Terrorism is increasingly at the forefront of political agendas. Events world-wide have led to an increased awareness and response to this global phenomenon.
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The obvious and well known range of views on these issues are what makes an internationally accepted specific definition of what is loosely called 'terrorism,' a largely impossible undertaking. That is why the search for and internationally agreed upon definition may well be a futile and unnecessary effort. Sami Zeidan, a Lebanese diplomat and scholar, explained the political reasons underlying the current difficulties to define terrorism as follows:.
There is no general consensus on the definition of terrorism. The difficulty of defining terrorism lies in the risk it entails of taking positions. The political value of the term currently prevails over its legal one. Left to its political meaning, terrorism easily falls prey to change that suits the interests of particular states at particular times. The Taliban and Osama bin Laden were once called freedom fighters mujahideen and backed by the CIA when they were resisting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Now they are on top of the international terrorist lists. Today, the United Nations views Palestinians as freedom fighters, struggling against the unlawful occupation of their land by Israel, and engaged in a long-established legitimate resistance, yet Israel regards them as terrorists. Israel also brands the Hizbullah of Lebanon as a terrorist group, whereas most of the international community regards it as a legitimate resistance group, fighting Israel's occupation of Southern Lebanon.
In fact, the successful ousting of Israeli forces from most of the South by the Hizbollah in made Lebanon the only Arab country to actually defeat the Israeli army. The repercussion of the current preponderance of the political over the legal value of terrorism is costly, leaving the war against terrorism selective, incomplete and ineffective. In the same vein, Jason Burke , a British reporter who writes about radical Islamist activity, said:. There are multiple ways of defining terrorism, and all are subjective. Most define terrorism as "the use or threat of serious violence" to advance some kind of "cause".
Some state clearly the kinds of group "sub-national", "non-state" or cause political, ideological, religious to which they refer. Others merely rely on the instinct of most people when confronted with innocent civilians being killed or maimed by men armed with explosives, firearms or other weapons.
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None is satisfactory, and grave problems with the use of the term persist. Terrorism is after all, a tactic.
The term "war on terrorism" is thus effectively nonsensical. As there is no space here to explore this involved and difficult debate, my preference is, on the whole, for the less loaded term "Militancy". This is not an attempt to condone such actions, merely to analyse them in a clearer way. The political and emotional connotation of the term "terrorism" make difficult its use in legal discourse.
In this sense, Saul notes that:. Despite the shifting and contested meaning of "terrorism" over time, the peculiar semantic power of the term, beyond its literal signification, is its capacity to stigmatize, delegitimize, denigrate, and dehumanize those at whom it is directed, including political opponents. The term is ideologically and politically loaded; pejorative; implies moral, social, and value judgment; and is "slippery and much-abused.
The more confused a concept, the more it lends itself to opportunistic appropriation. Historically, the dispute on the meaning of terrorism arose since the laws of war were first codified in The Martens Clause was introduced as a compromise wording for the dispute between the Great Powers who considered francs-tireurs to be unlawful combatants subject to execution on capture, and smaller states who maintained that they should be considered lawful combatants.
More recently the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August , and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts , which applies in situations Article 1. Thus, the determination of the 'right' definition of terrorism is subjective. To elaborate an effective legal regime to prevent and punish international terrorism—rather than only working on a single, all-encompassing, comprehensive definition of terrorism—the international community has also adopted a " On the whole, therefore, the 'sectoral' conventions confirm the assumption that some offences can be considered in themselves as offences of international concern, irrespective of any 'terrorist' intent or purpose.
Indeed, the principal merit of the 'sectoral approach' is that it avoids the need to define 'terrorism' of 'terrorist acts' So long as the 'sectoral' approach is followed, there is no need to define terrorism; a definition would only be necessary if the punishment of the relevant offences were made conditional on the existence of a specific 'terrorist' intent; but this would be counter-productive, inasmuch as it would result in unduly restricting their suppression. Following this approach, the international community has adopted the following sectoral counter-terrorism conventions, open to the ratification of all states:.
