Deck 2: Terrorism Definitions and Typologies

Question 1

The __________________________ permits Great Britain to indefinitely detain, without charge or trial, foreign nationals suspected of terrorism.

A) Reinsurance Act of 1993
B) Homeland Security Act of the United Kingdom
C) Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2000
D) The Patriot Act

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Robert Mugabe regards NATO as a terrorist organization for their bombing campaign against Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi, because they bombed civilians.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Typology is

A) the studying of how typing messages and other forms of communication are useful to people.
B) a coherent and unified approach to understanding terrorists perfectly.
C) a method used to place actors or groups in categories for better understanding.
D) legalized governmental stereotyping.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

There was a horrific shooting in Norway carried out by Anders Behring Breivik, who calmly spent an hour dispatching some 76 individuals, some mere teenagers. How was he described by the media?

A) He was seen as a "lone wolf" and a "crazy person."
B) They described him as a sort of evolved form of a suicide bomber.
C) The media largely ignored it because more important things were happening at the time.
D) They hailed him as a hero in fighting for the cause of his people's freedom.

Question 5

Which best summarizes the FBI definition of terrorism?

A) The FBI has struggled to find a definition of terrorism and so they really just call it terrorism based on whether or not public opinion supports them on it or not.
B) The important elements are that it involves explosives and large devastation to innocent bystanders.
C) It focuses on international terrorism because of the recent events in the Middle East.
D) It is the unlawful use of force to intimidate people for political or social objectives.

Question 6

Compared to Professor Combs' definition of terrorism, which of the following items is missing in its original form in the FBI definition of terrorism?

A) That it must come from religious extremists.
B) That terrorism may come from states.
C) That terrorism may be domestic.
D) That it is committed against innocents.

Question 7

Which of the following is the United Nations' attempt at a definition of terrorism?

A) It is convoluted and self-referential, making it challenging to understand.
B) It included a clause referring to state terrorism, which made it difficult to pass.
C) It was too lenient on individuals knowingly contributing to terrorism.
D) It excluded those nations involved in the United Nations so as to increase membership to avoid repercussions.

Question 8

The United Nations' definition of terrorism focused on harm to individuals but made no mention of damage to property.

Question 9

What was the result of the United Nations' weeklong negotiation on the definition of terrorism?

A) It stalled after wasting time for a week and no conclusion was reached.
B) It nearly resulted in another world war when several countries withdrew from the United Nations because of it.
C) Several definitions were submitted and because none could gather a majority vote, no official definition resulted.
D) They handed the issue to global researches and have committed themselves to whatever definition they come up with.

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT an element of Brian Jenkins' characterization of the term "terrorism?"

A) Its use implies moral wrongdoing.
B) It is a negative term.
C) There is a widely accepted definition by most of the modern world.
D) It is a subjective term that depends on the person using it.

Question 11

Comparing Hoffman's definition of terrorism with that of Jenkins, which is a similarity?

A) That violence is committed against civilian targets.
B) There is a clear focus on sub-national groups and a lack of any mention of state terrorism.
C) It is only meant to affect the immediate victim or target.
D) Terrorist acts are separate from crimes and should be treated differently.

Question 12

Dr. Ganor, in his definition of terrorism, believes that Chairman Arafat was wrong - one man's terrorist is everyone's terrorist.

Question 13

Dr. Ganor says that, "Surprisingly, many in the Western world have accepted the mistaken assumption that ___________________."

A) terrorism and national liberation are two extremes in the scale of legitimate use of violence
B) terrorism only comes from outside entities and is rarely domestic.
C) we can actually come up with a definition for terrorism that everyone can agree on.
D) understanding terrorism will help us to solve it.

Question 14

Dr. Salah Sultan told a group of demonstrators that Egyptians meeting "Zionists" should ____________.

A) kill them
B) learn from them
C) treat them with the honor of being guests in their houses
D) ignore them

Question 15

Dr. Ganor's definition of terrorism is described as

A) unfair because it doesn't acknowledge as morally right the plight of unfortunate citizens fighting against an unlawful government.
B) encouraging peace because any war between countries would be terrorism on the part of both.
C) an objective examination of the facts because it is free from bias.
D) too easy on terrorists that merely wage economic war.

Question 16

It seems justified to employ terrorism in the case of ______________, such as the situation between Syria and its citizens.

A) an oppressive government
B) seeking revenge for loved ones
C) hyperinflation
D) strict limitations on religious freedom

Question 17

In the context of terrorism, a typology is

A) a response to terrorism, but it is confusing and limiting.
B) a system of classification based on various characteristics or tactics of groups committing terrorism.
C) the study of how typing messages and other forms of communication can promote terrorism.
D) not always applicable, since it only focuses on sub-state terrorism.

Question 18

There remains disagreement about what a terrorist typology should contain, and no unified typology that everyone agrees on exists yet.

Question 19

Using a typology can be helpful for _____________ but in doing so, more focus may be placed on ________________.

A) reducing terrorism; terrorism than crime
B) analysis; short term goals instead of long term ones
C) extremists; the outliers in terrorism
D) defining terrorism; getting everyone to agree on it

Question 20

Frederick Hacker presented a typology with three elements, which are

A) ghosts, gunners, and grave-fillers.
B) nations, nutters, and not-for-profits.
C) bombers, bleeders, and blazers.
D) crazies, crusaders, and criminals.

