The Challenge of Defining Terrorism

         In this blog I will discuss specific problems of defining Terrorism. Specifically, I will analyze how the United Nations' definition has evolved over the years and how it still leaves room for interpretation and thus, debate.

The ordinary textual meaning of ‘terrorism’ refers to extreme fear. A lit­eral meaning is not, however, particularly helpful in legally defining ter­rorism, since many forms of violence, from mugging to rape to piracy, can cause terror, yet such crimes are not generally thought of as ‘terrorism’. Instead, terrorism is often regarded as a form of illegitimate political violence. Again, this raises immediate problems. Some political violence which causes fear is regarded as legally legitimate, such as killing under the laws of war or to restore order during civil unrest. Other political violence may be technically illegal but seen as morally or politically legitimate, such as the assassination of a dictator or rebelling against an authoritarian government. Disagreement about ter­rorism is not simply focused upon linguistics, but also basic moral, political and ideological questions about the legitimacy of using violence. Reaching global legal agreement on defining terrorism presupposes agreement about who is entitled to use violence, against whom, and for what purposes. In a world of diverse political, moral and cultural systems, this is no easy task, and explains why disagreement persists.

The League of Nations first sought to define and criminalize terrorism as long ago as the 1930s, but its efforts were undermined by the Second World War. Similar efforts by United Nations General Assembly in the 1970s were thwarted by the politics of decolonization and the Cold War. Whereas developed countries focused on non-state terrorism, developing and socialist countries emphasized ‘state terrorism’ by colonial powers, while often regarding national liberation violence as a ‘just cause’ that often justified ‘terrorist’ means. More recent efforts to define terrorism can be traced to a ground-breaking Declaration by the General Assembly in 1994, which described terrorism as ‘criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes’.

More recent efforts to define terrorism can be traced to a ground-breaking Declaration by the General Assembly in 1994, which described terrorism as ‘criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes’. Despite this apparent progress towards definition, there remain a number of contentious and unresolved issues. First, the UN drafting committee cannot agree on the extent to which liberation violence in armed conflict should be covered, and how far government forces should be exempt from it. Who is a terrorist thus remains unsettled. Second, the Security Council has suggested that coercive violence is only terrorism if it also qualifies as a crime under existing criminal treaties.