Mar.23 (written by By Zhu Chenghu and released by China Military Power Mashup) -- Eight years ago, then U.S. President George W. Bush, while delivering a televised speech at Congress, solemnly announced: "Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." Since then, the "global war on terror" dominated by the United States has started and led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that are yet to end, as well as the extensive readjustment of international relations worldwide.

Eight years have passed. The international counter-terrorism situation today is less optimistic and has run into even greater trouble. Although countries have intensified the anti-terror efforts, terrorism has nevertheless tended to become increasingly more violent. How can such things happen? One of the most important reasons is countries are divided over a standard to define terrorism.

The international community has put forward no less than 100 definitions of terrorism, but none has been accepted by all countries as a universally recognized standard. International communities have reservations about the U.S. "global war on terror". Scholars in some countries believe that the United States has been pursuing self-interest in the name of "global war on terror": expanding its overseas military bases, enlarging its sphere of influence, interfering in other countries' internal affairs, rivaling for control of strategic resources.