These conventions — all of which are described by the United Nations as part of its panoply of anti-terrorist measures — share three principal characteristics:. Byrnes notes that "this act-specific approach to addressing problems of terrorism in binding international treaties has continued up until relatively recently. Although political denunciation of terrorism in all its forms had continued apace, there had been no successful attempt to define 'terrorism' as such in a broad sense that was satisfactory for legal purposes.
There was also some scepticism as to the necessity, desirability and feasibility of producing an agreed and workable general definition. The international community has worked on two comprehensive counter-terrorism treaties, the League of Nations ' Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism, which never entered into force, and the United Nations ' proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism , which hasn't been finalized yet. In the late s, the international community made a first attempt at defining terrorism.
Article 2 included as terrorist acts, if they were directed against another state and if they constituted acts of terrorism within the meaning of the definition contained in article 1, the following:.
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Willful destruction of, or damage to, public property or property devoted to a public purpose belonging to or subject to the authority of another High Contracting Party. Any attempt to commit an offence falling within the foregoing provisions of the present article. The manufacture, obtaining, possession, or supplying of arms , ammunition , explosives or harmful substances with the view to the commission in any country whatsoever of an offence falling within the present article.
The definition of the crime of terrorism, which has been on the negotiating table since reads as follows:. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person, by any means, unlawfully and intentionally, causes:. Among the negotiators, that definition is not controversial in itself; the deadlock in the negotiations arises instead from the opposing views on whether such a definition would be applicable to the armed forces of a state and to self-determination movements. Thalif Deen described the situation as follows: For example, what distinguishes a "terrorist organisation" from a 'liberation movement'?
And do you exclude activities of national armed forces, even if they are perceived to commit acts of terrorism? If not, how much of this constitutes 'state terrorism'? Nothing in this Convention shall affect other rights, obligations and responsibilities of States, peoples and individuals under international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and international humanitarian law.
The activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention. The activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as they are governed by other rules of international law, are not governed by this Convention.
Nothing in this article condones or makes lawful otherwise unlawful acts, nor precludes prosecution under other laws. The state members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference proposed instead the following exceptions:. The activities of 'the parties' during an armed conflict, 'including in situations of foreign occupation', as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention.
The activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, 'inasmuch as they are in conformity' with international law, are not governed by this Convention. The various sectoral counter-terrorism conventions defines as terrorist particular categories of activities. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and intentionally delivers, places, discharges or detonates an explosive or other lethal device in, into or against a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system or an infrastructure facility:.
Article 19 expressly excluded from the scope of the convention certain activities of state armed forces and of self-determination movements as follows:. Nothing in this Convention shall affect other rights, obligations and responsibilities of States, and individuals under international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and international humanitarian law.
The activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by this Convention, and the activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as they are governed by other rules of international law, are not governed by this Convention. Any person commits an offence within the meaning of this Convention if that person unlawfully and intentionally: Article 4 of the convention expressly excluded from the application of the convention the use of nuclear weapons during armed conflicts without, though, recognizing the legality of the use of those weapons:.
Nothing in this Convention shall affect other rights, obligations and responsibilities of States and individuals under international law, in particular the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international humanitarian law. The activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law are not governed by this Convention, and the activities undertaken by military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as they are governed by other rules of international law, are not governed by this Convention.
The provisions of paragraph 2 of the present article shall not be interpreted as condoning or making lawful otherwise unlawful acts, or precluding prosecution under other laws. This Convention does not address, nor can it be interpreted as addressing, in any way, the issue of the legality of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons by States.
In parallel with the criminal law codification efforts, some United Nations organs have put forward some broad political definitions of terrorism. Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them.
Antonio Cassese has argued that the language of this and other similar UN declarations "sets out an acceptable definition of terrorism. Also in , a High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change composed of independent experts and convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations called states to set aside their differences and to adopt, in the text of a proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism , the following political "description of terrorism":. The following year, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan endorsed the High Level Panel's definition of terrorism and asked states to set aside their differences and to adopt that definition within the proposed comprehensive terrorism convention before the end of that year.
It is time to set aside debates on so-called "State terrorism". The use of force by states is already thoroughly regulated under international law. And the right to resist occupation must be understood in its true meaning. It cannot include the right to deliberately kill or maim civilians.
