Research Paper on:
Poverty, Political Violence, and Global Terrorism

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
are high rates of poverty and illiteracy, the factors that historians have traditionally pointed to as the root causes of terrorism. Then, a group of suicidal hijackers crashed two  jets into the twin towers of New Yorks World Trade Center, one plane into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and would have, had it not been for the efforts of  Flight 93s heroic passengers, plunged a fourth into the White House. On September 11, 2001, terrorism truly became a worldwide phenomenon, and attacked the West with a vengeance.  Why? Before examining the possible causes of terrorism, the student who is writing about this topic should consider what terrorism is, and what its definition entails.  The current edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary describes terrorism as, "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion" (Karim, 2002, p. 425). Terrorism can occur  anywhere - in tiny villages or in heavily populated urban areas. Contrary to popular belief, terrorism is neither an activist movement nor a radical political philosophy (Wilkinson, 1996).  It is, pure and simply, an expression of "political violence... [that] is premeditated and aims to create a climate of extreme fear" (Wilkinson, 1996, p. 12). Terrorism is a  reaction against something, usually political oppression, and although it received its name during the Reign of Terror that resulted in the French Revolution, it has threatened organized governments for thousands  of years. Terrorism is a complex subject, for it is not simply an act of violence against a perceived threat, such as a person, a country or a system  of government. It also has symbolic implications as well, with the world providing its stage, with all citizens potential victims. According to a study conducted by Wilkinson (1996),