Motivation Across Terrorism: Ideological, Strategic and Tactical Objectives of Terrorist Attacks

In the modern world, terrorism is manifested as the biggest security threat faced by the international community, and terrorist acts cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, displaced millions of civilians, and devastating destruction of property and infrastructure. This problem dominates national and international discourses about peace and security, with individual countries, as well as the global community, taking extensive measures to suppress it. It is evident that dealing with terrorism remains a big challenge, mostly because of how it is legally defined. Unlike genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mass crimes, terrorism is not considered an international crime under international law. The lack of inclusion of terrorism in international law mainly arises from the lack of consensus on what constitutes terrorism. In an effort to determine the essence and basic structural features of the modern form of terrorism, this paper first analyzes the definition of the term and the forms of man ifestation of terrorism. By identifying its characteristics and objectives, the paper proceeds in a critical assessment of the modalities of interstate cooperation in criminal matters and offers several recommendations on how to overcome the so far neutral position in the treatment of terrorism as an international crime. The results of the “war against terrorism” so far, as well as the consequences of the exceptional application of repression and the support of the principle of non-negotiation with terrorists, are such that they require a critical review. It is vital today that terrorism be treated as an international crime and incorporated under the jurisdiction of the ICC. This paper highlights the weaknesses of the effectiveness of the international system in the fight against transnational terrorism. The purpose of the paper is to serve as a recommendation for finding means and methods for preventing the occurrence of the crime of terrorism and its suppression at the international level.