Motivation of Terrorist Organization

Motivation of Terrorist Organization

Introduction

Defining a terrorist group is as difficult as defining terrorism, which is a highly contested concept politically. There is no universally accepted, legally binding definition of the term, and national legislations or international organizations attach different meanings to the concept. As a consequence, the United Nations, for example—in 13 conventions and protocols adopted since 1963—confined itself to defining and proscribing specific acts of terrorism (such as skyjacking, hostage taking, and nuclear terrorism). A review of the literature by Alex Schmid produced more than 100 different definitions some of which diverge strongly. However, there are commonly cited criteria, ...