I endorse fully the High-level Panel's call for a definition of terrorism, which would make it clear that, in addition to actions already proscribed by existing conventions, any action constitutes terrorism if it is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a Government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act. I believe this proposal has clear moral force, and I strongly urge world leaders to unite behind it and to conclude a comprehensive convention on terrorism before the end of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly.
The suggestion of incorporating this definition of terrorism into the comprehensive convention was rejected. Some United Nations' member states contended that a definition such as the one proposed by the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, and endorsed by the Secretary General, lacked the necessary requirements to be incorporated in a criminal law instrument.
Carlos Diaz-Paniagua, who coordinated the negotiations of the proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism , stated that a comprehensive definition of terrorism to be included in a criminal law treaty must have "legal precision, certainty, and fair-labeling of the criminal conduct - all of which emanate from the basic human rights obligation to observe due process. NATO defines terrorism in the AAP NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions, Edition as "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property in an attempt to coerce or intimidate governments or societies to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives".
The Argentine National Reorganization Process dictatorship, which lasted from to , defined "terrorist" as "not only who set bombs and carry guns, but also those who spread ideas opposite to Christian and western civilization ". In , France adopted its first "anti-terrorism" law. The article starts with:. Acts of terrorism — provided they are intentional, connected to either an individual or a collective enterprise, and intended to gravely disturb the public order by way of intimidation or terror — are: Schmid 's definition of terrorism in a ruling Madan Singh vs. State of Bihar , "defin[ing] acts of terrorism veritably as 'peacetime equivalents of war crimes.
Whoever with intent to overawe the Government as by law established or to strike terror in the people or any section of the people or to alienate any section of the people or to adversely affect the harmony amongst different sections of the people does any act or thing by using bombs, dynamite or other explosive substances or inflammable substances or lethal weapons or poisons or noxious gases or other chemicals or by any other substances whether biological or otherwise of a hazardous nature in such a manner as to cause, or as is likely to cause, death of, or injuries to, any person or persons or loss of, or damage to, or destruction of, property or disruption of any supplies or services essential to the life of the community, or detains any person and threatens to kill or injure such person in order to compel the Government or any other person to do or abstain from doing any act, commits a terrorist act.
The United Kingdom's Terrorism Act defined terrorism as follows:. A Survey 1st Edition Andrew T. Add to Wish List. Toggle navigation Additional Book Information. Description Table of Contents.
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Summary Terrorism is increasingly at the forefront of political agendas. Table of Contents 1. History and Special Features David C. Themes and Variations Dennis Pluchinsky ; 4. Religion and the New Terrorism Mark Juergensmeyer ; 6. Counter-Terrorism Thomas Mockaitis ; 2.
Law enforcement took out 40 percent. Only 20 groups, 7 percent, were taken out by military force. Forty-two groups became large enough to be labeled an insurgency; 38 of those had ended by Of those, 47 percent converted to nonviolent political actors. Only 5 percent were taken out by law enforcement. To avoid that, the rules of engagement must be conscious of collateral damage and work to minimize it. Another researcher, Audrey Cronin, lists six primary ways that terrorist groups end: The following terrorism databases are or were made publicly available for research purposes, and track specific acts of terrorism:.
The following public report and index provides a summary of key global trends and patterns in terrorism around the world. The following publicly available resources index electronic and bibliographic resources on the subject of terrorism. The following terrorism databases are maintained in secrecy by the United States Government for intelligence and counter-terrorism purposes:. Jones and Libicki includes a table of terrorist groups active between and with their status as of These data are not in a convenient machine-readable format but are available.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 11 September For other uses, see Terrorist disambiguation. Ethnic violence Militia movement Resistance movement. Designated terrorist groups Charities accused of ties to terrorism. Counter-terrorism International conventions Anti-terrorism legislation Terrorism insurance. Prehistoric Ancient Post-classical Early modern Late modern industrial fourth-gen.
Blitzkrieg Deep operation Maneuver Operational manoeuvre group. Military recruitment Conscription Recruit training Military specialism Women in the military Children in the military Transgender people and military service Sexual harassment in the military Conscientious objection Counter recruitment. Arms industry Materiel Supply chain management. This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy.
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Definitions of terrorism
This section's factual accuracy is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on Talk: Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. List of designated terrorist groups , Lone wolf terrorism , and Violent non-state actor. Oxford dictionary of English 3rd ed.
