ABSTRACT
The irreparable harm suffered by the suicide terrorist-to-be lies in the utter destruction of his affective world and of the objects that confer meaning on his existence. In extreme traumatic situations, where devastation is a daily fact of life, splitting and oblivion are not effective instruments for detachment from pain. With the spread of terrorism throughout the world, destructiveness has taken on an unprecedented aspect that we ourselves are ill-prepared to confront. Contemporary terrorism manifestly represents a step change in the quality of aggressive relations between peoples; it is an entirely new phenomenon on which it is not easy to reflect. The danger can only increase if we yield to the enticements of terrorism or respond simply by demonizing it and attempting to repress it by military means. When faced with terrorism and counter-terrorist violence, we risk becoming passive spectators of the onslaught on the structures of human society.
