Deck 1: Defining Terrorism

Question 1

Terrorism from below committed by nonstate movements and groups against governments, ethno-national groups, religious groups, and other perceived enemies is referred to as ______.

A) state terrorism
B) dissident terrorism
C) religious terrorism
D) international terrorism

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Indiscriminate force is considered to be a moral use of force when it is applied against specific targets.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

What is the significance of the following statement: "One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter"?

Answer 3

Answer will depend on the student's comprehension of the material.

Question 4

What is the significance of the following statement: "One man willing to throw away his life is enough to terrorize a thousand"?

Question 5

What is the significance of the following statement: "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice"?

Question 6

What is the significance of the following statement: "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it"?

Question 7

Briefly discuss several differences between warfare and terrorism.

Question 8

Why is it critically important for one to understand the nature and quality of extremism when studying the attributes of terrorism?

Question 9

Briefly discuss the official American approach toward defining terrorism.

Question 10

Briefly discuss the importance of context and perspective in the debate over defining terrorism.

Question 11

In what ways do the example of the Cold War revolutionaries suggest that idealism is an important factor in extremist behavior?

Question 12

Briefly critique the official labeling of political opponents and supporters by governments.

Question 13

Discuss the political violence matrix and how it is used to conceptualize modern terrorism.

Question 14

What is extremism? What are its common characteristics? Why is extremism frequently justified by activists as being necessary? Explain your answer.

Question 15

Why are there so many definitions of terrorism? What has been the difficulty in arriving at a common definition? Critique some of these definitions.

Question 16

Few revolutionaries in the developing world, if any, would describe their behavior as terrorism. Yet, many Cold War and post-Cold War revolutionaries engaged in what could be defined as terrorism. Discuss, from their perspective, whether these tactics were acts of terrorism.

Question 17

If terrorism and guerrilla warfare are examples of "poor man's warfare," in your opinion are they therefore necessary and understandable options? If so, why? If not, why not?

Question 18

In what ways do you think the definition of terrorism will change or evolve in the era of the New Terrorism?

Question 19

The New Terrorism will be the predominant terrorist environment for the foreseeable future. In what ways have we all become participants in the modern environment?

Question 20

Identify and discuss the participants of a terrorist environment and how each of them can interpret an incident different.

Question 21

Discuss the difference between terrorism and freedom fighting.

Question 22

Discuss the importance of using political labels to describe friends and foes.