State Terrorism and Political Identity in Indonesia: Socio-Cultural Construction of Recognition: The corporate security professional's handbook on terrorism illustrated ed. Retrieved 17 December The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January Terrorism is the deliberate killing of innocent people, at random, in order to spread fear through a whole population and force the hand of its political leaders.
The Psychology of Terrorism Fears. Terrorism and Homeland Security.
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Historical Atlas of Islam. Institute for Economics and Peace. The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, — A critique of Jihadist and Bush media politics". Gothic Fiction and the Invention of Terrorism: Terrorism and Modern Literature: From Joseph Conrad to Ciaran Carson. Retrieved 10 July This Internet version contains two, mingled, indications of page numbers: Burke lengthily introduces his view on 'this present Directory government ', and then writes on page [ [] ]: Thousands of those Hell-hounds called Terrorists, whom they had shut up in Prison on their last Revolution, as the Satellites of Tyranny, are let loose on the people.
In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in the French Revolution Reprint ed. Retrieved 24 July Globalization and Violence, Vol. Globalizing War and Intervention. Nationalism, Globalism and State-Terrorism. London and New York: Archived from the original on 27 April A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review". Retrieved 6 September Archived 16 February at the Wayback Machine.
The negotiation dynamics of four UN counter-terrorism treaties, — , p. Marshall Center Occasional Paper Series Terror in the Mind of God. University of California Press. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Archived from the original PDF on 9 July Iraq has accused the United States of state terrorism amid signs that the war of words between the two countries is heating up. This article examines the complex relations between a violent non-state actor, the Al Qaeda network, and order in the international system.
Al Qaeda poses a challenge to the sovereignty of specific states but it also challenges the international society as a whole. Social Science Research Network. This would end the argument that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter For those like Professor Walzer who value the just-war tradition as a disciplined way to think about the morality of war Archived from the original on 16 April A scholar's historical and political survey of terrorism finds that it works". The New York Times: Inside Terrorism falls into the category of 'must read,' at least for anyone who wants to understand how we can respond to international acts of terror.
Archived from the original on 8 June On the Spartacus Educational web site. Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy illustrated, reprint ed. They prefer to use terms like "martyrdom Time , 26 September Like other guerrillas and suicide bombers, they prefer the term "freedom fighters".
United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 11 December Seto The Morality of Terrorism Includes a list in The Times published on 23 July , which were described as Jewish terrorist actions, including those launched by Irgun, of which Begin was a leading member. Archived from the original on 5 February Column 72, "However, Jomo Kenyatta, Nelson Mandela and Menachem Begin —to give just three examples—were all denounced as terrorists but all proved to be successful political leaders of their countries and good friends of the United Kingdom.
UN reforms receive mixed response BBC website "Of all groups active in recent times, the ANC perhaps represents best the traditional dichotomous view of armed struggle. Once regarded by western governments as a terrorist group, it now forms the legitimate, elected government of South Africa, with Nelson Mandela one of the world's genuinely iconic figures.
Retrieved 7 January Retrieved 23 November McCabe 25 August Queen's University Belfast School of Law. Archived from the original PDF on 1 December Archived from the original on 30 December Retrieved 9 January Manohar Parrikar — Times of India". Columbia University Press, The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to al Qaeda. University of California Press, From the Fenians to Al Qaeda". Archived from the original on 3 December Retrieved 1 December Terrorism and homeland security: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why: Journal of Forensic Sciences.
Social and religious motivations behind terrorism in Chechnya": Archived from the original on 19 September Archived from the original PDF on 21 December Archived from the original PDF on Archived from the original on 1 October The terrorists appear to be deliberately homing in on the few remaining places where Israelis thought they could socialize in peace. Why Terrorist Groups Endure". Archived from the original on 22 March Europe's longest-enduring terrorist group. A fascist hero in democratic Kiev. NewYork Reviev of Books. The Shining Path, a faction of Peruvian militants, has resurfaced in the remote corners of the Andes.
The war against the group, which took nearly 70, lives, supposedly ended in In the s, the rebels were infamous for atrocities like planting bombs on donkeys in crowded markets, assassinations and other terrorist tactics.