Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

INTRODUCTION • liiiAnother common element of terrorism as purposeful action is thatthe terrorist act is a form of communication meant to send a messageof fear and intimidation, not just to the immediate victims but also toa broader audience. An often-quoted definition notes that “terrorism isthe threat of violence and the use of fear to coerce, persuade, and gainpublic attention.” 4 Terrorism, then, is a form of “armed propaganda,” apotent way not only to communicate but also to send a message in anage dominated by the mass media.TYPES OF TERRORISM: THE PRIMACY OF POLITICSWhile in practice it is not always clear whether a given terrorist act isthe work of “crusaders, criminals, or crazies,” 5 since even criminals willtry to justify their acts through a political pretext, there is basic agreementthat terrorism is a form of political violence and action. There is,however, a reluctance to append the word “political” to a terrorist actsince it is feared that doing so will transform the criminal into a politicalactor and so confer some degree of legitimacy upon the act. Nevertheless,the political content of terrorism has largely been acceptedin the scholarly literature. While there are many definitions of politicalterrorism, Grant Wardlaw’s pioneering effort tightly defines its majorcharacteristics: “Political terrorism is the use, or threat of use, of violenceby an individual or a group, whether acting for or in oppositionto established authority, when such action is designed to create extremeanxiety and/or fear-inducing effects in a target group larger than the immediatevictims with the purpose of coercing that group into accedingto the political demands of the perpetrators.” 6From this basis, scholars have sought to establish typologies toidentify different types of terrorism as a foundation for comparativeanalysis. One of the most useful is the dichotomy developed by T. P.Thornton, who differentiates between “enforcement terrorism” and“agitational terror.” The former is also called “terror from above” andis used by governments and authorities to maintain their control and tosuppress threats to their own power. The latter is used by those whowish to replace, transform, or destroy the existing order. 7 This basictypology is exceedingly useful, for it recognizes that terror is not aninstrument used only by those supporting the status quo, a liberal viewoften used to justify violence against the state, nor is it an instrument