Revisiting Terrorisms Definition

Patrick Dancoes

POL-347

Prof. Shirk

Defining Terrorism 2^nd

5/2/18

Defining Terrorism

   At the begging of the course, I argued the definition of terrorism was; the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. Now, after studying terrorism over the semester and reviewing our case studies, I believe terrorism is foundationally broken into five different types of terrorism; Criminal Terrorism, Political Terrorism, State-Sponsored Terrorism, Religious Terrorism, and a catchall, Dissent Terrorism. To bring together these five terrorist types into a single definition of terrorism, I also acknowledge the fact that this means that the terms ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ are mainly socially constructed, as the term has virtually morphed over the course when describing different terrorist groups.  I currently define terrorism as willful participation in forceful or violent illegal activities, motivated or in response to ideological, social, or political atmospheres, and with intentions to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof. 

     The first era of terrorism we covered, the Golden Age of Piracy, best describes Criminal Terrorism. Though, the pirates of the 18^thcentury are commonly romanticized as be treasure seeking, adventurous sailors, trying to escape from poor living conditions. The reality was, these pirates faced dangerous, violent, and for most of them, deadly circumstances being a pirate. The one factor that highlighted piracies appeal to individuals was the profit being made from pirating crimes. The crimes committed by these pirates included plundering villages, raping women, and stealing anything they found valuable. They merely were criminals of the sea, living far from a sailors dream and in constant angst because of their status. Overall, these pirating terrorists primarily operated to aid in crime and take for themselves their share of the criminal profit. This is what defines and makes the pirates of the 18^thcentury Criminal Terrorists. 

The anarchists of the late 18^thcentury were a group of extremists that reflect Political Terrorism. Political terrorists are individuals or groups rooted in far Left or Right political ideology, therefore, because anarchism is chiefly a far-left political theory, the anarchists are justly Political Terrorists. These individuals believed in ideology that sought after the abolition of all government and used violence to pursue that goal. The group carried out stabbings, assignations, bombings, and targeted high profile personnel all in hopes of crippling their government and achieving anarchisms political agenda.  

The War on Terror describes the meaning of State-Sponsored Terrorism. Though the war was launched in direct response to the 9/11 attacks, the actions carried out by the U.S. military afterward mimicked violent tactics and sociopolitical motivations of previous terrorists. The only difference is now the violence is being orchestrated and by the funded U.S. military. Their political goal is establishing democracy, and their social goal is freedom. Some would say they merely fought terror with terror, and Bush used the threat of terrorism to pursue his political agenda. The U.S. used drone weaponry to conduct target killings and signature strikes, resulting in collateral damage and deaths. Therefore, because the U.S. sponsored these terrorist actions, the War on Terror fits the description of State-Sponsored Terrorism.

   Traveling back to medieval times, the Crusaders were a group of men who committed Religious Terrorism. The Latin church sanctioned these crusades or wars to recover the biblical Holy Land from Muslim-rule. Therefore, because the Crusaders imprisoned and killed their targets, and their actions stem from religious motivations, they are a religious terrorist group. 
  Lastly, to encompass all other terrorist groups, I include the catchall – Dissent Terrorism. Dissent terrorists are extremist groups that revolt against or forcefully defy their current government. The actors during the Reign of Terror revolution would describe a group considered to be dissent terrorists because they were politically motivated to preserve the new government and further the French Revolution. Their actions were terroristic because they beheaded and executed thousands of French citizens for vague charges of treason.

 Many of terrorisms five types overlap one another, and this speaks to the point that there is a short list of essential terms that boil down a terrorist's motivation, and many terrorist groups include some of the same essential motivations as other previous and future terrorist groups. Interestingly, to distinguish the differences in terrorist groups over time, and acknowledge that these different types of motivation all operate and fall into a subset of the term terrorism; behooves my understanding that the term terrorism is only understood on a colloquial level. This is owing to the fact that terms like terrorism are socially constructed, and to a larger degree, social sciences impact on words understanding.

In the end, my definition of terrorism is – willful participation in forceful or violent illegal activities, motivated or in response to ideological, social, or political atmospheres, and with intentions to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof. Terrorism can largely be broken down into five categories; Criminal Terrorism like the pirates of the 18^thcentury, Political Terrorism which includes the Anarchists and many other prominent terror groups, State-Sponsored Terrorism like the U.S. funded War on Terror, Religious Terrorism like the Crusaders, and the catchall, Dissent Terrorism, which is any terrorist group that disapproves their current order or government.