Terrorism Unjustified

Book excerpt: Vicente Medina challenges common misconceptions and excuses for extreme political violence. Countering such axioms as “one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist” and the “do whatever it takes” attitude toward counter-terrorism, Medina differentiates between justified political violence and unjustifiable terrorism. Surveying terrorism with both historical and contemporary examples, Medina dispels the relativism and emotional responses that have been used by some to justify terrorist acts. Medina draws on philosophical concepts like just war theory while adding social and political science perspectives to contextualize today’s terrorism within current international law and moral attitudes.