出版

恐怖主義(terrorism)

有系統地使用暴力來製造某些人的恐懼，期以達成特定的政治目標。世界各地的歷史上都出現過恐怖主義活動，包括左派及右派的政治組織、民族主義者、特殊族群團體及革命分子。恐怖主義雖然常被認為是顛覆及推翻既存政治體制的工具，但有時也會被政府用來對付人民以強化國家意識形態，例如某些古羅馬皇帝、法國革命時期（恐怖統治Reign of Terror）、納粹德國以及史達林時代的俄國。恐怖主義的影響逐日加大，因為一方面現代武器的致命性和科技複雜性愈來愈高，另一方面現代媒體傳散這類攻擊新聞的即時性也愈來愈高。有史以來最嚴重的恐怖攻擊發生在2001年9月：自殺性的恐怖分子劫持四架美國民航客機，其中兩架撞上紐約世界貿易中心（World Trade Center）的雙子星大樓，另一架撞擊華府的五角大廈（Pentagon），第四架則墜毀在賓州匹茲堡附近。這些撞擊導致世貿中心幾乎全部崩坍、五角大廈西南角燒燬，造成飛機上266人罹難、撞毀的建築物內外數千人死亡。

English version：

terrorism

Systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. It has been used throughout history and the world by political organizations of both the left and the right,by nationalist and ethnic groups,and by revolutionaries. Though usually thought of as an instrument for destabilizing or overthrowing existing political institutions,terror has also been employed internally by governments against their own subjects to enforce adherence to the national ideology; examples include the reigns of certain Roman emperors,the French Revolution (see Reign of Terror),Nazi Germany,and the Soviet Union in the Stalinist era. Terrorism's impact has been magnified by the deadliness and technological sophistication of modern-day weapons and the capability of modern media to disseminate news of such attacks instantaneously throughout the world. The deadliest terrorist attack ever occurred in September 2001,when suicide terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex and one into the Pentagon building in Washington,D.C.; the fourth plane crashed near Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. The crashes resulted in the collapse of much of the World Trade Center complex,the destruction of part of the southwest side of the Pentagon,and the deaths of 266 people aboard the planes and thousands more in the buildings or in nearby areas.

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