AS.190.209 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Arab Spring, Appeasement, Islamic Terrorism

• School: JHU
• Department: AS Political Science
• Course: AS.190.209
• Professor: David, Steven R

Document Summary

Talk about the definition of terrorism, its historical background, motivations of terrorism, and the events of 9/11 and paris. Talk about the causes of terrorism, how one can combat terrorism, and the relationship of realism to terrorism. Definition: terrorism is the deliberate violence against non-combatants to induce fear for a political purpose. There are three key elements: 1) it"s premeditated doesn"t happen spontaneously; 2) it"s political; 3) it"s aimed at civilians. This definition of terrorism holds even if you believe the cause is just, but if they target civilians, they are engaging in terrorism. Seen in this light, terrorism is a tactic a means to an end. As such, when you talk about a war against terrorism, it is misleading. The supposed war against terrorism is in fact a war against islamic extremists, not islam itself the tiny minority that invokes islam as a motivating force to commit terrorist acts.