I think that nonviolent resistance is different because the nonviolent resistor is saying, essentially &quot;give me what I want or I will put myself in a position where you have to hurt me.&quot;    -  which only works if the authority in question has some problem with hurting the nonviolent resistor.<p>Terror, on the other hand, seems to be saying something more like &quot;no matter how powerful you are, you can&#x27;t prevent us from coming in and inflicting shocking, unexpected violence on you.&quot;<p>Do you see the difference? one relies on fear, while the other relies on... well, I had it called guilt, but a better person than I am would call it &#x27;empathy&#x27; or something like that.