Terrorism and the Economy: How the War on Terror Is Bankrupting the World

Economist and best-selling author Loretta Napoleoni traces the link between the finances of the war on terror and the global economic crisis, finding connections from Dubai to London to Las Vegas that politicians and the media have at best ignored. In launching military and propaganda wars in the Middle East, America overlooked the war of economic independence waged by Al-Qaeda. The Patriot Act boosted the black market economy, and the war on terror prompted a rise in oil prices that led to food riots and distracted governments from the trillion-dollar machinations of Wall Street. Consumers and taxpayers, spurred by propaganda fears, were lured into crushing global debt. Napoleoni shows that if we do not face up to the many serious connections between our response to 9/11 and the financial crisis, we will never work our way out of the looming global recession that now threatens our way of life.

While we feared that Al-Qaeda might destroy our world, Wall Street ripped it apart.

Loretta Napoleoni is the author of the best-selling book Terror Inc.: Tracing the Money Behind Global Terrorism, which has been translated into twelve languages, and Rogue Economics: Capitalism's New Reality, which has been translated into fourteen languages. One of the world's leading experts on money laundering and terror financing, she has worked as London correspondent and columnist for La Stampa, La Repubblica, El Pais, and Le Monde. A former Fulbright Scholar, she holds an MA in international relations and economics from Johns Hopkins University, and an MPhil in terrorism from the London School of Economics. She lives in London and Montana.