IS 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: United States Code, State Terrorism, Piracy Off The Coast Of Somalia
4 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Terrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience (title 22, united states code) Very difficult to define in a way that is acceptable to a broad range of relevant actors (states, individuals, groups) Because the word itself carries a heavy moral connotation. Has a strong moral judgement attached to it. There are political interests involved on using violence. The goal of terrorism is to spread fear. Not always to inflict cost on particular targets but to spread a message through violence (usually against civilians) Michael waltzer argues that the word terrorism should be reserved, and resist using it in an expansive ways. There are other negative terms that can be applied to acts of violence. Terrorism is violence that intentionally targets non-combatants in a random way (even within a particular chosen group).
