Terrorism

Terrorism in the modern sense is violence or other harmful acts committed or threatened against civilians for political or other ideological goals. Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear or "terror", are perpetrated for an ideological goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants. Many definitions also include only acts of unlawful violence.
As a form of unconventional warfare, terrorism is sometimes used when attempting to force political change by convincing a government or population to agree to demands to avoid future harm or fear of harm, destabilizing an existing government, motivating a disgruntled population to join an uprising, escalating a conflict in the hopes of disrupting the status quo, expressing a grievance, or drawing attention to a cause.
Terrorism has been used by a broad array of political organizations in furthering their objectives. Both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic, and religious groups, revolutionaries and ruling governments. The presence of non-state actors in widespread armed conflict has created controversy regarding the application of the laws of war.
Terrorism can be classified into six categories: civil disorders– a form of collective violence interfering with the peace, security, and normal functioning of the community. Second category is political terrorism – violent criminal behaviour designed primarily to generate fear in the community, or substantial segment of it, for political purposes.
Third - non-political terrorism – terrorism that is not aimed at political purposes but which exhibits conscious design to create and maintain high degree of fear for coercive purposes, but the end is individual or collective gain rather than the achievement of a political objective.
Fourth category is quasi-terrorism – the activities incidental to the commission of crimes of violence that are similar in form and method to genuine terrorism but which nevertheless lack its essential ingredient. It is not the main purpose of the quasi-terrorists to induce terror in the immediate victim as in the case of genuine terrorism, but the quasi-terrorist uses the modalities and techniques of the genuine terrorist and produces similar consequences and reaction. For example, the fleeing felon who takes hostages is a quasi-terrorist, whose methods are similar to those of the genuine terrorist but whose purposes are quite different.
Fifth - limited political terrorism – genuine political terrorism is characterized by a revolutionary approach, limited political terrorism refers to acts of terrorism which are committed for ideological or political motives but which are not part of a concerted campaign to capture control of the State.
The last category is official or State terrorism – referring to nations whose rule is based upon fear and oppression that reach similar to terrorism or such proportions.
Many opinions exist concerning the causes of terrorism. They range from demographic to socioeconomic to political factors. Demographic factors may include congestion and high growth rates. Socioeconomic factors may include poverty, unemployment, and land tenure problems. Political factors may include disenfranchisement, ethnic conflict, religious conflict, territorial conflict, access to resources, or even revenge.