Explaining Political Terrorism

Abstract

This chapter examines political terrorism: violent acts aimed at, and communicated to, audiences for the purpose of realizing public policy goals or collective aspirations. We consider and answer key questions concerning conceptualizing and defining political terrorism and how it may be best understood as communicatively constituted violence; who engages in terrorist activity and on behalf of whom, such as insurgent forces and the state, as well as hybrid organizations? why do people and states engage in terrorism? what are their strategic calculations and underlying motivations? Is terrorism a successful method of attaining political goals? and what are the costs and consequences of counterterrorism?