Imperialism, Nationalism and Terrorism

Historically, imperialism has fueled nationalism, which has fueled terrorism. Powerful countries begin to enforce the politics and even control other countries, which eventually causes friction between the citizens of that country or area. The inhabitants of the country feel that they deserve to govern themselves, especially if the imperialist country over-steps it's reign over it's country and benefits from the country's success under their new stability. Natives of the country want to rule the country themselves, so they begin to focus their identities into a cohesive whole. The controlers of the territory usually don't support these nationalist sentiments, and sometimes decide to stifle nationalist agression by putting pressure on nationalists and sometimes using force against them. The revolutionaries then respond with equal force and agression, which often occurs in the form of terrorism.

After World War II there was an end to old European imperialism, which left artificial boarders around territory where nationalist sentiments had been growing. Arbituary allocation of territiry previously controlled directly or influenced by industrial European powers left certain domestic groups in control of new territories. Groups that identified themselves by ethnicity, religion, or geographcal location began to fight over territory such as the Suez canal and Palestine, which had formerly been under the control of other countries. Some communities (Palestine, for example) found themselves under the control of others who were given control of their territory as an attempt towards reconciliation and stability in the region. Great numbers of people found themselves isolated in their previous homes, without jobs or the amount of livelhood they had had, even under the control of imperialist countries. This caused the people in regions under Israeli control to turn to terrorism to get their attention and be heard. In the end, the terrorist problem in Israel is the result of friction caused in the middle east after the second world war as countries poorly delegated old imperalist territory and underestimated the unity and identity if it's peoples.