Terrorism Defining Elite

This research paper identifies an elite group of actors within the United States, composed of US government officials, academia, think thanks, as well as members of the mass media, heretofore referred to as the terrorism-defining elite. This paper presents evidence of this elite- group‟s control over the definition of terrorism in the public sphere. This dominance is facilitated and maintained on account of their wide access to the mainstream media outlets and public platforms. This paper argues that behind the ideas and policies advocated by this elite, lies a particular discourse of American exceptionalism. This paper further posits that the conversion of the media, academia, think tanks and government institutions, and the dominance of their unified perspective has resulted in a reduction of voices and viewpoints addressing this topic, marginalizing and silencing alternative perspectives. Subsequently, the options and understanding available to those living within open societies to respond to the phenomenon of terrorism, are thus severely limited. One result of this phenomenon is that only certain groups of people are being labeled as terrorists, whereas others, such as white supremacists, are escaping it and thus, comparatively, being allowed to operate freely, posing a grave threat to the American democracy.