PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Terrorism has recently become an urgent global problem that reaches the very heart of the international community. Throughout history, extremists have employed terror to generate fear and thus promote a cause. Like other types of warriors, terrorists target the innocent population - those not directly involved in the conflict. In the past, however, terrorists usually excluded women, children and the elderly from their target lists. Old-school terrorism was usually direct in nature; it intended to produce a political effect through the injury or death of the victims.

Modern terrorists attack people previously considered innocent to generate political pressure. The unpredictability and apparent randomness of terrorist attacks make it virtually impossible for governments to protect all potential victims. The public demands protection which the state cannot provide. Frustrated and fearful, the people then demand that the government make concessions to stop the attacks.

The aim of the project is to provide a solid bilingual foundation for the discussion of this very important aspect of modern life - international terrorism. As teachers of linguistics, the authors* of the project War on Terror: Insight into Global Issues wish to offer their contributions in facilitating the unification of the international community in the struggle against terrorism and to spread awareness of this increasingly menacing modern problem.

The project comprises definitions of terrorism, international documents and INTERVIEWS with prominent people of diverse backgrounds and different countries of origin. They are scholars, politicians, philosophers, and people of good will who discuss a set of questions relating to terrorism.

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Julia Gumanova, Maria Sveshnikova, Elizaveta Tikhomirova (Moscow State University, Faculty of Foreign Languages),are the authors of the text-book series Just English (more than 250,000 copies printed) and MSU Shuvalov prize-winners.