Học tập - Tư liệu

 1.1 Introduction Terrorism is a highly complex, highly subjective and politically sensitive topic.  In this chapter we will address some of this complexity, subjectivity and sensitivity. We will show why and how terrorism is receiving much attention from both the media and governments and how it impacts on societies. Discussing the geographical distribution of attacks and casualties we will arrive at what can be called the defi nition problem of terrorism. We will explore the questions about what can be labelled terrorism and what not, and why it is actually important (and diffi cult) to defi ne the term. Finally, we discuss the nature of terrorism: what it is about, what it does it to society, and how it works. Th at terrorism indeed has an impact on society we can read in the papers and see on television and on the internet. In fact, terrorism is making headlines almost every day and almost everywhere around the globe. In recent years, major attacks or series of attacks hav...

  Department of Political Science University of California at Los Angeles Los Angeles CA 90095-1472 rapoport@polisci.ucla.edu September 11, 2001 is the most destructive day in the long bloody history of rebel terrorism. The casualties and the economic damage were unprecedented. It could be the most important day too. President Bush declared a “war” to eliminate terror, (2)  galvanizing a response that could reshape the international world. Exactly 100 years ago, we heard a similar appeal. An Anarchist assassinated President William McKinley in September 1901, moving the new president Theodore Roosevelt to summon a worldwide crusade to exterminate terrorism everywhere. (3) Will we succeed this time? No one knows, but even a brief acquaintance with the history of terrorism should make us more sensitive to the difficulties ahead. To this end, I will briefly describe rebel terrorism in the last 135 years to show how deeply implanted it has become in modern culture. The discussion ...