Horns of the Terrorist Dilemma Essay Example for Free

Horns of the Terrorist Dilemma Essay This paper approaches analysis by using the descriptive and historical sketch method of research. It will also analyze empirical data from textual sources towards its conclusion. The primary question of this study is: how the particular Arab country of Syria, contributes to the further instability and volatility of the socio-political condition of the Middle East. And the secondary question is: how does Syria use terrorism in formulating the country’s foreign and defense policy as it places particular emphasis on its relationship with Israel? The theory/theories which prove to be useful to the course of this paper come from the disciplines of Philosophy and International Relations. For the philosophical approach to the analysis of data, it is useful to examine the findings under the light of differentiating rationales by recognizing the particular categories of religious identity and secular identity. As for the approach that stems from the discourse composition of the body of International Relations, the secondary question is answered by finding a greater understanding behind whether Syria uses terrorism as a form of positive counterintelligence or as a negative form of counterintelligence, even if the United States (US), has in the past, already described Syria to be, â€Å" a state-sponsor of terrorism† –which is a clear indication that the defense tactics of Syria must be of a threatening nature and not otherwise. One cannot say that the data presented is not empirical data. Noriko Sato’s â€Å" On the Horns of the Terrorist Dilemma: Christian Syrians’ Response To Israeli ‘Terrorism’ † in the academic journal â€Å" History and Anthropology† has been clearly described to be a study which came from, â€Å"data collected during the 39 days of the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002. † (142). Sato’s introduction presents that, â€Å" This article examines how the prevailing understanding of ‘terrorism’ and contemporary Israeli military operations against the Palestinians provides different religious groups in Syria with a common ground on which to base their claim to share in the national identity. † (141). Upfront, Sato’s data already answers the primary question of the paper which is made clearer by the table below.