Optimism in Terrorism in 2017

By: Haley Morrow    Feb 4, 2018

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​The year 2017 went by in a flash, things were happening left and right, and 22,487 of those events were terrorist attacks! Luckily the report from Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre showed a slight decrease in number of attacks this past year. Around the world, 2016 was faced with 24,202 attacks, which was the highest number ever. In hindsight, 2017 was a bit calmer. In fact, within all these terrorist attacks there was a 33% drop of civilians killed compared to 2016. Even six out of the ten most violent countries decreased in the number of terrorist attacks. Overall the world is becoming a little more safe. 

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As for Syria, Iraq, and the Islamic State, they

remain in an affliction of violence which

acquire more than ⅓ of all brutal assaults

happening throughout the world. Syria and Iraq

are in a huge loss of territory lowering the

number of fatalities compared to the past.

This has pressured the Islamic State to step

back into a lower intensity type of violence.

For many violent actions that don’t fall under

the terrorism category, the “lone wolves” are

responsible. Most often these people come

forward as followers of the Islamic State after causing some of the biggest tragedies; such as the Manchester bombing and truck attack in Barcelona.

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Concerning this year, 2018, a lot of events are subjected to being attacked for the “propaganda boost” towards the Islamic State. According to Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre report, the World Cup held in Russia might become an eye-catching target for this group. Even with high security, single followers will be utilizing accessible weapons like sports equipment, tools, items made of glass, knives, guns, even vehicles. And that’s what everyone must be most concerned of. These lone wolves are almost impossible to spot unless they open up their thoughts and feelings to friends or family members. The world might not have as many terrorist attacks, but not all actions of violence classify in that category. For example, the Las Vegas shooting in 2017 could not be classified as a terrorist attack but it was the most destruction caused by a loner in 2017; with a killing of 58 people.

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To conclude, 2017 could have been worse, optimistically there were a lot of decreases in the numbers of attacks and fatalities. When it comes to the new year, 2018 is unpredictable. Since January has already passed, we’ve started the year with 142 terrorist attacks so far. Compared with January of 2017, which had 151 terrorist attacks, we’re making progress!