Critical terrorism studies (CTS) claims to engage with Frankfurt School critical theory to provide a critique of terrorism discourse and to develop an emancipatory project. This article argues that CTS makes very little effort to engage with critical theory and instead relies on many of the mistaken ideas of the post-positivist turn in international relations. It also takes an overly discursive approach that fails to properly engage with terrorism as a social relation. This piece suggests how CTS might make more use of a historical materialism approach underpinned by a realist philosophy.