Defining terrorism dissertation

Similarly, the US State Department in its annual document, called, ‘Patterns of Global terrorism’, defines terrorism as “politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.”

Terrorism is a ‘process of terror’ having three elements: the act or threat of violence, the emotional reaction to extreme fear on the part of the victims or potential victims, and the social effects that follow the violence (or its threat) and the consequent fear.

The first major problem faced by the academics and even the nations in defining terrorism is the relativist enmesh of the concept. For one it is a freedom fighting, while for the other it is terrorism. This aspect in defining the term has made the task more difficult.

The academics themselves are divided on the very particulars of the concept. Experts on terrorism, such as, E.V. Walter [ 2] , Grant Wardlaw [ 3] , Leonard Weinberg [ 4] , Steven Spiegel [ 5] , Thomas Mathieseu [ 6] and Richard Overy [ 7] have all defined terrorism in the political context. (See Box 1).