The challenges of defining terrorism for counter-terrorism policy

Abstract

There is currently no international agreement on a universal and comprehensive definition of terrorism and many are the problems that emerge when trying to define this phenomenon. In fact, all definitions given so far, for example by international organizations, are considered flawed in some way. These problems rise from the fact that the term is usually imposed on the perpetrators of this violence from the outside and it has a highly emotional charge and pejorative connotations. Its application is the product of a subjective moral judgment but also of a specific political and historical context, as the history of the term can prove. Besides, there have been concerted efforts to distinguish terrorism from other forms of political violence owing to certain identifiable elements associated with the term. However, recent strategy of contemporary terrorist groups, which entails the use of guerrilla and insurgency style of operations, calls to question the logical exactitude of the term. Hence, there is a need to reconceptualize the term in ways that it incorporates theories of insurgency, counter-insurgency, and civil war. These have implications for the formulation of counter-terrorism framework that appreciates the new methods of contemporary terrorist groups. Defining terrorism nowadays is thus even harder but more important than ever since form its proper designation may depend successful counter-terrorism strategies.