View source for Terrorism

{{short description|Use of violence to achieve political or ideological aims}}
{{redirect|Terrorist}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Explosion following the plane impact into the South Tower (WTC 2) - B6019~11.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[United Airlines Flight 175]] hits the [[2 World Trade Center (1971–2001)|South Tower]] of the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] during the [[September 11 attacks]] of 2001 in New York City, an act of terrorism planned by [[Osama bin Laden]] and executed by [[al-Qaeda]]]]
{{Terrorism}}

'''Terrorism''', in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against [[non-combatant]]s to achieve political or ideological aims.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ganor |first=Boaz |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/gano17212 |title=Global Alert: The Rationality of Modern Islamist Terrorism and the Challenge to the Liberal Democratic World |date=2015 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=2–3, 5–6, 14–16 |chapter=Introduction to Multidimensional Warfare |doi=10.7312/gano17212|jstor=10.7312/gano17212 |isbn=978-0-231-53891-6 }}</ref> The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during [[peacetime]] or in the context of [[war]] against [[non-combatant]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbALBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |title=Torture, Terrorism, and the Use of Violence (also available as Review Journal of Political Philosophy Volume 6, Issue Number 1) |editor-last=Wisnewski |editor-first=J. Jeremy |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-0291-8 |page=175 |access-date=September 15, 2017 |archive-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110004436/https://books.google.com/books?id=QbALBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |url-status=live }}</ref> There are various different [[definitions of terrorism]], with no universal agreement about it.<ref>"The ordinary current use of the word ''terrorism'' is much too wide. That is to say, if we list all the different phenomena which are at one time or another described as terrorism in ordinary conversation, or in ordinary newspapers, or by ordinary politicians, we will end up with a huge rag-bag of not very similar items . . The disadvantages of trying to construct an ordinary-language definition based on current usage can be seen, too, in the plethora of conflicting definitions occurring in philosophical and political literature. Thus philosophers for instance disagree about whether or not terrorism is wrong by definition or wrong just as a matter of fact; they disagree about whether terrorism should be defined in terms of its aims, or its methods, or both, or neither; they disagree about whether or not states can perpetrate terrorism; they even disagree about the importance or otherwise of ''terror'' for a definition of ''terrorism''." [[Jenny Teichman]], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3751606 "How to Define Terrorism"], ''[[Philosophy (journal)|Philosophy]]'', October 1989, Vol. 64, No. 250, pp. 505–517.</ref><ref name="USCode">{{cite book |last1=Halibozek |first1=Edward P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qpwcHUNXw-kC&pg=PA4 |title=The corporate security professional's handbook on terrorism |last2=Jones |first2=Andy |last3=Kovacich |first3=Gerald L. |publisher=Elsevier (Butterworth-Heinemann) |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7506-8257-2 |edition=illustrated |pages=4–5 |access-date=December 17, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Walzer">{{cite news |last=Mackey |first=Robert |date=November 20, 2009 |title=Can Soldiers Be Victims of Terrorism? |work=The New York Times |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/define-terrorism/ |access-date=January 11, 2010 |quote=Terrorism is the deliberate killing of innocent people, at random, in order to spread fear through a whole population and force the hand of its political leaders. |archive-date=June 12, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612103418/http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/define-terrorism/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Different definitions of terrorism emphasize its [[randomness]], its aim to instill [[fear]], and its broader impact beyond its immediate victims.<ref name=":2" />

Modern terrorism, evolving from earlier iterations, employs various tactics to pursue political goals, often leveraging fear as a strategic tool to influence decision makers. By targeting densely populated public areas such as transportation hubs, airports, shopping centers, tourist attractions, and nightlife venues, terrorists aim to instill widespread insecurity, prompting [[Public policy|policy changes]] through [[Manipulation (psychology)|psychological manipulation]] and undermining confidence in security measures.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Ganor |first=Boaz |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/gano17212 |title=Global Alert: The Rationality of Modern Islamist Terrorism and the Challenge to the Liberal Democratic World |date=2015 |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=21–23 |chapter=The Challenges and Dilemmas Faced by Liberal Democracies coping with Modern Islamist Terrorism |doi=10.7312/gano17212|jstor=10.7312/gano17212 |isbn=978-0-231-53891-6 }}</ref>

The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" [[Reign of Terror|originated during the French Revolution]] of the late 18th century,<ref name="Oxford">{{cite book |editor-last1=Stevenson |editor-first1=Angus |title=Oxford dictionary of English |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-957112-3 |edition=3rd}}</ref> but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during [[the Troubles]] in Northern Ireland, the [[Basque conflict]] and the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. The increased use of [[suicide attack]]s from the 1980s onwards was typified by the [[September 11 attacks]] in the United States in 2001. The [[Global Terrorism Database]], maintained by the [[University of Maryland, College Park]], has recorded more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths between 2000 and 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Terrorism Index 2015 |url=http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2015.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207153725/http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2015.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2019 |access-date=July 19, 2016 |publisher=Institute for Economics and Peace |page=33}}</ref>

Various organizations and [[State-sponsored terrorism|countries]] have used terrorism to achieve their objectives. These include [[Left-wing terrorism|left-wing]] and [[Right-wing terrorism|right-wing]] political organizations, [[Nationalist terrorism|nationalist groups]], [[Religious terrorism|religious groups]], [[Revolutionary terror|revolutionaries]], and [[State terrorism|ruling governments]].<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism |title=Terrorism |access-date=September 8, 2020 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |page=3 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818124916/https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism |url-status=live }}</ref> In recent decades, hybrid terrorist organizations have emerged, incorporating both military and political arms.<ref name=":2" /> [[State terrorism]], with its institutionalized instrumentation of terror tactics through [[Massacre|massacres]], [[Genocide|genocides]], [[forced disappearances]], [[Carpet bombing|carpet bombings]] and [[torture]],  is a deadlier form of terrorism than non-state terrorism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martin |first=Gus |title=Understanding Terrorism |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4129-7059-4 |edition=third |pages=98–139}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Blakeley |first=R. |title=State Terrorism and Neoliberalism: The North in the South |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-415-68617-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eck |first1=K. |last2=Hultman |first2=L. |year=2007 |title=One-Sided Violence Against Civilians in War |journal=Journal of Peace Research |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=233–246 |doi=10.1177/0022343307075124}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=White |first=M. |title=Atrocities: The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=2013 |isbn=9780393345230}}</ref>

==Etymology and definition==

=== Etymology ===
{{See also|Reign of Terror}}

[[File:JacobinVignette03.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Seal of the [[Jacobin]] Club]]
The term "terrorism" itself was originally used to describe the actions of the [[Jacobin Club]] during the "[[Reign of Terror]]" in the [[French Revolution]]. "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible", said Jacobin leader [[Maximilien Robespierre]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bienvenu |first1=Richard |title=THE NINTH OF THERMIDOR {{!}} THE FALL OF ROBESPIERRE |date=January 1, 1968 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780196806198 |pages=30–50}}</ref> In 1795, [[Edmund Burke]] denounced the Jacobins for letting "thousands of those hell-hounds called Terrorists&nbsp;... loose on the people" of France.<ref>[[Edmund Burke]] – To The Earl Fitzwilliam (Christmas, 1795.) In: Edmund Burke, ''Select Works of Edmund Burke, vol. 3 (Letters on a Regicide Peace)'' (1795).<br/>This Internet version contains two, mingled, indications of page numbers: one with single brackets like [260], one with double brackets like [ [309] ]. Burke lengthily introduces his view on 'this present [[French Directory|Directory government]]', and then writes on page [359]: "Those who arbitrarily erected the new building out of the old materials of their own [[National Convention|Convention]], were obliged to send for an Army to support their work. (...) At length, after a terrible struggle, the Troops prevailed over the Citizens. (...) This power is to last as long as the Parisians think proper. (...) [315] To secure them further, they have a strong corps of [[irregular military|irregulars]], ready armed. Thousands of those Hell-hounds called Terrorists, whom they had shut up in Prison on their last Revolution, as the Satellites of Tyranny, are let loose on the people. (...)"</ref> [[John Calvin]]'s rule over Geneva in the 16th century has also been described as a reign of terror.<ref name="de Niet Paul 2009 p. 275">{{cite book | last1=de Niet | first1=J. | last2=Paul | first2=H. | title=Sober, Strict, and Scriptural: Collective Memories of John Calvin, 1800-2000 | publisher=Brill | series=Brill's Series in Church History | year=2009 | isbn=978-90-474-2770-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cBuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA275 | access-date=October 21, 2022 | page=275 | archive-date=October 21, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021161414/https://books.google.com/books?id=cBuwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA275 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Oechsli Paul Paul 1922 p. 166">{{cite book | last1=Oechsli | first1=W. | last2=Paul | first2=E. | last3=Paul | first3=C. | title=History of Switzerland, 1499-1914 | publisher=The University Press | series=Cambridge historical series | year=1922 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oS1pAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA166 | access-date=October 21, 2022 | page=166 | archive-date=October 21, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021161414/https://books.google.com/books?id=oS1pAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA166 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Association of American Law Schools 1916 p. 297">{{cite book | author=Association of American Law Schools | title=The Continental Legal History Series | publisher=Little, Brown, & Company | issue=v. 6 | year=1916 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-eb3FqiVzLoC&pg=PA297 | access-date=October 21, 2022 | page=297 | archive-date=October 21, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021161413/https://books.google.com/books?id=-eb3FqiVzLoC&pg=PA297 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" gained renewed currency in the 1970s as a result of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO),<ref>{{cite book |last=Peleg |first=Ilan |title=The Politics of Terrorism |date=1988 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8247-7814-9 |editor-last=Stohl |editor-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Stohl |edition=third |page=531 |chapter=Terrorism in the Middle East: The Case of the Arab-Israeli Conflict |access-date=February 14, 2019 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R60c_2nCcnYC&pg=PA531}}</ref> the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA),<ref>{{cite book |last=Crenshaw |first=Martha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nFyZaZGthgC&q=IRA |title=Terrorism in Context |date=2010 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-04442-2 |page=xiii |access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref> the [[ETA (separatist group)|Basque separatist group, ETA]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shabad |first1=Goldie |title=Terrorism in Context |last2=Llera Ramo |first2=Francisco Jose |date=2010 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=9780271044422 |editor1-last=Crenshaw |editor1-first=Martha |chapter=Political Violence in a Democratic State: Basque Terrorism in Spain |author-link=Martha Crenshaw |access-date=February 14, 2019 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nFyZaZGthgC&pg=PA411 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132440/https://books.google.com/books?id=9nFyZaZGthgC&pg=PA411#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> and the operations of groups such as the [[Red Army Faction]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Corrado |first1=Raymond R. |title=The Politics of Terrorism |last2=Evans |first2=Rebecca |date=January 29, 1988 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9780824778149 |editor1-last=Stohl |editor1-first=Michael |edition=Third |page=373 |chapter=Ethnic and Ideological Terrorism in Western Europe |access-date=February 14, 2019 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R60c_2nCcnYC&pg=PA373 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132433/https://books.google.com/books?id=R60c_2nCcnYC&pg=PA373#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Leila Khaled]] was described as a terrorist in a 1970 issue of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khaled |first1=Leila |date=September 18, 1970 |title=This is Your New Captain Speaking |page=34 |magazine=Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8lUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34 |access-date=February 14, 2019 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132448/https://books.google.com/books?id=8lUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> A number of books on terrorism were published in the 1970s.<ref>Committee on the Judiciary, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JjkTAAAAIAAJ ''Terroristic Activity: International terrorism''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132435/https://books.google.com/books?id=JjkTAAAAIAAJ |date=March 29, 2024 }}; Lester A. Sobel, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YC5nAAAAMAAJ ''Political Terrorism''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132449/https://books.google.com/books?id=YC5nAAAAMAAJ |date=March 29, 2024 }}; Lauran Paine, [https://books.google.com/books?id=xiLmAAAAIAAJ ''The Terrorists''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132437/https://books.google.com/books?id=xiLmAAAAIAAJ |date=March 29, 2024 }} (1975); Walter Laqueur, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iQS-1jqgeScC ''Guerrilla Warfare: A Historical and Critical Study'']; Paul Wilkinson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rILaAAAAMAAJ ''Terrorism versus liberal democracy: the problems of response''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132452/https://books.google.com/books?id=rILaAAAAMAAJ |date=March 29, 2024 }}; Albert Parry, [[iarchive:terrorismfromrob0000parr|''Terrorism: from Robespierre to Arafat'']] (1976); Ovid Demaris, [[iarchive:brothersinbloodi00dema|''Brothers in Blood: The International Terrorist Network'']] (1977); Yonah Alexander, David Carlton and Paul Wilkinson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NDboAAAAIAAJ ''Terrorism: Theory and Practice'']; Christopher Dobson and Ronald Payne, [https://books.google.com/books?id=B4TaAAAAMAAJ ''The Weapons of Terror: International Terrorism at Work'']; Brian Michael Jenkins, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uo_sAAAAMAAJ ''The Terrorist Mindset and Terrorist Decisionmaking''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329133030/https://books.google.com/books?id=uo_sAAAAMAAJ |date=March 29, 2024 }} (1979)</ref> The topic came further to the fore after the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombings]]<ref name="Heryant">{{Cite book |last=Heryanto |first=Ariel |author-link=Ariel Heryanto |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qSjk2C9x6wC&pg=PA161 |title=State Terrorism and Political Identity in Indonesia: Fatally Belonging |date=April 7, 2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-19569-5 |page=161}}</ref> and again after the 2001 [[September 11 attacks]]<ref name="Heryant" /><ref name="Gabriel">{{Cite book |last=Faimau |first=Gabriel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y9IwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |title=Socio-Cultural Construction of Recognition: The Discursive Representation of Islam and Muslims in the British Christian News Media |date=July 26, 2013 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-5104-6 |page=27}}</ref><ref name="Campo">{{Cite book |last=Campo |first=Juan Eduardo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&pg=PA667 |title=Encyclopedia of Islam |date=January 1, 2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-2696-8 |page=xxii}}</ref> and the [[2002 Bali bombings]].<ref name="Heryant" />

=== Definition ===
{{Main|Definition of terrorism}}
[[File:Fusillades de Nantes.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Mass killings in the [[War in the Vendée|Vendée]] during the [[Reign of Terror]] in France, 1793]]
No definition of terrorism has gained universal agreement.<ref>{{cite book |author=Schmid, Alex P. |title=The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research |publisher=Routledge |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-203-82873-1 |page=39 |chapter=The Definition of Terrorism |author-link=Alex P. Schmid |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PXpFxKRsHgC&pg=PA39 |access-date=December 18, 2023 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132100/https://books.google.com/books?id=_PXpFxKRsHgC&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Frampton |first=Martyn |title=History and the Definition of Terrorism |date=2021 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-terrorism/history-and-the-definition-of-terrorism/9AAA71F34DEDBC0A911AFA0041BA5115 |work=The Cambridge History of Terrorism |pages=31–57 |editor-last=English |editor-first=Richard |access-date=May 11, 2021 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-66262-8 |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511215347/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-terrorism/history-and-the-definition-of-terrorism/9AAA71F34DEDBC0A911AFA0041BA5115 |url-status=live}}</ref> Challenges emerge due to the politically and emotionally charged nature of the term, the double standards used in applying it,<ref>"Scholars have similarly noticed a double standard, in which the media is more likely to adopt an Islamic terror frame when the perpetrator is Muslim, and more likely to explore the attacker's personal life and mental health if the perpetrator is not." Connor Huff, Joshua D. Kertzer, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26598750 How the Public Defines Terrorism] [[American Journal of Political Science]], January 2018, Vol. 62, No. 1, pp. 55-71 p.56.</ref> and disagreement over the nature of terrorist acts and limits of the right to [[self-determination]].<ref name="Hoffman-1998-p23">Hoffman (1998), p. 23, See [https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/reviews/981101.01bonnert.html the 1 Nov 1998 review by Raymond Bonner] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417020102/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/reviews/981101.01bonnert.html |date=April 17, 2017}} in ''[[The New York Times]]'' of [https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hoffman-terrorism.html Inside Terrorism]</ref><ref name=nlr>{{cite journal |title=Battling Aerial Terrorism and Compensating the Victims |date=1990 |journal=Naval Law Review |volume=39 |pages=242–243 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_naval-law-review_1990_39/page/240/mode/2up?q=intimidate}}</ref> Harvard law professor [[Richard Reeve Baxter|Richard Baxter]], a leading expert on the law of war, was a skeptic: "We have cause to regret that a legal concept of 'terrorism' was ever inflicted upon us. The term is imprecise; it is ambiguous; and above all, it serves no operative legal purpose."<ref>{{cite book |title=International and Transnational Criminal Law |date=2010 |publisher=Aspen Publishing |page=617}}</ref><ref name=nlr/>

