What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat

344 Pages·2006·27.357 MB·English

by  Louise Richardson

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BELVEDERETIBURQNUBRARY
3 1111 02283 5928
UNDERSTANDING THE ENEMY,
-CONTAINING
THE THREAT
U.S.A. $25.95
Canada $34.95
"THIS IS ATTf.. ? OF MY LIST
FOR BEST BOOKS ON TERRORISM."
—
Jessica Stern,
author of Terror in the Name ofGod: 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, ground-
breaking scholar Louise Richardson answers these ques-
tions 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 first-
hand experience how terrorism can both unite and
destroy a community. As a professor at Harvard, she
has devoted her career to explaining terrorist move-
ments 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, ter-
rorists have struck at enemies far more powerful than
themselves with targeted acts ofviolence. Yet Richardson
understands that terrorists are neither insane nor
amoral. 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 thatthe nature ofterrorism did not
change after the attacks of September 1 1 , 2001 ; what
changed was our response. Sh - -'ques that the Bush
administration's "global war c " was doomed
(cor jed on back flap)
363-325 Richardson 2006
Richardson, Louise
What terrorists want
:
understanding the enemy,
containing the threat
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ALSO BY LOUISE RICHARDSON
WhenAllies Differ:Anglo-American Relations
intheSuezandFalklands Crises
Democracyand Counterterrorism: Lessonsfrom thePast
(editedwith RobertJ. Art)
TheRoots ofTerrorism
(editor)
I
W^'TERRORiSTSWANT
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UNDERSTANDING THE ENEMY
CONTAINING THE THREAT
Louise Richardson
i^
RANDOM HOUSE NEW YORK
/
Copyright©2006 by Louise Richardson
All rights reserved.
Published intheUnited States byRandomHouse,
an imprintofThe RandomHouse PublishingGroup,
a divisionofRandom House, Inc.,NewYork.
Random House andcolophonareregisteredtrademarks
ofRandom House, Inc.
Gratefulacknowledgment is madetothe followingforpermission
to reprintpreviouslypublished material:
NasraHassan: Excerptfrom "An ArsenalofBelievers" byNasra Hassan. Originally
published in TheNew Yorker, November 19,2001. Reprinted bypermissionoftheauthor.
Taylor&Francis Group, LLC:Excerpt from "TheTerrorists inTheirOwnWords:
Interviewswith 35 IncarceratedMiddle EasternTerrorists" from
TerrorismandPolitical Violence, 15(1). Copyright2003. Reprinted bypermission
ofTaylor &c Francis Group, LLC,http://www.taylorandfrancis.com.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Richardson, Louise.
Whatterroristswant : understandingtheenemy,containingthethreat/Louise
Richardson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographicalreferencesand index,
ISBN 1-4000-6481-3
1.Terrorism. 2.Terrorists. 3.WaronT—errorism,2001-4.
4. September 11 TerroristAttacks, 2001 Influence. I.Title.
HV6431.R53 2006
363.325—dc22 2006043884
Printed intheUnited StatesofAmerica onacid-freepaper
www.atrandom.com
246897531
FirstEdition
Book design by CaseyHampton