IN TODAY'S WORLD THE TERRORIST IS SELDOM INSANE. INSTEAD, POLITICAL TERRORISM, HEREIN DEFINED AS AN ORGANIZED CAMPAIGN OF CIVIL VIOLENCE CARRIED OUT BY A GROUP OPPOSED TO AN ESTABLISHED GOVERNMENT, IS INCREASINGLY BEING USED INSTEAD OF TRADITIONAL WARFARE TO GAIN POLITICAL ENDS. THE U.S. AND RUSSIA ARE USING THE THREAT OF MASS DESTRUCTION TO MAKE AGGRESSION BY THE OTHER UNLIKELY. ON A SMALLER SCALE, GROUPS WITHIN COUNTRIES WHICH FEEL THEY CANNOT GAIN THEIR ENDS THROUGH POLITICAL MEANS AND SMALLER NATIONS WHICH FEEL THEY CANNOT PRESS THEIR POINT THROUGH TRADITIONAL CHANNELS HAVE RESORTED TO SYSTEMATIC TERRORISM. CONDITIONS UNIQUE TO TODAY'S SOCIETY WHICH MAKE TERRORISM EFFECTIVE FOR SUCH GROUPS INCLUDE: WORLDWIDE COVERAGE BY MODERN MEDIA AND THE WILLINGNESS OF THE MEDIA TO PUBLICIZE TERRORIST EVENTS, THUS PROVIDING A FORUM; ADVANCING WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY, WHICH PERMITS TERRORIST GROUPS TO POSSESS EXTREME DESTRUCTIVE POWER; THE SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL CLIMATE, ESPECIALLY IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES, WHICH ALLOWS THE TERRORISTS TO PAINT THEMSELVES AS LIBERATORS OF THE PEOPLE; AND THE LACK OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN STOPPING TERRORISM. REVIEW OF PAST AND PRESENT TERRORIST ACTIVITIES INDICATES THAT SUCH CAMPAIGNS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ENOUGH INSTANCES TO WARRANT THEIR CONTINUED USE BY DISSIDENT GROUPS. TERRORISTS CAN POINT TO CYPRUS, CUBA, KENYA, ALGERIA, OR EVEN VIETNAM TO SUPPORT THEIR POINTS. FROM FAILURES OF TERRORIST MOVEMENTS IN BOLIVIA, MALAYA, AND URUGUAY THEY HOPE TO LEARN WHAT TO AVIOD. IN GENERAL, DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES MAKE TI EASY FOR TERRORIST GROUPS TO FORM AND ARM THEMSELVES, BUT DO NOT SUPPLY THE POPULAR POLITICAL SUPPORT NECESSARY FOR SUCH A GROUP TO GROW. IT IS EXPECTED THAT INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE AT LEAST THROUGH 1990. FORMAL WAR IS NOW SO EXPENSIVE AND SO DANGEROUS THAT MAJOR POWERS ARE SEARCHING FOR SUITABLE ALTERNATIVES: TERRORISM IS ONE SUCH ALTERNATIVE. WHILE MOST OF THE 300 KNOWN TERRORISTS GROUPS DO NOT PRESENT A DIRECT THREAT TO THE U.S., THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS EXPRESSED CONCERN THAT TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE U.S. MAY BE CONDUCTED BY FEDAYEEN (ARAB GROUPS), THE JAPANESE RED ARMY, AND THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND.