This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  Terrorism involves the use of intimidating violence to achieve political ends. Whether a given act of violence is perceived as terrorism or as freedom fighting often depends on whether someone approves of the goal of the violence.
  
• 
  Several types of terrorism exist. The 9/11 attacks fall into the transnational terrorism category.
  

FOR YOUR REVIEW

1. 
   Do you think the US response to the 9/11 attacks has been appropriate, or do you think it has been too overdone? Explain your answer.
   
2. 
   Do you agree with the view that structural problems help explain Middle Eastern terrorism? Why or why not?
   

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[2] Applebaum, A. (2011, September 2). The price we paid for the war on terror. The Washington Post, p. A17.

[3] Gurr, T. R. (1989). Political terrorism: Historical antecedents and contemporary trends. In T. R. Gurr (Ed.), Violence in America: Protest, rebellion, reform (Vol. 2, pp. 201–230). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

[4] Gurr, T. R. (1989). Political terrorism: Historical antecedents and contemporary trends. In T. R. Gurr (Ed.), Violence in America: Protest, rebellion, reform (Vol. 2, pp. 201–230). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

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[9] White, J. R. (2012). Terrorism and homeland security: An introduction (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

[10] Kean, T. H., & Hamilton, L. H. (2007, September 9). Are we safer today? The Washington Post, p. B1.

[11] Applebaum, A. (2011, September 2). The price we paid for the war on terror. The Washington Post, p. A17.

[12] Applebaum, A. (2011, September 2). The price we paid for the war on terror. The Washington Post, p. A17.

[13] Holland, J. (2011, September 14). How fearmongering over terrorism is endangering American communities. AlterNet. Retrieved fromhttp://www.alternet.org/story/152403/how_fearmongering_over_terrorism_is_skewing_our_priorities_and_putting_us _all_at_risk_?page=entire.

[14] Kurzman, C. (2011, July 31). Where are all the Islamic terrorists? The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Are-All-the-Islamic/128443/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en.