The quest to establish a universal definition of terrorism is entangled in questions of law, history, philosophy, morality, and religion by nature, a subjective one that eludes large-scale consensus. Terrorism is defined differently by different countries, nations and even department’s federal or state law enforcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives (NIJ).
The U.N description of terrorism as “any action, in addition to actions already specified by the existing conventions on aspects of terrorism, the Geneva Conventions and Security Council resolution 1566 (2004), that is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants, when the purpose of such an act, by
Acts Constitute Terrorism? Implications for Counter-terrorism Policy. I think the U.S could be accused of terrorist acts, we are consider bullies and aggressive by many. The bombing in Japan could easily be considered a terrorist act, which essentially inflicted fear into many people. We probably have committed many acts and will commit acts of terror; it will always somehow be justified between the governments. The reason for this would be the lack of fully universally identifying what defines terror; it’s even bad when the United Nation can’t fully define terrorism. 80% of countries worldwide have a broad definition of terrorism and the ones that do have a solid definition of terrorism like U.K could be identified as almost borderline invading human rights. MY DEFINITION OF TERRORISM WOULD BE ANY ACT OF VIOLENCE BY A GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL VIOLATING DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT LAWS, TO IMPOSE ITS WILL ON ANY PERSON, COMMUNITY OR ANY DOMESTIC OR INTERNANTIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR POLITICAL, PERSONAL OR RELIGIONS
The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives (fbi.gov).” By this definition, terrorism can be classified as internal or international based on the overall intent of the attack. Terrorism has been around since the beginning of time, but it’s only since 2011 that the world has come to fully understand the meaning of terrorism. The following paragraphs will highlight four different types of terrorist attacks that all took place within the United States spanning over a 40 year time period.
Within the world today, there are many organizations with varying opinions about specific ideals. But some of the organizations will take things to the extreme, and will do almost anything to prove that their view is the right one. This extreme act to further an objective is known as terrorism, but what exactly is a formal definition of terrorism? Frank Schmalleger defines it as “[a] violent act or an act dangerous to human life, in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any state, that is committed to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (Criminal Justice Today, 2013 p.560). The American way of life and other aspects such as policy and the criminal justice system have been impacted by terrorism in many ways over the course of the twenty first century.
Terrorism is defined as the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments of societies in the pursuit of gals that are generally political, religious, or ideological by The United States Department of Defense("Terrorism research-what is," ). Terrorism can be classified in two different categories: International terrorism; not within the United States Jurisdiction and Domestic terrorism; within the United States Jurisdiction.
In my option Terrorism can be defined as Using violence to help gain or encourage something or a group. An example of terrorism would be ISIS. ISIS does not like any other region then Muslim. They will kill anyone who they think does not like their region or they think they don’t like the region.
In Module one, I learned that terrorism is a result of physical harm or deadly acts of force with the intent of a political outcome by the use of terror for coercion. There are various types of terrorism such as international terrorism and domestic terrorism. International terrorism occurs outside of the United States with a purpose to influence the policy of a government by intimidation. International and Domestic terrorism both involve violent acts dangerous to human life that violate federal and state laws. Domestic terrorism occurs within the United States with the intention of coercion or intimidation by way of mass destruction, etc. Some forms of terrorism include Improvised explosive devices (IED), kidnappings, suicide bombings and
Defining terrorism has remained a highly contentious terrain with even International organisations like the League of Nations and the United Nations finding it extremely difficult to build and develop a consensus upon .But different scholars have attempted to define this concept:
In Chapter 1 of “Inside Terrorism” political analyst Bruce Hoffman, explains that the term “terrorism” has undergone numerous definitions over the course of history, starting with the French Revolution of 1789-94. Hoffman explains that according to the Oxford English Dictionary, terrorism can be defined basically as an act or policy enacted by a government to strike fear into those against whom the act is against, to coerce them into submission to the policies of the government. He also explains that a more helpful definition, that of a terrorist, rather than the act of terrorism, provides a better way of defining terrorism. He also explains that the term terrorist is more of a political term than a specific action. (Hoffman 2006) Sociologist Charles Tilly also mentions the French Revolution as the earliest reference to the term of terrorism. They also agree that these early references to terrorism was primarily carried out by governments as a means of oppressing those who would revolt against them. (Tilly 2004) Both authors also agree that although the roots of the term terrorist began during the late 1789s. The concept as well as the definition of terrorism has changed over time, particularly in recent years since Sept. 11, 2001. As the definition of terrorism has changed over the years, so have the methods of dealing with
Terrorism is a force of unlawful intimidation imposed on a country through an act of violence and is being faced by countries all over the world. America has been fighting against terrorism but one main controversy debated between people whether or not America is being restricted by the laws written under the Constitution and international agreements. The Constitution and international agreements hinder the ability to fight terrorists by establishing the extent of the actions taken by the United States based on legality issues, humanitarian concerns, and national reputation.
Think of the word terrorism. What is the first thing that comes to mind? One might think of kidnapping, assassination, bombing, or even genocide and guerrilla warfare. Because it is such a broad and complex issue, an all-encompassing definition is hard to formulate. The United States Department of Defence defines terrorism as…
The U.S. Department of State defines terrorism as, “The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological”. Whereas the Belgium Red Cross says that terrorism is committed “for the purpose of intimidating the population, forcing a third party to act or destablishing or destroying the fundamental structures of a country or of an international organization”.
Terrorism definitions are difficult to solidify mainly because of the overwhelming differences in perspectives. After review of 18 U.S. Code § 2331 certain dialect and shared commonalities have led to my own definition of terrorism which I define as; any activity that involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life that is a violation of criminal laws enacted by a sovereign region, for the purpose of policy change or gains through implementation of fear, directed towards non-participating entities. Tony Duheaume a critic and author which has spent over forty years following political and civil events in the Middle East, depicts events from his article, “Understanding Hezbollah’s history as a ‘proxy of Iran’” from the Al Arabiya English website concerning acts of terrorism which Hezbollah has claimed responsibility
Terrorism is one of the most extensively discussed issues of our time and at the same time it is also one of the least understood. The term itself “terrorism” means many different things to different people, cultures, and races. As a result, trying to define or classify terrorism with one universal definition is nearly impossible. The definition of terrorism used in this research is a reflection of much of the Western and American way of defining it. The definition of terrorism is,
Discussion of Terrorism Terrorism, as defined by Title 22 of the United States code, section
“Terrorism refers to political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately “. In this definition there is a notion that the terrorist are attacking innocent people for reasons which society do not deem correct for their actions. In the past terrorism was mainly separated into three categories, insurrectionary, nationalist and issue terrorism. The first two are types of terrorism aimed to overthrow of a state or a rule, whereas the third one is done to promote a single cause. Michael Ignatief, a Liberal Canadian politician and an author, added a forth category that is Global terrorism. Global terrorism “is aimed at inflicting damage and humiliation on a global power or at transforming global civilizational relations.”
Terrorism is a strategic violence or acts against civilians for certain parties to attain ideological, political or religious goals. The term refers to unlawful use of violence or force against property or people in the effort of coercing the government or civilians to meet their political or social goals (Kellner, 2015a). Terrorism is one of the most challenging issues facing the world as dissatisfaction and objectives are changing every day in various regions. Technology and modernity have fastened the spread of terrorism globally thus emerging as a world number challenge. Currently the world is experiencing a growth and expansion of terrorists groups in various parts of the world focused to meet their goals through violence in coercing government