Since 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center by Al Qaeda, terrorism has become a global threat and an important phenomenon both to the international community and in the United States. Many have argued that terrorism isn’t a new phenomenon because it started way beyond 9/11, and I agree, but the growing number of terror attacks shows that it is a major global security threat. In addition, the global death tolls caused by terror attacks have also increased. According to an NBC News article containing some released information from the U.S. State Department (DOS), the DOS found that between 2013 and 2014, terror attacks increase by 35% and total fatalities went up by 81%. Such an increase might have been caused by the growing number of weak
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Another reason why there are so many definitions for this term is because people disagree on what should be considered as a terrorist act. This might be because some people have a vague idea of what terrorism is, but lack a concrete understanding of the term. For example, terrorism is often confused with guerilla warfare, ordinary crime, or assassination. For this reason, they classify every act of violence against non-combat groups to be a terrorist act. Though these are all related, the motives of the violence differentiate terrorism from other forms of violence. In a the article Terrorism by Brenda Lutz and James Lutz, terrorism is defined as “the use of violence or threat of violence by an organized group to achieve an political objective.” This definition recognize that terrorism is perpetrated by an organized or subnational group, but Brenda and James forget to mention that terrorism is a “premeditated violence” against a non-combat group. In a nutshell, terrorism is intended to influence a targeted audience beyond civilian, like the government. Also, it is a form of coercive violence or psychological warfare that uses fear to intimidate others and force them to submit to one’s will. In order words, terrorism is successful when others live in extreme fear and feel
Another reason why there are so many definitions for this term is because people disagree on what should be considered as a terrorist act. This might be because some people have a vague idea of what terrorism is, but lack a concrete understanding of the term. For example, terrorism is often confused with guerilla warfare, ordinary crime, or assassination. For this reason, they classify every act of violence against non-combat groups to be a terrorist act. Though these are all related, the motives of the violence differentiate terrorism from other forms of violence. In a the article Terrorism by Brenda Lutz and James Lutz, terrorism is defined as “the use of violence or threat of violence by an organized group to achieve an political objective.” This definition recognize that terrorism is perpetrated by an organized or subnational group, but Brenda and James forget to mention that terrorism is a “premeditated violence” against a non-combat group. In a nutshell, terrorism is intended to influence a targeted audience beyond civilian, like the government. Also, it is a form of coercive violence or psychological warfare that uses fear to intimidate others and force them to submit to one’s will. In order words, terrorism is successful when others live in extreme fear and feel