Are terrorists rational actors and how terrorism differs from crime

¶ … terrorists are rational actors. There rationality may not appear so to those who are not adherents of their particular cause (or in some cases, their particular faith). However, for those who share the conviction of terrorists, their actions are rational.

One of the most salient examples that demonstrates the rationality of the actions of terrorists is found within those who embrace the Islamic faith. There are a number of tenets of this religion that pertain to war, particularly when the antagonist is a so-called infidel or non-believer. One of these concepts is that of jihad, which is the Islamic word for holy war (Okon, 2013, p. 173). It is crucial to understanding the rationality of Muslim terrorists to note the fact that Islam states that those who willingly give their life for the cause of the religion or because of religious persecution will be richly rewarded in the afterlife. Thus, a number of Muslim terrorists in regions of the world such as in Israel, truly believe that by killing themselves, and in the process killing others of a different faith who are oppressing them, that they will receive a paradise in the next life. There has been a lengthy history of Palestinian terrorists in the state of Israel, with a number of suicide bombers willingly detonating themselves so that they can kill Jews in the process. When one considers the religious conviction of the former that states they will be rewarded for their actions, they are clearly rational actors.

Additionally, it is noteworthy to mention that terrorists are oftentimes groups of people who not only feel persecuted, but who feel oppressed by a more effective military regime. Terrorists believe that if they were to engage such an enemy in traditional war that they will be crushed. However, one of the tenets of terrorism is that the activity is largely covert. By engaging in furtive terrorist actions, terrorists believe that they stand a greater chance of inflicting harm on their oppressor than if the y engaged in conventional warfare.

Terrorism is principally differentiated from crime in two ways. One is the there is usually a political element involved in terrorism that is not present in crime, whether it is organized or not. Additionally, there is not infrequently a religious element involved in terrorism that may be largely absent from crime. Additionally, it is worth noting that there are many different varieties of crime, not all of which involve violence. Acts of terrorism are typically accompanied by violence. Non-violent terrorism does not exist at this point.

Due to the fact that there are religious and political convictions that accompany terrorist actions, those actions themselves take on a larger degree of significance than conventional crime. Terrorist acts are statements: social commentary on the state of relationships that typically pertain to power and economics. Mere crimes, however, are usually committed for less idealistic and ignoble reasons such as greed, lust, wrath, etc. Acts of terrorism are usually committed for some extrinsic principle that the authors believe so strongly in that they are willing to kill -- or to die.