View from Abroad: Terror and Trauma in the West

As the term implies, the object of terrorism is to spread fear. And in this, jihadi outfits like Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic State group have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. The use of random violence against innocent civilians was first employed by young radicals in the 19th century when groups of idealists ranging from nihilists to anarchists set off bombs in European capitals. Their aim was to bring bourgeois governments down and replace them with their own utopian models. In fact, it was an act of terror in Sarajevo in 1914 that triggered the First World War.