Terrorism is a term, which everyone can recognize but few can define it. The United Nations is just one of the global actors that has had to wrestle with the simple problem of just defining exactly what terrorism is. In fact, the United Nations has hesitated to come up with a clear and definite answer to the question of what terrorism is. The United Nations is in a fairly unique position of having to create a definition on which the entire world can agree upon. The first basic feature, though obvious, must be recognized.
Terrorism involves inducing fear.
Fear is the main weapon used in acts of terrorism despite what the specific goal may be. In most cases this generation of fear is linked to publicity in order to maximize the effect of the fear created. The second underlying factor to terrorism is that the goal of terrorism is that terrorists are seeking some basic ideological goal whether it be political, economic or religious. In all cases terrorism has a specific objective in mind beyond simple pleasure or destruction. All terrorist organizations with which the United Nations Security Council is currently concerned with fulfill these criteria.