Terrorism according to Hoffman - Essay Example

The articulated course of action mostly aims at causing wrecks and havoc to express dissatisfaction. However, terrorism is synonymous with leadership and politics where terrorists react violently in response to issues within government or leadership. Actions of terror qualify as terrorism whether the course action causes harm or not. The actions still qualify as terrorism whether the course of action was legitimate or not.

Certainly, terrorism has changed dramatically with time. Terrorism was first taken positively as a medium of change from bad governance. It was seen as a revolution and was synonymous with democracy and virtue (Hoffman 3). It then changed to “propaganda by deed” (Hoffman 5) whereby wholesome bloodshed targeted specific groups or communities that failed to follow the conventional ways of terror perpetrators. It then changed to the assassination and kidnapping of political leaders or their close relatives within the society who failed to address the requirements and demands of extremist groups (Hoffman 11). Terrorism then changed to the target of inanimate objects such as important, monumental, and valuable buildings. Terrorism also changed to religious-based terror actions in response to unaddressed religious issues. However, a combination of these transitions has also been evident.