Student Dialogue on Defining Terrorism

Washington, DC, July 27, 2007 --(PR.com)-- On July 17, 2007 the director of national intelligence issued a report to the president on the new terrorist threat to the United States. Findings released to the public indicate that, although non-Muslim terrorist organizations pose a threat to the United States, the largest threat will stem from radical Islamic terrorist organizations, with al-Qaeda remaining the most prominent of these threats. The initial step to combating these terrorist organizations is defining them. Which it seems many countries have had difficulty with in the post 9/11 world. A visit to the Center for Advanced Defense Studies classroom reveals ongoing debate on issues of defining terrorism.

Prior to the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, terrorism was dealt with by the world community in a piece-meal format. Terrorist acts were the framework upon which conceptions of terrorism existed. After the September 11 attacks, countries scrambled to define terrorism in order to outline a more solid shape with which to grapple. It was not until 2004 that the UN Security Council established a definition of terrorism, long after individual nations had begun operating in terms of their own varied conceptualizations of terrorism. In many cases, individual nations incorporated their perceptions of what forms of terrorism were most directly threatening to their countries into their definitions of terrorism.

It may be no large surprise that different nations operate based on different conceptions of terrorism. However within the United States itself the numerous governmental organizations working to combat terrorism present a variety of definitions, some stressing the political motivation of terrorists, others the premeditated nature of the violence, and still others emphasizing violence or the threat of violence as a manifestation of terrorism.

Serious discussion and debate developed among students of the Center for Advanced Defense Studies course titled “Examining Terrorist Groups” about these problematic definitions. A dialogue ensued when Professor Juliana Pilon described one method of classifying terrorist groups according to the main intent behind terrorist actions. Dr. Pilon emphasized the basic political motivation behind groups classified as terrorist organizations while also presenting other motivations within which terrorism operates including; separatist, ethnocentric, nationalistic, revolutionary, ideological, religious, social, and international motivations. While the categories function in enabling analysts to classify terrorist organizations according to root intent, students debated the usefulness of this classification system, given that terrorist organizations typically function with a combination of these intents. The CADS classroom progressed to discuss how to classify organizations in which, only a portion of the members perform terrorist acts and whether or not politically and socially motivated domestic organizations should be classified as terrorist organizations if only a small portion of their followers commit acts of violence; as in the case of domestic environmental and animal rights activist groups in the United States.

The publicly released version of the new national intelligence report emphasizes that the most dangerous and prominent threats in the coming years will stem from religiously motivated terrorist organizations, but as students at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies learned in constructing categories for terrorism, few terrorist groups or acts fit easily within one-dimensional motivational constructs. Terrorist organizations may emerge from systems of social inequality, rally around a fusion of religious and ideological beliefs while operating internationally. In order to grapple with emerging terrorist threats and understand their political and social roots in society, students at CADS explore terrorist groups as dynamic and multi-dimensional organizations. The July 19, 2007 discussion in “Examining Terrorist Groups” is part of an ongoing dialogue and education program promoted by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. CADS is a non-profit, non-governmental institute joining experts from the government, military, academic, and private sectors with the goal of promoting innovative education, research, and action for the promotion of global security. More information on the CADS courses can be found at www.c4ads.org/education.

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