As recent aeroplane hijackings, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East have shown, terrorism is an unfortunate reality that can have potentially devastating effects on governments, businesses and individuals. This encyclopaedia provides students, researchers, journalists and policy-makers with a survey of this growing problem. Over 300 entries, organized in A to Z format, offer treatments of the events, people, organizations and places that have figured prominently in international terrorism. Each entry is placed within its appropriate historical context to help readers understand the wide-ranging motivations behind terrorist actions. Also included in this volume is a chronology of terrorist activities that have occurred from 1945 to the present. Entries include: Aerial hijacking; Carlos the Jackal; Cyber-terrorism; Montana Freemen; Nuclear terrorism; Oklahoma City bombing; Sarin gas attacks; Usama Bin Laden; Unabomber; and USS Cole.