The Indefinable Concept of Terrorism

As the concept of terrorism fulfils multiple functions, thebetter way to think of terrorism is not as a crime but as adifferent dimension of crime, a higher, more dangerous versionof crime, a kind of super-crime incorporating some of the characteristicsof warfare. There are at least eight primary factors that bearon terrorism: the factor of violence; the required intention;the nature of the victims; the connection of the offender tothe state; the justice and motive of their cause; the levelof organization; the element of theatre; and the absence ofguilt. However, one cannot draw from these variables a simple(or indeed even a complex) definition of terrorism. The reasonis that not all the factors apply all the time. Any proposeddefinition produces counterexamples. The way to think aboutterrorism is, therefore, to become aware of all the relevantfactors but not to expect that they will all be fulfilled inany particular case. The specific cases of terrorism are relatedthe way the members of a family are related. Most, but not all,might have the same eye shape. Others might have hair colouror the shape of their nose in common; still others might betall or short. One should try to picture a series of overlappingsets in which no set intersects with all the others. That isthe way our intuitions of terrorism operate.