Published by VOX-Pol, November 20, 2024
By Daniel E. Levenson
In the early to mid-19th century the organizations and ideologues who would form the vanguard of modern terrorism did a remarkable job of leverage emerging technology for both training and operational purposes. This often took the form of experimentation with new (and often unregulated) materials such as dynamite and crude IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) called Orsini Bombs, printed pamphlets, and even public lectures and courses on the political utility of dynamite.
Twentieth Century Conflicts, The Internet, and Training Camps
The trends begun by the bomb-throwers seeking to remake Russia, the nascent Italian state, and other polities across Europe, continued well into the mid-twentieth century, leading to the creation and spread of printed material such as the Anarchist Cookbook and the Poor Man’s James Bond. Fortunately, these instructional manuals were not perfect, often containing errors or a greater emphasis on ideology than on technical accuracy, which left would-be terrorists to attempt to fill in gaps on their own. At the same time this era, like so many before it, offered options for “real-world” experience, and a number of groups and individuals took advantage of this in the United States, Afghanistan, and other places around the globe.
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