Classification of terrorist activity by types and methods of achieving objectives.

Author’s Retrospective Note (2026) This article was originally published in 2015, at a time when mainstream terrorism studies were largely focused on ideological, organizational, and radicalization-centered explanations of terrorist activity. The primary objective of the work was to propose a functional and goal-oriented classification of terror, treating it as a rational form of activity optimized for achieving specific results under resource constraints. Particular attention was paid to the distinction between worldview-based and materially motivated forms of terror, as well as to the concept of commercial terror as a distinct type. At the time of publication, several positions articulated in the article - especially the treatment of economic gain as a primary objective of terror and the functional proximity between state and commercial forms of coercive violence - were considered marginal within dominant academic discourse. Developments in the period 2016-2025, including the normalization of concepts such as geoeconomics, predatory governance, extractive violence, and large-scale infrastructure coercion, have substantially altered the analytical landscape. Many assumptions underlying the original classification have since entered non-marginal academic and policy discussions, albeit under different terminological frameworks. This digital re-publication does not revise the original text. It serves to preserve the work in its original form, to establish a persistent identifier (DOI), and to enable accurate scholarly citation of ideas whose relevance has become more evident over time.