Written by Michael Thomas, The University of Texas at Arlington.

Governmental responses to transnational terrorism are manifested in forms ranging from apparently taking no retaliatory action whatsoever, to economic sanctions and trade restrictions placed against nations and other entities harboring or supporting transnational terrorist organizations. At times, governmental responses and retaliatory actions have even included overt or covert military action against such nations or transnational terrorist groups.

It is difficult to pinpoint an exact or commonly accepted definition of transnational terrorism. However, it can be thought of as terrorist attacks, incidents or other actions perpetrated by a group or organization against the civilian population or government of a nation other than their own, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

As it will be demonstrated, the United Statesā response to terrorism has taken many forms, but it has overwhelmingly failed at deterring any future attacks. In addition, such reactionary policies enacted by the United States government have also failed to address any underlying issues or fundamental motivations of transnational terrorism.

Some may argue the United States has, at times, appeared to appropriately respond and even retaliate for most acts of transnational terrorism. However, as will be discussed the vast majority of such United States reactionary policies and actions have failed to diminish, deter or otherwise prevent future attacks.

This inquiry begins by providing a discussion relevant to the methods by which the United States government categorizes, classifies and designates transnational terrorist groups. This section continues with a brief overview of the immediate response policy currently employed by the federal government towards domestic terrorist attacks, or attacks occurring within the U.S. mainland. In conclusion, policies, actions and retaliations the United States has employed in response to previous incidents of transnational terrorism are discussed.