Importance of Establishing an Internationally Agreed Definition of Terrorism

qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw
ertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert
yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiop
asdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd
fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfgh
jklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjkl
zxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvb
nmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm
Terrorism Law

1
Terrorism is referred to the unlawful use of violence and intimidation which is used especially
against civilians in order to achieve political aims. It can dramatically influence the entire
world in a negative manner as depicted by major terrorist attacks such September 11
attacks, Massacre of Trujillo, Beslan school hostage crisis and others. The governments in
different countries are focused on implementing policies which are focused on addressing
the issue of terrorism. It is a global issue which affects people around the world, however,
there are no appropriate actions taken by the governments to address this issue effectively.1
Collectively there are many challenges which make it difficult for the governments to ensure
that they address this problem at a global stage. One of the key challenges which make it
difficult for governments to stop terrorism is that there is no internationally agreed definition
of terrorism. It is considered as a major problem since governments are not able to form
laws which regulate the operations of all countries which is crucial for effectively dealing with
the issue of terrorism.2 Defining what terrorism is assists in developing policies in the
international criminal law which are targeted towards reducing the threat of terrorist attacks.
However, it did not mean that only establishing a definition will solve the problem of terrorism
in the world, still, it is a step towards reducing its impact on the public. The objective of this
essay is to evaluate the importance of establishing an internally agreed definition of terrorism
will assist in making a fight against this issue more effectively. The thesis will argue that
there are various benefits of establishing a globally accepted definition of terrorism which will
be considered as a step towards addressing this issue.
The United Kingdom uses the same legal definition in every situation while defining
“terrorism”; this definition is given in section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000.3 As per this
definition, terrorism is referred to political, religious, or ideological violence in an
asymmetrical conflict which is designed in order to induce terror and psychic fear among
individuals which is occurred in order to influence the government or an international
1 Cynthia C Combs, Terrorism in the twenty-first century (Routledge 2017).
2 Albert J Jongman, Political terrorism: A new guide to actors, authors, concepts, data bases, theories,
and literature (Routledge 2017).
3 Terrorism Act 2000 s 1

2
governmental organisation. As per this definition, the action which falls within the category of
terrorism if serious violence is conducted against a person that involve serious damage to
property endangers a person’s life, create serious risk for health or safety of the public or
which is designed in order to interfere or disrupt an electronic system. This definition is
vague, broad and widely criticised by experts, academics and courts. Still, no actions are
taken by the government or other authorities to provide a definition which is considered as
“one size fits all”.4 The notion of implementing a single definition of terrorism outlines a wide
range of difficulties; however, this idea will also assist in determining the powers which can
be exercised in respect of addressing the issue of terrorism. The idea of providing a “one
size fits all” definition of terrorism was considered as a search for ‘Holy Grail’ by Nicholas J
Perry in its study. Perry provided that the search for finding a common definition of terrorism
is pursued by law and various other branches relating to the concept of social science.5
One of the first steps while establishing the definition will be to assume that such
phenomenon exists as a concept. It provides that the terrorism has oscillated in meaning
based on a wide range of factors such as the time period or the location where it is being
applied. Many experts argue that the concept of terrorism tracks back to the French
Revolution and Maximilien Robespierre’s ‘reign of terror’ between 1792 and 1794. Moreover,
the mention of the word ‘terrorism’ was first included in the Oxford English Dictionary in
1795. This definition was considered as ‘too literal and too historical’. Bruce Hoffmann
provided that this definition is not ‘of much use’ in order to define terrorism and thoroughly
understand this concept.6 Hoffmann provides that the definition is insufficient for the purpose
of accurately depicting the phenomena which we called terrorism. The definition of terrorism
has deviated from its original meaning as the number of State-sponsored violence attacks
which are designed to induce terror and fear among individuals grows on a global stage. In
4 Joseph K Young and Michael G Findley, ‘Promise and pitfalls of terrorism research’, (2011) 13 (3)
International Studies Review 411-431.
5 Nicholas J Perry, ‘The Numerous Federal Legal Definitions of Terrorism: The Problem of Too Many
Grails,’ (2004) 30 J. Legis 249.
6 Antonia Ward, ‘How do you define terrorism?’ (2018) < https://www.rand.org/blog/2018/06/how-do-
you-define-terrorism.html> accessed 6 January 2019.

3
the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the word ‘terrorism’ started to use for
referring to anarchists; a good example was assassination of the US President William
McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz. During this period, the word was connected with
‘freedom fighters’ which was used to define the guerrilla warfare, assassination techniques
and bombings tactics used in the struggle of Irish Independence from Britain.
The use of terrorism as a State-sponsored or State-targeted act was defined with the
beginning of Nazi Germany which later leads to the beginning of World War II and the
decline of the European empires. Today, the key challenge relating to providing a globally
accepted definition of terrorism is that parties find it difficult to distinguish the terror caused
by freedom fighters to achieve their independence goals or the State committed actions of
terror.7 Terrorism is considered as a social construct which means that it influences society
and this context varies upon the historical and political context. Consequently, it becomes
challenging to provide a definition of terrorism without spawning a vast array of different
paradigms, branches of knowledge and methodologies. There are specific types of terrorism
studies which are considered as cultural anthropology which views terrorists as natives that
are necessary to study in order to understand completely. This approach focuses on
understanding the actions taken by the terrorist actor in order to define the term terrorism.
The contrasting approaches which are focused on understanding terrorism are focused on
labelling the terrorists as such. These theories are considered as subjective in nature. These
approaches show that different meaning of the word ‘terrorism’ for people and cultures which
creates challenges for implementing an approach which fits everyone.
Along with difference in theories, the need for defining terrorism also varies based on
different fields and understandings. While conducting studies in this context, criminologists
and sociologists are required to define the parameters of their study, therefore, they are
required to understand a common definition. A survey conducted in 1988 provided that there
7 Bruce Gregor, ‘Definition of terrorism social and political effects,’ (2013) 21 (2) Journal of Military and
Veterans Health 26.