2.1.1. Defining Terrorism

Reading 1: Read the text and check the meanings of the words in bold in the Target Vocabulary after the text.

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Terrorism poses one of the most immediate and asymmetric threats to nations and states. It also creates long-term consequences for global peace and stability.

The word “terror” comes from Latin and means extreme fear and is over 2,100 years old. The term terrorism, in and of itself, was coined during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793–1794). So, terrorism is a form of crime causing great panic and fear. Because of its violent nature and, often, political aims, however, it is closer to the concept of war than to that of crime, but differs from war in some essential aspects, mainly due to the fact that war, in short, is a formal relationship between sovereign states.

There is no universal agreement on the definition of terrorism. Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism. Moreover, governments are reluctant to formulate a common definition. Difficulties come from the fact that the term has become a politically and emotionally charged point of view. As the American historian Walter Laqueur said, there is no definition since there is “not one, but many terrorisms” because the perceptions of what constitutes terrorism differ from country to country. Studies have found more than 200 definitions of terrorism used around the world.

Over the years, many scholars have attempted to define terrorism. Here are some examples of definitions given by scientists and institutions:

• Bruce Hoffman, a well renowned political analyst specializing in the study of terrorism and counter-terrorism, sees terrorism as “the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change.”
• Boaz Ganor, the founder and the executive director of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, says that “terrorism is the intentional use of, or threat to use violence against civilians or against civilian targets, in order to attain political aims.”
• The League of Nations Convention Definition of Terrorism as early as 1937 describes terrorist acts as “criminal acts directed against a State and intended or calculated to create a state of terror in the minds of particular persons or a group of persons or the general public.”
• Since 1994, the United Nations General Assembly has generally classified terrorism as “use of violence or of threat of violence for political, religious, ideological or social objectives committed by non-state actors reaching more than the immediate target victims and also directed at targets consisting of a larger spectrum of society.”
• FBI looks on terrorism as acts including unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government and the civilian population in help of reaching political or social objectives.
• NATO gives the following explanation of terrorism: “The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence, inducing fear and terror, against individuals or property in an attempt to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, or to gain control over a population, to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives.”

Two researchers at the University of Leiden (Netherlands) used another approach to figure out how to best define terrorism. They gathered over a hundred academic and official definitions of terrorism and examined them to identify the main components. They discovered that the concept of violence existed in 83.5% of definitions; political goals emerged in 65%; causing fear – in 51%; random targeting – in 21%; and the victimization of civilians – in 17.5%. Another study found that, in the U.S., Britain, and Germany, there are three common elements that exist in the legal definitions of terrorism of those countries: (1) the use of violence, (2) political objectives, and (3) the aim of spreading fear in a target population.

Sources: https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/terrorism; https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_69482.htm

Target Vocabulary

• pose /pəʊz/ v. to create a threat or problem that has to be dealt with
• asymmetric threat – a broad and unpredictable spectrum of military, paramilitary, and information operations, conducted by nations, organizations, or individuals or by indigenous or surrogate forces under their control, specifically targeting weaknesses and vulnerabilities within an enemy government or armed force. (DoD definition of unconventional warfare)
• consequence /’kɒnsɪkwəns/ n. a result, especially unpleasant
• extreme /ɪk’stri:m/ adj. 1. very great in degree;. 2.  not ordinary or usual; serious or severe.
• in and of itself  “on its own” or “by its very nature”
• coin /kɔɪn/ v. to invent a new word or phrase
• reign /reɪn/ n. the period during which a king, queen, emperor, etc. rules
• differ /’dɪfə(r)/ v. to be unlike or dissimilar
• sovereign /’sɒvrɪn/ adj. (of a country or state) free to govern itself; completely independent
• universal  /ju:nɪ’vɜ:sl/ adj. present or occurring everywhere or in all things, without limit or exception
• legal /’li:ɡl/ adj. relating to the law
• reluctant /rɪ’lʌktənt/ adj. feeling or showing hesitation or unwillingness
• charged /tʃɑːdʒt/ adj. filled with excitement, tension, or emotion
• perception /pəˈsepʃn/ n. understanding; an idea, a belief or an image you have
• constitute /ˈkɒnstɪtjuːt/ v. make up, form, compose
• scholar /ˈskɒlə(r)/ n. a specialist in a particular field of study
• deliberate /dɪˈlɪb(ə)rət/ adj. done on purpose, intentionally
• exploitation /ˌeksplɔɪˈteɪʃn/ n. the fact of using a situation in order to get an advantage for yourself
• pursuit  /pəˈsjuːt/ n. process of trying to achieve something
• intentional /ˌɪntəˈnæʃnəl/ adj. deliberate, done on purpose
• attain /əˈteɪn/ v. to succeed in getting something
• as early as used to emphasize that a particular time or period is surprisingly early
• calculate​ /ˈkælkjuleɪt/ v. intend (an action) to have a particular effect; to determine mathematically
• non-state actor   includes organizations and individuals that are not affiliated with, directed by, or funded through the government. These include corporations, private financial institutions, and NGOs, as well as paramilitary and armed resistance groups
• victim /ˈvɪktɪm/ n. a person who has been attacked, injured or killed as the result of a crime, a disease, an accident, etc.
• consisting of including people or things
• spectrum /ˈspektrəm/ n. a complete or wide range of related qualities, ideas, etc.
• intimidate​ /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/ v. to frighten or threaten somebody so that they will do something
• coerce /kəʊˈɜːs/ v. ​to force somebody to do something by using threats
• unlawful /ʌnˈlɔːfl/​ adj. not allowed by the law
• threaten ​/ˈθretn/ v. to endanger; to say that you will cause trouble, hurt somebody, etc.
• induce /ɪnˈdjuːs/ v. to cause something
• researcher / rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. a person who studies something carefully and tries to discover new facts about it
• figure out v. to understand or solve something
• concept /ˈkɒnsept/ n. an abstract idea or a principle
• emerge /ɪˈmɜːdʒ/ v. to move out of or away from something and become visible
• random /ˈrændəm/ adj. having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective
• victimization /ˌvɪktɪmaɪˈzeɪʃn/ n. the act of making someone a victim by harming or killing them