THE MODERN SYSTEM OF MASS COMMUNICATION AND PRODUCTION ALLOWS A PERMANENT MARGINAL FRINGE OF SOCIETY TO CONGREGATE FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTING ANTISOCIAL ACTS WITH A FACILITY WHICH DID NOT EXIST IN THE PAST. TERRORISTS ARE ABLE TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES INTO A SPECIALIZED DESTRUCTIVE SOCIAL GROUP POSSESSING A HIGH DEGREE OF BEHAVIORAL UNPREDICTABILITY WITH INTERNATIONAL IMPACT ON A STANDARDIZED SOCIETY. MODERN TERRORISTS DERIVE THIS UNPREDICTABILITY FROM THREE FACTORS: THEIR MULTIPLE TARGETS, THEIR LIMITED NUMBERS, AND THE VARIETY OF THEIR CULTURAL ROOTS. AS SPECIALIZED, MARGINAL, ANTI-SOCIAL POPULATIONS WITH LITTLE OR NO INTEREST IN THE PEOPLE THEY CLAIM TO REPRESENT, TERRORISTS CANNOT BE CONTROLLED WITHOUT COORDINATED INTERNATIONAL ACTION. THEY ARE NO LONGER A POLITICAL PHENOMENON LINKED TO PARTICULAR HISTORICAL OR ECONOMIC SITUATIONS BUT A SOCIOECOLOGICAL FEATURE OF MODERN SOCIETY. UNCONTROLLED VIOLENCE IS CONTAGIOUS AND IS THUS AN INTERNATIONAL PROBLEM OF SOCIAL ECOLOGY WHICH MAY BE IRREVERSIBLE. (MJW)