Different legal systems and government agencies employ diverse definitions of terrorism, with governments showing hesitation in establishing a universally accepted, legally binding definition. [[Title 18 of the United States Code]] defines terrorism as acts that are intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or government.<ref>{{USC|18|113B|2331}}</ref> The [[international community]] has been slow to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding definition of this crime, and has been unable to conclude a [[Definition of terrorism#UN Comprehensive Convention (1997–present)|Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism]] that incorporates a single, all-encompassing, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism.<ref>Diaz-Paniagua (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=q2qHd6a-slIC&pg=PR4 ''Negotiating terrorism: The negotiation dynamics of four UN counter-terrorism treaties, 1997–2005'']{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, p. 47.</ref> These difficulties arise from the fact that the term "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged.{{sfn|Hoffman|1998|p=32}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://icct.nl/publication/radicalisation-de-radicalisation-counter-radicalisation-a-conceptual-discussion-and-literature-review/ |title=Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review |date=March 27, 2013 |publisher=The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT) |access-date=September 6, 2016 |archive-date=December 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207124224/https://icct.nl/publication/radicalisation-de-radicalisation-counter-radicalisation-a-conceptual-discussion-and-literature-review/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The international community has instead adopted a series of [[Definition of terrorism#The sectoral approach|sectoral conventions]] that define and criminalize various types of terrorist activities.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Counterterrorism analyst [[Bruce Hoffman]] has noted that it is not only individual agencies within the same governmental apparatus that cannot agree on a single definition of terrorism; experts and other long-established scholars in the field are equally incapable of reaching a consensus.{{sfn|Hoffman|2006|p=34}} In 1992, terrorism studies scholar [[Alex P. Schmid]] proposed a simple definition to the [[United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice]] (CCPCJ) as "peacetime equivalents of war crimes", but it was not accepted.<ref name="siegel">{{cite book |last=Siegel |first=Larry |url=https://archive.org/details/criminologycore00sieg |title=Criminology |date=January 2, 2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=9780495391029 |access-date=November 27, 2015 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="contemp2020">{{cite journal |last=Schmid |first=Alex P. |date=October 7, 2020 |editor1-last=Brunton |editor1-first=Gillian |editor2-last=Wilson |editor2-first=Tim |others=Issue title: Terrorism: Its Past, Present & Future Study - A Special Issue to Commemorate CSTPV at 25 |title=Discussion 1 - Revisiting the wicked problem of defining terrorism |journal=[[Contemporary Voices: St Andrews Journal of International Relations]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |page= |doi=10.15664/jtr.1601 |issn=2516-3159 |doi-access=free}} [[File:CC-BY_icon.svg|50x50px]] Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a [[creativecommons:by/4.0|Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)]] licence. (Per [https://cvir.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/research-integrity/ this page] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004191038/https://cvir.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/research-integrity/ |date=October 4, 2023}}.</ref> In 2006, it was estimated that there were over 109 different definitions of terrorism.<ref name="Arie W 2006 pp. 45-48">Arie W. Kruglanski and Shira Fishman ''Current Directions in Psychological Science'' Vol. 15, No. 1 (February 2006), pp. 45–48</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of terrorism}}

=== Pre-modern terrorism ===
Early published studies like [[Paul Wilkinson (political scientist)|Paul Wilkinson]] considered terrorism a product of 19th-century revolutionary politics. Technological developments like the [[pistol]] and [[dynamite]] made possible the relentless onslaught of successful attacks and assassinations that shook the 19th-century.{{sfn|Dietze|Verhoeven|2022|p=128}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark |first=David S. |title=Encyclopedia of Law and Society |date=2007 |publisher=Sage |location=United Kingdom |page=1474 |quote=Before the advent of dynamite and automatic weapons, groups had to kill on a one-to-one basis. It took one terrorist (or soldier) to kill one enemy or perhaps a handful of enemies, except in unusual cases, such as the failed [[1605 Gunpowder Plot]] of [[Guy Fawkes]] in England. The weapons of choice for the earlier terrorists were the dagger, the noose, the sword and the poison elixir. This changed with the hand-thrown bomb and the pistol, introduced in the nineteenth century, and the machine gun and plastic explosives, common in the twentieth century.}}</ref> For the most part, scholars considered terrorism a modern phenomenon until [[David C. Rapoport]] published his seminal article ''Fear and Trembling: Terrorism in Three Religious Traditions'' in 1984.{{sfn|Dietze|Verhoeven|2022|p=128}} 

Rapoport proposed three case studies to demonstrate "ancient lineage" of religious terrorism, which he called "sacred terror": the [[Thuggee|"Thugs"]], the [[Order of Assassins|Assassins]] and the Jewish [[Sicarii Zealots]]. Rapoport argued religious terrorism has been ongoing since ancient times and that "there are signs that it is reviving in new and unusual forms". He is the first to propose that religious doctrines were more important than political rationales for some terrorist groups.<ref>Rapoport, D. (1984) "Fear and Trembling" in Mahan,&nbsp;S.,&nbsp;Griset,&nbsp;P.&nbsp;L.&nbsp;(2012).&nbsp;Terrorism in Perspective.&nbsp;United Kingdom:&nbsp;Sage Publications:"Furthermore, the three cases illustrate a kind of terror nowhere adequately analyzed in our theoretical literature, terror designated here as holy or sacred. Before the nineteenth century, religion provided the only acceptable justifications for terror, and the differences between sacred and modern expressions (differences of nature, not scale) raise questions about the appropriateness of contemporary definitions. The holy terrorist believes that only a transcendental purpose which fulfills the meaning of the universe can justify terror, and that the deity reveals at some early moment in both time and end the means and may even participate in the process as well. We see terrorists as free to seek different political ends in this world by whatever means of terror they consider most appropriate."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Laqueur|2001}}: "The misunderstandings about the nature of terrorism in the 1970s were founded, in part, on political reasons. At the time, terrorism was predominantly left wing in inspiration and it did not come as a surprise that commentators belonging to the same political persuasion would produce theoretical explanations which were, at the very least, not unsympathetic as far as terrorists were concerned. It was argued in these circles that terrorism always occurred where there was oppression, social or national, that the terrorists had genuine, legitimate grievances—hence the conclusion that once the grievances were eradicated, terrorism would also disappear. Terrorism, in brief, was seen as a revolutionary phenomenon; it was carried out by poor and desperate human beings and had, therefore, to be confronted with sympathetic understanding."</ref> Rapoport's work has since become the basis of the model of "New Terrorism" proposed by [[Bruce Hoffman]] and developed by other scholars. "New Terrorism" has had an unparalleled impact on policymaking. Critics have pointed out that the model is politically charged and over-simplified. The underlying historical assertions have received less critical attention.{{sfn|Dietze|Verhoeven|2022|p=129}} According to ''The Oxford Handbook on the History of Terrorism'':{{sfn|Dietze|Verhoeven|2022|p=128}}

<blockquote>Since the publication of Rapoport's article, it has become seemingly pre-requisite for standard works on terrorism to cite the three case studies and to reproduce uncritically its findings. In lieu of empirical research, authors tend to crudely paraphrase Rapoport and the assumed relevance of "Thuggee" to the study of modern terrorism is taken for granted. Yet the significance of the article is not simply a matter of citations―it has also provided the foundation for what has become known as the "New Terrorism" paradigm. While Rapoport did not suggest which late 20th century groups might exemplify the implied recurrence of "holy terror", Bruce Hoffman, recognized today as one of the world's leading terrorism experts, did not hesitate to do so. A decade after Rapoport's article. Hoffman picked up the mantle and taking the three case studies as inspiration, he formulated a model of contemporary "holy terror" or, as he defined it, "terrorism motivated by a religious imperative". Completely distinct from "secular terrorists", Hoffman argued that "religious terrorists" carry out indiscriminate acts of violence as a divine duty with no consideration for political efficacy―their aim is transcendental and "holy terror" constitutes an end in itself. Hoffman's concept has since been taken up and developed by a number of other writers, including Walter Laquer, Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamen, and rebranded as the "New Terrorism".</blockquote>

=== Birth of modern terrorism (1850-1890s) ===
Arguably, the first organization to use modern terrorist techniques was the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Terrorism: From the Fenians to Al Qaeda |url=http://www.ucd.ie/adulted/coursesbycode/hn258/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121203100430/http://www.ucd.ie/adulted/coursesbycode/hn258/ |archive-date=December 3, 2012 |access-date=December 17, 2012}}</ref> founded in 1858 as a revolutionary Irish nationalist group<ref>Irish Freedom, by Richard English Publisher: Pan Books (2007), {{ISBN|0-330-42759-8}} p. 179</ref> that carried out attacks in England.<ref>Irish Freedom, by Richard English Publisher: Pan Books (November 2, 2007), {{ISBN|0-330-42759-8}} p. 180</ref> The group initiated the [[Fenian dynamite campaign]] in 1881, one of the first modern terror campaigns.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whelehan |first=Niall |title=The Dynamiters: Irish Nationalism and Political Violence in the Wider World 1867–1900 |year=2012 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> Instead of earlier forms of terrorism based on political assassination, this campaign used timed [[Explosive|explosives]] with the express aim of sowing fear in the very heart of [[Great Britain|metropolitan Britain]], in order to achieve political gains.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 February 2012 |title='One skilled scientist is worth an army' – The Fenian Dynamite campaign 1881-85 |url=http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/02/13/one-skilled-scientist-is-worth-an-army-the-fenian-dynamite-campaign-1881-85/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110063402/http://www.theirishstory.com/2012/02/13/one-skilled-scientist-is-worth-an-army-the-fenian-dynamite-campaign-1881-85/ |archive-date=January 10, 2013 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |website=The Irish Story}}</ref>
[[File:SG_fig_1_(left_up).png|thumb|Representation of the aftermath of the [[Saint-Germain bombing|Saint Germain bombing]] in ''[[L'Illustration]]'' (19 March 1892),<ref>{{cite web |date=1892 |title=L'Illustration : Journal universel |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t51422220r/f4.item}}</ref> an attack that [[Timeline of the Ère des attentats|ushered in the Ère des attentats]]]]
Another early terrorist-type group was [[Narodnaya Volya (organization)|Narodnaya Volya]], founded in Russia in 1878 as a revolutionary anarchist group inspired by [[Sergei Nechayev]] and "[[propaganda by the deed]]" theorist [[Carlo Pisacane]].<ref name="cdi.org2">{{Cite web |last1=Burgess |first1=Mark |date=July 2, 2003 |title=A Brief History of Terrorism |url=https://www.pogo.org/center-for-defense-information |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511140810/http://www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=1502 |archive-date=May 11, 2012 |website=Center for Defense Information}}</ref>{{sfn|Hoffman|1998|p=5}} The group developed ideas—such as [[targeted killing]] of the 'leaders of oppression', which were to become the hallmark of subsequent violence by small non-state groups, and they were convinced that the developing technologies of the age—such as the invention of dynamite, which they were the first anarchist group to make widespread use of<ref>''A History of Terrorism'', by Walter Laqueur, Transaction Publishers, 2000, {{ISBN|0-7658-0799-8}}, p. 92 [https://books.google.com/books?id=RlqQHKpLfL8C]</ref>—enabled them to strike directly and with discrimination.<ref name="bbc.co.uk2">{{cite web |author=Adam Roberts |date=September 18, 2014 |title=The Changing Faces of Terrorism |website=BBC – History |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/sept_11/changing_faces_02.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208113613/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/sept_11/changing_faces_02.shtml |archive-date=December 8, 2017 |access-date=December 1, 2017}}</ref> 

In the Western world, and more specifically in France, the repression faced by [[Anarchism|anarchists]] from the state led, in the early 1890s, to France's entry into the ''[[Ère des attentats]]'' (1892-1894). This period, characterized by a surge in terrorist acts following [[Ravachol]]'s bombings, saw several shifts that pushed terrorism toward modern terrorism.{{Sfn|Salomé|2011|p=31}}{{Sfn|Ferragu|2019|p=21-31}} As with the Fenian campaign, terrorism shifted from being person-based to location-based, starting with the first attack of that period, the [[Saint-Germain bombing]].{{Sfn|Salomé|2011|p=31}} 

However, other major evolutions emerged during this period: the apparition of [[Lone wolf terrorism|lone wolves]]{{Sfn|Bouhey|2009|p=190-225}} and the birth of mass or indiscriminate terrorism.{{Sfn|Ferragu|2019|p=21-31}} Indeed, in the second half of the Ère des attentats, three incidents laid the foundation for mass terrorism within a few months of each other. These were the [[Liceu bombing]], the [[13 November 1893 stabbing]], and the [[Café Terminus attack]].{{Sfn|Ferragu|2019|p=21-31}} In each of these attacks, the perpetrators targeted not a specific individual but a collective enemy.{{Sfn|Ferragu|2019|p=21-31}} [[Émile Henry (anarchist)|Émile Henry]], in particular, responsible for the Café Terminus bombing, explicitly claimed the birth of this new form of terrorism, stating that he wanted to 'strike at random'.{{Sfn|Ferragu|2019|p=21-31}}

=== Modern terrorism (1900-present) ===
In 1920 [[Leon Trotsky]] wrote ''[[Terrorism and Communism]]'' to justify the [[Red Terror]] and defend the moral superiority of [[revolutionary terrorism]].{{sfn|Primoratz|2004|p=xv}}

The assassination of the [[Empress of Austria]] [[Empress Elisabeth of Austria|Elisabeth]] in 1898 resulted in the [[International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists]], the first international conference [[Counterterrorism|against terrorism]].<ref name="t1362">{{cite book |title=The Battle against Anarchist Terrorism |date=2013-12-05 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-52412-4 |pages=131–184 |chapter=The first international conference on terrorism: Rome 1898 |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139524124.008}}</ref>

According to [[Bruce Hoffman]] of [[RAND Corporation|the RAND Corporation]], in 1980, 2 out of 64 terrorist groups were categorized as having religious motivation while in 1995, almost half (26 out of 56) were religiously motivated with the majority having Islam as their guiding force.<ref name="Hoffman-1999-V">{{cite book |last1=Hoffman |first1=Bruce |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/congress/terrorism/phase1/countering.pdf |title=Countering the New Terrorism |date=1999 |publisher=Rand Corporation |page=V |chapter=Two: Terrorism Trends and Prospects |access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{cite web |author=John Moore |title=The Evolution of Islamic Terrorism: an Overview |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/target/etc/modern.html |publisher=PBS Frontline}}</ref>

== Types of terrorism ==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2017}}
Depending on the country, the political system, and the time in history, the types of terrorism are varying.
[[File:Terro.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Number of failed, foiled or successful terrorist attacks by year and type within the [[European Union]]. Source: [[Europol]].<ref name="Europol">{{cite web |title=TE-SAT 2011 EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/te-sat2011.pdf |year=2011 |publisher=[[Europol]] |access-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103700/https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/te-sat2011.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=TE-SAT 2010 Terrorism Situation and Trend Report |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/tesat2010_0.pdf |year=2010 |publisher=[[Europol]] |access-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325144100/https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/tesat2010_0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=TE-SAT 2009 Terrorism Situation and Trend Report |url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/tesat2009_0.pdf |year=2009 |publisher=[[Europol]] |access-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405132039/https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/tesat2009_0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

[[File:BombenanschlagUS-BotschaftBeirut.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|A view of damage to the [[1983 United States embassy bombing|U.S. Embassy in the aftermath of the 1983 Beirut bombing]] caused by [[Islamic Jihad Organization]] and [[Hezbollah]]]]

In early 1975, the [[National Institute of Justice|Law Enforcement Assistant Administration]] in the United States formed the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. One of the five volumes that the committee wrote was titled ''Disorders and Terrorism'', produced by the Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism under the direction of H. H. A. Cooper, Director of the Task Force staff.

The Task Force defines terrorism as "a tactic or technique by means of which a violent act or the threat thereof is used for the prime purpose of creating overwhelming fear for coercive purposes". It classified disorders and terrorism into seven categories:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/39469NCJRS.pdf |title=Disorders and Terrorism |website=National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals |year=1976 |pages=3–6 |access-date=April 20, 2016 |archive-date=April 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423124520/https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/39469NCJRS.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><!--[[File:US Army Humvee attacked.jpg|thumb|U.S. Army Humvee destroyed by a [[car bomb]], Baghdad, [[Iraq]] in 2006.]]-->
* '''[[Civil disorder]]''' – A form of collective violence interfering with the [[peace]], security, and normal functioning of the community.
* '''Political terrorism''' – [[Violence|Violent]] criminal behaviour designed primarily to generate [[fear]] in the community, or substantial segment of it, for political purposes.
* '''Non-Political terrorism''' – Terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes, but which exhibits "conscious design to create and maintain a high degree of fear for [[coercion|coercive]] purposes, but the end is individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political objective".
* '''[[Anonymous terrorism]]''' – In the two decades prior to 2016–19, "fewer than half" of all terrorist attacks were either "claimed by their perpetrators or convincingly attributed by governments to specific terrorist groups". A number of theories have been advanced as to why this has happened.<ref name="1 February 2019 Economist why">{{cite news |title=Why do terrorists claim credit for some attacks but not others? |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/02/01/why-do-terrorists-claim-credit-for-some-attacks-but-not-others |access-date=May 9, 2021 |agency=The Economist |date=February 1, 2019 |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509172226/https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/02/01/why-do-terrorists-claim-credit-for-some-attacks-but-not-others |url-status=live }}</ref>
* '''Quasi-terrorism''' – The activities incidental to the commission of crimes of violence that are similar in form and method to genuine terrorism, but which nevertheless lack its essential ingredient. It is not the main purpose of the quasi-terrorists to induce terror in the immediate victim as in the case of genuine terrorism, but the quasi-terrorist uses the modalities and techniques of the genuine terrorist and produces similar consequences and reaction.<ref>{{cite web |title=TERRORISM |url=http://www.earthdash.org/more_info/terrorism.html |publisher=Earth Dashboard |access-date=July 13, 2016 |archive-date=October 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021101305/http://www.earthdash.org/more_info/terrorism.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, the fleeing [[felony|felon]] who takes [[hostage]]s is a quasi-terrorist, whose methods are similar to those of the genuine terrorist but whose purposes are quite different.
* '''Limited political terrorism''' – Genuine political terrorism is characterized by a [[revolutionary]] approach; limited political terrorism refers to "acts of terrorism which are committed for [[ideology|ideological]] or political motives but which are not part of a concerted campaign to capture control of the [[Sovereign state|state]]".
* '''Official or state terrorism''' – "referring to nations whose rule is based upon [[fear]] and [[oppression]] that reach similar to terrorism or such proportions". It may be referred to as '''Structural Terrorism''' defined broadly as terrorist acts carried out by governments in pursuit of political objectives, often as part of their foreign policy.
Other sources have defined the typology of terrorism in different ways, for example, broadly classifying it into '''domestic terrorism''' and '''international terrorism''', or using categories such as vigilante terrorism or insurgent terrorism.<ref>{{cite book |title=Terrorism and homeland security: an introduction with applications |first=Philip P. |last=Purpura |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-7506-7843-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ItzwLVo8DwC&pg=PA17 |pages=16–19}}</ref> Some ways the typology of terrorism may be defined are:<ref>Hudson, Rex A. ''Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why: The 1999 Government Report on Profiling Terrorists'', Federal Research Division, The Lyons Press, 2002.</ref><ref>Barry Scheider, Jim Davis, ''Avoiding the abyss: progress, shortfalls and the way ahead in combatting the WMD threat'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2009 p. 60.</ref>
* '''Political terrorism'''
**'''Sub-state terrorism'''
***[[Revolutionary terrorism|Social revolutionary terrorism]]
***[[Nationalist terrorism|Nationalist-separatist terrorism]]
***[[Religious terrorism|Religious extremist terrorism]]
**** Religious fundamentalist Terrorism
**** New religions terrorism
*** [[Right-wing terrorism]]
*** [[Left-wing terrorism]]
**** [[Communist terrorism]]
** '''[[State-sponsored terrorism]]'''
** '''[[State terrorism]]'''
* '''Criminal terrorism'''
* '''Pathological terrorism'''

