ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how terrorism has been defined, politically and legally. Terrorism, and the war on terrorism, has possibly become the most important security theme of the twenty-first century. A conundrum, acknowledged by Mallison and Mallison, is created by the fact that since political scientists cannot agree on the physical reality of what terrorism is international lawyers do not have a factual definition upon which they can base a legal definition. Their goal was realised with the elimination of the individual concerned, whereas modern terrorism has a broader objective: the main target is usually not the particular individuals who are killed; rather it is the intended demonstrative effect of the killing on the wider social and political environment, including the foreign policy of the victim's government. The Reign of Terror which occurred during the French Revolution is the period from which the term terrorism is etymologically derived.