Question 21

Using Frederick Hacker's typology, Osama Bin Laden demonstrates the characteristics of

A) having a strong self-preservation attitude; selfish; seeks gain and is task-oriented; avoids high risk; predictably targets small groups
B) none of the typologies actually apply to him, we don't know enough to make an accurate judgment.
C) a strong survival attitude, but not based in reality; self-centered; goals clear only to perpetrator; irrational and unpredictable; strikes at random
D) a death attitude; blends politics and religion; seldom willing to negotiate; task-oriented and indifferent to risk; seeks publicity and largest group possible

Question 22

Groups can be in more than one category in some typologies - they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT a primary motivator given in the terrorism typology by William G Cunningham?

A) Revenge
B) Political Ideology
C) Ethno-nationalism
D) Religious Extremism

Question 24

Syria's acts of terrorism are an example of state terrorism. According to the Cunningham typology, what is the "Action Type" of these acts of terrorism?

A) State Performed
B) State Sponsored
C) State Funded
D) Internal Repression

Question 25

Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were motivated by Religious extremism. He was a

A) cult and sect - his symbolic targets were based on relationship to a cult or sect
B) revolutionary - his symbolic targets were based on a relationship to support of the state
C) separatist - his symbolic targets were based on a relationship to state
D) fundamentalist - his symbolic targets were based on a relationship to fundamentalist religious worldview

Question 26

Religious and suicide terrorism are sometimes referred to as ________________.

A) secularist terrorism
B) explosive terrorism
C) new terrorism
D) extremist terrorism

Question 27

Religious based terror can be particularly dangerous because

A) so many governments in the Middle East are theocracies and so it is also state terrorism.
B) it spreads very quickly, gaining new recruits by the thousands in some places.
C) if imposed, such religions will set back science for centuries and we will probably enter into another dark age.
D) they view violence as sanctioned by a higher power and their duty is to engage in violence to overthrow a state.

Question 28

Which is NOT an issue in typologies mentioned by Ross?

A) Typologies may be too general.
B) Typologies include exceptions.
C) Typologies can provide little connection to theory-building.
D) Typologies can be conceptually confusing.

Question 29

People should be aware of the _________________ of an individual, organization, and even a nation in the definition of terrorism by that entity.

A) ideology and purpose
B) source of income
C) cultural achievements
D) extremist sympathies

Question 30

The United Nations has trouble arriving at a definition of terrorism because

A) they can't even agree on a typology.
B) too many of them are worried they will be accused of terrorism themselves.
C) it is a large body with conflicting interests.
D) to define terrorism would be to limit what can be called terrorism.

Question 31

Brian Jenkins says, "What is called terrorism seems to depend _______________________."

A) on where the act takes place
B) on one's point of view
C) on how many people someone kills
D) on how many times an individual or group has crossed a moral line

Question 32

Once a group has been labeled with terrorism, everything that the group does is labeled as an act of terrorism.

Question 33

Chairman Arafat says that "one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter," but Jenkins says that

A) one man's terrorist is everyone's terrorist.
B) he actually agrees.
C) freedom is not fought for with bullets.
D) calling someone a "terrorist" or a "freedom fighter" is really meaningless.

Question 34

Governments, their armies, and their secret police may also be considered terrorists because of actions like

A) torture and assassination.
B) political ad campaign mud-slinging.
C) holding secret trials for terrorists behind closed doors.
D) waging economic wars that incur large national debts.

Question 35

Irish terrorists blowing up other Irishmen in Belfast would not be considered

A) terrorism, since it had criminal motives.
B) domestic terrorism.
C) international terrorism.
D) sub-state terrorism.

Question 36

Jenkins believes that the trend of terrorist operations by states is declining.

Question 37

Transnational terrorism is terrorism that is

A) maintained within just one nation.
B) another name for state terrorism.
C) limited to mostly just plane hijackings by extremist religious organizations.
D) carried out by basically autonomous non-state actors, whether or not they enjoy some degree of support from sympathetic states.

Question 38

Determining whether or not the shelling of an Israeli Kibbutz or the bombing of Hanoi is an act of international terrorism is unproductive debate because

A) whether or not they were terrorism, they had to happen.
B) those events took place during a war.
C) no one wants to talk about it anyway.
D) the United Nations won't come up with a definition of terrorism so that we can classify it.

Question 39

The borderline separating political motives from highly personal motives and purely criminal motives is not always clear.

Question 40

With a fairly precise definition of terrorism, many decisions are objective and easily made.

Question 41

The year 1975 was called "The Year of the Terrorist" because a drastic increase in terrorism was seen in the world.

Question 42

Public perceptions of the level of terrorism is actually influenced by

A) the number of times per year the most active terrorist strikes.
B) location, religious views and nationality of the terrorist(s).
C) the number of natural disasters that also occur that year.
D) how insane the terrorist appears to be, since it will attract media coverage.

Question 43

____________ seem to have a greater impact than ________________ on the perceived level of terrorism.

A) Frequency of attacks; total devastation caused
B) Suicide bombers; other bombers
C) Hostage incidents; murder
D) Criminals; state terrorism

Question 44

These studies collecting information and creating statistics have been useful in

A) almost nothing; however, we hope that with more research we may be able to find a use for it.
B) hostage situations and creating profiles of hijackers.
C) helping people see terrorism objectively and not panicking.
D) establishing world peace.

Question 45

While there seem to be patterns to terrorist activity, we cannot assume that the historical record offers firm footing for predictions because

A) we fear the moral consequences of making an ethnography which would give us a firm footing for predictions.
B) terrorism is a fast-moving subject.
C) we don't actually know that much about the history of terrorism.
D) terrorists are really just trying to trick us into thinking we know more than we do.

Question 46

Develop classes in your own typology and support your choices with reasons.

Question 47

In the case of governments oppressing their own citizens (violently or not), is it terrorism for the citizens to use unlawful force to fight back? Explain why or why not.