Terrorism's profile: nature, goals and motivations

"Terrorism's profile: nature, goals and motivations" (by Eduard Ozhiganov) delves into highly debatable issues of sociological investigations related to terrorism. After describing existing typologies of the phenomenon, mostly propagated in the USA, author offers his own definition of terrorism: an illegal preconceived use of physical or psychic violence (or threat of it) for further political goals aimed at civilians or non-combatants etc., to change current policies, their methods and structure. Arguing against some well-known views on the subject, author cites Russian experiences, especially with regard to 'Islamic extremism' in the Northern Caucasus, in particular, so called 'political Islam' exemplified by al-Quaeda activities in the region.