Terrorism, Employment, and Education

The word ‘terrorism’ can be traced back to the French Revolution and the reign of terror committed against the population of France in the 1790s. During this time, thousands of people were killed and the general population was severely oppressed. Also, some of the first instances of terrorist tactics, such as assassination and intimidation, were witnessed in the killing of prominent officials and other opponents of the Revolution. In general, terrorists aim to incite fear in the population through pre-meditated violent acts and gain publicity as a medium in achieving their goals. Such acts include taking hostages, bombings and assassinations, all of which create fear and compliance in a victim or audience. Terrorism can be distinguished from other types of political violence through its disregard for and intentional harming of innocent civilians. Also, terrorists usually adopt a state of mind where one side is always good and any opposition is bad and deserves to be punished. As a result, terrorists will always have some supporters who share the same radical thoughts as them and thus terrorism, as a whole, will always be accepted as a legitimate use of violence. This is the reasoning behind the famous phrase by Gerald Seymour, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”(QUOTE

The term terrorism is used widely in present day especially in the United States. Terrorism is a double standard, the people who commit those terrorist acts, commit the acts out of beliefs and in their eyes ok. Terrorism can be described as the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people (Laqueur, 1987). To me the definition mention above is a great definition to describe terrorism as a crime. To aim for innocent people to prove a point which lead major injuries or death in most cases is to most people would be a crime, no questions asked. According to Martha Crenshaw (1995), “Terrorism cannot be defined unless the act, target and possibility of success are analyzed”. So to think, terrorist are people who commit these acts as a way to get their political or religious point across. If we look at the some of the most famous terrorist acts they are automatically labeled crimes. 9/11 was a crime because the persons affiliated with the act, targeted the

There is no single, universally accepted definition to define terrorism but the U. S. Code of federal regulations defines it as any violent act or acts dangerous to human life that violates the criminal laws of the U.S. or any State or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the U.S. or any State. (18 U.S.C § 2331). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) divides terrorist attacks that face the U.S. into two broad categories - international and domestic. (18.U.S.C. § 2331).

There is no single, universally accepted definition to define terrorism but the U. S. Code of federal regulations define it as any violent act or acts dangerous to human life that violates the criminal laws of the U.S. or any State or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the U.S. or any State. (18 U.S.C § 2331). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) divides terrorist attacks that face the U.S. into two broad categories - international and domestic. (18.U.S.C. § 2331).

There are many different definitions of terrorism. Encyclopedia.com defines it very broadly as “the use of violence to further a political or social cause”. (2003). Another source states “Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination” (Terrorism Research, n.d.). Our unit one lecture reminded us of the adage “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” and pondered whether the Boston Tea Party could be viewed as an act of terrorism (Bethel University, 2017). Regardless of the exact definition one chooses to use, our nation faces a wide range of threats from those who intend to do us harm. The individuals and organizations who threaten us are as

In spite of the fact that the distinctive types of terrorism may emerge for various arrangement of reasons however a portion of the real causes might be recorded as political disappointment, financial hardship, local incongruities and intercession into religious, social; and individual opportunity of the general population . Any or these may on occasion make circumstance where worldwide personal stakes discover t simple to mediate and to animate the propensities towards terrorism for further their own particular targets at the expense of honest individuals .

It is difficult to define the word terrorism because it means something different to everyone. The term has become controversial because terrorism contains violence and it is hard to determine when the use of violence is legitimate. One person may think an event was an act of terrorism while the group that committed the act felt they were justified in doing it. Within the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Emergency Management

Terrorism is difficult to define because it has different meanings as time has changed. Terrorism is said to be a social construct which is the way different people view social and political realities. I could only imagine what the word “terrorism” was defined as in early eighteenth-century. As is states in the 8th edition of the book Terrorism and Homeland Security, “Some scholars have opted for a single definition stating that terrorism is an act or threatened act of violence against innocent people for political purposes (Laqueur, 1987, 1999). Terrorism will never have a single definition.

Terrorism is a term the world hears more than we want to. ISIS is making its headlines and bringing fear into the world. Fear is what terrorist thrive on and it is key to get policy makers attention. Defining terrorism is difficult because it has so many factors but it simply has one key point and that is the act of violence. Violence is used by small groups to achieve political change and it goes back to state violence against citizens during French Revolution and historically that is how terrorism has come to be defined.

While there is a degree of agreement among political scientists on the alteration in the meaning and usage of the term terrorism over time, no widely accepted definition of the word exists today. It remains difficult to formulate a definition of the word under customary international law and legislative attempts to address the issue almost always fail. Consequently, its definition and interpretation shifts according to the interests and priorities of sovereign national governments. However, the understanding of the word terrorism is yet necessary to comprehend the phenomenon.

This is a very limited and narrow framework for terrorism as it doesn’t capture other motives behind an attack. A recent example is the 9/11 attack on the US, Abrahms definition doesn’t capture other motives such as distancing a government from its citizens or strengthening a terrorist group’s own position (Abrams, 2011). Even though it can be argued that he is identifying the most prominent type of terrorism, his definition is similar to military tactics that were used in both conventional and irregular wars (Said, 2011).

Before knowing what the Global War on Terror looks like, it is necessary to define the term terrorism. Terrorism, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in this case international terrorism, is defined as the following: acts that are dangerous to human life, are intentional in order for the government or the people to

Some have attempted to form these definitions but as Robert Kennedy notes, they all have their roots in war concepts and lack definition outside of this. Boaz Ganor argues that not only is a definition of terrorism possible, but essential in combating terrorist behaviours and acts. L.F.E Goldie writes that a terrorist is someone whose targets are always targets of opportunity and leaves potentially anybody at risk of a terrorist attack. While this is a succinct definition, it is potentially damaging and doesn’t define a terrorist in context of a behaviour already

Terrorism can be defined as the use of violence with political intent that causes more psychological damage than physical. This definition is debated among scholars as well as nations. The United Nations definition does not necessarily fit the same description as every country on the globe. The United State has committed acts of terrorism onto other countries as well as its own citizens. Historically some of the largest world conflicts arise with events considered strategic warfare. Necessary actions that ensure the survival of democracy. This however will discuss events considered especially heinous.

The notion of terrorism and its evolution makes it doubtful of its existence as a generally accepted theoretical category and an established and universally accepted term. Bruce Hoffman argues that most of the definitions are too broad and hence, every act of violence by states, non-state actor or an individual is considered as an act of terrorism. Moreover, he claims the term, which was firstly coined during the French Revolution, has changed its meaning several times throughout the history, which makes it even more complex to create a totally accepted definition. Jeffrey Simon found 212 diverse definitions of terrorism. In my view, the term is largely overused by a variety of political actors and academics, who understand it differently. For example, Noam Chomsky argues that US policy toward Nicaragua, Haiti and Guatemala in the 1980s was a representation of a state terrorism and Robert Mugabe refers to the any democratic opposition in Zimbabwe as terrorists. However, it is highly important to define the term because in the case of global terrorism of 21st century, defining becomes a power on itself and in order to use the power of the definition, the definition must be, at least party, shared. In my opinion, two main characteristics