Terrorism

Terrorism refers to any act, usually violent, meant to coerce behavior for political ends. Terrorism is used to bring fear to the population to obtain a certain political objective. Terrorism has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political organizations, nationalistic and religious groups, revolutionaries, as well as armies, police, and intelligence services.

Definition

Terrorism has many definitions. Based on a survey of leading academics, there are at least 109 different definitions of terrorism (Schmidt & Jongman 1988). A compiled analysis of this survey identified the following recurring elements:

• Violence, force (83.5%)
• Political (65%)
• Fear, emphasis on terror (51%)
• Threats (47%)
• Psychological effects and anticipated reactions (41.5%)
• Discrepancy between the targets and the victims (37.5%)
• Intentional, planned, systematic, organized action (32%)
• Methods of combat, strategy, tactics (30.5%)

The common elements of terrorism, as stated by Ganor (2002), are “the use of, or threat to use, violence”; “the goal is to attain political objectives”; and “the targets of terrorism are civilians”.

The most widely accepted legal definition is defined in Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f(d), which states: The term ‘terrorism’ means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

State Sponsorship of Terrorism

There are basically three categories of state sponsorship of terrorism. These are as follows:

1. States supporting terrorism – “states that support terrorist organizations, providing financial aid, ideological support, military or operational assistance” (Ganor 2002)

2. States operating terrorism – “states that initiate, direct and perform terrorist activities through groups outside their own institutions” (Ganor 2002)

3. States perpetrating terrorism – “states perpetrating terrorist acts abroad through their own official bodies” (Ganor 2002) or perpetrating terrorist acts domestically (i.e. within its own borders).

Types of Terrorism

• Bio Terrorism – the release of germ or virus agents
• Chemical Terrorism – the release of poisonous gases
• Cyber Terrorism – the electronic attack on critical infrastructure
• Nuclear Terrorism – the use of nuclear materials in a terrorist attack

References & Readings

• Conference of Foreign Ministers (2005). Kuala Lumpur Declaration on International Terrorism at [1]
• Boyle, G. (2002). Theories of Justification and Political Violence: Examples from Four Groups. Terrorism and Political Violence. 14(2).
• Brynen, R. (1990). Sanctuary and Survival: The PLO in Lebanon. Westview Press.
• Committee of Privy Counsellors (2004, July). Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction. United Kingdom House of Lords.
• Cragin, K. & Daly, S. (2004). The Dynamic Terrorist Threat, An Assessment of Group Motivations and Capabilities in a Changing World. Project Air Force.
• Crelinsten, R. (2002). Analysing Terrorism and Counter-terrorism: A Communications Model. Terrorism and Political Violence. 14(2).
• Emerson, S. (1997, August 4). The terrorist infrastructure. Wall Street Journal.
• Ganor, B. (2002). Defining Terrorism: Is One Man’s Terrorist Another Man’s Freedom Fighter? Police Practice and Research. 3(4).
• Hookway, J. (2002). Terrorist Bombings Hit Philippines --- Series of Weekend Explosions Kill 10 People, Highlighting Militants' Threat to Region. Wall Street Journal.
• Hufbauer, G., Schott, J. & Oegg, B. (2005). Policy Brief 01-11: Using Sanctions to Fight Terrorism at [2]
• Israeli, R. (2002). A Manual of Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism. Terrorism and Political Violence. 14(4).
• Israeli, R. (2002). Western Democracies and Islamic Fundamentalist Violence. Terrorism and Political Violence. 12(4).
• Lenzer, R. & Vardi, N. (2004). Terror Inc.. Forbes.
• National Commission on Terrorism (2005). Countering the Changing Threat of International Terrorism at [3]
• Nedoroscik, J. (2002). Extremist Groups in Egypt. Terrorism and Political Violence. 14(2).
• Perl, R. (2005). Terrorism, The Media, and the Government: Perspectives, Trends, and Options for Policymakers. CRS Issue Brief at [4]
• Post, J., Sprinzak, E. & Denny, L. (2003). The Terrorist in Their Own Words: Interviews with 35 Incarcerated Middle Eastern Terrorists. Terrorism and Political Violence. 15(1).
• Sedgwick, M. (2004). Al-Qaeda and the Nature of Religious Terrorism. Terrorism and Political Violence. 16(4).
• Schmidt, A. & Jongman, A. (1988). Political Terrorism. SWIDOC and Transaction Books.
• Trimble, D. (2004). The Lesson of Northern Ireland. Wall Street Journal.
• Tucker, D. (2001). Chapter Seven: Combating International Terrorism. The Terrorism
• Threat and U.S. Government Response: Operational and Organizational Factors. USAF Institute for National Security Studies.
• Weinberg, L., Pedahzur, A. & Hirsch-Hoefler, S. (2004). The Challenges of Conceptualizing Terrorism. Terrorism and Political Violence. 16(4).
• Wentz, L. (2002). Lessons From Kosovo: The KFOR Experience. CCRP.