Commentary Ah, the ‘T’ word—terrorism. We have certainly been obsessed with it of late, probably since the awful events of 9/11.
The phenomenon of terrorism did not of course make its appearance on the world’s stage two decades ago—most scholars date the beginning of this form of ideological violence to the middle of the 19th century—but it receives a lot more attention than it once did. Ironically, the very medium in which you are reading this piece, the media, is largely responsible for this growth in exposure.
Alas, we cannot agree with what the word even means. Most of us would accept, I would imagine, that this particular manifestation of violence differs from ‘garden-variety’ types in that it is motivated by ideas, be they political, religious, or otherwise. In contrast, a run-of-the-mill stabbing on a train usually stems from an argument gone wrong or as a consequence of a mentally-disturbed individual….