ABSTRACT
Terrorism is calculated political violence, premeditated to have the maximum effect on those untouched by the actual attacks. Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert, put it simply: terrorism is theatre. Throughout history, the uses of terrorism have been manifold—indeed, to recount a history of terrorism is to first demand what people mean by terrorism. Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible; it is therefore an emanation of virtue. Maximilien Robespierre's Great Terror of 1793-94 popularized the term "terrorism" and, for the first time, recommended its systematic application in reaching the goals of a state. The nineteenth century saw other advocates of systematic political violence, although some fail Jenkins' terrorism-is-theatre test. The twentieth century saw an explosion in the use of terrorism, possibly because the increasing sophistication of munitions made it possible for smaller and smaller groups to inflict large amounts of damage.
