Internaltion Political Topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Internaltion Political Topic - Essay Example What is a terrorist and how does one define terrorism? The age old adage that â€Å"one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter† (Bergesen & Lizardo 2004) rings true and the term terrorist has been notoriously difficult to define. Seeking to address the difficult definitional questions surrounding these terms, this essay will compare and contrast definitions offered by scholars at the forefront in the study of the terrorist phenomenon. Despite the definitional challenges surrounding the terrorist phenomenon, a definition of â€Å"terrorism† is integral and this term must be defined so as to provide our theoretical basis. Bruce Hoffman, world renowned terror scholar and expert of the use of terror as a political tool, understands the slippery nature of defining the term and argues that first and foremost, terrorism is a political concept. Secondly, terror is about power and the use of this power to enact political change (Hoffman 2007). Another pro minent international terror theorist, Gà ©rard Chaliand, argues that terror is a tool which targets the mind. From this perspective, terror is â€Å"the most violent form of psychological warfare† (Chaliand et al. 1999) and terrorism is a means to power and control through violent means. While both of these definitions shed insight into the terrorist phenomenon, Dr. Mia Bloom, the world’s foremost expert on the suicide terror phenomenon, defines terrorism in a different fashion. According to Bloom, terrorism is â€Å"premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetuated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience† (Bloom 2005). Taken together, all of these definitions are comprehensive enough to guide this essay and complement our analysis of the global terrorist phenomenon. As has been thoroughly documented,