notoriously hard to

explain. There is no international consensus on the definition, legally or academically

for the

term “terrorist”. In fact, the U.S. government has more than 20 definitions for it. And in

1996, the

UN formed its own Ad Hoc Committee to draft an official explanation of the term, and that

took

10 years. So, what exactly constitutes terrorism?

A mix of those definitions results in something like this: terrorism is violence, or the threat

of violence, against non-combatants or civilians, usually motivated by political, religious

or

ideological beliefs.

Outside of that broad definition, it might be better to explain terrorism by talking

about what it

is not.

Terrorism is not organized crime. There are a few key differences. One is motivation.

Terrorism is usually politically or socially motivated. Organized crime is profit motivated.

Secondly, people in organized crime do not usually seek media attention, something terrorists

do. Third, organized crime doesn’t usually desire government recognition, unlike most

Terrorist

groups.

Terrorism is not violence carried out by one mentally ill person. This can be confusing,

because when it comes to violent acts, it’s not immediately apparent who is sane and who

is

insane. For example, Man Haron Monis took hostages in an

Australian cafe in December 2014. He claimed that it was an official attack on Australia

by the

Islamic State. However, after the siege ended, many people, like Australia’s Prime Minister,

agreed that he was mentally ill at the time and thus should not be considered a terrorist.

Monis

was killed in the siege and his true intentions and affiliations remain unknown. Research

shows

that 40% of “lone wolf” attacks are perpetrated by mentally ill individuals.

Terrorism is not violence perpetrated by a government against another nation. If a nation

commits an act of violence, it’s usually referred to as an “act of war” or, under

certain

circumstances, an act of “self-defense”. There are some exceptions to this rule. If

a nation

indirectly commits an act of terrorism by funding a terrorist organization or covertly

organizing

the terrorist act, that is still considered by some, like the United States, to be a terrorist

action.

Terrorism is also not an act of violence by a government against it’s own people. Nations

like

Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia had a history of terrorizing their own civilians, but those

were

generally considered to be acts of oppression or repression and not terrorism.

These definitions are based on how the UN, the U.S., and many international Scholars

interpret these terms. If you disagree or have a dissenting opinion, you are not alone.

As we

said at the top this, “terrorism” is notoriously hard to define and often used to mean many

different things by pundits, politicians, and the media.

If you want to know more, watch this video on “Why Terrorist Groups Can’t Last Forever”.

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