Moreover, the causes of the two types of terrorism may differ. Lafree and dugan rely on this definition to compile the global terrorism database gtd that combines domestic and international terrorism but excludes state terrorism. There is no single internationally accepted definition of what constitutes terrorism, iep accepts the terminology and definitions agreed to by the authors of the gtd, the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism start researchers and its advisory panel. This is a very broad definition that encom passes many different types of groups and activities. With details on various dimensions of each attack, the gtd familiarizes analysts, policymakers, scholars, and journalists with patterns of terrorism. The bureau of counterterrorisms mission is to promote u. Through a new selfpaced, online training, practitioners and civic actors can gain a better understanding of radicalization to violence and violent extremism in the united states. This decomposition is essential for the understanding of some terrorism phenomena when the two types of terrorism are hypothesized to have different impacts. Terrorism is a narrowly defined type of violence, even within the broader spectrum of ideologically motivated violence. The sad includes both terrorist and nonterrorist suicide attacks while the gtd only includes suicide attacks that meet our definition of terrorism. Terrorism meaning in the cambridge english dictionary.
For example, the term terrorism itself yields varying definitions, often. Building and analyzing a comprehensive open source. Countering terrorism united states department of state. And finally, the definition of terrorism employed by the original. Department of homeland security dhs definition of terrorism. These aggrieved groups share two essential characteristics. First, it is consistent with the selection criteria used to qualify an incident as a terrorist attack in the global terrorism database gtd, our source of terrorism data. In our definitions section we provide the gtds more detailed definition, in addition to others such as that of the united nations.
Lafree, dugan, fogg, and scott 2006, for example, have documented that domestic attacks outnumber. May 07, 2001 interestingly, the american definition of terrorism is a reversal of the words original meaning, given in the oxford english dictionary as government by intimidation. There are three key components to a definition of terrorism that shape analysis. The definition of terrorism world news the guardian. Act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. Countering terrorism terrorist groups such as isis, alqaida, and hizballah continue to plot attacks against the united states and our allies and partners. I now return to the definition of terrorism, given at the outset of this article. The global terrorism database gtd documents more than 190000. The act will help reduce the threat posed by terrorism and hostile state. The global terrorism database gtd is a database of incidents of terrorism from 1970 onward. In our coverage of terrorism, we rely strongly on data from the global terrorism database gtd, which defines terrorism as acts of violence by nonstate actors, perpetrated against civilian populations, intended to cause fear, in order to achieve a political objective. Under section 2 of the homeland security act of 2002.
Terrorism, the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. The database is maintained by the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism start at the university of maryland, college park in the united states. For example, transnational terrorism may have a greater adverse effect than domestic terrorism on economic growth. The global terrorism database gtd is a database of incidents of terrorism from 1970 onward as of november 2015, the list extended through 2014, but excluded the. The challenges of collecting terrorism data washington post. Such as the tnp database, the gtd uses a broad definition of terrorism and allows users to filter the data according to their own preferred definition start, 2016 forst, 2009b, and ackerman, 2009. Data on terrorism for this project come from the global terrorism database gtd lafree and dugan 2007. The analysis begins with the definition of terrorism and further develops it by conceptually distinguishing its domestic and transnational forms. The global terrorism database gtd documents more than 190,000 international and domestic terrorist attacks that occurred worldwide since 1970. The act updates and closes gaps in existing counter terrorism legislation to ensure that it is fit for the digital age and reflect contemporary patterns of radicalisation. The global terrorism database gtd catalogs all incidents from 1970 to 2017, but does not clearly distin guish domestic from international attacks.
