Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of intentional violence and fear to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war against non-combatants (mostly civilians and neutral military personnel).[1] There are various different definitions of terrorism, with no universal agreement about it.[2][3]
The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century[4] but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Basque conflict and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States. The Global Terrorism Database, maintained by the University of Maryland, College Park, has recorded more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths, between 2000 and 2014.[5]
Varied political organizations have been accused of using terrorism to achieve their objectives. These include left-wing and right-wing political organizations, nationalist groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.[6]
Terrorism is a charged term. It is often used with the connotation of something that is "morally wrong". Governments and non-state groups use the term to abuse or denounce opposing groups.[3][7][8][9][10] While legislation defining terrorism as a crime has been adopted in many states, the distinction between activism and terrorism remains a complex and debated matter.[11][12] There is no consensus as to whether terrorism should be regarded as a war crime.[11][13] State terrorism is that perpetrated by nation states, but is not considered such by the state conducting it, making legality a grey area.[14]
The term "terrorism" itself was originally used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club during the "Reign of Terror" in the French Revolution. "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible", said Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre. In 1795, Edmund Burke denounced the Jacobins for letting "thousands of those hell-hounds called Terrorists ... loose on the people" of France.[15] John Calvin's rule over Geneva in the 16th century has also been described as a reign of terror.[16][17][18]
The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" gained renewed currency in the 1970s as a result of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict,[19] the Northern Ireland conflict,[20] the Basque conflict,[21] and the operations of groups such as the Red Army Faction.[22] Leila Khaled was described as a terrorist in a 1970 issue of Life magazine.[23] A number of books on terrorism were published in the 1970s.[24] The topic came further to the fore after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings[9] and again after the 2001 September 11 attacks[9][25][26] and the 2002 Bali bombings.[9]