ON THE CIVILIZATIONAL AND ISLAMIC NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

Abstract

Today, two trends are dominating ethnic and interstate relations. First, local conflicts that use limited troop contingents (smaller wars) are becoming more frequent; there is a clear realization that mass armed clashes lead nowhere. Second, contemporary wars and armed conflicts are gradually becoming longer and, therefore, require more material and human resources. Indeed, the world wars of the 20th century lasted for no more than six years each, while armed conflicts take decades and frequently end in the “neither war nor peace”stalemate (Vietnam, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Nagorny Karabakh of Azerbaijan, Abkhazia of Georgia, the Trans-Dniester region of Moldova, etc.). In real life contemporary smaller wars are not waged in their pure form; depending on the economic, social, political, ideological, and military context, they intertwine and complement each other. Acts of terror, for example, have an important, though not dominating, role to play in the secret armed struggle of the special services.
 As a form of contemporary armed confrontation, international terrorism has several specific features which set it apart from other forms of smaller wars.