A Transnational Threat

Terrorism is like the weather —no one does anything about it. But while everyone knows the difference between sunshine and snow, there is no agreement on a definition of terrorism.

J. Bowyer Bell of Columbia University pointed out, in his monograph Transnational Terror, that “there is no satisfactory political definition of terror extant or forthcoming; there is similarly no common academic consensus as to the essence of terror and no common language with which to shape a model acceptable to political scientists or social psychologists. Terror appears to be a condition known implicitly to most men, but which is somehow beyond rigorous examination.” Having said this, Bell then spent 83 pages discussing what he could not define.

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Herbert Romerstein

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Terrorism is like the weather —no one does anything about it. But while everyone knows the difference between sunshine and snow, there is no agreement on a definition of terrorism.

J. Bowyer Bell of Columbia University pointed out, in his monograph Transnational Terror, that “there is no satisfactory political definition of terror extant or forthcoming; there is similarly no common academic consensus as to the essence of terror and no common language with which to shape a model acceptable to political scientists or social psychologists. Terror appears to be a condition known implicitly to most men, but which is somehow beyond rigorous examination.” Having said this, Bell then spent 83 pages discussing what he could not define.