Terrorism

Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant use the concept of the state of nature in three distinct but interrelated ways: to describe the relationship between pre-political individuals, between states, and between sovereigns and non-state actors during civil wars. In this chapter, insights derived from analysing these perspectives will be applied to a fourth scenario: international terrorism. To do this, a suitable definition of terrorism will first be sought. By examining Locke’s theory, a formal definition of a state of nature will then be achieved before applying this to the situation of international terrorism.