State terrorism
While the most common modern usage of the word terrorism refers to civilian-victimising political violence by insurgents or conspirators, several scholars make a broader interpretation of the nature of terrorism that encompasses the concepts of state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism. Michael Stohl argues, "The use of terror tactics is common in international relations and the state has been and remains a more likely employer of terrorism within the international system than insurgents. Stohl clarifies, however, that "[n]ot all acts of state violence are terrorism. It is important to understand that in terrorism the violence threatened or perpetrated, has purposes broader than simple physical harm to a victim. The audience of the act or threat of violence is more important than the immediate victim."
Middle East and globalization
Rather than reflecting a specific ideology, terrorism represents nostalgia (for pre-modern civilisation) and has been the result of a clash between modernization and tradition. Though violent, it can also be seen as an unacceptable response to destructive imperial national policies which themselves must be transformed if a world without terror is possible. 
Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network represents bad globalization and the perverted use of technology but in a sense the Al Qaeda Jihad is the reverse image of McWorld, which imposes its Jihad on local culture and tradition, wanting to create the world in its own image. Just as Al Qaeda dreams of imposing a radical Islam on the world, taking over and destroying Western infidel culture, McDonald’s wants to destroy local and traditional eating habits and cuisine and replace them with a globalized and universalized menu.