University of Amsterdam

What are the differences between the academic 
and the political view on international terrorism?

Author: 

Lutz Lindenau

Contents

I. Introduction 3

II. What is the academic approach on international terrorism? 5

III. What is the political approach on international terrorism? 9

IV. What are the most striking differences between both views? 12

V. Conclusion 13

VI. Sources 15

I. INTRODUCTION

As a student of political science, who participated in the course United Nations International Student Conference of Amsterdam (UNISCA). I am supposed to write a final essay. This final essay is expected to combine the scientific perspectives from the syllabi during the preparation with the practical perspective that I gained in the actual conference. In this simulation of the policy process in the United Nations (UN) I obtained the role of an Israeli ambassador, who had to cope with the issues of international terrorism, right to self-determination and the peaceful use of outer space in the 1st Committee.

Due to the events of 11th September, that might become a turning point in history, as many believe, most of the time and negotiations in the 1st committee were devoted to the issue of international terrorism during the conference. It therefore seems logical to me that I dedicate my paper to this topic that struck fear in the hearts of million people in the entire western world, confronting us with new global cleavages, alliances, and a shift toward security at the expense of individual freedom. Though the course-material regarding international terrorism was collected before the terrorist attack on the USA on 11th September, and certainly needs to be updated and re-evaluated, it provides the reader with a general insight on that matter. In the academic sphere, problems can be defined, analysed and eventually successfully solved. But on the other hand it is the sphere of politics that mainly has to deal with problems. There are other rules in the political realm endemic than in the scientific world. These political rules basically reflect relations of power and therefore cannot solve problems ′easily′ like in the academic realm. Since the terror attacks were followed by other chemical attacks in the U.S. and the US-retaliation even mounted into a war in Afghanistan, it appears extremely urgent to overcome these two realms in order to find appropriate measures to fight terrorism and to settle conflicts. Therefore this essay seeks a better understanding of this gap between both realms.

Since the term ′terrorism′ is exposed to debate about it′s meaning, I will provide a definition in order to prevent from confusion with the right to self-determination: "Premeditated politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience" ( Kegley and Wittkopf 1999:375). Consequently I am leaded to my following research question of this essay:

· What are the differences between the academic and the political view on international terrorism?

I will answer this research question by splitting it up into the following sub questions:

1. What is the academic approach on international terrorism?
2. What is the political approach on international terrorism?
3. What are the most striking differences between both views?

Question one examines the academic way in which UNISCA dealt with the issue regarding the choice of literature and the content of the lectures. Apart from that, I will include two writings of other scientists who seek to analyse terrorism to broaden the perspective a little bit. These two examples should serve as an illustration of an academic approach on terrorism next to the UNISCA-course. It would be easy to take other writings as well into account, but that would surely extend the scope of this essay.

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