=== Religious terrorism ===
{{Main|Religious terrorism|List of Islamist terrorist attacks|List of terrorist incidents linked to the Islamic State}}

According to the [[Global Terrorism Index]] by the [[University of Maryland, College Park]], [[religious extremism]] has overtaken [[Separatism|national separatism]] and become the main driver of terrorist attacks around the world. Since 9/11 there has been a five-fold increase in deaths from terrorist attacks. The majority of incidents over the past several years can be tied to groups with a religious agenda. Before 2000, it was nationalist separatist terrorist organizations such as the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|IRA]] and Chechen rebels who were behind the most attacks. The number of incidents from nationalist separatist groups has remained relatively stable in the years since while religious extremism has grown. The prevalence of Islamist groups in [[Iraq]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]], [[Nigeria]] and [[Syria]] is the main driver behind these trends.<ref name="arnett">{{cite news |last=Arnett |first=George |date=November 19, 2014 |title=Religious extremism main cause of terrorism, according to report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/nov/18/religious-extremism-main-cause-of-terrorism-according-to-report |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323235922/https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/nov/18/religious-extremism-main-cause-of-terrorism-according-to-report |archive-date=March 23, 2017 |access-date=March 22, 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>
[[File:Territoires de l'Etat islamique juin 2015.png|thumb|The [[Islamic State]] (IS) is a transnational Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group. [[Territory of the Islamic State|IS territory]], in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent in May 2015.{{Collapsible list
| title = Map legend
 | 1 = {{legend|#b4b2ae|Islamic State}}
 | 2 = {{legend|#db8ca6|[[Federal government of Iraq|Iraqi government]]}}
 | 3 = {{legend|#ebc0b3|Syrian government}}
 | 4 = {{legend|#ffa067|Lebanese government}}
 | 5 = {{legend|#D2CD7E|[[Iraqi Kurdistan]] forces}}
 | 6 = {{legend|#e2d974|[[Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Syrian Kurdistan forces]]}}
 | 7 = {{legend|#caffc4|[[Syrian opposition to Bashar al-Assad|Syrian opposition]] forces}}
 | 8 = {{legend|#80c490|[[Turkish Armed Forces]]}}
 | 9 = {{legend|#ffffff|[[Al-Nusra Front]]}}
 | 10 = {{legend|#3e79ff|[[w:Hezbollah|Hezbollah]]}}
 | 11 = '''Note:''' Iraq and Syria contain large desert areas with sparse populations. These areas are mapped as under the control of forces holding roads and towns within them.
}}]][[Hamas]], the main Islamist movement in the [[Palestinian territories]], was formed by Palestinian [[imam]] [[Ahmed Yassin]] in 1987. Some scholars, including constitutional law professor [[Alexander Tsesis]], have voiced concerns over the [[1988 Hamas charter|Hamas Charter]]'s apparent advocacy of [[genocide|genocidal aspirations]].<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last1=Bayefsky |first1=Anne F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHxTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 |title=Incitement to Terrorism |last2=Blank |first2=Laurie R. |date=March 22, 2018 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-35982-6 |quote=The governing charter of Hamas, "The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement," openly dedicates Hamas to genocide against the Jewish people. |access-date=January 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015101112/https://books.google.com/books?id=lHxTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last=Tsesis |first=Alexander |date=2014–2015 |title=Antisemitism and Hate Speech Studies |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/rjlr16&id=352&div=&collection= |url-status=live |journal=Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion |volume=16 |pages=352 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015101043/https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/rjlr16&id=352&div=&collection= |archive-date=October 15, 2023 |access-date=January 26, 2024 |quote=For Jews, the Holocaust remains a real concern in an age when Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, continues to advocate genocide in its core Charter.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Hoffman| first = Bruce| title = Understanding Hamas's Genocidal Ideology| work = The Atlantic| access-date = 2024-11-27| date = 2023-10-10| url = https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/hamas-covenant-israel-attack-war-genocide/675602/}}</ref> In the periods of 1994–1996 and 2001–2007, Hamas orchestrated [[Palestinian suicide attacks|a series of suicide bombings]], primarily directed at civilian targets in Israel, killing over 1,000 Israeli civilians.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Litvak |first=Meir |date=July 15, 2010 |title="Martyrdom is Life": Jihad and Martyrdom in the Ideology of Hamas |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2010.494170 |url-status=live |journal=Studies in Conflict & Terrorism |volume=33 |issue=8 |pages=716–734 |doi=10.1080/1057610X.2010.494170 |issn=1057-610X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231212103657/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1057610X.2010.494170 |archive-date=December 12, 2023 |access-date=January 26, 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Five of the terrorist groups that have been most active since 2001 are [[Hamas]], [[Boko Haram]], [[al-Qaeda]], the [[Taliban]] and [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIL]]. These groups have been most active in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. Eighty percent of all deaths from terrorism occurred in these five countries.<ref name="arnett" /> In 2015 four [[Islamic extremism|Islamic extremist groups]] were responsible for 74% of all deaths from Islamic terrorism: [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]], Boko Haram, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda, according to the [[Global Terrorism Index]] 2016.<ref name="GTI2016-4">{{cite book |url=http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.2.pdf |title=Global Terrorism Index 2016 |date=2016 |publisher=Institute for Economics and Peace |page=4 |access-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117233155/http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Global-Terrorism-Index-2016.2.pdf |archive-date=November 17, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Since approximately 2000, these incidents have occurred on a global scale, affecting not only [[Muslim-majority countries|Muslim-majority states]] in Africa and Asia, but also states with non-Muslim majority such as [[Terrorism in the United States|United States]], [[Terrorism in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[Terrorism in France|France]], [[Terrorism in Germany|Germany]], [[Terrorism in Spain|Spain]], [[Terrorist activity in Belgium|Belgium]], [[Terrorism in Sweden|Sweden]], [[Terrorism in Russia|Russia]], [[Terrorism in Australia|Australia]], [[Terrorism in Canada|Canada]], [[Terrorism in Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]], [[Timeline of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict|Israel]], [[Terrorism in China|China]], [[Terrorism in India|India]] and [[Terrorism in the Philippines|Philippines]]. Such attacks have targeted both Muslims and non-Muslims, however the majority affect Muslims themselves.<ref>{{cite web |last=Siddiqui |first=Mona |author-link=Mona Siddiqui |date=August 23, 2014 |title=Isis: a contrived ideology justifying barbarism and sexual control |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/24/isis-ideology-islamic-militants-british-appeal-iraq-syria |access-date=January 7, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824131118/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/24/isis-ideology-islamic-militants-british-appeal-iraq-syria |archive-date=August 24, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Marriot Hotel Islamabad Pakistan bombing.jpg|thumb|[[Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing]]. Approximately 35,000 Pakistanis died from [[Terrorism in Pakistan|terrorist attacks]] between 2001 and 2011.<ref>"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13318673 Pakistan: A failed state or a clever gambler?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915122832/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13318673|date=September 15, 2018}}". BBC News. May 7, 2011.</ref>]]
[[Terrorism in Pakistan]] has become a great problem. From the summer of 2007 until late 2009, more than 1,500 people were killed in [[suicide attack|suicide]] and other attacks on civilians<ref>[[Agence France Press]] {{cite web |title=Two bomb blasts kill 27 in northwest Pakistan |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h2jRTJSm-efNfhS_Wm9wP1w_TB5Q |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304174328/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h2jRTJSm-efNfhS_Wm9wP1w_TB5Q |archive-date=March 4, 2014 |access-date=February 20, 2020}}</ref> for reasons attributed to a number of causes—sectarian violence between [[Sunni]] and [[Shia Muslim]]s; easy availability of guns and explosives; the existence of a "[[Kalashnikov rifle|Kalashnikov]] culture"; an influx of ideologically driven Muslims based [[AfPak|in or near Pakistan]], who originated from various nations around the world and the subsequent war against the pro-Soviet Afghans in the 1980s which blew back into Pakistan; the presence of [[Islamist]] insurgent groups and forces such as the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. On July 2, 2013, in [[Lahore]], 50 Muslim scholars of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) issued a collective fatwa against suicide bombings, the killing of innocent people, bomb attacks, and targeted killings declaring them as [[Haraam]] or forbidden.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 2, 2013 |title=Fatwa issued against suicide bombings, targeted killings and terrorism |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1022298 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112021345/https://www.dawn.com/news/1022298 |archive-date=November 12, 2018 |access-date=November 16, 2018 |location=Lahore}}</ref>

In 2015, the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] released a report on [[domestic terrorism]] in the United States. The report (titled ''The Age of the Wolf'') analyzed 62 incidents and found that, between 2009 and 2015, "more people have been killed in America by non-Islamic [[Domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorists]] than [[Jihadism|jihadists]]."<ref name="splc">{{cite report |url=https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/d6_legacy_files/downloads/publication/lone_wolf_special_report_0.pdf |title=Age of the Wolf |last=Lenz |first=Ryan |date=February 2015 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |page=4 |quote=A large number of independent studies have agreed that since the 9/11 mass murder, more people have been killed in America by non-Islamic domestic terrorists than jihadists. |access-date=March 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010105848/https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/d6_legacy_files/downloads/publication/lone_wolf_special_report_0.pdf |archive-date=October 10, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The "virulent racist and [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]]" ideology of the ultra-right wing [[Christian Identity]] movement is usually accompanied by anti-government sentiments.<ref name="adlci">"[https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/christian-identity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328021833/https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/christian-identity|date=March 28, 2017}}". Anti-Defamation League 2017.</ref> Adherents of Christian Identity are not connected with specific [[Christian denomination]]s,<ref name="BehindBars">{{cite web |title=Bigotry Behind Bars: Racist Groups In U.S. Prisons |url=http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/domestic-extremism-terrorism/c/bigotry-behind-bars-racist-groups-in-US-prisons.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729081815/http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/domestic-extremism-terrorism/c/bigotry-behind-bars-racist-groups-in-US-prisons.html |archive-date=July 29, 2015}}</ref> and they believe that [[White people|whites]] of European descent can be traced back to the "[[Ten Lost Tribes|Lost Tribes of Israel]]". Adherents have committed [[hate crime]]s, bombings and other acts of terrorism, including the [[Centennial Olympic Park bombing]].<ref>{{Cite news| title = Full Text of Eric Rudolph's Confession| work = NPR| access-date = 2024-11-27| date = 2005-04-14| url = https://www.npr.org/2005/04/14/4600480/full-text-of-eric-rudolphs-confession}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0190-8286| last = Ahrens| first = Frank| title = Steered to Extremism at an Early Age| newspaper = Washington Post| access-date = 2024-11-27| date = 2003-06-01| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/06/01/steered-to-extremism-at-an-early-age/2c0c8da5-f862-4181-abd5-817b761f60c8/}}</ref> Its influence ranges from the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and [[neo-Nazi]] groups to the anti-government [[Militia organizations in the United States|militia]] and [[sovereign citizen movement]]s.<ref name="adlci" />

== Causes and motivations ==

Terrorist acts frequently have a political purpose based on self-determination claims, ethnonationalist frustrations, single issue causes (like abortion or the environment), or other ideological or religious causes that terrorists claim are a moral justification for their violent acts.{{sfn|Chalk|2013|loc=Introduction}}

===Choice of terrorism as a tactic===
Individuals and groups choose terrorism as a tactic because it can:
* Act as a form of [[asymmetric warfare]] in order to directly force a government to agree to demands
* Intimidate a group of people into capitulating to the demands in order to avoid future injury
* Get attention and thus political support for a cause
* Directly inspire more people to the cause (such as revolutionary acts) – [[propaganda of the deed]]
* Indirectly inspire more people to the cause by provoking a hostile response or over-reaction from enemies to the cause<ref name="Think">[https://think.kera.org/2016/04/05/the-meaning-behind-extremism/ The Psychology Of Terrorism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610075734/https://think.kera.org/2016/04/05/the-meaning-behind-extremism/ |date=June 10, 2023 }}, audio interview summarizing [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/special-report-the-psychology-of-terrorism/ Special Report: The Psychology of Terrorism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610075734/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/special-report-the-psychology-of-terrorism/ |date=June 10, 2023 }}</ref>

Attacks on "collaborators" are used to intimidate people from cooperating with the state in order to undermine state control. This strategy was used in Ireland, in [[Kenya]], in [[Algeria]] and in [[Cyprus]] during their independence struggles.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MtRBDwAAQBAJ&q=Attacks+on+%27collaborators%27+are+used+to+intimidate+people+from+cooperating+with+the+state+in+order+to+undermine+state+control.+This+strategy+was+used+in+Ireland%2C+in+Kenya%2C+in+Algeria+and+in+Cyprus+during+their+independence+struggles&pg=PT247|title=Handbook of Emergency Management Concepts: A Step-by-Step Approach|last=Madigan|first=Michael L.|date=December 6, 2017|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781351337472|language=en|access-date=October 29, 2020|archive-date=March 29, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132957/https://books.google.com/books?id=MtRBDwAAQBAJ&q=Attacks+on+%27collaborators%27+are+used+to+intimidate+people+from+cooperating+with+the+state+in+order+to+undermine+state+control.+This+strategy+was+used+in+Ireland%2C+in+Kenya%2C+in+Algeria+and+in+Cyprus+during+their+independence+struggles&pg=PT247#v=snippet&q=Attacks%20on%20'collaborators'%20are%20used%20to%20intimidate%20people%20from%20cooperating%20with%20the%20state%20in%20order%20to%20undermine%20state%20control.%20This%20strategy%20was%20used%20in%20Ireland%2C%20in%20Kenya%2C%20in%20Algeria%20and%20in%20Cyprus%20during%20their%20independence%20struggles&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Stated [[motives for the September 11 attacks]] included inspiring more fighters to join the cause of repelling the United States from Muslim countries with a successful high-profile attack. The attacks prompted some criticism from domestic and international observers regarding perceived injustices in U.S. foreign policy that provoked the attacks, but the larger practical effect was that the United States government declared a [[War on Terror]] that resulted in substantial military engagements in several Muslim-majority countries. Various commentators have inferred that [[al-Qaeda]] expected a military response and welcomed it as a provocation that would result in more Muslims fighting the United States. Some commentators believe that the resulting anger and suspicion directed toward innocent Muslims living in Western countries and the indignities inflicted upon them by security forces and the general public also contributes to radicalization of new recruits.<ref name="Think" /> Despite criticism that the Iraqi government had no involvement with the September 11 attacks, Bush declared the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] to be part of the War on Terror. The resulting backlash and instability enabled the rise of [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] and the temporary creation of an Islamic caliphate holding territory in Iraq and Syria, until ISIL lost its territory through military defeats.

Attacks used to draw international attention to struggles that are otherwise unreported have included the [[Dawson's Field hijackings|Palestinian airplane hijackings in 1970]] and the [[1975 Dutch train hostage crisis]].

===Causes motivating terrorism===
Specific political or social causes have included:
* Independence or [[separatist]] movements
* [[Irredentist]] movements
* Adoption of a particular political philosophy, such as [[socialism]] ([[left-wing terrorism]]), [[anarchism]], or [[fascism]] (possibly through a [[coup]] or as an ideology of an independence or separatist movement)
* Environmental protection ([[eco-terrorism]])
* [[Supremacism]] of a particular group
** Preventing a rival group from sharing or occupying a particular territory (such as by discouraging immigration or encouraging flight)
** Subjugation of a particular population (such as [[Lynching in the United States|lynching of African Americans]])
* Spread or dominance of a particular religion – [[religious terrorism]]
* Ending perceived government [[oppression]]
* Responding to a violent act (for example, tit-for-tat attacks in the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], in [[The Troubles]] in Northern Ireland, or [[Timothy McVeigh]]'s revenge for the [[Waco siege]] and [[Ruby Ridge]] incident)

Causes for [[right-wing terrorism]] have included [[white nationalism]], [[ethnonationalism]], fascism, anti-socialism, the [[anti-abortion movement]], and [[tax resistance]].

