Terrorism is a term of uncertain legal content. The term itself has no definition of illegality, except when terrorism commits acts which do apply to common law. Some of the acts that a terrorist commits are murder, bombing, kidnapping, hi-jacking, hostage taking and theft. All these acts have a law in the civil penal code that makes a terrorists activity a crime against society. Terrorism is also viewed as a political act against a government and it's citizenry, secondly, it is viewed as a coercive means to change some policy through the application of violence upon society . Finally terrorism adheres to the unlawfullness of acts as a mode of political change. For the purpose of this study terrorism is defined as a strategy whereby violence is used to produce certain effects in a group of people

"....weapons of war throughout the world may be converted into instruments of reconstruction and that strife and conflict may be removed from the midst of men."

"Terrorism" is actually misnamed, because the goal of it is not to sow terror (though that is a common tactic). The goal of terrorism is to sow discord and disruption and to provoke reprisals from your much stronger opponent. One of the paradoxes of terrorism is that when your opponent commits a major act of violence against your people, you (the terrorist) win and you become stronger.

So countries have become used to the idea that you respond to violence with violence of your own. But for a terrorist, this is exactly what he wants you to do. When you respond violently to terrorism, the terrorist wins.

In saying that we should understand what these terrorists are calling for is not to be mistaken for bestowing praise or apology on their deeds. On the contrary, the actions of terrorists are deserving of nothing less than total condemnation.

Today terrorism must be viewed within the context of the modern nation-state. Indeed, it was the rise of a bureaucratic state, which could not be destroyed by the death of one leader that forced terrorists to widen their scope of targets in order to create a public atmosphere of anxiety and undermine confidence in government. This reality is at the heart of the ever more violent terrorism of the last 100 years, from anarchists' assassinations to hijackings and suicide bombings.

Terrorist actions may be committed by a single individual, a certain group or even governments. Most terrorists, unlike criminals claim to be dedicated to higher causes and do not believe personal gain.

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Approximate Pages = 40 (250 words per page double spaced)