Terrorism and Political Violence: Benefits, Preferences, Expectations and Intentions

The various types of political violence differ from each other according to the range of preferred targets. For all types of political violence, but terrorism, the choices of targets relate to the expected benefits resulting from the use of force. For terrorist violence the choice of targets is independent from the expected benefits. The terrorist actor is indifferent in the choice of targets because he perceives all potential targets as being equally beneficial for realizing his goals. This is the essential feature that distinguishes terrorist violence from other types of political violence, for which targets are substitutable only within certain strategic, political, or social categories.