The definition of terrorism Legal and conceptual clarity to the true meaning of terrorism - formulating a universally acceptable legal definition of terrorism

Abstract

his research confronts one of the most intractable and politically weaponised failures in international law: the absence of a clear, coherent, and universally acceptable legal definition of terrorism. Far from constituting a mere semantic gap, this definitional crisis reveals a deliberate juridical strategy—engineered through geopolitical compromise, sustained by normative asymmetry, and operationalised to legitimise state violence, criminalise dissent, and erase subaltern resistance. Drawing on over 1,200 legal, political, media, and policy texts across five jurisdictions, this study empirically exposes how terrorism functions not as a neutral category of violence, but as a juridico-political artefact structured by power, ideology, and colonial residue. Guided by an interpretivist epistemology, the research triangulates Critical Discourse Analysis, Postcolonial Theory, and Constructivist International Legal Theory to interrogate the discursive, doctrinal, and structural dimensions of terrorism law. Through methodological triangulation, including doctrinal interpretation, comparative legal analysis, and multi-genre discourse coding, the study identifies five recurring but unresolved normative themes: unchecked power, distributive injustice, epistemic silencing, hegemonic framing, and the criminalisation of legitimate resistance. Rather than merely critique existing definitions, the research undertakes a normative and legal reconstruction of the concept. It proposes a rights-based, doctrinally precise, and politically contextualised definition of terrorism-one that excludes lawful self-defence, self-determination, and resistance recognised under international law. The proposed definition distinguishes between illegitimate coercion and emancipatory violence, thereby restoring the moral and legal boundaries currently obfuscated by dominant regimes of counterterrorism. In doing so, the research reframes terrorism law as a contested site of power and justice, and reclaims it as an instrument of liberation rather than repression