Twenty-first Century Terrorism: The Definitional Problem of Complex Political Environments

Abstract

The paper addresses some problems in understanding twenty-first century terrorism. The focus is on the singularity that results from the relationship between complex political environments and aspects of contemporary terrorist actions.

The analysis examines some of these aspects, so as to understand the inherent problem with which the international system and the international organizations (i.e., the United Nations) have to deal with in the era of international terrorism.

The paper focuses on two main aspects of terrorism: the definitional problem and the analytical framework. Such analysis could offer a pathway to the challenges of achieving a clear understanding of terrorism as one of the main political issues of the twenty-first century.

Two main questions are addressed here: Why is it so difficult to have a widely accepted definition of terrorism? What kind of difficulties does the United Nations face in enforcing counterterrorism strategies? This paper tries to offer some answers to these questions, while conceding that such answers are just a particular view and that there may be several possibilities.