Hundreds of Definitions of Terrorism Issued by Essay

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hundreds of definitions of terrorism issued by scholars in different sciences and government agencies. There is no generally accepted definition for terrorism, although the international law is making use of a legally accepted definition of the term. After having gathered and analyzed hundreds of such definitions, Alex Peter Schmid offered a definition of terrorism that in his view eliminated the numerous questions and misunderstandings previous definitions might have arisen: "Terrorism is a method of combat in which random or symbolic victims serve as an instrumental target of violence. These instrumental victims share group or class characteristics which form the basis for their selection for victimization. Through previous use of violence or the credible threat of violence other members of that group or class are put in a state of chronic fear (terror)…. "

The following two definitions used by government agencies or departments state the following:

Department of Homeland Security -- Federal Emergency Management Agency: "Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom"

State Department: (Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (d)) That statute contains the following definitions: "The term terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience" (U.S. Dep.

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Of State, 2004, "Patterns of Global Terrorism")

R.P Hoffman's definition of terrorism: "Terrorism is a purposeful political activity which is directed toward the creation of a general climate of fear, and is designed to influence, in ways desired by the protagonist, other human beings and, through them, some course of events"

Most of the definitions, the four above included, use the common known concept: "violence" or "force." The definition used by the Department of Homeland Security does not include the type of purposes: political or general, while Hoffman categorizes the purposes of terrorism as "political." Title 22 of the United States Code adds to the concept of "political" that of "premeditation" in its definition of terrorism. The Department of Homeland security excludes the violation of criminal laws other than the U.S. laws, restraining it to the terrorist acts committed on U.S. soil. The same definition used by the State Department does not state the relationship between victims to terrorism and the targeted audience. Schmid offered the most comprehensive definition although it became exhaustive and thus overstepped the boundaries of a classic definition, supporting his choice for the extensive number of concepts he used in his definition with the argument that….....

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