The article analyses political terrorism as one of the greatest threats to the security of the modern world. This risk is not only reducing but sometimes it even increasing. The terrorist attacks have clearly demonstrated that today even powerful states are unable to ensure the safety of the citizens on their own. Terrorism is evolving, becomes globalized, transforms, and obtains transnational features that make it a global problem.
The term “terrorism” has no agreed definition in modern science, but usually, it is interpreted in a negative sense, often to characterize actions which threaten life. It can be used to characterise actions of a politically motivated group at both the non-governmental and governmental levels. Reasons for the use of terrorism often are represented by sharp contradictions related to social injustice, nationalist, religious, and territorial conflicts, stagnation of society, etc.
Today, terrorism has become one of the methods of political struggle used in extreme cases to achieve political objectives in crisis situations of various kinds. The central element of political terror is an act of terrorism.
The features of political terrorism interpretation in modern science and national legislation are studied in this research.
In modern science, there are three main views on nature of terrorism: socio-political, military, and criminal. In most cases, terrorism serves political purposes. It is a continuation of political struggle using violent, brutal, means ultimately directed against political organizations, political leaders and/or governmental structures.
The nonidentical phenomena of terror and terrorism are specified. Terror is mostly considered as state activities, while terrorism – activities of structures oppositional to a state.
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