Background: 

When we attempt to define terrorism, it can be a very difficult task depending on a person’s viewpoint or position in a given society. The meaning of terrorism changes within social and historical contexts. The term terrorism is a social constructòoups construct a frame work around a concept, providing a definition through the meanings they attribute to the construct. The social context surrounding the term terrorism influences how it is defined 4he historical, political, and criminological circumstances at a given point in time affect the way in which terrorism is defined.  The definition can even become more complex in war zones when the media and politicians combine elements of al Qaeda and Taliban into one organization. 

While there is no international standard definition for terrorism; however, the consensus definition involves that someone is terrorized and meaning of the term is derived from the terrorists’ targets and victims. Terrorism is a pejorative term, meaning that the term is laden with derogatory meanings and misunderstood. If we look at U.S. State Department view of Hezbollah, the State Department has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group whereas Jordan views Hezbollah as a legitimate militia. 

Early history of terrorism shows that terrorism was used to maintain power or to overthrow those in power. Sicarii Zealots, a Jewish group, is an example of an early terrorist organization that was active during the Roman occupation of Middle East in the first century. Their name came from the short dagger which they used to commit their murders, mostly against other Jews who were deemed traitors. The assassins were named Sicari (dagger men) by Romans.

The modern understanding of terrorism originated from the French Revolution from 1789-1799. The term used to describe the repressive actions of the French government against the masses. The meaning of terrorism soon transformed to refer to guerilla tactics in the Napoleonic wars. In guerrilla war, guerrillas use terrorist tactics against their enemies, and may terrorize enemies and their supporters into submission.

This provides us with a baseline of the understanding of terrorism and historical context from which it came.  It is an evolving concept which probably continue to change in the future dependent of political and social perception.

Question:
As you examine the terrorism paradigm, there are both domestic, international, and transnational elements, seeking to do harm to the United States and its citizenry. Identify which terroristic element who believe to be the most dangerous to the United States and why? There are no wrong answers per se and consider this an opportunity to use critical thinking to address a very important homeland security issue.

Week #2 Lecture Notes

• PDF – Global Terrorism Overview- Terrorism in 2019
• Is it terrorism or mass murder? That depends on our biases.
• PDF – Defining Terrorism- Is One Man’s Terrorist Another Man’s Freedom Fighter?
• PDF – START-Profiles of Perpetrators of Terrorism in the US-Research Highlight (July 2014)

PDF – A Dark & Constant Rage/ 25 years of Right-Wing Terrorism in the United States

• Sovereign Citizens Movement

Access the Global Terrorism Database at https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/ and practice with a data search.

• Access the Counter Extremist Project at https://www.counterextremism.com/ and practice with a terrorist organization search (i.e. Boko Haram).

Access the Southern Poverty Law Center at https://www.splcenter.org/ and practice with a search on an extremist or extremist group.

• Access the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point at https://ctc.usma.edu/ and review/search the centeràinformation for individuals, groups or organization of your interest.