ABSTRACT
The “War on Terror” has not only failed in eradicating its major target, terrorism in and from the Middle East, but terrorists flocked from the West into the Middle East, rendering the task of cleansing the entire globe of the many distinct varieties of terrorism with one approach also impossible. Terrorism can be understood as a distinct political tactic of premeditated and planned message communication rather than irrational and spontaneous acts, a tactic which might be chosen from a portfolio of different tools to achieve organizational goals. Importantly, much recent research debunks the purported causality between socio-economic deprivation and a corresponding resort to terrorism. A general causal relationship appears between political oppression and terrorism. Religious terrorism cannot be eradicated without eroding the knowledge structures that produce terrorism. Metaphysical belief systems are ideologies and may have components that shape the internal logic of terrorism.