Sometimes terrorists on the same side fight for different reasons. For example, in the [[Chechen–Russian conflict]] secular Chechens using terrorist tactics fighting for national independence are allied with radical Islamist terrorists who have arrived from other countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Janeczko |first1=Matthew |title='Faced with death, even a mouse bites': Social and religious motivations behind terrorism in Chechnya |date=June 19, 2014 |pages=428–456 |journal=Small Wars & Insurgencies |volume=25 |issue=2 |doi=10.1080/09592318.2014.903975 }}</ref>

===Personal and social factors===
{{main|Radicalization}}

Various personal and social factors may influence the personal choice of whether to join a terrorist group or attempt an act of terror, including:
* [[Identity (social science)|Identity]], including affiliation with a particular culture, ethnicity, or religion
* Previous exposure to violence
* Financial reward (for example, the [[Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund]])
* [[Mental illness]]
* Social isolation
* Perception that the cause responds to a profound injustice or indignity

A report conducted by Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert {{dubious|date=October 2019}} found that for "lone wolf" terrorists:<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal |title=Bombing Alone: Tracing the Motivations and Antecedent Behaviors of Lone-Actor Terrorists |first1=Paul |last1=Gill |first2=John |last2=Horgan |first3=Paige |last3=Deckert |date=March 1, 2014 |journal=Journal of Forensic Sciences |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=425–435 |doi=10.1111/1556-4029.12312|pmid = 24313297|pmc=4217375 }}</ref>
* 43% were motivated by religious beliefs
* 32% had pre-existing mental health disorders, while many more are found to have mental health problems upon arrest
* At least 37% lived alone at the time of their event planning or execution, a further 26% lived with others, and no data were available for the remaining cases
* 40% were unemployed at the time of their arrest or terrorist event
* 19% subjectively experienced being disrespected by others
* 14% percent experienced being the victim of verbal or physical assault

[[Ariel Merari]], a psychologist who has studied the psychological profiles of suicide terrorists since 1983 through media reports that contained biographical details, interviews with the suicides' families, and interviews with jailed would-be [[suicide attack]]ers, concluded that they were unlikely to be psychologically abnormal.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Merari |first1=Ariel |title="Psychological Aspects of Suicide Terrorism," in Bruce Bongar et al., Psychology of Terrorism. |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}}</ref> In comparison to economic theories of criminal behaviour, [[Scott Atran]] found that suicide terrorists exhibit none of the socially dysfunctional attributes—such as fatherless, friendless, jobless situations—or suicidal symptoms. By which he means, they do not kill themselves simply out of hopelessness or a sense of 'having nothing to lose'.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Atran |first1=Scott |title=Mishandling Suicide Terrorism |journal=The Washington Quarterly |year=2004 |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=67–90 |doi=10.1162/016366004323090269|s2cid=155714216 }}</ref>

Abrahm suggests that terrorist organizations do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness.<ref name="Abrahm">{{cite journal |last=Abrahms |first=Max |title=What Terrorists Really Want: Terrorist Motives and Counterterrorism Strategy |journal=[[International Security]] |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=86–89 |date=March 2008 |url=http://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/publications/what_terrorists_really_want_terrorist_motives_and_counterterrorism_strategy |format=PDF 1933 [[Kilobyte|KB]] |issn=0162-2889 |access-date=November 4, 2008 |doi=10.1162/isec.2008.32.4.78 |s2cid=57561190 |archive-date=February 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217201432/http://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/publications/what_terrorists_really_want_terrorist_motives_and_counterterrorism_strategy |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined.<ref name="Abrahm" />

Michael Mousseau shows possible relationships between the type of economy within a country and ideology associated with terrorism.{{example needed|date=October 2019}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mousseau |first1=Michael |title=Market Civilization and its Clash with Terror |journal=International Security |year=2002 |volume=27 |issue=3 |doi=10.1162/01622880260553615 |pages=5–29 |s2cid=26190384 |url=http://digitalcollections.library.ku.edu.tr/cdm/ref/collection/IR/id/527 |access-date=December 11, 2019 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329133015/https://librarydigitalcollections.ku.edu.tr/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many terrorists have a history of domestic violence.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/many-terrorists-first-victims-are-their-wives-were-not-allowed-talk-about| title = Many terrorists' first victims are their wives – but we're not allowed to talk about that| date = June 7, 2017| access-date = June 8, 2017| archive-date = June 8, 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170608190151/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/many-terrorists-first-victims-are-their-wives-were-not-allowed-talk-about| url-status = live}} ''[[New Statesman]]''</ref>

== Democracy and domestic terrorism ==
Terrorism is most common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and it is least common in the most democratic nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.04/05-terror.html |title=Freedom squelches terrorist violence: Harvard Gazette Archives |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919050732/http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.04/05-terror.html |archive-date=September 19, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |title=Freedom squelches terrorist violence: Harvard Gazette Archives |access-date=December 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221053220/http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |archive-date=December 21, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |title=Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism |year=2004 |access-date=December 28, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221053220/http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~.aabadie.academic.ksg/povterr.pdf |archive-date=December 21, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://titan.iwu.edu/~econ/uer/articles/kevin_goldstein.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20070614004845/http://titan.iwu.edu/~econ/uer/articles/kevin_goldstein.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 14, 2007 |title=Unemployment, Inequality and Terrorism: Another Look at the Relationship between Economics and Terrorism |year=2005 |access-date=December 28, 2008}}</ref>

Some examples of terrorism in non-democratic nations include [[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]] in Spain under [[Francisco Franco]] (although the group's activities increased sharply after Franco's death),<ref name="tws11janfjlk">{{cite news |title=Basque Terrorist Group Marks 50th Anniversary with New Attacks |quote=Europe's longest-enduring terrorist group. This week, ETA (the initials stand for Basque Homeland and Freedom in Euskera, the Basque language) |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 31, 2009 |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1913931,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804074643/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1913931,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 4, 2009|access-date= January 11, 2010}}</ref> the [[Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists]] in pre-war [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]],<ref>[[Timothy Snyder]]. [http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev A fascist hero in democratic Kiev] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029211526/http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev |date=October 29, 2015 }}. New York Review of Books. February 24, 2010</ref> the [[Shining Path]] in Peru under [[Alberto Fujimori]],<ref name="tws11janaawsw">{{cite news |title=Shining Path |quote=The Shining Path, a faction of Peruvian militants, has resurfaced in the remote corners of the Andes. The war against the group, which took nearly 70,000 lives, supposedly ended in 2000.&nbsp;... In the 1980s, the rebels were infamous for atrocities like planting bombs on donkeys in crowded markets, assassinations and other terrorist tactics. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 18, 2009 |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/shining_path/index.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |first=Simon |last=Romero |archive-date=January 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128231325/http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/shining_path/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Kurdistan Workers Party]] when [[Turkey]] was ruled by military leaders, and the [[African National Congress|ANC]] in South Africa.<ref name="tws11jangvdf">{{cite news |title=1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16 |quote=The outlawed anti-apartheid group the African National Congress has been blamed for the attack&nbsp;... He said the explosion was the "biggest and ugliest" terrorist incident since anti-government violence began in South Africa 20 years ago. |publisher=BBC |date=May 20, 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011231304/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to Boaz Ganor, "Modern terrorism sees the liberal democratic state, in all its variations, as the perfect launching pad and a target for its attacks. Moreover, some terrorist organizations—particularly Islamist-jihadist organizations—have chosen to cynically exploit democratic values and institutions to gain power and status, promote their interests, and achieve internal and international legitimacy".<ref name=":2" /> Jihadist militants have shown an ambivalent view towards democracy, as they both exploit it for their ends and oppose it in their ideology. Various quotes from jihadist leaders note their disdain for democracy and their efforts to undermine it in favor of Islamic rule.<ref name=":2" /> Democracies, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, the [[United States]], [[Israel]], [[Indonesia]], [[India]], [[Spain]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]] and the [[Philippines]], have all experienced domestic terrorism.

While a democratic nation espousing [[civil liberties]] may claim a sense of higher moral ground than other regimes, an act of terrorism within such a state may cause a dilemma: whether to maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in dealing with the problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and thus risk delegitimizing its claim of supporting civil liberties.<ref name="tws11janetrr">{{cite news |first=Rick |last=Young |title=PBS Frontline: 'Spying on the Home Front' |quote=...&nbsp;we and Frontline felt that it was important to look more comprehensively at the post-9/11 shift to prevention and the dilemma we all now face in balancing security and privacy. |publisher=PBS: Frontline |date=May 16, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/03/DI2007050301142.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=March 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324184615/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/05/03/DI2007050301142.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For this reason, [[homegrown terrorism]] has started to be seen as a greater threat, as stated by former CIA Director Michael Hayden.<ref name="Hayden">{{cite news |first=Jordy |last=Yager |title=Former intel chief: Homegrown terrorism is a devil of a problem |newspaper=thehill.com |date=July 25, 2010 |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/167252-former-intel-chief-homegrown-terrorism-is-a-devil-of-a-problem/ |access-date=April 28, 2011 |archive-date=September 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926004919/http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/110759-former-intel-chief-homegrown-terrorism-is-a-devil-of-a-problem |url-status=live }}</ref> This dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may very well play into the initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize the state and cause a systematic shift towards anarchy via the accumulation of negative sentiments towards the state system.<ref>shabad, goldie and francisco jose llera ramo. "Political Violence in a Democratic State", ''Terrorism in Context''. Ed. Martha Crenshaw. University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1995. p. 467.</ref>

== Perpetrators ==
[[File:Al-Qaida au Maghreb Islamique combattants.png|thumb|right|Al-Qaeda in Maghreb members pose with weapons.]]
The perpetrators of acts of terrorism can be individuals, groups, or states. According to some definitions, clandestine or semi-clandestine state actors may carry out terrorist acts outside the framework of a state of war. The most common image of terrorism is that it is carried out by small and secretive [[Covert cell|cells]], highly motivated to serve a particular cause and many of the most deadly operations in recent times, such as the [[September 11 attacks]], the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|London underground bombing]], [[2008 Mumbai attacks]] and the [[2002 Bali bombings]] were planned and carried out by a close clique, composed of close friends, family members and other strong social networks. These groups benefited from the free flow of information and efficient [[telecommunications]] to succeed where others had failed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sageman |first=Mark |title=Understanding Terror Networks |journal=International Journal of Emergency Mental Health |publisher=U. of Pennsylvania Press |year=2004 |volume=7 |issue=1 |location=Philadelphia |pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingter00sage/page/166 166–167] |pmid=15869076 |isbn=978-0-8122-3808-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingter00sage/page/166 }}</ref>

Over the years, much research has been conducted to distill a terrorist profile to explain these individuals' actions through their psychology and socio-economic circumstances.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://icct.nl/publication/personal-characteristics-of-lone-actor-terrorists/ |title=Personal Characteristics of Lone-Actor Terrorists |date=February 29, 2016 |author1=Edwin Bakker |author2=Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn |access-date=September 6, 2016 |archive-date=September 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915205907/https://icct.nl/publication/personal-characteristics-of-lone-actor-terrorists/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some specialists highlight the lack of evidence supporting the idea that terrorists are typically psychologically disturbed. The careful planning and detailed execution seen in many terrorist acts are not characteristics generally associated with mentally unstable individuals.<ref>{{cite book|title=Thinking Like a Terrorist|url=|first=Mike|last=German| date=2007|publisher=Potomac Books| isbn=978-1597970259|pages=49}}</ref> Others, like Roderick Hindery, have sought to discern profiles in the propaganda tactics used by terrorists. Some security organizations designate these groups as ''violent non-state actors''.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} A 2007 study by economist [[Alan B. Krueger]] found that terrorists were less likely to come from an impoverished background (28 percent versus 33 percent) and more likely to have at least a high-school education (47 percent versus 38 percent). Another analysis found only 16 percent of terrorists came from impoverished families, versus 30 percent of male Palestinians, and over 60 percent had gone beyond high school, versus 15 percent of the populace.<ref name="Arie W 2006 pp. 45-48" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Superfreakonomics: global cooling, patriotic prostitutes, and why suicide bombers should buy life insurance |first1=Steven D. |last1=Levitt |first2=Stephen J. |last2=Dubner |publisher=William Morrow |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-06-088957-9 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/superfreakonomic00levi/page/62 62, 231] |url=https://archive.org/details/superfreakonomic00levi/page/62 }} citing Alan B. Krueger, ''What Makes a Terrorist'' (Princeton University Press 2007); Claude Berrebi, "Evidence About the Link Between Education, Poverty, and Terrorism among Palestinians", Princeton University Industrial Relations Section Working paper, 2003 and Krueger and Jita Maleckova, "Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?" ''Journal of Economic Perspectives'' 17 no. 4 Fall 2003 / 63.</ref>

To avoid detection, a terrorist will look, dress, and behave normally until executing the assigned mission. Some claim that attempts to profile terrorists based on personality, physical, or sociological traits are not useful.<ref name="tws11janhfgf">{{cite news |first=Sean |last=Coughlan |title=Fear of the unknown |quote=A passenger on the flight, Heath Schofield, explained the suspicions: "It was a return holiday flight, full of people in flip-flops and shorts. There were just two people in the whole crowd who looked like they didn't belong there." |work=BBC News |date=August 21, 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5270500.stm |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=January 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112164415/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5270500.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The physical and behavioral description of the terrorist could describe almost any normal person.<ref name="Library of Congress">[https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Soc_Psych_of_Terrorism.pdf Library of Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208042551/http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Soc_Psych_of_Terrorism.pdf |date=December 8, 2017 }} – Federal Research Division ''The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism''.</ref> The majority of terrorist attacks are carried out by military age men, aged 16 to 40.<ref name="Library of Congress" />

=== Non-state groups ===
[[File:Daschle letter FBI.png|thumb|alt=Picture of the front of an addressed envelope to Senator Daschle.|There is speculation that the [[2001 anthrax attacks]] were the work of a ''lone wolf''.]]
{{Main|List of designated terrorist groups|Lone wolf (terrorism)|Violent non-state actor}}

Groups not part of the state apparatus of in opposition to the state are most commonly referred to as a "terrorist" in the media.

According to the Global Terrorism Database, the most active terrorist group in the period 1970 to 2010 was [[Shining Path]] (with 4,517 attacks), followed by [[Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front]] (FMLN), [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA), [[Basque Fatherland and Freedom]] (ETA), [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC), [[Taliban]], [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]], [[New People's Army]], [[National Liberation Army of Colombia]] (ELN), and [[Kurdistan Workers Party]] (PKK).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/publications/br/ETACeasefires.pdf |title=Background Report: ETA Ceasefires by the Numbers |publisher=The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) |access-date=November 12, 2021 |archive-date=November 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104025002/https://www.start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/publications/br/ETACeasefires.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Israel]] has had problems with [[Jewish religious terrorism|religious terrorism]] even before independence in 1948. During [[Mandate for Palestine|British mandate over Palestine]], the secular [[Irgun]] were among the Zionist groups labelled as terrorist organisations by the British authorities and [[United Nations]],<ref>Martin Gilbert. Churchill and the Jew Quotings. p. 270.</ref> for violent terror attacks against Britons and Arabs.<ref>Pope Brewer, Sam. [https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/30/archives/irgun-bomb-kills-11-arabs-2-britons-missile-thrown-from-a-taxi-in.html?sq=terrorist+Irgun&scp=2&st=p Irgun Bomb Kills 11 Arabs, 2 Britons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124132040/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/30/archives/irgun-bomb-kills-11-arabs-2-britons-missile-thrown-from-a-taxi-in.html?sq=terrorist+Irgun&scp=2&st=p|date=November 24, 2018}}. ''New York Times''. December 30, 1947.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Ned |last2=Farrell |first2=Stephen |date=July 20, 2006 |title=British anger at terror celebration |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article690085.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805100845/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article690085.ece |archive-date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=May 5, 2010 |work=The Times |location=London}}</ref> Another extremist group, the [[Lehi (militant group)|Lehi]], openly declared its members as "terrorists".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Calder Walton |year=2008 |title=British Intelligence and the Mandate of Palestine: Threats to British national security immediately after the Second World War |journal=Intelligence and National Security |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=435–462 |doi=10.1080/02684520802293049 |s2cid=154775965 | issn = 0268-4527}}</ref><ref>Heller, J. (1995). ''The Stern Gang''. Frank Cass. {{ISBN|0-7146-4558-3}}</ref> Historian William Cleveland stated many Jews justified any action, even terrorism, taken in the cause of the creation of a Jewish state.<ref>Cleveland, William L. ''A History of the Modern Middle East''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2004. Print. p. 243</ref> In 1995, [[Yigal Amir]] assassinated Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]]. For Amir, killing Rabin was an exemplary act that symbolized the fight against an illegitimate government that was prepared to cede Jewish Holy Land to the Palestinians.{{sfn|Spaaij|2012|page=68}} Members of [[Kach (political party)|Kach]], a Jewish ultranationalist party, employed terrorist tactics in pursuit of what they viewed as religious imperatives. Israel and a few other countries have designated the party as a terrorist group.<ref>Shah, S. A. A. (2005). Religious terrorism in other faiths. ''Strategic Studies'', ''25''(2), 126-141.</ref>
=== Funding ===
{{Main|Terrorist financing}}

