War in the global village: Terrorism in an era of contracted social time and space

This thesis examines the link between terrorism and the technological evolution of the electronic and digital communication environment. Due to recent changes in our media and information environment the importance of perception and perceptual controls must be understood in greater depth in order to properly grasp the new operational reality of terrorism in the twenty first century. As a result of the introduction of electric means of communications; symbolic and mythical forms of understanding are becoming extremely prevalent in an information driven era. By making use of Marshall McLuhan's techno-social paradigms linking the introduction of novel information communication technologies to direct societal change, this research hypothesizes that terroristic violence must be understood, more than ever, beyond an immediate application of physical violence. The immediate aim of terroristic violence is to influence and coerce behaviour through the use of violent symbolism which is now easier than ever in this information age.