This chapter criticizes several definitions of ‘terrorism’ and offers the following definition: Terrorism is the strategy of intimidating or impressing others than the immediate victims or targets of violence by the repeated threat, made credible by corresponding acts, the repeated killing or severe harming of innocents, or the repeated destruction or severe harming of their property. This implies that not all deliberate attacks on civilians are terrorist in intent. Several attempts to justify terrorism proper are considered, and all but one is rejected. Under certain circumstances terrorism...

This chapter criticizes several definitions of ‘terrorism’ and offers the following definition: Terrorism is the strategy of intimidating or impressing others than the immediate victims or targets of violence by the repeated threat, made credible by corresponding acts, the repeated killing or severe harming of innocents, or the repeated destruction or severe harming of their property. This implies that not all deliberate attacks on civilians are terrorist in intent. Several attempts to justify terrorism proper are considered, and all but one is rejected. Under certain circumstances terrorism can be justified, but such a justification is more difficult for strong parties, such as states, than for weak ones, such as sub-national actors.