Assassin comes from the Italian and French Assissini, believed to derive from the word hashshashin (Arabic: حشّاشين, romanized: … See more

As a military and foreign policy doctrine
Assassination for military purposes has long been espoused: Sun Tzu, writing around 500 BC, argued in favor of using assassination in his … See more

A major study about assassination attempts in the US in the second half of the 20th century came to the conclusion that most prospective assassins spend copious amounts of … See more

Targeted killing is the intentional killing by a government or its agents of a civilian or "unlawful combatant" who is not in the government's custody. The target is a person asserted to … See more

Ancient to medieval times
Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics. It dates back at least as far as recorded history.
The Egyptian pharaoh Teti, of the Old Kingdom Sixth Dynasty (23rd century BCE), is thought to … See more

Modern methods
With the advent of effective ranged weaponry and later firearms, the position of an assassination target was more precarious. … See more

Early forms
One of the earliest forms of defense against assassins was employing bodyguards, … See more