Current research on terrorism: The academic perspective

Abstract

Abstract Most definitions of terrorism, however divided on other points, agree that it is a form of political violence. Unfortunately, this rare unanimity has only infrequently served as a foundation for research on political terrorism, which is typically isolated from the broader field. There are advantages to be gained from integrating research on terrorism into the analysis of political violence. The study of terrorism, which is widely recognized as theoretically impoverished, stands to gain in theoretical scope, precision, and cumulativeness of findings. Situating the study of terrorism in the broader field could point analysts toward problems of significance to a larger community of scholars. Moreover, the phenomenon of terrorism might serve as a useful test‐case for general theories of violence, which are rarely applied to terrorism by their authors. This essay first identifies common problems for research. It turns, next, to a discussion of the relationship between the phenomenon of terrorism and o...