How can we distinguish terrorism from other acts of political violence?

1 Answer
Psykolord1989 .
Nov 9, 2017

The purpose. Terrorism, by definition, is designed to inspire terror, and is employed against civilians.

Explanation:

Terrorism consists of actions performed publicly, against civilians, without a specific individual target (i.e. indiscriminately),with the purpose of causing pain and terror, in the hopes of furthering the perpetrators'ideological goals.

See: http://scalar.usc.edu/works/aum-shinrikyo/differences-between-terrorist-acts-and-other-types-on-political-violence

By contrast, an assault upon an enemy military group, even if it causes terror, is considered a form of warfare. Targeting a specific enemy individual, even if the indicidual is a civilian, is more accurately an act of assassination.

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