Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy

Front Cover
Audrey Kurth Cronin, James M. Ludes
Georgetown University Press, Jan 14, 2004 - Political Science - 328 pages

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."

 

Selected pages

Contents

MEETING AND MANAGING THE THREAT
1
THE NATURE OF TERRORISM
17
SOURCES OF CONTEMPORARY TERRORISM
19
THE FOUR WAVES OF MODERN TERRORISM
46
TERRORISM STRATEGIES AND GRAND STRATEGIES
74
POLICY INSTRUMENTS IN THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
95
DIPLOMACY
97
INTELLIGENCE
115
MILITARY FORCE
162
THE LAWS OF WAR
186
PSYCHOLOGICALPOLITICAL INSTRUMENTS
220
FOREIGN AID
238
HOMELAND SECURITY
261
TOWARD AN EFFECTIVE GRAND STRATEGY
285
contributors
301
index
305

LAW ENFORCEMENT
140

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About the author (2004)

Audrey Kurth Cronin is a professor of public policy at George Mason University.

James M. Ludes is executive director of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

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