What is “terrorism”? Terrorism is any act designed to
cause terror. In a narrower sense, terrorism can be
understood to feature a political objective. The word terrorism is
politically loaded and emotionally charged. “Terrorism" comes from
the French word terrorisme. The definition of terrorism has proved controversial.
Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of terrorism in their national legislation.
Moreover, the international community has been
slow to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding definition of this
crime.
These difficulties
arise from the fact that the term "terrorism" is politically and
emotionally charged. The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" (someone
who engages in terrorism) carry strong negative connotations. These
terms are often used as political labels, to condemn violence or the threat of
violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate, unjustified or to
condemn an entire segment of a population. Those labeled
"terrorists" by their opponents rarely identify themselves as such,
and typically use other terms or terms specific to their situation, such as separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary,vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel, patriot, or any similar-meaning
word in other languages and cultures. 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.
A
growing issue worldwide, terrorism, has caused
around 130,000 fatalities worldwide between 2006 and 2013. Terrorism
can be described as the wrongful use of violence in order to intimidate
civilians or politicians for ideological, religious, or political reasons with
no regard for public safety. Although the number of terrorist attacks from 2006 to
2013 has decreased, there have been approximately 90,000 total terrorist
attacks in this time period. Not only does terrorism have a massive social impact on
the world, but it also has a tremendous global economic impact. The costs of terrorist
attacks by insured property losses have cost the insurance industry billions over
the past decade. The bombing of the London financial district in 1993 cost the
insurance industry around 1 billion U.S. dollars. The relationship between domestic terrorism and democracy
is very complex. Terrorism is most common in nations with intermediate
political freedom, and is least common in the most democratic nations. However,
one study suggests that suicide terrorism may be an exception to this general
rule. Evidence regarding this particular method of terrorism reveals that every
modern suicide campaign has targeted a democracy–a state with a considerable
degree of political freedom. The study suggests that concessions awarded to
terrorists during the 1980s and 1990s for suicide attacks increased their
frequency.
There is
also something called Religius Terrorism and Intimate Terrorism (IT). Religious
terrorism is terrorism performed by groups or individuals, the motivation of
which is typically rooted in faith-based tenets.
Terrorist acts throughout history have been performed on religious grounds with
the goal to either spread or enforce a system of belief, viewpoint or opinion. The
validity and scope of religious terrorism is limited to the individual or a
group view or interpretation of that belief system's teachings and Intimate
terrorism (IT) may also involve emotional and psychological abuse.
Intimate terrorism is one element in a general pattern of control by one
partner over the other. Intimate terrorism is more likely to escalate over
time, not as likely to be mutual, and more likely to involve serious injury. IT
batterers include two types: "Generally-violent-antisocial" and "dysphoric-borderline". The first type includes people with general psychopathic and violent
tendencies. The second type are people who are emotionally dependent on the
relationship. Violence by a person against their intimate
partner is often done as a way for controlling their partner, even if this kind
of violence is not the most frequent. Support for
this typology has been found in subsequent evaluations.