[[State-sponsored terrorism|State sponsors]] have constituted a major form of funding; for example, [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] and other groups sometimes considered to be terrorist organizations, were funded by the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="ncua" /><ref name="tws11jan4r67">{{cite magazine |first=Jeremy |last=Lott |title=Tripped Up |quote=and before the Soviet Union fell, terrorist organizations were funding themselves through subsidies from Communist governments |magazine=Reason Magazine |date=October 6, 2004 |url=http://reason.com/archives/2004/10/06/tripped-up |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329133003/https://reason.com/2004/10/06/tripped-up/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Iran]] has provided funds, training, and weapons to organizations such as Lebanese Shi’ite group [[Hezbollah]], the Yemenite [[Houthi movement]], and [[Palestinian political violence|Palestinian factions]] such as [[Hamas]] and [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite news |date=October 20, 2023 |title=What to know about Iran's role in the Israel–Hamas war |work=Axios |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/10/20/iran-hezbollah-middle-east-war-israel-hamas |access-date=December 19, 2023 |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329133009/https://www.axios.com/2023/10/20/iran-hezbollah-middle-east-war-israel-hamas |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 17, 2023 |title=Explainer: What you need to know about Hezbollah, the group backing Hamas against Israel |publisher=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-is-hezbollah-lebanese-group-backing-hamas-its-war-with-israel-2023-10-16/ |access-date=December 19, 2023 |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203125214/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/what-is-hezbollah-lebanese-group-backing-hamas-its-war-with-israel-2023-10-16/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Iranian support for Hamas|Iranian funding for Hamas]] is estimated to reach several hundred million dollars annually.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Hamas? |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas |access-date=December 19, 2023 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en |archive-date=October 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012162713/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-hamas |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Warrick |first1=Joby |last2=Nakashima |first2=Ellen |last3=Harris |first3=Shane |last4=Mekhennet |first4=Souad |date=October 10, 2023 |title=Hamas received weapons and training from Iran, officials say |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/10/09/iran-support-hamas-training-weapons-israel/ |access-date=December 19, 2023 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012234730/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/10/09/iran-support-hamas-training-weapons-israel/ |url-status=live }}</ref> These groups and others have played significant roles in [[Foreign relations of Iran|Iran's foreign policy]] and served as proxies in conflicts.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |title=Iran's proxies in the Middle East remain a powerful force |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/05/18/irans-proxies-in-the-middle-east-remain-a-powerful-force |access-date=December 19, 2023 |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=December 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219101039/https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/05/18/irans-proxies-in-the-middle-east-remain-a-powerful-force |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Stern Gang]] received funding from [[Italian Fascism|Italian Fascist]] officers in Beirut to undermine the [[Mandatory Palestine|British authorities in Palestine]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Aims and activities of the Stern Group in Palestine |journal=Research and Analysis Branch |volume=2717 |issue=R & N |date=December 1, 1944}}</ref>

"[[Revolutionary tax]]" is another major form of funding, and essentially a euphemism for "[[protection money]]".<ref name="ncua">[http://www.ncua.gov/letters/2002/02-CU-14.pdf Detection of Terrorist Financing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814082429/http://ncua.gov/letters/2002/02-CU-14.pdf |date=August 14, 2009 }}, U.S. National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), 2002.</ref> Revolutionary taxes "play a secondary role as one other means of intimidating the target population".<ref name="ncua" />

Other major sources of funding include [[kidnapping]] for ransoms, [[smuggling]] (including [[wildlife smuggling]]),<ref>[http://site.d66.nl/gerbrandy/document/eu_action_plan_against_wildlife/f=/vj7iilz6wlmw.pdf Gerben Jan Gerbrandy claiming that terrorist networks hunt wildlife for funding themselves] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222022640/http://site.d66.nl/gerbrandy/document/eu_action_plan_against_wildlife/f%3D/vj7iilz6wlmw.pdf |date=February 22, 2014}}</ref> fraud, and robbery.<ref name="ncua" /> The [[Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant]] has reportedly received funding "via private donations from the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf states]]".<ref>"[http://www.france24.com/static/infographies/2013/syrie-groupes-terroristes-carte/en/index.html Syria's top Islamist and jihadist groups] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527003950/http://www.france24.com/static/infographies/2013/syrie-groupes-terroristes-carte/en/index.html |date=May 27, 2014}}". [[France 24]].</ref> [[Irish republicanism|Irish Republican]] militants, primarily the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] and the [[Irish National Liberation Army]], and [[Ulster loyalism|Loyalist]] paramilitaries, primarily the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] and [[Ulster Defence Association]], received far more financing from criminal and legitimate activities within the [[British Isles]] than overseas donations, including [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi]] and [[NORAID]] (see [[Paramilitary finances in the Troubles]] for more information).<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1187&context=mjil#page=8|title=Anti-Terrorist Finance in the United Kingdom and United States|author=Laura K. Donohue|pages=8|date=2006 |journal=Michigan Journal of International Law |volume=27|issue=2|publisher=Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation|access-date=July 10, 2023|archive-date=May 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505230746/https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1187&context=mjil#page=8|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BHT">{{cite report|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmniaf/978/97806.htm|title=Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs - Part One: The continuing threat from paramilitary organisations|date=June 26, 2002|website=UK Parliament|access-date=July 10, 2023|archive-date=September 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927172741/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmniaf/978/97806.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/republic-ireland-played-integral-role-supporting-ira-says-historian-988519|title=Republic of Ireland played integral role in supporting IRA, says historian|date=April 5, 2019|publisher=[[News Letter]]|access-date=July 10, 2023|archive-date=March 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306054425/https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/republic-ireland-played-integral-role-supporting-ira-says-historian-988519|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Support in Republic during Troubles 'key for IRA', book claims|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/04/06/news/headline-1591367/|author=John Manley|date=April 6, 2019|publisher=[[The Irish News]]|access-date=July 10, 2023|archive-date=August 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811012525/https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/04/06/news/headline-1591367/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Financial Action Task Force]] is an inter-governmental body whose mandate, since October 2001, has included combating [[terrorist financing]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fatf-gafi.org/pages/0,3417,en_32250379_32236947_1_1_1_1_1,00.html |title=Terrorist Financing |publisher=The Financial Action Task Force |access-date=January 7, 2011 |archive-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630182256/http://www.fatf-gafi.org/pages/0,3417,en_32250379_32236947_1_1_1_1_1,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Tactics ==
{{main|Tactics of terrorism}}

[[File:WallStexplosion1920.jpg|thumb|The [[Wall Street bombing]] at noon on September 16, 1920, killed thirty-eight people and injured several hundred. The perpetrators were never caught.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gage |first=Beverly |title=The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in its First Age of Terror |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-975928-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/daywallstreetexp0000gage/page/1 1] |url=https://archive.org/details/daywallstreetexp0000gage |url-access=registration}}</ref>]]
Terrorist attacks are often targeted to maximize fear and publicity, most frequently using [[explosives]].<ref>Suicide bombings are the most effective terrorist act in this regard. See the following works:
*{{cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Hoffman |title=The Logic of Suicide Terrorism |work=[[Atlantic Monthly]] |volume=291 |issue=5 |pages=40–47 |date=June 2003 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/06/the-logic-of-suicide-terrorism/302739/ |access-date=March 11, 2017 |archive-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621132811/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/06/the-logic-of-suicide-terrorism/302739/ |url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal |last=Pape |first=Robert A. |author-link=Robert Pape |title=The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism |journal=[[American Political Science Review]] |volume=97 |issue=3 |pages=343–361 |url=http://www.danieldrezner.com/research/guest/Pape1.pdf |format=reprint |doi=10.1017/s000305540300073x |year=2003 |doi-broken-date=June 21, 2025 |hdl=1811/31746 |s2cid=1019730 |hdl-access=free |access-date=April 18, 2009 |archive-date=December 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226183631/http://www.danieldrezner.com/research/guest/Pape1.pdf |url-status=live}}
*{{cite book |last=Ricolfi |first=Luca |year=2005 |contribution=Palestinians 1981–2003 |editor-last=Gambetta |editor-first=Diego |title=Making Sense of Suicide Missions |url=https://archive.org/details/makingsensesuici00gamb |url-access=limited |edition=1st |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/makingsensesuici00gamb/page/n90 76]–130 |isbn=978-0-19-927699-8}}
Cited in {{cite book |last=Richardson |first=Louise |author-link=Louise Richardson |title=What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Terrorist Threat |publisher=[[Hodder Headline|John Murray]] |year=2006 |location=London|page=33 |isbn=978-0-7195-6306-5}}</ref>
Terrorist groups usually methodically plan attacks in advance, and may train participants, plant undercover agents, and raise money from supporters or through [[organized crime]]. Communications occur through modern [[telecommunications]], or through old-fashioned methods such as [[courier]]s. There is concern about terrorist attacks employing [[weapons of mass destruction]]. Some academics have argued that while it is often assumed terrorism is intended to spread fear, this is not necessarily true, with fear instead being a by-product of the terrorist's actions, while their intentions may be to avenge fallen comrades or destroy their perceived enemies.<ref>Kurtulus, Ersun N. "Terrorism and fear: do terrorists really want to scare?." Critical Studies on Terrorism 10, no. 3 (2017): 501–522.</ref>

Terrorism is a form of [[asymmetric warfare]] and is more common when direct [[conventional warfare]] will not be effective because opposing forces vary greatly in power.<ref name="tws11jan1q21q">{{cite news |title=Hackers warn high street chains |quote=That's the beauty of asymmetric warfare. You don't need a lot of money, or an army of people. |work=BBC News |date=April 25, 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7366995.stm |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=March 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327124453/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7366995.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Yuval Harari argues that the peacefulness of modern states makes them paradoxically more vulnerable to terrorism than pre-modern states. Harari argues that because modern states have committed themselves to reducing political violence to almost zero, terrorists can, by creating political violence, threaten the very foundations of the legitimacy of the modern state. This is in contrast to pre-modern states, where violence was a routine and recognised aspect of politics at all levels, making political violence unremarkable. Terrorism thus shocks the population of a modern state far more than a pre-modern one and consequently the state is forced to overreact in an excessive, costly and spectacular manner, which is often what the terrorists desire.<ref>Harari, Yuval Noah. Homo Deus: A brief history of tomorrow. Random House, 2016, pp.103–106</ref>

The type of people terrorists will target is dependent upon the ideology of the terrorists. A terrorist's ideology will create a class of "legitimate targets" who are deemed as its enemies and who are permitted to be targeted. This ideology will also allow the terrorists to place the blame on the victim, who is viewed as being responsible for the violence in the first place.<ref>Drake, Charles JM. "The role of ideology in terrorists' target selection." Terrorism and Political Violence 10, no. 2 (1998): 53–85.</ref><ref>Hoffman, Bruce. "The contrasting ethical foundations of terrorism in the 1980s." Terrorism and Political Violence 1, no. 3 (1989): 361–377, p.8</ref>

=== Attack types ===
[[Stabbing as a terrorist tactic|Stabbing attacks]], a historical tactic, have reemerged as a prevalent form of terrorism in the 21st century, notably during the 2010s and 2020s.<ref name="RiseOMuwahhid">{{cite news |last1=Bergema |first1=Reinier |last2=Kearney |first2=Olivia |title=Rise O Muwahhid, Wherever You May Be: An Analysis of the Democratization of the Terrorist Threat in the West |url=https://icct.nl/publication/rise-o-muwahhid-wherever-you-may-be-an-analysis-of-the-democratization-of-the-terrorist-threat-in-the-wes/ }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This resurgence originated with the [[Armed Islamic Group of Algeria|GIA]] in the 1990s and later expanded among [[Palestinian political violence|Palestinian terrorists]] and [[Islamic State|Islamic State militants]].<ref name=":32">{{cite book |last=Romero |first=Juan |title=Terrorism: the Power and Weakness of Fear |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-032-19806-4 |series=Routledge Studies in Modern History |location=Abingdon, UK / New York City |pages=246 |chapter=A comparative evolution of terrorism}}</ref> The trend gained momentum with a wave of [[Lone wolf attack|"lone wolf" terrorist stabbing attacks]] by Palestinians targeting Israelis beginning in 2015.<ref name="WedemanViolence">{{cite news |last=Wedeman |first=Ben |date=15 October 2015 |title=Israeli–Palestinian violence: What you need to know |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/14/middleeast/israel-palestinians-violence-explainer/ |access-date=4 April 2017 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> Subsequently, this pattern extended to Europe during the surge of [[Islamic terrorism in Europe|Islamic terrorism]] in the 2010s, witnessing "at least" 10 stabbing attacks allegedly motivated by Islamic extremism by the spring of 2017, with France experiencing a notable concentration of such incidents.<ref name="JenkinsTimeline">{{cite magazine |last=Jenkins |first=Nash |date=19 December 2016 |title=A Timeline of Recent Terrorist Attacks in Europe |url=https://time.com/4607481/europe-terrorism-timeline-berlin-paris-nice-brussels/ |access-date=4 April 2017 |magazine=Time}}</ref><ref name="RubinOfficersStabbed">{{cite news |last=Rubin |first=Alissa |date=5 October 2016 |title=2 Brussels Police Officers Are Stabbed in 'Potential Terrorist Attack' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/world/europe/police-brussels-knife-terrorism.html |access-date=4 April 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== Media spectacle ===
Terrorists may attempt to use the media to spread their message or manipulate their target audience. [[Shamil Basayev]] used this tactic during the [[Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis]] and again in the [[Moscow theater hostage crisis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=de Waal |first1=Thomas |title=Bin Laden and the Theater of Terrorism |url=https://carnegieeurope.eu/2011/05/13/bin-laden-and-theater-of-terrorism-pub-44015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516145635/https://carnegieeurope.eu/2011/05/13/bin-laden-and-theater-of-terrorism-pub-44015 |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |access-date=October 30, 2023 |website=Carnegie Europe}}</ref> Terrorists may also target national symbols for attention.<ref>{{cite book |last=Juergensmeyer |first=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/terrorinmindofgo00juer |title=Terror in the Mind of God |publisher=University of California Press |year=2000 |isbn=9780520223011 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/terrorinmindofgo00juer/page/125 125–135] |url-access=registration}}</ref> [[Walter Lacquer]] wrote that "terrorism was always, to a large extent, about public relations and propaganda ('Propaganda by Deed' had been the slogan in the nineteenth century)".{{sfn|Laqueur|2001|p=xi}}

The [[El Al Flight 426 hijacking]] is considered a turning point for modern terrorism studies. The [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) realized they could combine the tactics of targeting national symbols and civilians (in this case as hostages) to generate a mass media spectacle. [[Zehdi Labib Terzi]] made a public statement about this in 1976: "The first several hijackings aroused the consciousness of the world and awakened the media and world opinion much more ― and more effectively ― than 20 years of pleading at the United Nations".{{sfn|Hoffman|2006|p=64}}

==== Mass media ====
[[File:Causes-of-death-in-USA-vs.-media-coverage.png|thumb|Causes of death in the US vs media coverage. The percentage of media attention for terrorism (about 33-35%) is much greater than the percentage of deaths caused by terrorism (less than 0.01%).]]
[[File:Plakat La Terroriste.jpg|thumb|''La Terroriste'', a 1910 poster depicting a female member of the [[Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist Party]] throwing a bomb at a Russian official's car]]
Mass media exposure may be a primary goal of those carrying out terrorism, to expose issues that would otherwise be ignored by the media. Some consider this to be manipulation and exploitation of the media.<ref>The Media and Terrorism: A Reassessment [[Paul Wilkinson (professor)|Paul Wilkinson]]. ''Terrorism and Political Violence'', Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer 1997), pp. 51–64 Published by Frank Cass, London.</ref>

The Internet has created a new way for groups to spread their messages.<ref>{{cite news |author=Bibi van Ginkel |date=March 31, 2015 |title=Responding to Cyber Jihad: Towards an Effective Counter Narrative |url=https://icct.nl/publication/responding-to-cyber-jihad-towards-an-effective-counter-narrative/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916055232/https://icct.nl/publication/responding-to-cyber-jihad-towards-an-effective-counter-narrative/ |archive-date=September 16, 2016 |access-date=September 7, 2016 |publisher=The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT)}}</ref> This has created a cycle of measures and counter measures by groups in support of and in opposition to terrorist movements. The United Nations has created its own online counterterrorism resource.<ref>{{cite web |title=Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee |url=https://www.un.org/sc/ctc/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611145715/http://www.un.org/sc/ctc/ |archive-date=June 11, 2010 |access-date=June 17, 2009}}</ref>

The mass media will, on occasion, censor organizations involved in terrorism (through self-restraint or regulation) to discourage further terrorism. This may encourage organizations to perform more extreme acts of terrorism to be shown in the mass media. Conversely [[James F. Pastor]] explains the significant relationship between terrorism and the media, and the underlying benefit each receives from the other:<ref>{{cite book |author=Pastor, James F. |title=Terrorism & Public Safety Policing: Implications of the Obama Presidency |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4398-1580-9 |location=New York}}</ref>

{{blockquote
 | text =There is always a point at which the terrorist ceases to manipulate the media gestalt. A point at which the violence may well escalate, but beyond which the terrorist has become symptomatic of the media gestalt itself. Terrorism as we ordinarily understand it is innately media-related.
 | cite =Novelist [[William Gibson]], 2004<ref>[http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2004_10_01_archive.asp William Gibson's blog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091118192753/http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/2004_10_01_archive.asp |date=November 18, 2009 }}, October 31, 2004. Retrieved April 26, 2007.</ref>
 }}

Former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] famously spoke of the close connection between terrorism and the media, calling publicity 'the oxygen of terrorism'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Speech to American Bar Association {{!}} Margaret Thatcher Foundation |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106096 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009202343/http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106096 |archive-date=October 9, 2015 |access-date=October 5, 2015 |website=www.margaretthatcher.org}}</ref>

=== Terrorism and tourism ===
The connection between terrorism and tourism has been widely studied since the [[Luxor massacre|1997 Luxor massacre]], during which 62 people, including 58 foreign nationals, were killed by Islamist group [[al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya]] in an archaeological site in [[Egypt]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sönmez |first1=S.F. |last2=Apostolopoulos |first2=Y. |last3=Tarlow |first3=P. |year=1999 |title=Tourism in crisis: Managing the effects of terrorism |url=http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Y_Apostolopoulos_Tourism_1999.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Travel Research |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=13–18 |citeseerx=10.1.1.465.286 |doi=10.1177/004728759903800104 |s2cid=154984322 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828190037/http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/y_apostolopoulos_tourism_1999.pdf |archive-date=August 28, 2017 |access-date=October 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>Tarlow, P.E. (2006). "Tourism and Terrorism". In Wilks J, Pendergast D & Leggat P. (Eds) Tourism in turbulent times: Towards safe experiences for visitors (Advances in Tourism Research), Elsevier, Oxford, pp. 80–82.</ref> In the 1970s, the targets of terrorists were politicians and chiefs of police while now, international tourists and visitors are selected as the main targets of attacks.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, were the symbolic center, which marked a new epoch in the use of civil transport against the main power of the planet.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bianchi |first1=R |year=2006 |title=Tourism and the globalisation of fear: Analysing the politics of risk and (in) security in global travel |journal=Tourism and Hospitality Research |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=64–74 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.thr.6050028 |s2cid=154888544}}</ref> From this event onwards, the spaces of leisure that characterized the pride of West were conceived as dangerous and frightful.<ref>Floyd, M. et al. (2003). "The Effects of Risk Perception on Intention to Travel in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001". In ''Safety and Security in Tourism: relationships, Management and Marketing'', (Eds) Hall, M. Timothy, D. y Duval, T. New York: Haworth Hospitality Press</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brun |first1=W. |last2=Wolff |first2=K. |last3=Larsen |first3=S. |year=2011 |title=Tourist worries after terrorist attacks: Report from a field experiment |journal=Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=387–394 |doi=10.1080/15022250.2011.593365 |s2cid=143842574}}</ref>

== Counterterrorism strategies ==
[[File:1080 Poisoning Scare At New World in Wellington.jpeg|thumb|upright=0.8|Sign notifying shoppers of increased surveillance due to a perceived increased risk of terrorism]]
Responses to terrorism are broad in scope. They can include re-alignments of the [[political spectrum]] and reassessments of [[value system|fundamental values]].

