Virtue and Violence: The Strategic Logic Behind the Reemergence of Left-Wing Terrorism

Abstract

This article reassesses the resurgence of left-wing terrorism in contemporary Western societies through a strategic lens. It argues that terrorism studies, shaped by post-Cold War liberal orthodoxies, have systematically neglected or misclassified violence emanating from the political left. Defining terrorism as a tactic—violence and fear for political communication—helps strip away moral or ideological bias. Tracing leftist militancy from the 1960s to today and situating its return within broader cultural and institutional dynamics the article explains both the phenomenon and the epistemic asymmetry that obscures it. Restoring a strategic conception is essential to recovering analytical balance.