Is Terrorism a Serious Threat to International and National Security?

 For instance, in the 1980s the United States’ government joined ranks with the Islamist group Mujahedeen when the group was battling the Soviet Army (Glassner, 1999). This group later transformed itself to the modern day Taliban. Currently, there are various threats to national security other than terrorism. Given the current situation, it is often questioned whether terrorism is an actual serious threat to international and national security. This paper will argue that terrorism is just one security threat among other threats. Therefore, it is not a serious security threat to both national and international security.

Terrorism is defined as the “threat of violence and use of fear to coerce, persuade, and gain public attention” (Williams, 2008). Given this definition of terrorism, it is important to investigate the perception of this threat. It is a fact that terrorists pose a threat to the United States. However, this is just a threat among other threats. These other threats can be defined using past statistics. In the United States, traffic accidents are the leading cause of non-violent deaths. The number of such deaths was over three hundred and eighty thousand in the period between 1999 and 2007.

The leading cause of violent deaths during this same period was suicide followed by homicide both recording over a hundred thousand incidences each (Williams, 2008). The numbers for terrorism during this same period were less than three thousand. These numbers do not explain the position of terrorism as a leading security threat. Instead, they diminish the likelihood of terrorism being a serious security threat. The impact of terrorism on human lives is almost negligible compared to other causes of death. For example, homicides through firearms accounted for over one hundred thousand deaths. These statistics would prioritize the gun control issue over terrorism. Statistics indicate a pattern of exaggeration in regards to terrorism.

According to records, there have been less than five terror incidences in the United States over the last twenty-five years. This is excluding incidences of “attempted” terrorist attacks. These statistics are further prove that the issue that has dominated the list of serious security threats is rarer than incidences of political assassinations. Those opposing this argument are of the view that the magnitude of terrorism is worth noting. For instance, the 2001 attack by Al-Qeida caused over three thousand fatalities at once. This argument leans on the only one time this threat materialized. However, considering the time it took for this to happen, terrorism is not yet a serious threat.

The other factor that is responsible for blowing the terrorism issue out of proportion is media coverage. For an issue to be considered serious, the media has to play an important role. For example, before media coverage was focused on the global warming issue nobody considered it a serious threat. The way this issue was covered and the way terrorism is covered, represent two different approaches.