테러리즈미즘과 알카에디즘 - 국제테러의 구조적 배경

Terrorismism and Al-Qaedism: A Structural Element Behind International Terrorism

&nbsp;&nbsp;The Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan has shock the government and people. Two of the hostages were executed before the deal was reached between the Taliban and the Korean government. The release of the hostages was secured with a Korean promise to withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2007. Although the South Korean government offered no statement, a Taliban spokesman claimed that the militant group also received some $20 million USD in exchange for the safety of the captured missionaries.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;In the process of negotiation, the Korean government could not respond the demands made by Taliban. The group sought the release of 23 Taliban militants from prison, which is beyond the authority of the Korean side. The Korean government and officials had tried to get help from the side of USA, which has a considerable influence over the Afghan government. But both the American and the Afghan side did not offer positive solutions for the sake of the hostages and the Korean government.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The crisis clearly shows that Korea has been involved in the American wave of ‘war on terrorism,’ which the latter has waged since the 9/11 incident. In this regard, it is important to understand the Korean hostage crisis in terms of the conflictual relationship between the West and the radical Islamist movements. This article aims at figuring out the nature of the relationship between the US-led ‘war on terrorism’ and the resistant counterpart of radical Islam. This thesis will suggest a new framework in considering current violent activities of Islamist radicals.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The main hypothesis of this paper is that the current interrelationship between the West and the radical Islamist movements is likely to be understood by ideological clashes between them. On the one hand, the US and its allies have ideologized ‘war on terrorism’ into ‘terrorismism.’ On the other hand, the radical Islamist ideas of al-Qaeda has spreaded into many parts of the world, transforming themselves into a loose ideology of ‘Al-Qaedism.’ Terrorist activities especially since the US invasion to Iraq have reflected this new phenomenon of ideological conflicts between terrorismism and al-Qaedism.