Skip to content
Scan a barcode
Scan
Paperback What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat Book

ISBN: 0812975448

ISBN13: 9780812975444

What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat

Select Format

Select Condition ThriftBooks Help Icon

Recommended

Format: Paperback

Condition: Very Good

$5.59
Save $18.41!
List Price $24.00
Almost Gone, Only 2 Left!

Book Overview

"This is at the top of my list for best books on terrorism."
-Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill

How can the most powerful country in the world feel so threatened by an enemy infinitely weaker than we are? How can loving parents and otherwise responsible citizens join terrorist movements? How can anyone possibly believe that the cause of Islam can be advanced by murdering passengers on a bus or an airplane? In this important new book, groundbreaking scholar Louise Richardson answers these questions and more, providing an indispensable guide to the greatest challenge of our age.

After defining-once and for all-what terrorism is, Richardson explores its origins, its goals, what's to come, and what is to be done about it. Having grown up in rural Ireland and watched her friends join the Irish Republican Army, Richardson knows from firsthand experience how terrorism can both unite and destroy a community. As a professor at Harvard, she has devoted her career to explaining terrorist movements throughout history and around the globe. From the biblical Zealots to the medieval Islamic Assassins to the anarchists who infiltrated the cities of Europe and North America at the turn of the last century, terrorists have struck at enemies far more powerful than themselves with targeted acts of violence. Yet Richardson understands that terrorists are neither insane nor immoral. Rather, they are rational political actors who often deploy carefully calibrated tactics in a measured and reasoned way. What is more, they invariably go to great lengths to justify their actions to themselves, their followers, and, often, the world.

Richardson shows that the nature of terrorism did not change after the attacks of September 11, 2001; what changed was our response. She argues that the Bush administration's "global war on terror" was doomed to fail because of an ignorance of history, a refusal to learn from the experience of other governments, and a fundamental misconception about how and why terrorists act. As an alternative, Richardson offers a feasible strategy for containing the terrorist threat and cutting off its grassroots support.

The most comprehensive and intellectually rigorous account of terrorism yet, What Terrorists Want is a daring intellectual tour de force that allows us, at last, to reckon fully with this major threat to today's global order.

KIRKUS- starred review
"The short answer? Fame and payback, perhaps even a thrill. The long answer? Read this essential, important primer.

Terrorist groups have many motives and ideologies, notes Richardson (Executive Dean/Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study), but they tend to similar paths: They are founded by mature, well-educated men but staffed by less learned and certainly more pliable youths; they are fueled by a sense of injustice and the conviction that only they are morally equipped to combat it; they see themselves as defenders and not aggressors; they often define the terms of battle. And, of course, this commonality: "Terrorists have elevated practices that are normally seen as the excesses of warfare to routine practice, striking noncombatants not as an unintended side effect but as a deliberate strategy." Thus massacres, suicide bombings and assassinations are all in a day's work. Richardson argues against Karl Rove, who after 9/11 mocked those who tried to understand the enemy, by noting that only when authorities make efforts to get inside the minds of their terrorist enemies do they succeed in defeating them, as with the leadership of the Shining Path movement in Peru. Still, as Rove knows, if terrorists share a pathology, then so do at least some of their victims: Once attacked, people in democratic societies are more than willing to trade freedom for security. Richardson closes by offering a set of guidelines for combating terrorism, with such easily remembered rules as "Live by your principles" and "Engage others in countering terrorists with you"-observing, in passing, that the Bush administration's attack on Iraq and subsequent occupation will likely be remembered as serving as a recruiting poster for still more terrorists.

How to win? Develop communities, settle grievances, exercise patience and intelligence. That said, watch for more terrorism to come: "We are going to have to learn to live with it and to accept it as a price of living in a complex world."
_________________________________________________________________________________
"Louise Richardson . . . has now produced the overdue and essential primer on terrorism and how to tackle it. What Terrorists Want is the book many have been waiting for."--The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)
"Lucid and powerful, Richardson's book refutes the dangerous idea that there's no point in trying to understand terrorists. . . . rich, readable."--Los Angeles Times Book Review
"The kind of brisk and accessible survey of terrorism-as-modus operandi that has been sorely missing for the past five years . . . What Terrorists Want] ought to be required reading as the rhetoric mounts this campaign season."--The American Prospect
"Richardson is one of the relative handful of experts who have been studying the history and practice of terrorism since the Cold War. . . . This book is a welcome source of information. It's written by a true expert, giving her measured thoughts."--Christian Science Monitor

"Richardson's clear language and deep humanity make What Terrorists Want the one book that must be read by everyone who cares about why people resort to the tactic of terrorism."-Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus

"This is a book of hope. Terrorism, like the poor, will always be with us in one form or another. But given sensible policies, we can contain it without destroying what we hold dear."-Financial Times

Customer Reviews

5 ratings

Barack and Every Member of Congress Should Read this Book

This book untangled all of my chaotic little pieces of knowledge about terrorists, and put them back together in a coherent framework. Her explanation of the formal definition of terrorism makes the definition a powerful tool. And the final chapter of the book in which she offers her prescriptions for dealing with terrorists makes complete sense. I hope that every world leader reads this book.