Specific types of responses include:
* [[Anti-terrorism legislation|Targeted laws, criminal procedures, deportations, and enhanced police powers]]
* [[Target hardening]], such as locking doors or adding traffic barriers
* [[Preemptive strike|Preemptive]] or reactive military action
* Increased [[Strategic intelligence|intelligence]] and [[surveillance]] activities
* Preemptive [[humanitarian]] activities
* More permissive [[interrogation]] and [[Detention (imprisonment)|detention]] policies

=== Terrorism research ===
<!---Redirect Terrorism studies here.--->
Terrorism research, also called terrorism studies, or terrorism and counter-terrorism research, is an academic field which seeks to understand the causes of terrorism, how to prevent it, as well as its impact in the broadest sense. Terrorism research can be carried out in both military and civilian contexts, for example by research centres such as the British [[Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence]], the [[Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies]], and the [[International Centre for Counter-Terrorism]] (ICCT). There are several academic journals devoted to the field, including ''[[Perspectives on Terrorism]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tinnes |first1=J |year=2013 |title=100 Core and Periphery Journals for Terrorism Research |url=http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/258 |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |volume=7 |issue=2 |access-date=December 29, 2015 |archive-date=November 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127173222/http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/258 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| first= Benjamin| last= Freedman| journal= [[Perspectives on Terrorism]]| date= November 2010| volume= 4| issue= 5| pages= 48–56| url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26298483.pdf| title= Terrorism Research Centres: 100 Institutes, Programs and Organisations in the Field of Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, Radicalisation and Asymmetric Warfare Studies| jstor= 26298483| access-date= April 11, 2021| archive-date= March 9, 2023| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230309075010/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/26298483.pdf| url-status= live}}</ref>

=== International agreements ===
One of the agreements that promote the international legal counterterrorist framework is the Code of Conduct Towards Achieving a World Free of Terrorism that was adopted at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2018. The Code of Conduct was initiated by [[President of Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan President]] [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]]. Its main goal is to implement a wide range of international commitments to counterterrorism and establish a broad global coalition towards achieving a world free of terrorism by 2045. The Code was signed by more than 70 countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=70 countries sign Counter-Terrorism Code initiated by Kazakhstan |url=https://www.inform.kz/en/70-countries-sign-counter-terrorism-code-initiated-by-kazakhstan-says-president_a3450890 |website=inform.kz |date=November 8, 2018 |access-date=November 9, 2018 |archive-date=November 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110000308/https://www.inform.kz/en/70-countries-sign-counter-terrorism-code-initiated-by-kazakhstan-says-president_a3450890 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Response in the United States ===
{{See also|War on terror}}
[[File:Backscatter large.jpg|thumb|left|[[Backscatter X-ray|X-ray backscatter technology]] ([[Advanced Imaging Technology|AIT]]) machine used by the [[Transportation Security Administration]] (TSA) to screen passengers. According to the TSA, this is what the remote TSA agent would see on their screen.]]
According to a report by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', "Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/ |title=A hidden world, growing beyond control |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 19, 2010 |first1=Dana |last1=Priest |first2=William |last2=Arkin |access-date=July 19, 2010 |archive-date=September 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905202715/http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/a-hidden-world-growing-beyond-control/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

America's thinking on how to defeat radical Islamists is split along two very different schools of thought. Republicans, typically follow what is known as the Bush Doctrine, advocate the military model of taking the fight to the enemy and seeking to democratize the Middle East. Democrats, by contrast, generally propose the law enforcement model of better cooperation with nations and more security at home.<ref name="ankony1">Ankony, Robert C., "A New Strategy for America's War on Terrorism", ''Patrolling'' magazine, 75th Ranger Regiment Association, Winter 2011, 56–57.</ref> In the introduction of the ''U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual'', [[Sarah Sewall]] states the need for "U.S. forces to make securing the civilian, rather than destroying the enemy, their top priority. The civilian population is the center of gravity—the deciding factor in the struggle.... Civilian deaths create an extended family of enemies—new insurgent recruits or informants—and erode support of the host nation." Sewall sums up the book's key points on how to win this battle: "Sometimes, the more you protect your force, the less secure you may be.... Sometimes, the more force is used, the less effective it is.... The more successful the counterinsurgency is, the less force can be used and the more risk must be accepted.... Sometimes, doing nothing is the best reaction."<ref>Sewall, Sarah, introduction to ''The U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (2007).</ref> This strategy, often termed "courageous restraint", has certainly led to some success on the Middle East battlefield. However, it does not address the fact that terrorists are mostly homegrown.<ref name="ankony1" />

=== Ending terrorist groups ===
[[File:RANDterroristGpsEnd2006.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|How terrorist groups end (n = 268): The most common ending for a terrorist group is to convert to nonviolence via negotiations (43%), with most of the rest terminated by routine policing (40%). Groups that were ended by military force constituted only 7%.<ref>The researchers found 648 terrorist groups active between 1968 and 2006. Of those, 136 splintered and 244 were still active in 2006 (Jones and Libicki, 2008, p. 19)</ref>]]

Jones and Libicki (2008) created a list of all the terrorist groups they could find that were active between 1968 and 2006. They found 648. Of those, 136 splintered and 244 were still active in 2006.<ref>Jones and Libicki (2008, p. 19)</ref> Of the ones that ended, 43% converted to nonviolent political actions, like the [[Irish Republican Army]] in Northern Ireland; 40% were defeated by law enforcement; 7% (20 groups) were defeated by military force; and 10% succeeded.

42 groups became large enough to be labeled an insurgency; 38 of those had ended by 2006. Of those, 47% converted to nonviolent political actors. Only 5% were ended by law enforcement, and 21% were defeated by military force. 26% won.<ref>Jones and Libicki (2008, p. 101, Table 5.4)</ref> Jones and Libicki concluded that military force may be necessary to deal with large insurgencies but are only occasionally decisive, because the military is too often seen as a bigger threat to civilians than the terrorists. To avoid that, the [[rules of engagement]] must be conscious of [[collateral damage]] and work to minimize it.

Another researcher, Audrey Cronin, lists six primary ways that terrorist groups end:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cronin |first1=Audrey Kurth |title=How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns |date=2009 |publisher=Princeton U. Press |isbn=978-0-691-13948-7}}</ref>
# Capture or killing of a group's leader (Decapitation)
# Entry of the group into a legitimate political process (Negotiation)
# Achievement of group aims (Success)
# Group implosion or loss of public support (Failure)
# Defeat and elimination through brute force (Repression)
# Transition from terrorism into other forms of violence (Reorientation)

== State and state sponsored-terrorism ==

=== State terrorism ===
{{Main|State terrorism}}

{{blockquote|Civilization is based on a clearly defined and widely accepted yet often unarticulated hierarchy. Violence done by those higher on the hierarchy to those lower is nearly always invisible, that is, unnoticed. When it is noticed, it is fully rationalized. Violence done by those lower on the hierarchy to those higher is unthinkable, and when it does occur it is regarded with shock, horror, and the fetishization of the victims.|[[Derrick Jensen (activist)|Derrick Jensen]]<ref>''Endgame: Resistance'', by Derrick Jensen, Seven Stories Press, 2006, {{ISBN|1-58322-730-X}}, p. ix.</ref>}}
[[File:Bloody Saturday, Shanghai.jpg|thumb|Infant crying in Shanghai's South Station after the [[Strategic bombing during World War II|Japanese bombing]], August 28, 1937]]
As with "terrorism" the concept of "state terrorism" is controversial.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pds Sso |url=http://eprints.unimelb.edu.au/archive/00000137/01/Primorat.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512021205/https://eprints.unimelb.edu.au/archive/00000137/01/Primorat.pdf |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |access-date=August 10, 2009 |publisher=Eprints.unimelb.edu.au}}</ref> The Chairman of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee has stated that the committee was conscious of 12 international conventions on the subject, and none of them referred to state terrorism, which was not an international legal concept. If states abused their power, they should be judged against international conventions dealing with [[war crime]]s, [[international human rights law]], and [[international humanitarian law]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Addressing Security Council, Secretary-General Calls on Counter-Terrorism Committee To Develop Long-Term Strategy To Defeat Terror |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/SC7276.doc.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305023524/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/SC7276.doc.htm |archive-date=March 5, 2009 |access-date=August 10, 2009 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> Former United Nations [[Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]] has said that it is "time to set aside debates on so-called 'state terrorism'. The [[Use of force in international law|use of force by states]] is already thoroughly regulated under international law".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lind |first=Michael |date=May 2, 2005 |title=The Legal Debate is Over: Terrorism is a War Crime &#124; The New America Foundation |url=http://newamerica.net/publications/articles/2005/the_legal_debate_is_over_terrorism_is_a_war_crime |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221153711/http://newamerica.net/publications/articles/2005/the_legal_debate_is_over_terrorism_is_a_war_crime |archive-date=February 21, 2009 |access-date=August 10, 2009 |publisher=Newamerica.net}}</ref> He made clear that, "regardless of the differences between governments on the question of the definition of terrorism, what is clear and what we can all agree on is that any deliberate attack on innocent civilians [or non-combatants], regardless of one's cause, is unacceptable and fits into the definition of terrorism."<ref>{{cite web |date=January 26, 2002 |title=Press conference with Kofi Annan & FM Kamal Kharrazi |url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/afghan/sg-teheran26.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321112534/http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/afghan/sg-teheran26.htm |archive-date=March 21, 2009 |access-date=August 10, 2009 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref>

[[File:The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - NARA 195617 - Edit.jpg|thumb|left|[[USS Arizona (BB-39)|USS ''Arizona'' (BB-39)]] burning during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941]]
State terrorism has been used to refer to terrorist acts committed by governmental agents or forces. This involves the use of state resources employed by a state's foreign policies, such as using its military to directly perform acts of terrorism. Professor of Political Science Michael Stohl cites the examples that include the German [[The Blitz|bombing of London]], the Japanese surprise [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|firebombing of Dresden]], and the U.S. [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] during [[World War II]]. He argues that "the use of terror tactics is common in international relations and the state has been and remains a more likely employer of terrorism within the international system than insurgents." He cites the [[Pre-emptive nuclear strike|first strike]] option as an example of the "terror of coercive diplomacy" as a form of this, which holds the world hostage with the implied threat of using [[nuclear weapon]]s in "crisis management" and he argues that the institutionalized form of terrorism has occurred as a result of changes that took place following World War II. In this analysis, state terrorism exhibited as a form of [[foreign policy]] was shaped by the presence and use of [[Weapon of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]], and the legitimizing of such violent behavior led to an increasingly accepted form of this behavior by the state.<ref name="tws11jangbhh">{{cite news |last=Stohl |first=Michael |date=April 1, 1984 |title=The Superpowers and International Terror |publisher=International Studies Association, Atlanta}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stohl |first=Michael |year=1988 |title=Terrible beyond Endurance? The Foreign Policy of State Terrorism |publisher=International Studies Association, Atlanta}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stohl |first=Michael |year=1984 |title=The State as Terrorist: The Dynamics of Governmental Violence and Repression |publisher=International Studies Association, Atlanta |page=49}}</ref>

[[Charles Stewart Parnell]] described [[William Ewart Gladstone]]'s [[Irish Coercion Act]] as terrorism in his "no-Rent manifesto" in 1881, during the [[Irish Land War]].<ref>{{cite news |date=August 2, 2009 |title=The 'No Rent' Manifesto.; Text of the Document Issued by the Land League |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C04E6DF113CEE3ABC4951DFB667838A699FDE |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304040201/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C04E6DF113CEE3ABC4951DFB667838A699FDE |archive-date=March 4, 2012 |access-date=August 10, 2009 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> The concept is used to describe [[political repression]]s by governments against their own civilian populations with the purpose of inciting fear. For example, taking and executing civilian [[hostage]]s or [[extrajudicial killing|extrajudicial elimination]] campaigns are commonly considered "terror" or terrorism, for example during the [[Red Terror]] or the [[Great Purge|Great Terror]].<ref name="Black">Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, [[Stéphane Courtois]], ''The [[Black Book of Communism]]: Crimes, Terror, Repression'', Harvard University Press, 1999, hardcover, 858 pp., {{ISBN|0-674-07608-7}}</ref> Such actions are often described as [[democide]] or [[genocide]], which have been argued to be equivalent to state terrorism.<ref name="Kisangani2007">{{cite journal |author=Kisangani, E. |last2=Nafziger |first2=E. Wayne |year=2007 |title=The Political Economy of State Terror |journal=Defence and Peace Economics |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=405–414 |citeseerx=10.1.1.579.1472 |doi=10.1080/10242690701455433 |s2cid=155020309}}</ref> Empirical studies on this have found that democracies have little democide.<ref>''Death by Government'' by R.J. Rummel New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1994. Online links: [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118212828/http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM|date=January 18, 2019}} [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.FIG23.4.GIF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301053804/http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.FIG23.4.GIF|date=March 1, 2009}} [http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POWER.FIG2.GIF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301053755/http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POWER.FIG2.GIF|date=March 1, 2009}}</ref><ref>''[http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/genocide/ No Lessons Learned from the Holocaust?]'', Barbara Harff, 2003. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030201259/http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/inscr/genocide/|date=October 30, 2007}}</ref> Western democracies, [[United States and state terrorism|including the United States]], have supported state terrorism<ref>{{cite book |last=Blakeley |first=Ruth |url=http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415462402/ |title=State Terrorism and Neoliberalism: The North in the South |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-68617-4 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rft8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 4], [https://books.google.com/books?id=rft8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 20–23], [https://books.google.com/books?id=rft8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 88] |access-date=July 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614055306/http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415462402/ |archive-date=June 14, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and mass killings,<ref>{{cite book |last=Valentino |first=Benjamin A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNy55BHupsoC&pg=PA27 |title=Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the 20th Century |date=2005 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-7273-2 |page=27 |access-date=October 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329133000/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNy55BHupsoC&pg=PA27#v=onepage&q&f=false |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bevins |first1=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Bevins |title=[[The Jakarta Method|The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World]] |date=2020 |publisher=[[PublicAffairs]] |isbn=978-1541742406 |page=238}}</ref> with some examples being the [[Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66]] and [[Operation Condor]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Simpson |first=Bradley |url=https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=7853 |title=Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and U.S.–Indonesian Relations, 1960–1968 |date=2010 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-7182-5 |page=193 |quote="Washington did everything in its power to encourage and facilitate the army-led massacre of alleged PKI members, and U.S. officials worried only that the killing of the party's unarmed supporters might not go far enough, permitting Sukarno to return to power and frustrate the [Johnson] Administration's emerging plans for a post-Sukarno Indonesia. This was efficacious terror, an essential building block of the [[neoliberal]] policies that the West would attempt to impose on Indonesia after Sukarno's ouster" |access-date=July 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625213245/https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=7853 |archive-date=June 25, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BlumenthalMcCormack">Mark Aarons (2007). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA69 Justice Betrayed: Post-1945 Responses to Genocide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105010004/https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA69#v=onepage&q&f=false|date=January 5, 2024}}." In David A. Blumenthal and Timothy L.H. McCormack (eds). ''[http://www.brill.com/legacy-nuremberg-civilising-influence-or-institutionalised-vengeance The Legacy of Nuremberg: Civilising Influence or Institutionalised Vengeance? (International Humanitarian Law).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105053952/http://www.brill.com/legacy-nuremberg-civilising-influence-or-institutionalised-vengeance|date=January 5, 2016}}'' [[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]]. {{ISBN|90-04-15691-7}} pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA71 71] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164759/https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA71|date=March 26, 2023}} & [https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA81 80–81] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329133001/https://books.google.com/books?id=dg0hWswKgTIC&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false|date=March 29, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McSherry |first1=J. Patrice |author-link1=J. Patrice McSherry |title=State Violence and Genocide in Latin America: The Cold War Years (Critical Terrorism Studies) |publisher=Routledge |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-415-66457-8 |editor1=Esparza, Marcia |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=acGNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 107] |chapter=Chapter 5: "Industrial repression" and Operation Condor in Latin America |access-date=January 30, 2017 |editor-last2=Huttenbach |editor-first2=Henry R. |editor-last3=Feierstein |editor-first3=Daniel |chapter-url=https://www.routledge.com/State-Violence-and-Genocide-in-Latin-America-The-Cold-War-Years/Esparza-Huttenbach-Feierstein/p/book/9780415496377 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719232658/https://www.routledge.com/State-Violence-and-Genocide-in-Latin-America-The-Cold-War-Years/Esparza-Huttenbach-Feierstein/p/book/9780415496377 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== State-sponsored terrorism ===
{{Main|State-sponsored terrorism}}

