Terrorism is obviously a hot topic these days and it is refreshing to see some research into what motivates people to become terrorists. Too often they are dehumanised by polititians and the press, partly because it is so easy to do so and it suites the political agenda. Terrorists are, for the most part, ordinary human beings who have been motivated to do something extra-ordinary.

Interestingly, traditional military responses to terrorism have only limited success primarily because nature of warfare in a terrorism paradigm is substantially different to the traditional model. In particular, it is used in situations where there is a substantial power differential between the opposing forces.

To effectively combat terrorism we need to look beyond the horror of the acts and beyond looking at the perpetrators as some sort of monsters. Valuable research is currently being undertaken by Economic and Social Research Council in the UK into the mindset and motivation of terrorists.

By studying Polish migrants to France who became resistance fighters during world war II they are gaining a picture of the complex motivations that are the precursors to this type of behaviour.

Although hatred of the Germans and xenophobia were contributing factors neither in itself was sufficient to motivate people to join the resistance.

The research revealed that these emotions were deeply rooted in the moral system of family and social life that the migrants saw as central to their community.

Mr Bicker said: "This moral system was the dynamo that provided both the motivation and the very basis for resistance by the migrants."

It is quite a different picture of the typical terrorist, that of a highly moral, family oriented person and one many will have big problems embracing. Never the less we cannot tackle this issue effectively without stripping away our own biases and looking at it in a more dispassionate fashion.

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