Some criminologists argue that terrorism is a political act committed by a member of a foreign culture for religious or political causes.This notion completely discounts any acts of terrorism committed by "home-grown" terrorists. A perfect example of this would be the bombing in Oklahoma City. The bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was a U.S. citizen who served in the U.S. Army who detonated a truck bomb seeking revenge for the government's actions in the Waco Siege. McVeigh was a militia movement sympathizer and committed an act of terrorism without being a member of a foreign terrorist organization or a foreign culture.
The best literary definition I have seen for terrorism can be attributed to Robert English. It should be noted that Dr. English is a professor of politics, and not criminology. English (2009) states that terrorism involves:
"heterogeneous violence used or threatened with a political aim; it can involve a variety of acts, of targets, and of actors; it possesses an important psychological dimension, producing terror fear among a directly threatened group and also a wider implied audience in the hope of maximizing political communication and achievement; it embodies the exerting and implementing of power, and the attempted redressing of power relations; it represents a subspecies of warfare, and as such it can form part of a wider campaign of violent and non-violent attempts at political leverage".
While no definition of terrorism will ever be perfect, Dr. English has demonstrated that his definition establishes a strong foundation to properly respond to terrorism. Since in order to respond to terrorism, we must be actually able to define it universally.
English, R. (2009) Terrorism: How to Respond. Oxford, New York. Oxford University Press.
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