What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat

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.

"Richardson, executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, set out to write a single-volume, nonpartisan explanation of 'terrorism in all its complexity.' Her reach, however, exceeds her grasp in an evaluation that leans more on theory than practice and is unrelenting in its attack on current policy. In fact, she's certain that the war on terrorism cannot be won and advises that we limit ourselves to 'containing the threat.' Richardson (When Allies Differ) follows two converging threads: Part I seeks to demystify terrorism; Part II outlines a proper response to the terrorist threat. There is much valuable information, but Richardson is too quick to dismiss or oversimplify issues: 'there is no single cause of terrorism'; 'efforts to produce a terrorist profile have invariably failed'; and trying to isolate economic causes is 'complicated.' The author insists that 'terrorists are human beings who think like we do,' but then dismisses Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as 'a deranged extremist.' In Part II, Richardson dissects U.S. policy since 9/11 and judges it a disaster. The litany of failures is familiar if one-sided: the terrorist threat has been exaggerated, allies alienated, 'liberal democratic values' abandoned. Still, Richardson's policy prescriptions, which mirror her criticisms of current policy, deserve a hearing. (Sept. 12)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"We should strike the term 'terrorist group' from the lexicon of those charged with beating Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and its allies. The term defeats thought, understanding and imagination, and it allows leaders in both parties to argue a politically correct absurdity: that al-Qaeda threatens U.S. national security but that our attackers are a limited number of criminal magicians who have hijacked... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) the faith of millions of Muslims and will 'be brought to justice one man at a time.'

Although 'insurgent' is not a perfect fit either, the term far better describes al-Qaeda and the other Islamists attacking America. These zealous groups are large, multi-functional, media-savvy, well-funded, superbly led and religiously motivated. Their focus is on winning, not strutting on the world stage. Numerous No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 leaders of al-Qaeda are gone, but the organization's threat remains. Most important, al-Qaeda and its ilk — unlike traditional terrorist and insurgent groups — have no return address; they are not confined to one state or reliant upon its patronage. Islamist groups can hit America with impunity and high confidence that U.S. military forces cannot annihilate them in response. Al-Qaeda is many things, including a proliferating ideology and a unique, multi-ethnic insurgent organization. It is also a growing threat to U.S. security, in part because our leaders do not accept these realities.

Abdel Bari Atwan fully grasps the foregoing in his excellent, very personal book, 'The Secret History of al Qaeda.' As editor-in-chief of the best Arabic-language daily newspaper, Al-Quds al-Arabi, Atwan 'got it' from the moment bin Laden appeared on the scene. Atwan saw that the threat bin Laden posed far exceeded any the West had faced from a terrorist group. He also knew that 'the notion that Muslims hate the American people or Western civilization is dangerous and erroneous. What many do hate is American foreign policy.' This timeless truth remains inaudible for U.S. leaders, who will leap on any explanation for Muslim anti-Americanism except our invasion of Iraq, unqualified support for Israel and protection for tyrannies that rule Muslims across the Islamic world.

Atwan's 1996 interview with bin Laden in his Afghanistan redoubt was one of the first and remains one of the best. He describes the trip to meet bin Laden in detail and frankly admits he hesitated to run the risks. We are in Atwan's debt that his nerve held: The interview came soon after bin Laden's initial declaration of war on America and gave the world its first close look at that talented, ruthless and pious warrior. 'After meeting bin Laden,' Atwan writes, 'I realized that this was no ordinary man, and fully expected that he would play a significant role in the history of his homeland, Saudi Arabia, and the Muslim world in general.'

Atwan reminds the West that 'no serious study of bin Laden and al Qaeda can ignore the Islamic background from which they have emerged. ... Without Islam there would be no al Qaeda.' Bin Laden fits neatly into Islamic history's continuum; from the Prophet Muhammad to Saladin to bin Laden (as the al-Qaeda leader sees it), Muslim leaders have waged defensive jihads against infidels attacking Islam's lands, creed and followers. Atwan's concise discussions of Islamic history, jihad and politics should silence the oft-used inanity that bin Laden has 'hijacked' Islam. Moreover, Atwan's conclusion should deeply unsettle U.S. leaders: 'Bin Laden is the latest in a line of figureheads, for many, in keeping with Muslim tradition.' As the ideological leader of a popular global insurgency, he embodies 'the political aspirations of a significant proportion of the Muslim nation, aspirations which are inextricably bound up with their faith.'

Here, Atwan's blend of memoir and journalism far outshines an academic's work. One can only hope that Louise Richardson's 'What Terrorists Want' will prove the last shriek from the academy's antiquated terrorism experts, who are reluctant to admit that al-Qaeda poses a unique menace. Richardson, the executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, lustily sings the 'nothing is new under the terrorism sun' song; her book leads readers on an erudite if irrelevant tour of the histories of the 1st-century Jewish millenarian sect called the Zealots, the 7th-century Hindu Thug cult, the 12th-century Shiite Muslim sect known as the Assassins, the fin-de-siecle Russian anarchists, and such 20th-century terrorist groups as the IRA, the Red Brigades and Shining Path, among others.

