What is Terrorism?
Elangovan, January 18, 2019
The Online English Dictionary defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” There are two main pointers or focus points in this definition—the use of violence and political aims. However, our major course of concern in this article is the first. There is nowhere in the world where terrorism comes as a result of peace. Terrorism is usually known to come through violent means and it is sustained intimidation. However, in order not to make this article look partisan, let me note that the end result of terrorism is not usually for the purpose of making political gains, sometimes, it might be religious or even social. Consideration of other definitions will shed light on the concept.
According to Fortna on Virginia Page (2015), terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror among masses of people; or fear to achieve a religious or political aim. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence during peacetime or in war against non-combatants (Wisnewski, 2008). The terms “terrorist” and “terrorism” originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but gained mainstream popularity during the U.S presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–89) after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings and again after the 2001 September 11 attacks and the 2002 Bali bombings (Heryanto, 2006).
Let me state emphatically here that there is no commonly accepted definition of “terrorism” (Robert, 2009). This explains the reason why I’m trying to give as many definitions as possible so as to make the piece very inclusive. Terrorism, being a charged term, with the connotation of something “morally wrong”, it is often used, both by governments and non-state groups, to abuse or denounce opposing groups (White, 2016).
An Australian platform, Reachout.com, defines terrorism as the use or threat of violence that aims to spread fear in a population, and to advance a political, ideological or religious cause. It’s important to understand that not all violent acts are terrorist acts. Terrorism is more of a strategy than just a random act of violence, as it always includes some sort of political, ideological or religious motivation on the part of the perpetrators. The reasons behind why a group or individual would carry out a terrorist act vary (Reach Out, 2018).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has this to say on terrorism: Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government or its citizens to further certain political or social objectives. Law enforcement generally recognizes two types of terrorism: domestic and international. Domestic terrorism is based and executed within the country by our own citizens without foreign direction. International terrorism, which is connected to foreign governments or groups, transcends our nation’s boundaries. Terrorist acts against a nation’s citizens can occur anywhere in the world.
Terrorism is a very serious occurrence that every living being should be concerned about. According to the Global Terrorism Database maintained by the University of Maryland, College Park, more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths, were recorded between 2000 and 2014. This figure is an unarguable confirmation that terrorism is one of commonest ways in which people meet avoidable deaths.
Let’s consider some few modern definitions of terrorism. Arie & Shira (2006) note that there are over 109 different definitions of terrorism. An American scholar, Bruce Hoffman, has noted that it is not only individual agencies within the same governmental apparatus that cannot agree on a single definition of terrorism. Experts and other long-established scholars in the field are equally incapable of reaching a consensus. So, it would be a worthless journey to be trying hard to know why there is no a universal definition of terrorism despite the fact that it is a universal affair.
American political philosopher Michael Walzer in 2002 wrote: “Terrorism is the deliberate killing of innocent people, at random, to spread fear through a whole population and force the hand of its political leaders.”
French historian Sophie Wahnich distinguishes between the revolutionary terror of the French Revolution and the terrorists of the September 11 attacks:
Revolutionary terror is not terrorism. To make a moral equivalence between the Revolution’s year II and September 2001 is historical and philosophical nonsense . . . The violence exercised on 11 September 2001 aimed neither at equality nor liberty. Nor did the preventive war announced by the president of the United States (Scurr, 2012).
Experts disagree about “whether terrorism is wrong by definition or just wrong as a matter of fact; they disagree about whether terrorism should be defined in terms of its aims, or its methods, or both, or neither; they disagree about whether or not states can perpetrate terrorism; they even disagree about the importance or otherwise of terror for a definition of terrorism” (Jenny, 1989). However, a universal consensus among scholars and concerned authorities is that terrorism exists.
In November 2004, a Secretary-General of the United Nations report described terrorism as any act “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.” Even the international community has been very slow in coming up with an acceptable definition of the term.
Terrorism can be motivated by religious extremism, as seen in the rise of Islamist terrorism since the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. Religiously motivated terrorism has also been carried out in the name of Christianity. The 2011 terrorist attack in Norway and several attacks on clinics in the US were motivated by religious extremism and by an opposition to women’s rights. Terrorism can also be motivated by political views, which may overlap with religious reasons. For example, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings were carried out to send a message to the US government about FBI operations (Reach Out, 2018).
References
Bruce, H (2006). Inside Terrorism, 2 ed., Columbia University Press, p. 34.
Jenny, T (1989). “How to Define Terrorism”. Philosophy. 64 (250): 505–517. JSTOR 3751606.
Reach Out (2018). Understanding Terrorism. Retrieved from https://au.reachout.com/articles/understanding-terrorism
Scurr, R (2012). “In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in the French Revolution by Sophie Wahnich – review”. The Guardian
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