In April, a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) entitled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States” was published. An NIE is a coordinated summation of the judgments of sixteen US Intelligence agencies, which is then approved by the Director of National Intelligence. This means it represents a unified assessment of a certain issue pertaining to national security.

NIEs are literally estimates which show a general trend in the current state of affairs in relation to the past. They tend to shy away from being strictly predictions, and usually serve more of an informational role with suggestions for the future. This NIE was partially declassified on September 26th by President Bush.

If you haven’t heard about terrorism and terrorists nonstop for a few years, then you’ve been under a pretty big rock. We hear about it everyday: wars on terror, roadside bombings and insurgents keep our 24-7 news cycle running. With all this going on, what defines a terrorist and why are some called terrorists and others just scare us.
The United States Code, Title 18, Section 2231 sets out definitions for forms of terrorism, international and domestic, and sets up a definition for who terrorism effects. The most in-depth definition involves international terrorism; understanding this definition will consequently make domestic terrorism easier to grasp.