[[Image:Posada.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Luis Posada Carriles|Luis Posada]] and [[Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations|CORU]] are widely considered responsible for the [[Cubana de Aviación Flight 455|1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner]] that killed 73 people.<ref>Bardach, Ann Louis; Rohter, Larry (July 13, 1998). [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/13/world/bomber-s-tale-decades-intrigue-life-shadows-trying-bring-down-castro.html "A Bomber's Tale: Decades of Intrigue"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref>]]
A state can sponsor terrorism by funding or harboring a terrorist group. Opinions as to which acts of violence by states consist of state-sponsored terrorism vary widely. When states provide funding for groups considered by some to be terrorist, they rarely acknowledge them as such.<ref>{{cite news |title=State Sponsored Terrorism |url=https://www.trackingterrorism.org/article/state-sponsored-terrorism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823072823/https://www.trackingterrorism.org/article/state-sponsored-terrorism |archive-date=August 23, 2017 |access-date=May 28, 2017 |newspaper=Trac |publisher=trackingterrorism.org}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

Following the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] starting in February 2022, the [[European Parliament]] adopted a resolution in November 2022 recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and a state that ″uses means of terrorism″.<ref name="v275">{{cite web | last= | first= | title=EU parliament declares Russia a 'state sponsor of terrorism' | website=Le Monde.fr | date=23 November 2022 | url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/11/23/eu-parliament-declares-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism_6005338_4.html | access-date=22 June 2025}}</ref> In addition, [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]] and [[Slovakia]] have designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism due to its actions in Ukraine.<ref name="x043">{{cite web | last=Saric | first=Ivana | title=Lithuania becomes first to designate Russia as terrorist state | website=Axios | date=10 May 2022 | url=https://www.axios.com/2022/05/10/lithuania-russia-terrorist-ukraine | access-date=22 June 2025}}</ref><ref name="r471">{{cite web | last=Fiedler | first=Tristan | title=Estonian parliament declares Russia a terrorist state | website=POLITICO | date=18 October 2022 | url=https://www.politico.eu/article/as-the-third-country-to-estonia-declares-russia-a-terrorist-state/ | access-date=22 June 2025}}</ref><ref name="z024">{{cite web | last= | first= | title=Latvia declares Russia a 'state sponsor of terrorism' | website=Le Monde.fr | date=11 August 2022 | url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/08/11/latvia-declares-russia-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism_5993241_4.html | access-date=22 June 2025}}</ref><ref name="i013">{{cite web | title=Slovak Parliament Designates Russia A State Sponsor Of Terrorism | website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty | date=16 February 2023 | url=https://www.rferl.org/a/slovakia-designates-russia-state-sponsor-terrorism/32274735.html | access-date=22 June 2025}}</ref>

== Impact and debate ==
Terrorism is a [[Loaded language|charged term]]. It is often used with the connotation of something that is morally wrong. Governments and non-state groups use the term to abuse or denounce opposing groups.<ref name="Walzer" /><ref name="Sinclair">{{Cite book |last1=Sinclair |first1=Samuel Justin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_2oCOWmQfysC&pg=PT30 |title=The Psychology of Terrorism Fears |last2=Antonius |first2=Daniel |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press, US |isbn=978-0-19-538811-4 |page=14}}</ref><ref name="JR.White">{{Cite book |last=White |first=Jonathan R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XINTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 |title=Terrorism and Homeland Security |date=January 1, 2016 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-305-63377-3 |page=3}}</ref><ref name="Heryant" /><ref name="Ruthven">{{Cite book |last1=Ruthven |first1=Malise |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wT1xGHPyMA8C&pg=PA184 |title=Historical Atlas of Islam |last2=Nanji |first2=Azim |date=April 24, 2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01385-8}}</ref> While [[Anti-terrorism legislation|legislation defining terrorism as a crime]] has been adopted in many states, the distinction between [[activism]] and terrorism remains a complex and debated matter.<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Majoran |first=Andrew |date=August 1, 2014 |title=The Illusion of War: Is Terrorism a Criminal Act or an Act of War? |url=https://mackenzieinstitute.com/2014/08/the-illusion-of-war-is-terrorism-a-criminal-act-or-an-act-of-war/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231212018/https://mackenzieinstitute.com/2014/08/the-illusion-of-war-is-terrorism-a-criminal-act-or-an-act-of-war/ |archive-date=December 31, 2020 |access-date=April 24, 2020 |publisher=Mackenzie Institute}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bohmer |first=Carol |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/743396687 |title=Rejecting refugees: political asylum in the 21st century |date=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-77375-1 |pages=258 |oclc=743396687}}</ref> There is no consensus as to whether terrorism should be regarded as a [[war crime]].<ref name=":02" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Eviatar |first=Daphne |date=June 13, 2013 |title=Is 'Terrorism' a War Crime Triable by Military Commission? Who Knows? |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daphne-eviatar/is-terrorism-a-war-crime_b_3436117.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011222547/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daphne-eviatar/is-terrorism-a-war-crime_b_3436117.html |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |access-date=April 29, 2017 |website=HuffPost}}</ref> [[State terrorism]] is that perpetrated by [[nation states]], but is not considered such by the state conducting it, making legality a grey area.<ref name="teichman">{{Cite journal |last=Jenny Teichman |year=1989 |title=How to Define Terrorism |journal=Philosophy |volume=64 |issue=250 |pages=505–517 |doi=10.1017/S0031819100044260 |jstor=3751606 |s2cid=144723359}}</ref> Countries sometimes opt to ignore terrorist activities committed by allies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=On Terrorists and Freedom Fighters |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/forum/no-volume/on-terrorists-and-freedom-fighters/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Harvard Law Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harb |first=Ali |title=Do Lebanon explosions violate the laws of war? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/do-lebanon-explosions-violate-the-laws-of-war |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

The use of the term in the [[Israel–Palestine conflict]] has given rise to controversies concerning the vagueness of how terrorists are defined and identified.<ref>"For the Israeli commander on the ground, the meaning of terrorism has become increasingly vague and contradictory. This problem is both generic and, because of the Oslo Accords,2 Israel-specific . . the term is increasingly losing all operational precision. . . Significantly, despite the growing volume of academic publications dealing with terrorism, little, if any, serious progress has been made in suitably clarifying that concept, in distinguishing it clearly from various other uses of force in world politics and from other related crimes under international law. Indeed, judging from the standard definitions of terrorism now in "professional" use, definitions that offer little or no operational benefit for scholars or for tactical commanders, the term has become so comprehensive and vague that it embraces even the most discrepant and unintended activities.", [[Louis René Beres]], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24590033 "Law and Politics in Israel: What Terrorism Means for the IDF Commander"], '' [[Brown Journal of World Affairs]]'' , Summer/Fall 1997, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 257–276.</ref> 

Media outlets who wish to convey impartiality may limit their usage of "terrorist" and "terrorism" because they are loosely defined, potentially controversial in nature, and subjective terms.<ref name="GUSG">{{cite news |date=December 19, 2008 |title=Guardian and Observer style guide: T |url=https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-t |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709224453/https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-t |archive-date=July 9, 2017 |access-date=April 9, 2014 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Editorial Guidelines on Language when Reporting Terrorism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-reporting-terrorism-summary |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230022314/http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-reporting-terrorism-summary |archive-date=December 30, 2011 |access-date=January 9, 2011 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

=== Pejorative use ===
The term "terrorism" is often used to abuse or denounce opposite parties, either governments or non-state groups.<ref name="Walzer" /><ref name="Sinclair" /><ref name="JR.White" /><ref name="Heryant" /><ref name="Ruthven" /> An example of this is the ''[[terruqueo]]'' political attack used by right-wing groups in [[Peru]] to target leftist groups or those opposed to the [[neoliberal]] ''[[status quo]]'', likening opponents to guerrilla organizations<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/abimael-guzman-dead/2021/09/11/0ecee938-131e-11ec-9cb6-bf9351a25799_story.html Washington Post: "Abimael Guzman, leader of Peru's Shining Path terrorist group, dies at 86"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904121538/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/abimael-guzman-dead/2021/09/11/0ecee938-131e-11ec-9cb6-bf9351a25799_story.html|date=September 4, 2022}} Whashington Post website: "Abimael Guzmán, the mastermind of the Shining Path terrorist organization in Peru, a brutal Maoist movement that nearly toppled the country's government in the 1980s and early 1990s, leaving thousands of people dead, died Sept. 11 in a hospital at a military prison outside Lima. He was 86."</ref> from the [[internal conflict in Peru]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Feline Freier |first1=Luisa |last2=Castillo Jara |first2=Soledad |date=January 13, 2021 |title="Terruqueo" and Peru's Fear of the Left |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/terruqueo-and-perus-fear-of-the-left/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212100921/https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/terruqueo-and-perus-fear-of-the-left/ |archive-date=February 12, 2021 |access-date=November 18, 2021 |website=[[Americas Quarterly]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |title=Qué es el "terruqueo" en Perú y cómo influye en la disputa presidencial entre Fujimori y Castillo |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-57277852 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118065059/https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-57277852 |archive-date=November 18, 2021 |access-date=November 18, 2021 |work=[[BBC News]] |language=es}}</ref><ref name="PROFE1">{{cite book |last1=Asensio |first1=Raúl |url=https://fondoeditorial.iep.org.pe/producto/el-profe-como-pedro-castillo-se-convirtio-en-presidente-del-peru-y-que-pasara-a-continuacion-2/ |title=El Profe: Cómo Pedro Castillo se convirtió en presidente del Perú y qué pasará a continuación |last2=Camacho |first2=Gabriela |last3=González |first3=Natalia |last4=Grompone |first4=Romeo |last5=Pajuelo Teves |first5=Ramón |last6=Peña Jimenez |first6=Omayra |last7=Moscoso |first7=Macarena |last8=Vásquez |first8=Yerel |last9=Sosa Villagarcia |first9=Paolo |date=August 2021 |publisher=[[Institute of Peruvian Studies]] |isbn=978-612-326-084-2 |edition=1 |location=[[Lima, Peru]] |pages=13–24 |language=es |access-date=November 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105081352/https://fondoeditorial.iep.org.pe/producto/el-profe-como-pedro-castillo-se-convirtio-en-presidente-del-peru-y-que-pasara-a-continuacion-2/ |archive-date=November 5, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:King David Hotel bombing, Jerusalem 1946.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Aftermath of the [[King David Hotel bombing]] by the [[Zionist]] militant group [[Irgun]], July 1946]]Those labeled "terrorists" by their opponents rarely identify themselves as such, but it was not always so. While a multitude of terms like [[separatist]], [[freedom fighter]], liberator, [[revolutionary]], [[vigilante]], [[Insurgent|militant]], paramilitary, [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]], [[rebellion|rebel]], patriot, have come into use, (including some culturally specific terms borrowed from other languages like [[Jihad]]i, [[mujahideen]], and [[fedayeen]]), the unwillingness to self-identify as terrorists began when parties in a conflict started to describe each other as terrorists pejoratively.<ref name="tws11janbcvc">{{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=Paul |author2=quoting David Hannay |author3=Former UK ambassador |date=September 14, 2005 |title=UN staggers on road to reform |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4244842.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103100638/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4244842.stm |archive-date=November 3, 2019 |access-date=January 11, 2010 |work=BBC News |quote=This would end the argument that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter&nbsp;...}}</ref> As an example, when [[Vera Zasulich]] attacked a Russian official known for abusing prisoners she told the court "I am not a criminal, I am a terrorist!". The stunned court acquitted Zazulich when they realized that she was trying to become a [[martyr]]. She was carried out of the courtroom on the shoulders of the crowd.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pedahzur |first1=Ami |title=Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism: The Globalization of Martyrdom |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=United Kingdom}}</ref>

Some groups and individuals have openly admitted to using "terrorist tactics" even while maintaining distance from the pejorative term in their self-descriptions. The [[Zionist]] militant group [[Lehi (militant group)|Lohamei Herut Yisrael]] admitted that they used terrorist tactics but used the euphemism "Freedom Fighters" to describe themselves (''Lohamei Herut Yisrael'' means "Freedom Fighters for Israel".){{sfn|Hoffman|1998|p=21}}

In his book ''Inside Terrorism'' [[Bruce Hoffman]] offered an explanation of why the term ''terrorism'' becomes distorted:

{{blockquote|On one point, at least, everyone agrees: ''terrorism'' is a pejorative term. It is a word with intrinsically negative connotations that is generally applied to one's enemies and opponents, or to those with whom one disagrees and would otherwise prefer to ignore. 'What is called terrorism,' Brian Jenkins has written, 'thus seems to depend on one's point of view. Use of the term implies a moral judgment; and if one party can successfully attach the label ''terrorist'' to its opponent, then it has indirectly persuaded others to adopt its moral viewpoint.' Hence the decision to call someone or label some organization ''terrorist'' becomes almost unavoidably subjective, depending largely on whether one sympathizes with or opposes the person/group/cause concerned. If one identifies with the victim of the violence, for example, then the act is terrorism. If, however, one identifies with the perpetrator, the violent act is regarded in a more sympathetic, if not positive (or, at the worst, an ambivalent) light; and it is not terrorism.{{sfn|Hoffman|1998|p=31}}<ref>{{cite news |first=Raymond |last=Bonner |title=Getting Attention: A scholar's historical and political survey of terrorism finds that it works |quote=''Inside Terrorism'' falls into the category of 'must read,' at least for anyone who wants to understand how we can respond to international acts of terror. |newspaper=The New York Times |department=Books |date=November 1, 1998 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/reviews/981101.01bonnert.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |archive-date=April 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424193236/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/01/reviews/981101.01bonnert.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

The pejorative connotations of the word can be summed up in the [[aphorism]], "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter".<ref name="tws11janbcvc" /> This is exemplified when a group using [[irregular military]] methods is an ally of a [[Sovereign state|state]] against a mutual enemy, but later falls out with the state and starts to use those methods against its former ally.

