IAFS 1000

Terrorism

Today’s Outline

• Ancient roots

• Definitions

• Key characteristics

Historical Roots of Terrorism

• 1st c. Jewish Zealots

• 7th c. Indian Thugs

• 11th c. Middle Eastern Assassins

• 18th c. Revolutionary France

• 1968: PLO carries out first hijacking

Defining Terrorism:State Department

Terrorism is "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience."

Defining Terrorism:Department of Defense

Terrorism is “the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate government or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.”

Defining Terrorism:Walter Laqueur

(terrorism scholar)

“Terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective when innocent people are targeted.”

Defining Terrorism:CJM Drake

(terrorism scholar)“Terrorism is defined here as the recurrent use of threatened use of politically motivated and clandestinely organized violence, by a group whose aim is to influence a psychological target in order to make it behave in a way which the group desires.”

Defining Terrorism:FBI

“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.”

Defining Terrorism:Former Deputy Chief,

CIA Counterterrorist Center“It is premeditated—planned in advance, rather than an impulsive act of rage. It is political—not criminal, like the violence that groups such as the mafia use to get money, but designed to change the existing political order. It is aimed at civilians—not at military targets or combat-ready troops. It is carried out by subnational groups—not by the army of a country.”

Defining Terrorism:Govt of India Prevention of

Terrorism Act, 2002

• Violence with “intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or to strike terror in the people or any section of the people”

Defining Terrorism:Arab Convention for the

Suppression of Terrorism, 1998• “Any act or threat of violence, whatever its motives

or purposes, that occurs in the advancement of an individual or collective criminal agenda and seeking to sow panic among people, causing fear by harming them, or placing their lives, liberty or security in danger, or seeking to cause damage to the environment or to public or private installations or property or to occupying or seizing them, or seeking to jeopardize a national resources.”

Elements of Terrorism

• Not impulsive• Political• Non-state• Targets civilians• Aimed at an audience• Weapon of the weak

Conclusions• What do difficulties in defining terrorism mean for our

ability to counter terrorism?

• If terrorism has been with us for centuries, can we defeat it now?

• How does understanding the nature of terrorism help us deal with it?

• Is “The War of Terror” an appropriate term to describe counter-terrorist efforts? Why or why not?

• What is an appropriate and effective reaction to terrorism?