America needs to heed this advice

An excellent book by someone who has studied terrorism since long before 9/11. Starting with a deep understanding of how terrorist groups form and why people join them, she works her way to advice on crafting policy (For example, rather than determining whether a given policy is hard on terrorism or soft on terrorism, she recommends asking "Is it effective? And at what cost?") culminating with a list of six "rules for combatting terrorism". A must read for anyone who wants to advocate for change!

what could be more important than this?

This is an outstanding, extremely thoughtful discussion of terrorism, past, present and future AND of effective ways to combat it. It should be required reading for anyone in government working on the problem, especially those at the top (i.e. Bush Administration) and important reading for the rest of us. As the author says, the critical question is not WHO is tough or soft on terrorism, but what is EFFECTIVE against terrorism, and she thoroughly answers that question. Great job, Louise Richardson!

An excellent primer on the nature of terrorism

The author has produced a text that would be ideal for an undergraduate study of terrorism. She clearly defines what she views as terrorism, (although others may not agree with her view) then systematically and effectively explains how terrorists are drawn to their cause, and what they are trying to achieve by their actions. She then suggests how governments can respond more effectively to the terrorist threat. Throughout, the writing style is clear, the examples effective, and the author's knowledge of the topic very comprehensive. She presents a compelling and convincing case for her recommendations using examples from numerous terrorist conflicts. Having grown up in Northern Ireland and witnessed human cruelty exercised in the name of a "cause", I find it hard to comprehend how anyone can turn to terrorism. Yet this book helps explain why that course is chosen by some without in any way justifying that action. In additon, it describes those conditions in a society that may help foster terrorists and terrorism. Unlike other reviewers I do not view the omission of criticism of specific US administration individuals as a fault with the book. In the context of this book that seems to me to be the right approach. However, the excellent analysis of terrorists that it contains will make it crystal-clear to readers that combatting terrorists worldwide is a completely separate effort to the military engagement in Iraq. They are not now, and have never been, related in reality - only in the minds of those responsible. Combatting terrorism is a long-term effort primarily comprising international, political, social, law enforcement, judicial, and intelligence elements with only a limited military component. In addition, it requires us to think about what we mean when we use the words "victory" and "defeat", as these are not always as clear as we might like when discussing situations involving terrorism. That leads me to the one area of the work that did not sit comfortably with me. The author states that certain repressive, totalitarian governments of Latin America did manage to "defeat" (my quotes) terrorists but at an unacceptably high cost to their societies. I understand this assertion, but it does not sit well with me as I wonder, who suffered? was it those who actually carried out terrorist acts? or did they escape while others were punished? If we send terrorists underground and punish many innocents among a few terrorists is that "victory"? Anyway, my personal discomfort aside, the author is clearly more knowledgeable than me in this area and justifies all her statements throughout the book. Overall then, I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes a clear, concise text that defines terrorism, that explains why terrorists do what they do, and how governments and societies can resist.

Everything Bush-Cheney Refused to Listen To...

This is without question one of a handful of books that must be read by anyone who is serious about neutralizing terrorism as a tactic, avoiding the incitement of more terrorism, and acting professionally and morally around the globe. Sadly, that does not include the neo-conservatives who substitute dogma for reality, and war profiteering for peacemaking. Unlike Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Professor Robert Pape, which I highly recommend as a complement to this book, the author here has written a definitive history, a rational appreciation, and ends with six specific recommendations, each of which has been gleefully and ignorantly violated by the current Administration, which now declares Bin Laden to be "irrelevant" and continues to cover up the fact that Rumsfeld authorized the Pakistanis to fly 3000 Al Qaeda out of Tora Bora, and Rumsfeld refused to order a Ranger battalion in to capture Bin Laden during the four days that CIA has "eyes on" and tracked him to the border (see my reviews of Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander and First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan). While the author gets very high marks for putting together the most current, most in-depth, and most professional review of the subject, there is little here that is new to those of us who have been focused on revolution, instability, and the TACTIC of terrorism for the past 30 years. Terrorism is a law enforcement issue, in the context of a comprehensive stabilization and reconstruction program that--as the author recommends--isolates the terrorists from complicit communities. See also Rage of the Random Actor: Disarming Catastrophic Acts And Restoring Lives by Dan Korem for the home-grown "postal" or "Columbine" counter-part to the more altruistically-motivate terrorists. Our own summary of terrorism, which is threat number nine out of ten identified by the High-Level Threat Panel of the United Nations, reads as follows: "The 'war on terror' must fail because it is a self-defeating slogan. To make war on a tactic -- a raid, a breakout, an asymmetric attack on civilians, the use of chemical weapons -- makes no sense. These tactics have worked well throughout history and will continue to. `Terrorist" tactics were used by Americans against the British in the 1770's, by the Israelis against the British, by Algerians against the French. Progress is only possible if the problem is clearly defined ... as global militant Islam. It may be political correctness that prevents that definition, or it may be that there is a genuine misunderstanding of the problem. Once confronted, the origins of global militant Islam are largely well-defined and, with sufficient cooperation by a range of nations, is a relatively simple problem to treat." The author could not have written a more compelling indictment of Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice. They a
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
GoDaddy Verified and Secured