Defining Terrorism: Why Does The UN Fail?

Abstract

The transnational character of terrorism coupled with its international fallout, compelled the United Nations to take on the issue in the last quarter of the 20th century. However, even after fifty years of engagement with the issue, the UN has failed to produce anything substantive or conclusive about terrorism. There is neither an agreed definition nor even a broad consensus over the meaning of terrorism. Numerous deliberations and subsequent resolutions on terrorism at the UN have proven to be largely bootless and ineffectual. This repeated failure raises the obvious question; why does the UN fail? What is it about terrorism that prevents the UN member states from agreeing on its definition? It is precisely these questions that this article seeks to investigate. It identifies five standout factors that help put UN failure in perspective.