Defining terrorism is difficult in many ways. It is important to define terrorism so that governmental organizations, and others charged with handling counter-terrorism can appropriately respond. It is also important for the average citizen in order to understand terrorism, and the responses to the threat. However defining terrorism remains an elusive and problematic phenomenon, in some ways defining terrorism is as shadowy and difficult to pin down as the actual terrorists themselves.
After having read the assignments from both textbooks and then making comparisons of several definitions of terrorism there is a trend for how terrorism is viewed and defined. My definition is: The intentional use of violence or threat of violence by any non-state actor individual or organization, which specifically targets non-combatants/civilians with the intention of promoting a political or social agenda.
This definition of course fails to take into consideration the adage “one person’s terrorist another’s freedom fighter” (Mahan & Griset, 2008, p. 17). Which then always brings the discussion to where is the line drawn between a guerrilla or insurgent fighter and a terrorist. Guerrilla has to some degree a connotation of rebel or fighter attempting to overthrow their own government, which can be a noble cause. It is doubtful anyone today would be critical of the French or Polish resistance in World War Two, or for that matter the Continental Army during the American Revolution. However according to what perspective you are looking at these organizations they could be labeled terrorist. In many ways the definition of terrorist depends on who writes the definition, I have often made the comment (in jest) to friends about how the American Revolution would have been characterized in a history book written after the war if the Americans had lost, I have imagined it would read something like, “an insurrection led by the terrorist George Washington and funded by the outlaw political band, Continental Congress was destroyed by his Majesty’s Imperial Forces during the New York campaign of 1776. However with all that stated it is my belief none of the organizations above meet the descriptions of terrorist. Civilians are often the innocent victim of military conflict and/or revolutions however it becomes terrorism only when civilians become the intentional target(s) of violent activity.
States are cautious of defining terrorism due to a reluctance to inadvertently label themselves as engaging in terror tactics. This definition: “terrorism is the intentional generation of massive fear by human beings for the purpose of securing or maintaining control over other human beings” (Mahan & Griset, 2008, p. 16) is very good and gets to the heart of terrorism. However it is too general and, does not take nation-states off the hook. During international and internal conflict it is easy to find examples of terror-like tactics employed by governments. The infamous burning of Atlanta and subsequent march through the south by W.T. Sherman’s forces in 1864 during the American Civil War, the bombings of Tokyo, Dresden, and the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War Two, and the current Syrian Government’s crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators are just a few examples of nation-state activity that could be defined as terrorism, depending on whose definition is used. My definition, the FBI’s and the definition in the United States Code all make provisions for a non-state actor or a non-governmental agency which would in fact let governments off the hook. I in no way mean to imply governments are off the hook entirely as they can and should still be held accountable for war-crimes/crimes against humanity, as Slobodan Milosevic was after the Yugoslavian Civil War.
Defining terrorism is a difficult and tricky task, many organizations have differing definitions, but there is a similar thread that tends to link all of them together, however once defined governments must be careful to avoid implicating themselves. Like the somewhat shadowy nature of terrorist organizations defining terrorism leads one into a grey and potentially hazardous verbal landscape.
Arab League. (n.d.). Arab Convention on Terrorism. Retrieved from Al-Bab.com: http://www.al-bab.com/arab/docs/league/terrorism98.htm
Definitions of terrorism. (n.d.). Retrieved from about.com: http://terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/ss/DefineTerrorism_5.htm
FBI. (n.d.). What We Investigate. Retrieved from FBI.gov: http://www.fbi.gov/albuquerque/about-us/what-we-investigate/priorities
Ganor, B. (2005). The Counter-Terrorism Puzzle. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers.
Mahan, S., & Griset, P. L. (2008). Terrorism in Perspective. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
