Editing State terrorism (section)

==Definition==

{{See also|Definition of terrorism|Terrorism}}

There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper definition of the word ''terrorism''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Williamson |first=Myra|title=Terrorism, war and international law: the legality of the use of force against Afghanistan in 2001|publisher=Ashgate |year=2009|isbn=978-0-7546-7403-0|page=38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wH3eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38|access-date=2016-05-04|archive-date=2024-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132046/https://books.google.com/books?id=wH3eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Schmid |first=Alex P.|chapter=The Definition of Terrorism|title=The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=978-0-203-82873-1|page=39|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PXpFxKRsHgC&pg=PA39|access-date=2016-01-05|archive-date=2024-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132100/https://books.google.com/books?id=_PXpFxKRsHgC&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Some scholars believe the actions of governments can be labelled "terrorism".<ref>{{Cite book | last1= Nairn | first1= Tom | last2= James | first2= Paul | author-link= Paul James (academic) | title= Global Matrix: Nationalism, Globalism and State-Terrorism | url= https://www.academia.edu/1642325 | year= 2005 | publisher= Pluto Press | location= London and New York | access-date= 2017-11-02 | archive-date= 2021-08-18 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210818025820/https://www.academia.edu/1642325 | url-status= live }}</ref> Using the term 'terrorism' to mean violent action used with the predominant intention of causing terror, [[Paul James (academic)|Paul James]] and [[Jonathan Friedman]] distinguish between state terrorism against [[non-combatant]]s and state terrorism against [[combatant]]s, including "[[shock and awe]]" tactics:

{{blockquote|"Shock and Awe" as a subcategory of "rapid dominance" is the name given to massive intervention designed to strike terror into the minds of the enemy. It is a form of state-terrorism. The concept was however developed long before the Second Gulf War by [[Harlan Ullman]] as chair of a forum of retired military personnel.<ref>{{Cite book | year= 2006 | last1= James | first1= Paul | author-link= Paul James (academic) | last2= Friedman | first2= Jonathan | title= Globalization and Violence |volume=3: Globalizing War and Intervention | url= https://www.academia.edu/3587732 | publisher= Sage Publications | location= London | page= xxx | access-date= 2017-11-02 | archive-date= 2020-01-11 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200111045525/https://www.academia.edu/3587732/Globalization_and_Violence_Vol._3_Globalizing_War_and_Intervention_2006_ | url-status= live }}</ref>}}

However, others, including governments, international organisations, private institutions and scholars, believe the term ''terrorism'' is applicable only to the actions of [[violent non-state actor]]s. This approach is termed as an ''actor-centric'' definition which emphasizes the characteristics of the groups or individuals who use terrorism; whilst act-centric definitions emphasize the unique aspects of terrorism from other acts of violence.<ref name="chenoweth-oxford">{{cite book |last1=Chenoweth |first1=Erica |last2=English |first2=Richard |last3=Gofas |first3=Andrew |last4=Kalyvas |first4=Stathis |title=The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=9780198732914 |page=153 |edition=First |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-terrorism-9780198732914?cc=us&lang=en& |access-date=2023-01-11 |archive-date=2023-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111134219/https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-terrorism-9780198732914?cc=us&lang=en& |url-status=live }}</ref> Historically, the term terrorism was used to refer to actions taken by governments against their own citizens whereas now it is more often perceived as targeting of non-combatants as part of a strategy directed ''against'' governments.<ref name="williamson-afghanistan">{{cite book|last=Williamson |first=Myra|title=Terrorism, war and international law: the legality of the use of force against Afghanistan in 2001|publisher=Ashgate |year=2009|isbn=978-0-7546-7403-0|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wH3eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40|access-date=2016-05-04|archive-date=2024-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132051/https://books.google.com/books?id=wH3eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Historian [[Henry Commager]] wrote that "Even when definitions of terrorism allow for 'state terrorism', state actions in this area tend to be seen through the prism of war or national self-defense, not terror."<ref>{{cite book|last=Hor |first=Michael Yew Meng|title=Global anti-terrorism law and policy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-521-10870-6|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzQOAR5rqvcC&pg=PA20|access-date=2016-11-12|archive-date=2019-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303234424/https://books.google.com/books?id=nzQOAR5rqvcC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA20|url-status=dead}}</ref> While states may accuse other states of [[state-sponsored terrorism]] when they support insurgencies, individuals who accuse their governments of terrorism are seen as radicals, because actions by legitimate governments are not generally seen as illegitimate. Academic writing tends to follow the definitions accepted by states.<ref>.</ref> Most states use the term ''terrorism'' for non-state actors only.<ref name="Schmid">{{cite book|first=Alex P. |last=Schmid|title=Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=978-0-415-41157-8|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PXpFxKRsHgC|access-date=2016-01-05|archive-date=2024-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329132101/https://books.google.com/books?id=_PXpFxKRsHgC|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]'' defines terrorism generally as "the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective", and states that "terrorism is not legally defined in all jurisdictions". The encyclopedia adds that "[e]stablishment terrorism, often called state or state-sponsored terrorism, is employed by governments—or more often by factions within governments—against that government's citizens, against factions within the government, or against foreign governments or groups."<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism/Types-of-terrorism|title=Terrorism|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=2020-01-11|archive-date=2020-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111164739/https://www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism/Types-of-terrorism|url-status=live}}</ref>

