Terrorism Impact

Impact of recent terrorist attacks in Paris on the society as a whole

Somya Mehdiratta

B.Tech in Computer Science

International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad

Email: [e-mail]

Abstract—With the recent terrorist attacks on Paris, it has become clear that unless the societies around the world come together and take some steps to put a stop to all this, nothing can be done about it. War technology has improved to such an extent that having another World War is just not acceptable, because this time it won’t be a war but the extinction of the human race. Such an atrocity is not just an attack on Paris or a country in some part of the world, it is an attack on the entire humankind. Nations and people alike, this incident

Terrorism has had devastating effects on the society in the past, destabilizing fundamentally strong and established gov- ernments, undermining our civilization and society, putting an end to security and peace, and balking the socio-economic development of the society. Above all, this scourge is an indictment for denial of human rights. Continual accounts of terrorist attacks can be found in the history of mankind, but not all attacks are successful. For example, the Israelis were indeed majorly affected by Palestinian terrorist attacks during the second Intifada, but these attacks turned out to be unsuccessful as they didn’t bring any major changes in the

Israeli behavior, pointing out the fact that the Israelis have developed strong social resilience.

Since the first advent of terrorist attacks, long queues at airports, shopping malls and social gatherings for security checks have become really common. With the means of mass destruction becoming more and more sophisticated and deadly, terrorism is looming over our society as a threat like never before. [1] Protection from terrorism is the top priority as

[2] But just counting fatalities is a crude and irrational way of gauging the impacts of terrorism on our societies. They go far beyond it’s actual victims. A fuller picture tells that effects of terrorism are related to psychological, economic, political and sociological arenas, all put together. It affects all of them.

Most of the discourse related to terrorism today is aimed at analyzing terrorism as a strategy and tactic, with counter- terrorism as a goal. In such cases, the real question about the impact of terrorism on the societies targeted is overlooked.

It is understandable that counter-terrorism is the primary focus, given the emphasis laid on protection by the political authorities and general public. It is, however, very unlikely that terrorism will completely be eliminated and hence it is more important to focus on the effects of terrorism, so that their brunt can be dealt with more effectively and their effects be dampened. By doing so, the overall effects of terrorism can be reduced. It’s severity and longevity should be assessed in order to analyze it’s effectiveness.

II. T HE ATTACK

The day of November 13, 2015. It was a night of enter- tainment and enjoyment for the people of France, oblivious