Terror, Reason, and History

A striking feature of Barry Hindess' political thought is its unflinching application of theoretical reason to concrete problems. In recent discussion of terrorism, Hindess thus argues against the restricted application of the term to nonstate actors and for its expansion to cover the political violence of territorial states. This self-consciously polemical argument displays Hindess' commitment to theoretical reason and his preparedness to assess historical politics on this exacting basis. In this article, I argue for a more "timid" form of political analysis, that gives more room to compromised historical political norms, and that has greater sympathy for the restricted application of the notion of terrorism.