Definitions of Terrorism

To come up with a definition of terrorism capturing all and only those cases commonly called “terrorist” would seem at first glance a hopeless task. It has been more than twenty five years since Walter Laqueur, a historian of terrorism, complained: “[...] recently, the term “terrorism” (like “guerilla”) has been used in so many different senses as to become almost meaningless, covering almost any, and not necessarily political, act of violence.” (Laqueur 2001: 6). Still, in my view, even if it were indeed impossible to find a perfect definition of terrorism, it is important to search for it. There are at least two goals one might achieve: (i) one can come up with more than one distinct but interrelated definition and this in turn helps to elucidate how the word has been ordinarily employed; (ii) one of the definitions can prove to be particularly useful. Concerning the first goal, I shall argue that there are three basic notions of terrorism which people employ in common discourses. First, there is the most general one, which corresponds to the etymology of the word and which equates terrorism with any advancement of intense fear (part 1). Then, there is the less general notion, which is linked to the first historical occurrence of the word and which captures both state and individual use of violence in politics (part 2). Finally, there is the most specific notion, on which I shall focus and which I call terrorism in a proper sense (part 3). With respect to the second goal I shall argue that the notion of terrorism in a proper sense is the one which should be adopted in legal, media, and scholarly contexts. This notion I explicate and defend by way of defining a terrorist act (part 3). My thesis is that there are three individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for an act to be appropriately called “terrorist”: (1) it is committed by an individual or a group of individuals privately, i.e. without legitimate political authority of a recognized state; (2) it is directed indiscriminately against noncombatants; (3) the goal of it is to achieve something politically relevant by means of fearprovoking violence. Let us turn now to the first section of my paper which deals with the most general notion of terrorism based on the etymology of the word.