizens.

References

Spaaij, R. (2012). Understanding lone wolf terrorism: Global patterns, motivations and prevention. Dordrecht: Springer.

Caruso, R., & Locatelli, A. (2014). Understanding terrorism: A socio-economic perspective. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.

Phillips, P. (2011). Lone wolf terrorism. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 17(1).

Simon, J. (2013). Lone Wolf Terrorism: Understanding the Growing Threat. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books.

Spaaij, R. (2010). The enigma of lone wolf terrorism: an assessment. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 33(9), 854-870.

Moskalenko, S., & McCauley, C. (2011). The psychology of lone-wolf terrorism.Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 24(2), 115-126.

Bakker, E., & De Graaf, B. (2011). Preventing lone wolf terrorism: some CT approaches addressed. Perspectives on Terrorism, 5(5-6).

Berntzen, L., & Sandberg, S. (2014). The collective nature of lone wolf terrorism: Anders Behring Breivik and the Anti-Islamic social movement.Terrorism and Political Violence, 26(5), 759-779.

McCauley, C., Moskalenko, S., & Van Son, B. (2013). Characteristics of lone-wolf violent offenders: A comparison of assassins and school attackers.Perspectives on Terrorism, 7(1). 

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in graduate paper writing service if you need a similar paper you can place your order from custom research paper writing service.