While the most common modern usage of the word ''terrorism'' refers to [[political violence]] by [[Insurgency|insurgent]]s or conspirators,<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Dealing with Terrorism |first=Helen |last=Purkitt |title=Conflict in World Society |year=1984 |page=162 |editor-first=Michael |editor-last=Banks |location=Brighton, East Sussex |publisher=Wheatsheaf }}</ref> several scholars make a broader interpretation of the nature of terrorism that encompasses the concepts of state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism.<ref>{{harvnb|Stohl|p=14}}{{verify source|reason=
Several sources by this author are cited, which one is it?|{{subst:DATE}}|date=January 2025}}</ref> [[Michael Stohl]] argues, "The use of terror tactics is common in international relations and the state has been and remains a more likely employer of terrorism within the international system than insurgents."{{check quotation|date=January 2025}}<ref>{{cite conference |title=The Superpowers and International Terror |first=Michael |last=Stohl |conference=Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association |location=Atlanta |date=March 27 – April 1, 1984}}</ref> Stohl clarifies, however, that "[n]ot all acts of state violence are terrorism. It is important to understand that in terrorism the violence threatened or perpetrated, has purposes broader than simple physical harm to a victim. The audience of the act or threat of violence is more important than the immediate victim."<ref>{{cite book |last=Stohl |first=Michael |chapter=National Interests and State Terrorism |title=The Politics of Terrorism |publisher=Marcel Dekker |year=1988 |page=275}}</ref>

Scholar [[C. Augustus Martin|Gus Martin]] describes state terrorism as terrorism "committed by governments and quasi-governmental agencies and personnel against perceived threats", which can be directed against both domestic and foreign targets.<ref name="Martin" /> [[Noam Chomsky]] defines state terrorism as "terrorism practised by states (or governments) and their agents and allies".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Chomsky |first=Noam |author-link=Noam Chomsky |title=What Anthropologists Should Know about the Concept of Terrorism|journal=Anthropology Today|date=April 2002|volume=18|issue=2}}</ref>

Simon Taylor provides a definition of state terrorism as "state agents using threats or acts of violence against civilians, marked by a callous indifference to human life, to instill fear in a community beyond the initial victim for the purpose of preventing a change or challenge to the status quo."<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Simon |title=Status Quo Terrorism: State-Terrorism in South Africa during Apartheid |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |date=3 May 2021 |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=2 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2021.1916478|s2cid=235534871 }}</ref> These acts of violence can include both the types of state violence that some argue ought to be considered terrorism, such as: [[genocide]], [[mass murders]], [[ethnic cleansing]], [[Forced disappearance|disappearances]], [[detention without trial]], and [[torture]]; and more widely accepted methods of terror including [[bombings]] and [[targeted killings]].

Stohl and [[George A. Lopez]] have designated three categories of state terrorism, based on the openness or secrecy with which the acts are performed, and whether states directly perform the acts, support them, or acquiesce to them.<ref>{{harvnb|Stohl|Lopez|1988|pp=207–208}}.</ref>