Terrorism and acts of terror are not a new phenomenon on the soil of the United States of
America or humanity at large. These acts remain the greatest vice that threatens the Americans'
peace, as Homeland Security attempts to update itself with the current terrorism trends and come
up with counterterrorism measures. However, some of the strategies being fronted by the
government of the United States have proven to be abortive.US has taken a hard stance by
enacting numerous legislations aimed at protecting itself, including putting in place the famous
"U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists" slogan (Czinkota & Knight 2005). Furthermore, the U.S.
has put economic sanctions on countries deemed donors or sympathizers of terrorists and
executed terrorists. To counter the ever-upgrading terrorists' tactics, Homeland Security, and
other relevant bodies in charge of security should review their strategies and be ahead of the
terror masterminds (Hoffman, 2002).
Understanding how terrorists operate is the best way to prepare for and destroy them.
Terrorism is a highly dynamic concept that will forever keep on changing with upgraded tactics
and new actors. If terrorists do not upgrade their tactics and structure, they will likely be
destroyed by the U.S. forces or even isolated (Uwazie, Noble, Getty, & Valadez, 2019).
Although the aim of terrorism is meting violence on the victims, terrorists will come up with new
tactical trends and more sophisticated strategies. As the terrorists up to their game, so should
Homeland Security and other relevant body in the U.S.
Although criminal and terror networks might not belong to a common front, they are
likely to intersect in the future. While terrorists would want to cause instability and harm
innocent citizens, criminals hold their hopes onto government stability to operate successfully.
Cyberterrorism may not have reached its peak yet, but the U.S. is still very vulnerable to any
TERRORISM’S FUTURE POTENTIALITIES 3
form of terror attack. Homegrown terrorists will carry out some of the attacks that might be
meted against the U.S., while larger attacks will be executed by large organizations with
comprehensive network and logistical support (Uwazie et al., 2019). Furthermore, while the
future of radicalization remains questionable, at least the path will change. Accordingly, the
Department of Homeland Security should innovate new strategies and not just law enforcement
techniques. Technology can be employed as an alternative. Generally, Homeland Security should
do things differently to cope with the future of terrorism.
Terrorism groups like Al Qaeda that heavily rely on Muslim ideology as a conduit pipe to
win sympathy will face the challenge of sustaining the ideologies. Today, most Jihadist
communities feel threatened by Muslims and non-Muslims who do not want to be associated
with the Jihadist's philosophy (Uwazie et al., 2019). The acceptance of Jihadist philosophy
would boost the morale of terrorists as they seek to disrupt their targets normal way of life. The
Jihadist philosophy has existed for many years, and it is likely to continue to drive the course of
terrorist networks like Al Qaeda and ISIS in the future. That said, fighting terrorism is more of
taking troops to the terrorists' territories and destroy them. Everyone must be actively involved to
combat terrorism.
Homeland Security should invent new strategies and tactics if the war on terrorisms is to
be won. The fight should start by understanding how terrorists work. However, it is worth noting
that terrorists are changing their tactics and strategies every day to remain relevant. While
cyberterrorism is still growing, terrorists are likely to continue launching attacks. Most of the
smaller attacks will be carried out by homegrown terrorists, while the major ones will be done by
larger organizations that are more organized logistically. Lastly, just like in the past, the Jihadist
philosophy will be exploited by terrorists as they seek to disrupt people's normal way of life
TERRORISM’S FUTURE POTENTIALITIES 4
(Hoffman, 2002). Therefore, Homeland Security should assume a sober and holistic approach
while dealing with terrorism because winning this war is more of using the military or force.
TERRORISM’S FUTURE POTENTIALITIES 5
References
Czinkota, M., & Knight, G. (2005). Managing the terrorist threat. In European Business
Forum (No. 20).
Hoffman, B. (2002). Rethinking terrorism and counterterrorism since 9/11. Studies in Conflict
and Terrorism, 25(5), 303-316.
Uwazie, E., Noble, J., Getty, R., & Valadez, M. (2019). Critical Issues in Criminal Justice:
Historical Perspectives. Cognella Academic Publishing.