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Why is terrorism so hard to define?By Jenna Barnes| July 26, 2012

WASHINGTON If you search for the word terrorism on CNNs website, youll get more

than 30,000 results. Theres no doubt its a hot topic and a major concern worldwide. But

what exactly is terrorism? As it turns out, theres no simple answer to that question.

The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations defines the word as the unlawful use of force and

violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian

population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives.

Although its generally agreed upon that terrorism is the use of violence to pursue political

aims, defining the word gets trickier the broader you try to cast the scope.

People can agree upon its definition in certain places or contexts, but there are too many

variables for a universal definition, according to Bill Braniff, executive director NationalConsortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

The United Nations has been trying to come up with a definition since long before September

11th, 2001, but they still havent been able to settle on one. The hold-up comes mainly from

Islamic states that want to draw a distinction between acts of terrorism and acts of national

resistance against foreign occupation.

Although the word is hard to define politically, its also culturally relative, meaning people

from different places or cultures often judge the word differently from each other. Accordingto Roger Shuy, professor of Linguistics Emeritus at Georgetown University, the word

terrorism almost always implies otherness.

Its a very ethnocentric term, he said. In a sense its associated with somebody other than

us.

Some Americans automatically associate terrorism with the Middle East we are fighting

the War on Terror over there, after all but that doesnt necessarily mean the West or any

other region is exempt from blame.

Terrorism is a human phenomenon, Braniff said. People of every race, culture and creed

have used violence to forward their political interests.

When Braniff studies acts of terrorism, he categorizes them based on agreed-upon criteria of

the agreed-upon definition for the particular study hes working on. In other words, hes as

objective as possible, given the possible unknowns.

We dont talk about whether the action was right or wrong or good or bad, he said.

Others, however, cant or dont make such objective judgments. Thats because terrorism

is a value-laden term with significant emotional implications. And those emotional semantics

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further complicate the definition.

At a basic human level, youre talking about belief systems and violence, and those are really

emotionally charged things to talk about, Braniff said.

Otherwise, objectively, terrorism is a political tactic plain and simple.

War is an extension of politics by other means, Braniff said. Terrorism is an extension ofpolitics by other means.

The complications that delay defining terrorism arent because of the word itself, but the

politics, culture and emotions associated with it.

Using a different word is not going to change some of those underlying issues, Braniff

said.Theres noting wrong with the word terrorism. Its just that people get really involved

in the emotions and politics.

By Jenna Barnes | Posted on July 26, 2012 | Comments Off

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