This event is considered the opening volley in a cowardly war that has been waged relentlessly against the innocent citizens of democratic societies of Western Europe, the United States, Israel, and Japan. It has been estimated that more than 550 terrorist organizations exist around the world. The tactics they use include murder, kidnapping for ransom, arson, bombings, train holdups, attacks on embassies, and airplane hijackings and bombings. In the mid- and late 1980s terrorism escalated, with attacks on a cruise ship and several airports. The development of new types of explosives and the tactic of planting bombs in the luggage of unsuspecting victims made detection more difficult.
Terrorism is the use of violence to achieve political goals.
It has long been an instrument of repression by governments as well as a tool of revolutionaries trying to overthrow governments. This article, however, focuses on the terrorist organizations that have emerged since the late 1960s. Origins Political murder is as old as politics, but to understand modern terrorism it is necessary to understand the political and social climate of the 1960s. A generation had grown up with no memory of World War II, and in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, many of this generation were in college. In the United States social protest was a common result of the civil-rights movement.