THE TERRORISTS NEEDS A SPECIAL SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT TO BRING ABOUT THE RESPONSE OF EXTREME FEAR DISPROPORTIONATE TO THE POWER OF THE VICTIMIZER OVER THE VICTIMS. THE VICTIM MUST FEEL ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY AT LARGE (HELD HOSTAGE IN AN EMBASSY OR AN AIRPLANE, FOR EXAMPLE) AND MUST BE VULNERABLE TO THE TERRORIST'S READINESS TO KILL. FURTHERMORE, THE TERRORIST MUST USE THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE, APPEARING OUT OF NOWHERE AND DISAPPEARING SUDDENLY. TERRORISM'S THIRD ELEMENT, POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES, IS A CLOUDY AREA. AS A POLITICAL STRATEGY, TERRORISM USUALLY IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. TERRORIST ACTS COMMITTED IN THE CAUSE OF A PALESTINIAN HOMELAND, FOR EXAMPLE, ACTUALLY OBSCURE THE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF NONCRIMINAL PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN GRIEVOUSLY WRONGED. TERRORISM THEN DISINTEGRATES INTO IRRATIONALITY WHEN THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE ENDS AND THE MEANS, VICTIMS, AGENTS, AND INTENDED SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES ARE EXAMINED AND, INSTEAD, MOVES INTO THE REALM OF ECSTASY--ACTS OF VIOLENCE ARE COMMITTED AS ENDS-IN-THEMSELVES. THE TERRORIST ACTOR, BY KILLING AND BY PLACING HIM OR HERSELF IN THE DANGER OF BEING KILLED, STEPS OUTSIDE OF THE ROUTINE LIFE OF HUMANKIND AND ASSUMES AN EXTRAORDINARY IDENTITY. THE TERRORIST IS OF TWO TYPES: ONE WHO APPEALS TO A HIGHER JUSTICE THAT GOVERNS ALL OR A NIHILIST. IF AGGRIEVED POLITICAL MINORITIES CONTINUE IN PERCEIVING THEMSELVES, WITH JUSTIFIABLE REASON, AS PUBLIC NONENTITIES, AND IF TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO SHRINK THE PUBLIC REALM AND THEREFORE TO SHARPEN THE VISIBLE GAP BETWEEN COMPETING GROUPS, VIOLENCE AS A LAST RECOURSE FOR PUBLIC RECOGNITION OF A CAUSE IS LIKELY TO PERSIST. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)