"This volume brings together many of the world's foremost experts on terrorism and counterterrorism, who
begin the important process of developing a grand strategy to address contemporary, real-world threats. Scholars
and policymakers alike will benefit from the advice of contributors to reject anachronistic thinking about the
relative importance of state and nonstate threats, as well as their warning that an uninformed, emotional response
that ignores the dynamic relationship between terrorism and counterterrorism could increase the risk of catastrophic
attack."
--Jessica Stern, lecturer in public policy, Harvard University, and author of Terror in the Name of God: Why
Religious Militants Kill
"Most studies of terrorism have been descriptive works about specific groups. The new priority of the problem
heightens the need for policy-relevant literature that provides analytical, comparative, and functional assessments
of policy instruments. This timely book, with solid and comprehensive coverage by an impressive array of expert
academics and practitioners, does much to meet this need."
--Richard K. Betts, director of the Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, and adjunct senior
fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
"An unusually interesting, readable, and well integrated look at the essential elements needed for an American
grand strategy to confront the scourge of global terrorism. This volume successfully seeks to explore the many
components of American power necessary to construct a national campaign of substantial duration and effort against
international terrorism. Particularly noteworthy are David Rapoport's historical overview of the four phases of
modern terrorism and its state sponsored supporters, and Martha Crenshaw's very useful exploration about how and
when the struggle against international terrorism assumed the level of grand strategy. She also reminds us importantly
that 'wars are waged against adversaries, not methods.' This compendium demonstrates the extraordinarily rich analysis
being done by a new generation of strategic thinkers who are tackling the problems born from post 9/11 international
circumstances, much in the way an earlier generation of strategic thinkers thought about American purpose at the
advent of the cold war."
--Kurt M. Campbell, senior vice president and director of the International Security Program, Center for Strategic
and International Studies
Publisher Web Site, December, 2004
Summary
The definition and understanding of "terrorism" is in a state of unprecedented evolution. No longer
are acts of terrorism rare and far-flung. Following the horrendous attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,
U.S. citizens have had their eyes opened to a new world where this nightmare stalks the daily news and is never
far from consciousness.
Attacking Terrorism brings together some of the world's finest experts, people who have made the study of this
rising menace their life's work, to provide a comprehensive picture of the challenges and opportunities of the
campaign against international terrorism. Part one, "The Nature of Terrorism," provides an overview and
foundation for the current campaign, placing it within the political and historical context of previous threats
and responses. Part two, "The Responses to Terrorism," looks at the range of policy instruments required
in an effective strategy against terrorism.
The contributors to this volume bring finely honed analyses and nuanced perspectives to the terrorist realities
of the twenty-first century--history, analyses, and perspectives that have been too often oversimplified or myopic.
They bring a new depth of understanding and myriad new dimensions to the crisis of terrorism. And they reach into
aspects of counterterrorism that broaden our grasp on such important tools as diplomacy, intelligence and counterintelligence,
psycho-political means, international law, criminal law enforcement, military force, foreign aid, and homeland
security, showing not only how these tools are currently being employed but how often they are being underutilized
as well.
Attacking Terrorism demonstrates that there are no easy answers--and that the road toward victory will be long and
arduous, frightening and dangerous--but as Audrey Kurth Cronin states in her introduction, "As the campaign
against international terrorism unfolds, a crucial forward-looking process of strategic reassessment is under way
in the United States, and this book is intended to be a part of it."
Table of Contents
Part I: The Nature of Terrorism
1. Sources of Contemporary Terrorism
Audrey Kurth Cronin
2. The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism
David C. Rapoport
3. Terrorism, Strategies, and Grand Strategies
Martha Crenshaw
Part II: Policy Instruments in the Campaign Against International Terrorism
4. Diplomacy
Michael A. Sheehan
5. Intelligence
Paul R. Pillar
6. Law Enforcement
Lindsay Clutterbuck
7. Military Force
Timothy D. Hoyt
8. The Laws of War
Adam Roberts
9. Psychological-Political Instruments
Carnes Lord
10. Foreign Aid
Patrick M. Cronin
11. Homeland Security
Daniel Gouré
Conclusion: Toward an Effective Grand Strategy
Audrey Kurth Cronin