ABSTRACT
The United States has been slower than some other Western democracies in developing definitions and coping strategies for domestic terrorism, the patterns observed may help to clarify the strengths and weaknesses of the profiles of terrorists, their patterns of training, and the philosophies that motivate them. Violence during the Revolution has often been justified by the Machiavellian philosophy of the ends justifying the means, an operational philosophy frequently claimed by modern revolutionary groups. Ted Robert Gurr suggested that the categories be called vigilante terrorism, insurgent terrorism, and transnational terrorism. Blindness to the impact of globalization on the peoples and the economies of many in the developing world, ignorance of the anger felt against the United States for its policies in the Middle East, and a lambent isolationism that has colored United States domestic life since its birth have all contributed to its tardy awareness of the threat of domestic terrorism.
