Discussion - What organizations support or assist START

GOVDQ1

1. What organizations support or assist START in the development of the data set it puts out on terrorism?
2.  Why is it so difficult to define and label terrorism and terrorist activities?  Compare and contrast the issues raised by Englund and Stohl to the issues raised in the terrorism database.  Are the major obstacles to defining and measuring terrorism purely political, purely methodological or some combination of the two?  How are the methodological and political obstacles intertwined?
3. What controversies have arisen in trying to label and measure terrorism?  What specific problems did you identify in your exploration of the START database for your particular country?
4.  Why does this debate about DEFINING terrorism matter to policymakers and what are some ways which academics have tried to resolve it?