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Terrorism in Today's World

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Submitted By tsdrew
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Although terrorism is a forefront issue in today’s world, it is in many ways indefinable. There are many reasons as to why it is extremely difficult to define terrorism, but the biggest is the wide variety of tactics and motives of so called terrorist attacks. Because of this variety, it is difficult to assign one definition to a word. The idea that the word “terrorism” is essentially indefinable makes it alarming that the word is used so often in outlets such as politics and the media. It is such a powerful word it can persuade the opinions of people who are not entirely informed. Due to this, the political implications of the word can be huge and it is important that the issue be addressed. One of the main components of most definitions of “terror” includes some type of violence or intimidation with a political goal in mind. Beyond this, the definition is very controversial and even these characteristics are very vague. This violence can range from killing thousands of innocent civilians to an arguably much lesser degree of cyber attacks. Another big issue is the fact that an act considered one of terrorism by a certain party, is typically viewed as justified by another party. The way American citizens view the act of American troops entering the Middle East is significantly different than the way the people in those respective countries do. To certain people, the United States’ military has committed acts of terror, and its not surprising considering their point of view. On the other hand, many American citizens feel it is justified and the military has not done anything wrong. This is the unfortunate nature of terrorism. The statement “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is a great way to understand the difficulties with the word (Best and Nocella 25). How can there ever be a universal definition for a word that is viewed so

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