Through a combination of diplomatic engagement and. Terrorism definition is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. With regards to perpetrators, definitions differ in whether or not they include state terrorism, or subnational actors only, and whether indirect statesponsored violence can qualify as terrorism. Bureau of counterterrorism united states department of state. We began the global terrorism database gtd by computerizing data. Journal of peace research the analytical study of terrorism. We consider only the subset of incidents in the gtd taking place on u. Because the gtd is a terrorism incident database, the introduction concludes by defining single incident determination. Aug 06, 2014 the sad includes both terrorist and nonterrorist suicide attacks while the gtd only includes suicide attacks that meet our definition of terrorism. This background report presents information from the global terrorism database gtd on terrorist attacks classified by ideology as part of the terrorism and extremist violence in the united states tevus project. The global terrorism database gtd is an opensource database including information on terrorist events around the world from 1970 through 2017 with annual updates planned for the future. How to fix the flaws in the global terrorism database and why. Ali khan terrorism sprouts from the existence of aggrieved groups. Unlike many other event databases, the gtd includes systematic data on domestic as well as international terrorist incidents that have occurred during this.
Terrorism definition, the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. So the definition that the gtd uses, its one that we inherited but i think its a pretty good one. Feb 20, 2015 this article seeks to address the problem by proposing a method for refining original global terrorism database gtd data into a constructively valid, crossnational domestic terrorism dataset. Unlike many other event databases, the gtd includes systematic data on international as well as domestic terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period and now. Usually refers to a task management application a somehow fancier to do list you can mantain on your computer. Measuring terrorism sage journals sage publications. Definitions of terrorism are complex and controversial. We tried to explain what terrorism is, its history as well as about many terrorist organizations in a shortest possible. For the purposes of this paper, we will use the definition of terrorism provided by the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism start for the global terrorism database gtd. If the definition of domestic terrorism is muddy at best, the definition of rightwing terrorism is often arbitrary and self. Gtds definition o f terrorism, inclusion criteria and other definitional filtering mechanisms, and the current data collection methodology. Violent actions are usually categorised according to the perpetrator, the victim, the method, and the purpose. Terrorism definition of terrorism by merriamwebster.
The global terrorism database gtd is an opensource database including information on terrorist events around the world since 1970 currently updated through 2012. And its inclusion criteria, how data is actually, how a given incident is actually included. Ideological motivations of terrorism in the united states. Nov 30, 2018 yet the episode doesnt even earn a suspected designation from gtd. They define a terrorist attack as the threatened or actual use.
The counter terrorism and border security act 2019 received royal assent on 12 february 2019. The research community is converging to a consensus based on an operational definition on which to construct event data sets to test theoretical propositions. Starts new podcast series, terrorism 360, features scholars shaping the study of terrorism and the creation of counterterrorism policy. As the threats posed by these organizations continue to evolve, the department of state works to build global consensus to degrade and defeat these adversaries. Any definition of terrorism involves much debate hoffman, 2006. There is no surge in rightwing violence realclearpolitics. The global terrorism database gtd is an opensource database including information on terrorist attacks around the world from 1970 through 2017. Unlike many other event databases, the gtd includes systematic data on international as well as domestic terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period and now includes over 190,000 cases.
According to the gtd, a terrorist attack must be an intentional act or threat of violence whose perpetrators are subnational actors. Aug 11, 2014 the media is widely reporting that terrorism is now at an unprecedented high, relying heavily on gtd data to support this picture. Start has actively encouraged this perception among policy makers. Food insecurity and terrorism applied economic perspectives. The global terrorism database gtd is an opensource database including information on terrorist events around the world since 1970 currently updated through 2018. And in those readings we talk about both the definition that the gtd uses, the global terrorism database uses. The gtd defines terrorism as the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by nonstate actors to attain a political.
International terrorism violent, criminal acts committed by individuals andor groups who are inspired by, or associated with, designated foreign terrorist. This definition highlights some important points relevant to our analysis. Nevertheless, the resulting gtd has both strengths and. The database is maintained by the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism start at the university of.
1329 1135 740 1262 151 1172 847 840 401 829 285 1243 984 1519 561 670 1087 1274 1400 1091 1339 939 893 844 1003 16 343 543 827 910 509 736 1338 1037