Terrorism is a critical event to correctly describe since there are other minor violence activities which may be mistakenly defined as terrorism. In many cases, it has been established from a functional perspective as a violence campaign which is established to inspire fear. Typically, it is carried out by organizations, and devoted to political ends. According to the United States Intelligence Department, terrorism is premeditated. Besides Lentini ( 2008) argues that terrorism is politically motivated violence and has its perpetrations against non-combatant targets by subnational units or clandestine representatives . Similarly, the legal view of Canada Criminal Code describes terrorism as an omission or act in a part or whole ideological, religious political purpose, intending to intimidate the public about its security.
A close analysis of the definitions shows that some similar aspects are inherent in every terrorism definition. By contrasting the definition by Jenkins (2015) with Hoffman (2006) description, there are main terms included in the definitions to make them valid. The use of “violence” and “political” terms make the definition of terrorism complete and best fit in the expectations of the researchers. Otherwise, in cases where “violence” is not included in the definition of terrorism, the situation is only considered to be a crime. Also, terrorism must have a political target since it has a more significant influence on the general public. However, there are some differences notable from the two definitions by Jenkins and Hoffman in the sense of target groups.
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Jenkins puts forth the idea of taking hostages by the terrorists in the process of conducting terrorism. On a broader view, Jenkins considers the involvement of the general public and the threats directed to them while taken as hostages. According to Jenkins, terrorism has made the new direction to involve social media influence and ability to create more refined weapons through technology (Jenkins, 2015). In contrary to Jenkins definition, Hoffman views the general terrorist activity as guided by a group which does not practically take part in the terrorism process (Hoffman, 2006). Hoffman sees terrorism from the perspective of a backed-up plan like the Islamic State of Iraq movement that carried out terrorism in different parts of the United States. Hoffman considers terrorism as an activity carried out by people who have motives for destroying a given area as revenge.
Jenkins’s definition is a satisfactory definition of terrorism since it entirely covers the scene in depth. Through a comparison of war and global terrorism, Jenkins explains how minor crimes may eventually turn out to be the worst terrorist activities. However, some additional concepts would make the definition more relevant other than the consideration of small group terrorism (Lentini, 2008). Jenkins would have considered the setting of the terrorism as planned by an ally that has motives of revenge, bitterness and political benefits such as overthrowing the current government. In cases where terrorism is viewed as an issue to the general public, there is a more profound sense that the attack is targeted on the whole nation.
In my opinion, terrorism is a planned, intentional move, through violent oppression to suppress the government to accept the terrorists’ demands. Terrorism usually involves brutal manhandling of the victims, where massive deaths and serious injuries are witnessed in areas where terrorism takes place. In a more concrete form, terrorism aims at political destruction due to resistance against leadership or other political interests. However, it is imperative to differentiate between a crime and terrorism since there are misinterpretations of the two aspects. Terrorism is stronger than an offense in the sense that it involves violence to the victims as well as having a political interest.
References
Hoffman, B. (2006). Inside terrorism . Columbia University Press.
Jenkins, B. M. (2015). International terrorism: A new mode of conflict. In International terrorism and world security (pp. 23-59). Routledge.
Lentini, P. (2008). Understanding and combating terrorism: Definitions, origins and strategies. Australian Political Studies Association , 43 (1), 133-140.
