Page 65 - Cyber Terrorism and Extremism as Threat to Critical Infrastructure Protection

4 Radicalization as a Cause of Terrorism –
The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mile Šikman

1 Introduction

The term radicalization has a broader practical application than a theoretical determination.
This is the main reason why this phenomenon is very often understood broadly and vaguely.
Such an approach may result in negative effects, especially when it is associated with a so-
1
cially negative phenomenon such as terrorism . For this reason, it is necessary to offer a clear
theoretical concept of radicalization, and subsequently associate it with the concept of terror-
ism. Thus the criteria for considering a particular process to be socially unacceptable would
be established, while at same time avoiding the dangers of misunderstanding certain social
processes. In the context of criminal law, this is also necessary because codified behaviours
must be prescribed on which coercive measures may be imposed, at the same time guarantee-
ing human rights and freedoms. Additionally, the issue of radicalization is important in a glo-
balized world where people from around the world are connected and share ideas (particularly
via social media and the internet), because the increased connectivity makes it more likely
that an individual will be exposed to extremist ideology (by chance or choice) at some point,
and also facilitates the exchange of information, propaganda and socialization with other ex-
tremists (Hendrickson, 2014, p 2).

Although the initial forms of terrorism (e.g. left- or right-wing terrorism) could have been
regarded as radical , this phenomenon is generally associated with the global jihadist move-
2
1 According to the European Parliament Report (2015), terrorism and religious radicalization are often perceived
through the prism of stereotypes, resulting in hate crimes and hate speech driven by racism, xenophobia or intoler-
ance toward different opinions, beliefs or religions. In this respect, it is important to emphasize “that it is the per-
verse misuse of religion, and not religion per se, that is one of the causes of radicalisation” and “radicalisation is not
to be associated with any one ideology or faith but may occur within any of them” (European Parliament, 2015).
2 Because, according to Simeunović (2009), terrorism, like any other political violence: “can be related to ideol-
ogy in at least three ways: first, in the sense of the system of value orientations that encourages terrorist activity;
secondly, ideology can act as a guide when choosing goals, methods, and types of terrorist activity; and thirdly,
ideology justifies what has been done – the interpretive function of ideology” (Simenunović, 2009, p 123).

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