Objectives of terrorism

The first goal is morale-building within the terrorist group. The second goal is advertising, in which the group attempts to announce its existence and place its concerns before the target audience. Terrorists have traditionally used this "propaganda of the deed" to force debate on their goals.

When attempting to change the government through an insurgency, becomes grave to the terrorist:

Disorientation is the objective par excellence of the terrorist, removing the underpinnings of the order in which his targets live out their everyday lives. The primary responsibility of any incumbent group is to guarantee order to its population, and the terrorist will attempt to disorient the population by demonstrating that the incumbent's structure cannot give adequate support.

The demonstration is, however, but one feature of the disorientation process. On a much deeper level, the goal is the isolation of the individual from his social context.

A final objective of a terrorist organization is provoking a response by the incumbent group. Terrorists cannot directly control the government response to an act of symbolic aggression.