Groups accused of terrorism understandably prefer terms reflecting legitimate military or ideological action.<ref>Sudha Ramachandran ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20041112131901/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FK12Ak01.html Death behind the wheel in Iraq]'' [[Asian Times]], November 12, 2004, "Insurgent groups that use suicide attacks therefore do not like their attacks to be described as suicide terrorism. They prefer to use terms like "martyrdom&nbsp;..."</ref><ref>Alex Perry [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310153052/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1109554,00.html How Much to Tip the Terrorist?] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', September 26, 2005. "The Tamil Tigers would dispute that tag, of course. Like other guerrillas and suicide bombers, they prefer the term "freedom fighters".</ref><ref name="TCCACR">[http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dtra/terrorism_concepts.doc Terrorism: concepts, causes, and conflict resolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301053750/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dtra/terrorism_concepts.doc|date=March 1, 2009}} [[George Mason University]] Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Printed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, January 2003.</ref> Leading terrorism researcher Professor Martin Rudner, director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Ottawa's [[Carleton University]], defines "terrorist acts" as unlawful attacks for political or other ideological goals, and said: 

{{blockquote|There is the famous statement: 'One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.' But that is grossly misleading. It assesses the validity of the cause when terrorism is an act. One can have a perfectly beautiful cause and yet if one commits terrorist acts, it is terrorism regardless.<ref name="famous quote one man's">{{cite book |last1=Quinney |first1=Nigel |last2=Coyne |first2=A. Heather |title=Peacemaker's Toolkit Talking to Groups that Use Terrorism |date=2011 |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |isbn=978-1-60127-072-6 |url=http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/PMT_Talking_to_Groups_that_Use_Terror.pdf |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=May 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506163555/https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/PMT_Talking_to_Groups_that_Use_Terror.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

Labelling opponents as "terrorists" has been used as a tactic to evade the usual laws of war against things such as assassinations and other [[extrajudicial killing]], particularly by [[targeted killing by Israel |Israel]] and the [[war on terror |United States]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Archambault |first1=Emil |last2=Trenta |first2=Luca |last3=Duroy |first3=Sophie |date=2024-10-03 |title=The killing of Hassan Nasrallah and how the west legitimised its use of assassination |url=https://theconversation.com/the-killing-of-hassan-nasrallah-and-how-the-west-legitimised-its-use-of-assassination-240247 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref>{{better source|date=November 2024}}{{attribution needed|date=November 2024}} Some international legal opinions suggest that terrorist activities by their very nature "deny" the civilian nature of an ostensibly civilian participant.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/pt/customary-ihl/v2/rule6 |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=ihl-databases.icrc.org |title=Practice relating to Norma 6. Civilians' Loss of Protection from Attack}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoffman |first=Michael H. |date=2002 |title=Terrorists Are Unlawful Belligerents, Not Unlawful Combatants: A Distinction with Implications for the Future of International Humanitarian Law |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/jil/article/1455/&path_info=19_34CaseWResJIntlL227_2002__Hoffman.pdf |journal=[[Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law]] |volume=34 |issue=2}}</ref> 

[[File:Reagan sitting with people from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in February 1983.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|President Reagan meeting with [[Afghan Mujahideen]] leaders in the Oval Office in 1983]]
Some groups, when involved in a "liberation" struggle, have been called "terrorists" by the Western governments or media. Later, these same persons, as leaders of the liberated nations, are called "statesmen" by similar organizations. Two examples of this phenomenon are the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureates [[Menachem Begin]] and [[Nelson Mandela]].<ref>Theodore P. Seto ''[http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v35-issue4/seto.pdf The Morality of Terrorism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301053751/http://llr.lls.edu/volumes/v35-issue4/seto.pdf|date=March 1, 2009}}'' Includes a list in [[The Times]] published on July 23, 1946, which were described as Jewish terrorist actions, including those launched by Irgun, of which Begin was a leading member.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/israel_at_50/profiles/81305.stm BBC News: Profiles: Menachem Begin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115043210/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/israel_at_50/profiles/81305.stm|date=January 15, 2009}} BBC website "Under Begin's command, the underground terrorist group Irgun carried out numerous acts of violence."</ref><ref>Lord Desai [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo980903/text/80903-04.htm Hansard, House of Lords] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311054052/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199798/ldhansrd/vo980903/text/80903-04.htm|date=March 11, 2007}} September 3, 1998 : Column 72, "However, Jomo Kenyatta, [[Nelson Mandela]] and [[Menachem Begin]] – to give just three examples – were all denounced as terrorists but all proved to be successful political leaders of their countries and good friends of the United Kingdom."</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4255106.stm BBC NEWS:World: Americas: UN reforms receive mixed response] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115094505/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4255106.stm|date=January 15, 2009}} BBC website "Of all groups active in recent times, the ANC perhaps represents best the traditional dichotomous view of armed struggle. Once regarded by western governments as a terrorist group, it now forms the legitimate, elected government of South Africa, with Nelson Mandela one of the world's genuinely iconic figures."</ref> [[WikiLeaks]] editor [[Julian Assange]] has been called a "terrorist" by [[Sarah Palin]] and [[Joe Biden]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Beckford |first=Martin |date=November 30, 2010 |title=Hunt WikiLeaks founder like al-Qaeda and Taliban Leaders |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8171269/Sarah-Palin-hunt-WikiLeaks-founder-like-al-Qaeda-and-Taliban-leaders.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8171269/Sarah-Palin-hunt-WikiLeaks-founder-like-al-Qaeda-and-Taliban-leaders.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=MacAskill |first=Ewen |date=December 19, 2010 |title=Julian Assange like a hi-tech terrorist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/19/assange-high-tech-terrorist-biden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910010111/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/19/assange-high-tech-terrorist-biden |archive-date=September 10, 2013 |access-date=January 7, 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> 

Inversely, some groups like the [[Afghan Mujahideen]] that were labelled as "freedom fighters" later became "terrorists" as alliances shifted.<ref>"An unbiased look at terrorism in Afghanistan [in 2009] reveals that many of these 'terrorists' individuals or groups were once 'freedom fighters' struggling against the Soviets during the 1980s." ({{Cite book |last=Chouvy |first=Pierre-Arnaud |title=Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-05134-8 |edition=illustrated, reprint |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qGl4TN_qIsgC&pg=PA119 119]}})</ref> During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the [[Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army]] were allied with the British, but during the [[Malayan Emergency]], members of its successor organisation (the [[Malayan National Liberation Army]]) started campaigns against them, and were branded "terrorists" as a result.<ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9371060/Malayan-People's-Anti-Japanese-Army Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324094215/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9371060/Malayan-People%27s-Anti-Japanese-Army|date=March 24, 2007}} Britannica Concise.</ref><ref>Chris Clark ''{{cite web |title=Malayan Emergency, 16 June 1948 |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/malaya/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608150502/http://awm.gov.au/atwar/remembering1942/malaya/index.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2007}}'', June 16, 2003.</ref>

== Databases ==
The following terrorism databases are or were made publicly available for research purposes, and track specific acts of terrorism:
* [[Global Terrorism Database]], an open-source database by the [[University of Maryland, College Park]] on terrorist events around the world from 1970 through 2017 with more than 150,000 cases.
* [[MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base]]
* [[Worldwide Incidents Tracking System]]
* [[Tocsearch]] (dynamic database)
The following public report and index provides a summary of key global trends and patterns in terrorism around the world:
* [[Global Terrorism Index]], produced annually by the [[Institute for Economics and Peace]]
The following publicly available resources index electronic and bibliographic resources on the subject of terrorism:
* [[Human Security Gateway]]

The following terrorism databases are maintained in secrecy by the United States Government for intelligence and counterterrorism purposes:
* [[Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment]]
* [[Terrorist Screening Database]]

Jones and Libicki (2008) includes a table of 268 terrorist groups active between 1968 and 2006 with their status as of 2006: still active, splintered, converted to nonviolence, removed by law enforcement or military, or won. (These data are not in a convenient machine-readable format but are available.)

== Infographics ==
{{See also|Number of terrorist incidents by country}}
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Terrorist incidents map of the world 1970-2015.svg|Terrorist incidents, 1970–2015. A total of 157,520 incidents are plotted. '''{{color|Orange}}''': 1970–1999, '''{{color|Red}}''': 2000–2015
File:The number of terrorist attacks 2000-2014 (Top 10 Countries).png|Top 10 Countries (2000–2014)
File:Terrorist incidents worldwide.svg|Worldwide non-state terrorist incidents 1970–2017
File:Share who are worried about vs. share of deaths from terrorism, OWID.svg|Share who are worried about vs. share of deaths from terrorism
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Agro-terrorism]]
* [[Communist terrorism]]
* [[Crimes against humanity]]
* [[Cyberterrorism]]
* [[Definitions of terrorism]]
* [[Economic terrorism]]
* [[Economics of terrorism]]
* [[Environmental terrorism]]
* [[Fearmongering]]
* [[Government negotiation with terrorists]]
* [[Left-wing terrorism]]
* [[Right-wing terrorism]]
* [[List of designated terrorist groups]]
* [[List of terrorist incidents]]
* [[Narcoterrorism]]
* [[Nationalist terrorism]]
* [[Nuclear terrorism]]
** [[Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism]]
* [[Religious terrorism]]
** [[Hindutva terrorism]]
** [[Islamic terrorism]]
** [[Christian terrorism]]
** [[Jewish religious terrorism]]
* [[Stochastic terrorism]]
* [[Terrorism and social media]]
* [[Violent extremism]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Citation |last=Bouhey |first=Vivien |title=Les Anarchistes contre la République |date=2009 |trans-title=The Anarchists against the Republic |place=Rennes |publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes (PUR)}}
* {{cite book|last=Chalk |first=Peter |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dietze|first1=Carola |last2=Verhoeven |first2=Claudia |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
* {{Citation |last=Ferragu |first=Gilles |title=L'écho des bombes : l'invention du terrorisme « à l'aveugle » (1893-1895) |date=2019 |journal=Ethnologie française |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=21–31 |trans-title=The echo of bombs: The invention of indiscriminate terrorism (1893–1895) |url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-ethnologie-francaise-2019-1-page-21?lang=fr |doi=10.3917/ethn.191.0021|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Hoffman |first=Bruce |title=Inside Terrorism |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1988}}{{verify source|date=October 2022|reason=Could not find this edition}}
* {{cite news |first=Bruce |last=Hoffman |author-link=Bruce Hoffman |year=1998 |title=Inside Terrorism |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-11468-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/insideterrorism00hoff/page/32 32] |url=https://archive.org/details/insideterrorism00hoff |access-date=January 11, 2010}}
** {{cite book |first=Bruce |last=Hoffman |author-link=Bruce Hoffman |title=Inside Terrorism |year=1998a |chapter=Chapter One |chapter-url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hoffman-terrorism.html |access-date=January 11, 2010 |via=The New York Times}}
* {{cite book |last=Hoffman|first=Bruce |title=Inside Terrorism |edition=2nd |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2006}}
* {{cite book |last=Laqueur |first=Walter |title=A History of Terrorism |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
* [http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/627/html Perspectives on Terrorism's Bibliography: Root Causes of Terrorism. 2017.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022175221/http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/627/html |date=October 22, 2017 }}
* {{cite book |last=Primoratz |first=Igor |title=Terrorism: The Philosophical Issues |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}
* {{Citation |last=Salomé |first=Karine |title=L'Ouragan homicide : L'attentat politique en France au XIXe siècle |date=2011 |trans-title=The homicidal Hurricane: political assassination in 19th century France |place=Paris |publisher=Champ Vallon / Epoque |isbn=978-2-87673-538-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Spaaij |first=Ramon |year=2012 |title=Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism: Global Patterns, Motivations and Prevention}}
*{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Paul |title=Terrorism and the Liberal State |date=1977 |publisher=Macmillan}}

== Further reading ==
* Bakker, Edwin. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141015112741/http://www.icct.nl/publications/icct-papers/forecasting-the-unpredictable-a-review-of-forecasts-on-terrorism-2000--2012 ''Forecasting the Unpredictable: A Review of Forecasts on Terrorism 2000–2012'' (International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, 2014)]
*{{cite journal |url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2021/issue-2/bowie.pdf |title=40 Terrorism Databases and Data Sets: A New Inventory |first=Neil G. |last=Bowie |volume=XV |journal=[[Perspectives on Terrorism]] |issue=2 |date=April 2021 |publisher=[[Leiden University]] |issn=2334-3745 |access-date=May 1, 2021 |archive-date=May 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503001956/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2021/issue-2/bowie.pdf |url-status=dead}}
* Burleigh, Michael. ''Blood and rage: a cultural history of terrorism''. Harper, 2009.
* Chaliand, Gérard and Arnaud Blin, eds. ''The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda''. University of California Press, 2007.
* Coates, Susan W., Rosenthal, Jane, and Schechter, Daniel S. ''September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds'' (Taylor and Francis, 2003).
* Crenshaw, Martha, ed. ''Terrorism in context''. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.
* {{citation |last1=Jones |first1=Seth G. |last2=Libicki |first2=Martin C. |author1-link=Seth Jones (political scientist) |author2-link=Martin C. Libicki |year=2008 |title=How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida |publisher=RAND Corporation |isbn=978-0-8330-4465-5 |url=http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG741-1.pdf}}
* Hennigfeld, Ursula/ Packard, Stephan, ed., ''Abschied von 9/11? Distanznahme zur Katastrophe''. Berlin: Frank & Timme, 2013.
* Hennigfeld, Ursula, ed., ''Poetiken des Terrors. Narrative des 11. September 2001 im interkulturellen Vergleich''. Heidelberg: Winter, 2014.
* Hewitt, Christopher. ''Understanding terrorism in America'' (Routledge, 2003).
* Hewitt, Christopher. "Terrorism and public opinion: A five country comparison." ''Terrorism and Political Violence'' 2.2 (1990): 145–170.
* Jones, Sidney. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160107215147/http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/speeches/2013/jones-terrorism-myths-facts.aspx Terrorism: myths and facts]''. Jakarta: International Crisis Group, 2013.
* Land, Isaac, ed., ''Enemies of humanity: the nineteenth-century war on terrorism''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
* Lee, Newton. ''Counterterrorism and Cybersecurity: Total Information Awareness (2nd Edition)''. New York: Springer, 2015. {{ISBN|978-3-319-17243-9}}
* Lutz, James and Brenda Lutz. ''Terrorism : origins and evolution'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
* Margolin, Devorah; Cook, Joana (2024). "[[doi:10.1080/1057610X.2024.2357178|Five Decades of Research on Women and Terrorism]]". ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism''.
* Miller, Martin A. ''The foundations of modern terrorism: state, society and the dynamics of political violence''. Cambridge University Press, 2013.
* {{cite book |last1=Nairn |first1=Tom |last2=James |first2=Paul |author-link=Paul James (academic) |title=Global Matrix: Nationalism, Globalism and State-Terrorism |url=https://www.academia.edu/1642325 |year=2005 |publisher=Pluto Press |location=London / New York}}
* Neria, Yuval, Gross, Raz, Marshall, Randall D., and Susser, Ezra. ''September 11, 2001: Treatment, Research and Public Mental Health in the Wake of a Terrorist Attack'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006).
*{{cite book |last=Schmid |first=Alex P. |editor-first1=Alex |editor-last1=Schmid |title=Handbook of Terrorism Prevention and Preparedness |publisher=International Centre for Counter-Terrorism |date=November 2020 |url=https://icct.nl/handbook-of-terrorism-prevention-and-preparedness/ |doi=10.19165/2020.6.01 |issn=2468-0486 |isbn=9789090339771 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416142718/https://icct.nl/handbook-of-terrorism-prevention-and-preparedness/ |url-status=dead }} An open-access publication, issued since November 2020 on the [[International Centre for Counter-Terrorism]] (ICCT) website, with a chapter published each week.
* Stern, Jessica. ''The Ultimate Terrorists''. (Harvard University Press 2000 reprint; 1995). 214 p. {{ISBN|0-674-00394-2}}
* Tausch, Arno, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2702356 Estimates on the Global Threat of Islamic State Terrorism in the Face of the 2015 Paris and Copenhagen Attacks] (December 11, 2015). ''[[Middle East Review of International Affairs]]'', Rubin Center, Research in International Affairs, Idc Herzliya, Israel, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring 2015). 
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130824205057/http://ciaj-icaj.ca/images/stories/Publications/books/2011-Publicity.eng.pdf Terrorism, Law & Democracy: 10 years after 9/11]'', Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. {{ISBN|978-2-9809728-7-4}}.

===United Kingdom===
{{Further| Terrorism in the United Kingdom}}
* Blackbourn, Jessie. "Counter-Terrorism and Civil Liberties: The United Kingdom Experience, 1968-2008." ''Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies'' 8 (2008): 63+
* Bonner, David. "United Kingdom: the United Kingdom response to terrorism." ''Terrorism and Political Violence'' 4.4 (1992): 171–205. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09546559208427180 online]
* Chin, Warren. ''Britain and the war on terror: Policy, strategy and operations'' (Routledge, 2016).
* Clutterbuck, Lindsay. "Countering Irish Republican terrorism in Britain: Its origin as a police function." ''Terrorism and Political Violence'' 18.1 (2006) pp: 95–118.
* Greer, Steven. "Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in the UK: From Northern Irish Troubles to Global Islamist Jihad." in ''Counter-Terrorism, Constitutionalism and Miscarriages of Justice'' (Hart Publishing, 2018) pp.&nbsp;45–62.
* Hamilton, Claire. "Counter-Terrorism in the UK." in ''Contagion, Counter-Terrorism and Criminology'' (Palgrave Pivot, Cham, 2019) pp.&nbsp;15–47.
* Hewitt, Steve. "Great Britain: Terrorism and counter-terrorism since 1968." in ''Routledge Handbook of Terrorism and Counterterrorism'' (Routledge, 2018) pp.&nbsp;540–551.
* Martínez-Peñas, Leandro, and Manuela Fernández-Rodríguez. "Evolution of British Law on Terrorism: From Ulster to Global Terrorism (1970–2010)." in ''Post 9/11 and the State of Permanent Legal Emergency'' (Springer, 2012) pp.&nbsp;201–222.
* O'Day, Alan. "Northern Ireland, Terrorism, and the British State." in ''Terrorism: Theory and Practice'' (Routledge, 2019) pp.&nbsp;121–135.
* Sacopulos, Peter J. "Terrorism in Britain: Threat, reality, response." ''Studies in Conflict & Terrorism'' 12.3 (1989): 153–165.
* Staniforth, Andrew, and Fraser Sampson, eds. ''The Routledge companion to UK counter-terrorism'' (Routledge, 2012).
* Sinclair, Georgina. "Confronting terrorism: British Experiences past and present." ''Crime, Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History & Societies'' 18.2 (2014): 117–122. [https://journals.openedition.org/chs/1495 online]
* Tinnes, Judith, ed. "Bibliography: Northern Ireland conflict (the troubles)." ''Perspectives on Terrorism'' 10.1 (2016): 83–110. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26297522 online]
* Wilkinson, Paul, ed. ''Terrorism: British Perspectives'' (Dartmouth, 1993).

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Terrorism}}
{{wiktionary}}
{{Library resources box
|by=no
|onlinebooks=yes
|others=no
|about=yes
}}
* United Nations: [https://web.archive.org/web/20141030073538/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/DB.aspx?path=DB%2Fstudies%2Fpage2_en.xml Conventions on Terrorism]
* [[United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]]: {{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_conventions.html |title=Conventions against terrorism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805001945/http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_conventions.html |archive-date=August 5, 2007}}
* [https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/terrorism/index.html UNODC – United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – Terrorism Prevention]
* [https://archive.today/20100308032649/http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/terrorism Terrorism and international humanitarian law], International Committee of the Red Cross
* [https://www.counterterrorism.police.uk/ UK Counter Terrorism Policing]

{{Terrorism topics}}
{{War on Terrorism|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Terrorism| ]]
[[Category:Crimes]]
[[Category:Warfare by type]]
[[Category:1790s neologisms]]