Why Race Matters: Examining ‘Terrorism’ Through Race in International Relations

In present studies of international affairs, it is almost impossible if not cruel to overlook how acts of terrorism, the politically motivated effort to change the status quo through violence and subversion, continue to dominate discourses of international politics and diversely affect peoples of the international community (Kilcullen, 2005). Such incidences of power and conflict require scholars to further explore people-focused means of political inquiry, as on a daily basis, news of new violent acts of terror makes us increasingly aware that violence does not discriminate. Anyone is capable of becoming its victim. This essay maintains that as academics, policymakers and people, we need to humanise, meaning to personify and make personal, how we observe terrorism and terror.