ABSTRACT
All societies use some degree of violence, ranging from personal violence to mass level political violence like terrorism, ethnic cleansing, or aerial bombing campaigns. Terrorism and guerrilla warfare are often labeled as unjust and illegitimate precisely because certain acts of violence fall outside the framework of what is claimed as just and moral political violence. The key distinction of terrorism and guerrilla warfare is that guerrillas mainly target combatants, militaries, security forces, or police, deliberately chosen because of their role as security forces for the state. Unfortunately for the reputation of the Middle East, the vast majority of today's terrorist and guerrilla groups are Islamic or Muslim, followers of Islam, the majority faith of all Middle Eastern states with the exception of Israel. Radical Islam is a concept often confused with fundamentalism or Islamic revivalism, but radical Islam is a significant step beyond Islamic revivalism.