But none of these posed a national security threat to the United States; none is remotely comparable to al-Qaeda and its allies. Traditional terrorist groups have limited agendas, allure and bloodlust; groups such as the IRA, whose deadliest attacks left just dozens dead, are a lethal nuisance. On the other hand, al-Qaeda — with its potent ideology, its divine sanction for unlimited murder, its operational sophistication and its ambition to create a regional caliphate — is a genuine strategic threat. Compare a fertilizer-based bomb in Belfast to a nuclear bomb in Houston.

Richardson's academic objectivity also fails her in these pages. Her review of U.S. counterterrorism policy correctly criticizes George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, but the book's index has no entry for Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Al Gore, George Tenet or Sandy Berger. In an era when the leaders of both political parties have been monumental failures in the fight against al-Qaeda, that oversight can only be seen as partisan.

Worse, Richardson also claims that we do not understand al-Qaeda's strength, appeal and goals. 'If we don't even know what our enemies are fighting for,' she writes, 'we cannot hope to counter them effectively.' But Richardson seems to have missed a decade of al-Qaeda studies — including Atwan's — that provide exactly that data. The careful works of Bruce Hoffman, Peter L. Bergen, Daniel Byman, Paul Pillar and Daniel Benjamin irrefutably demonstrate that al-Qaeda is no mere terrorist group — in terms of its size, organizational ingenuity, operational sophistication, geographical reach, educated membership, leadership skills and determination to defeat its foe rather than just use random violence to signal anger. Al-Qaeda is a worldwide insurgency against which the old law-enforcement-based counterterrorism doctrine is nearly useless; indeed, relying on the old tactics ensures defeat. The new breed of al-Qaeda scholars also suggests that bin Laden has emerged as a leader whose charisma, words and deeds are harnessing what history shows to be the extraordinary mobilizing and motivating power of Islam at times when Muslims believe — as many do today — that they and their faith are under infidel attack. That makes it impossible to achieve Richardson's central counterterrorism goal of containing al-Qaeda by separating the group from the wider Muslim hinterland for which it claims to speak. Bin Laden has created something that mystifies many of the West's secular academics by relying on a vibrant theology whose followers regard their revealed faith as worth dying to defend.

Michael Scheuer, the founding head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, is the author of 'Imperial Hubris' and 'Through Our Enemies' Eyes.'" Reviewed by Michael Scheuer, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
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"[An] overdue and essential primer on terrorism and how to tackle it. [This] is the book many have been waiting for. Richardson's approach is clear and simple, and is deeply informed by the personal insights of one who...was briefly recruited by the political wing of the I.R.A." Martin Walker, The New York Times

"The short answer? Fame and payback, perhaps even a thrill. The long answer? Read this essential, important primer." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"[T]he argument of this book offers us the best, perhaps the only, hope we have to weaken terrorists and put them out of business. It is indispensable." Providence Journal

"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

Richardson presents a comprehensive and intellectually rigorous account of terrorism, its origins and goals, its future, and how to stop it.

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

A passionate, incisive, and groundbreaking argum

“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

“A passionate, incisive, and groundbreaking argument that provocatively overturns the myths surrounding terrorism.”–Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

“In its lucid analysis and summary, [What Terrorists Want] is simply the best thing of its kind available now in this highly crowded area.”–The Evening Standard

“If a reader has the time to read only one book on terrorism, What Terrorists Want is that book. Extensive historical knowledge, personal contacts, enormous analytic skills, common sense, and a fine mix of lucidity and clarity, make of this work a most satisfying dissection of terrorists’ motives and goals, and of the effects of September 11, 2001. Richardson also offers a sharp critique of American counterterrorism policies, and a sensible plan for better ones.”–Stanley Hoffmann, Buttenwieser University Professor, Harvard University

“An astonishingly insightful analysis by one of the world’s leading authorities on terrorism, this book is filled with wisdom–based not only on the author’s extensive and long-term study of terrorism but also on her experience growing up in a divided Ireland.”–Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill

“A wide-ranging, clear headed, crisply written, cogently argued anatomy of terrorist groups around the world.”–Peter Bergen, senior fellow, New America Foundation, and author of The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader

“Among the numerous books published on terrorism after the 9/11 attacks, Louise Richardson’s stands out as an unusually wise, sensible, and humane treatise. An engrossing and lucid book, which hopefully will be read by many and spread its unique spirit of realistic optimism.”

–Ariel Merari, Professor of Psychology, Tel Aviv University

“Thoughtful and stimulating . . . Controversially, and indeed courageously, [Richardson] argues that, instead of regarding the terrorists–even al-Qaeda types–as mindless and irrational creatures motivated by dark forces of evil, it would be more constructive to examine and seek to moderate some of the grievances that drive previously normal and even nondescript characters to kill and maim innocent people they don’t even know.”–The Irish Times

“A textbook and a myth-buster . . . [Richardson] is calling for nothing less than a total re-evaluation of how we consider, and react to, terrorism. . . . What Terrorists Want ought to be on the bookshelf in every government office. Certainly, for any student of international affairs it is an essential reading.”

–The Atlantic Affairs

Louise Richardson is executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, a senior lecturer in government at Harvard, and a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School. She lectures widely on terrorism and international security and has appeared on CNN, the BBC, PBS, NPR, and a host of other media outlets. Born in Ireland, she is now an American citizen and a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts.