Terrorism
In November 2004, a Secretary-General of the United Nations report described terrorism as any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act". The international community has been slow to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding definition of this crime. These difficulties arise from the fact that the term "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged. In this regard, Angus Martyn, briefing the Australian parliament, stated,
The international community has never succeeded in developing an accepted comprehensive definition of terrorism. During the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations attempts to define the term floundered mainly due to differences of opinion between various members about the use of violence in the context of conflicts over national liberation and self-determination.
Olga Lyubatovich
In 1880, there was internal dispute within the movement, on the purpose of terrorism. One side believing that terrorism's objective should be to force the government into granting democratic rights to the people, while others led by Lev Tikhomirov who was influenced by Sergei Nechayev argued that it was possible for terrorism to be used for a small group or revolutionaries to snatch power and then hand it over to the people.