Not since World War II has the United States been so preoccupied with any single problem as it has been with terrorism after the events of September 11. This focus on the threat of terrorism presents a dual challenge to every citizen of the world.
From a pragmatic perspective, the challenge is to search for day-to-day actions that will blunt any future acts of terror. Each individual should contribute to public debate on how best to deal with terrorism. We will need to come to an agreement about what costs and inconveniences we can accept—for instance the more rigorous inspections at airports and new intrusions into our privacy.
But to combat terrorism well, we need to understand first what terrorism is. If it can be defined as inciting fear through acts of violence against innocents, then violence is the root problem with which we must deal. More specifically, it is the concept that violence can be employed to achieve various objectives.
