France’s deadly terrorist attacks

Terrorist Attacks in France

France is one of the countries in the globe that has been the target of deadly terrorist attacks by various states, individuals, and groups. The biggest attacks were bombings, which were thought to have used improvised and thus very explosive devices (Filiu, 2016). According to Frattini et al. (2016), the greatest terror assault on French land occurred in 2015, with the largest number of casualties and deaths reaching 320.

Algerian Jihadist Attack

Among those involved in the terrorist strikes in France was an Algerian Jihadist who killed a woman while attempting to take his automobile. In 2015, there was a gunshot attack (Hubbard, 2015). Amedy Coulibaly was responsible for taking hostages and multiple shootings at Kosher market in the same year, 2015 (Larsen, 2017). In 2012, Mohammed Merah carried out killings of eleven French citizens amongst them, three children. According to Frattini et al (2016), there was a bomb attack that took place in Paris in 2004, claiming the lives of 30 people.

21st Century Terror Attacks

In the 21st century, there were a series of terrorist attacks that occurred in France, all which are worth recording. In the year 2003, there was a double bomb attack at the regional directorates of customs and treasury in Nice, for which national liberation front of Corsica claimed to be responsible (Filiu, 2016). Bombing attacks continued through 2004 where ten people were killed in a bomb attack against Further. In 2007, two French police men were shot and succumbed to death, instantly, by members of Indonesian embassy in Paris by the front army of the France Islamique (Filiu, 2016). In the year 2010, Larsen (2017) reports, shooting attacks took shape when two Civil Spanish Guards were killed as they carried out surveillance against ETA members in Landes. In the same year, a French policeman was shot to death. In 2012, further shooting was realized. Seven people were killed and five were injured in the shooting. Among those that died was the French paratrooper, a rabbi and three schoolchildren (Larsen, 2017). These events happened in a time interface of 11 days. In May 2013, an Islamist knifeman attacked a soldier in the Paris Suburb of Defense-this was a stabbing. In the year 2014, three police officers were injured and one killed, again by means of the stabbing. In January 2015, mass shooting in Paris was carried out by two Islamic men, Said and Cherif Kouachi who identified themselves as belonging to the Al-Qaeda in Yemen (Hubbard, 2015). 17 people were killed as a result. Numerous other killings took place in the same year, which is considered brutal in historical books. In 2016, stabbings took shape again leading to the death of citizens. In 2017, stabbing, shootings and vehicle ramming were the terror tricks that lead to people losing their lives.

Historical Terror Attacks

The 20th-century terror attacks began on the 31st of July 1914 when the assassination of a socialist leader occurred at the ushering of World War I in a Parisian café (Hubbard, 2015). They ran all through the years until the 21st century was welcome. In April 2000, a bombing attack against a branch of McDonald’s in Brittany occurred (Frattini et al., 2016). The 19th-century attacks began on the 24th of December 1800 where mass killings and destructions happened. Bombing was the mode of attack by the Plot of the rule Saint-Nicaise, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Napoleon in Paris. This was the opener terror attack (Hubbard, 2015). On 24th June 1894, the stabbing of the president of the French republic, Sadi Carnot, by Sante Geronimo Caserio, an Italian anarchist, took place, marking the beginning of terror attacks in France (Hubbard, 2015).

Liberalism and Terror Attacks

The theory of Liberalism would best describe terrorist attacks in France. Liberalists often believe that placing all the attention on the nation is an exaggeration, arguing that power is held by groups rather than the state, both in negative and positive ways (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). Therefore, the perpetrators of terrorism in France seek disruption in the French system as a means to realize their goals. Just like liberalists, the terrorists in France tend to focus on non-state actors as well as the institutions and rules that have formed around their interactions.

Liberals are people who believe that cooperation can be realized in the global system (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). While they acknowledge that anarchy exists in the world, with cooperation between states as well as other actors, the anarchy can be managed. It is in the belief of the actors that they can realize lasting cooperation. Their major aim is often to try to create organizations while also exploring ways of incentivizing states to cooperate.

In order to realize this goal, liberals often have some great thinkers to draw from. The evolution of liberalism is often catalyzed by war and advances in thought (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). Therefore, just like the terrorist attacks in France, liberal theories take into account non-state actors in the global system and believe that having common references can create peace.

Liberalism has two fundamental assumptions that are expounded by other major variants (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). This way, liberalism distinguishes itself as a rationalist theory, implying that liberalist theorists have a common assumption with realists: that states are rational actors.

While liberalists hold the same view as realists, that the global system is anarchic, they diverge in their views of the implications of the anarchy in international cooperation. The major assumption of the liberal theory is that states embody social groups whose ideas create state preference (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). The implication is that state preference is irreducible to a simple goal such as the pursuit of even wealth or security. This assumption enables liberalists to fit into the study of international relations while also integrating a greater focus on non-state actors (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). The second assumption underpinning liberal theory is that state policies are influenced by interdependence among preferences of states. Instead of considering preferences as fixed, liberals tend to explain differences in preferences as well as their significance to world politics (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). Essentially, liberalists believe that if nations have differing preferences, and if they have common preferences, then they may cooperate to enjoy mutual benefits. Correspondingly, if states have preferences which are not directly conflictual and are not supported by cooperation, then they may be contented to stay in isolation without actively engaging in foreign policy (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2013). It is these assumptions that have created numerous strands of liberalism.

References

Dunne, T., Kurki, M., & Smith, S. (Eds.). (2013). International Relations Theories. Oxford University Press.

Filiu, J. P. (2016). The French“ Iraqi Networks” of the 2000s: Matrix of the 2015 Terrorist Attacks?. Perspectives on Terrorism, 10(6).

Frattini, B., Franchin, M., Travers, S., Jost, D., Alhanati, L., Galinou, N., ... & Tourtier, J. P. (2016). Prehospital rescue organization during the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. JEMS, 41(5), 24-30.

Hubbard, B. (2015). Terrorist Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait Kill Dozens.”. The New York Times, 26.

Larsen, J. M. (2017). Security after terrorism: Explaining differing security responses following large-scale terrorist attacks (Master’s thesis).