New Terrorism

As shocking as the attacks of 9/11 were, we have been too quick to view the post-9/11 struggle against terrorism as entirely new and unprecedented. Without denying certain novel aspects of Al Qaeda and its affiliates, the newness of its purpose and methods has been overemphasized. Many aspects of contemporary terrorism bear a striking resemblance to past movements. Others represent the culmination of trends evolving over decades. Even seemingly novel characteristics of terrorist methods may be more the outcome of earlier developments than a truly new phenomenon. The increased lethality of terrorist attacks is a case in point. Usually attributed to lack of restraint brought on by religious extremism, the emphasis on body count may owe as much to a kind of threshold phenomenon. Numbed by decades of violence, people do not shock as easily as they once did. It now takes thousands of deaths to produce the same effect once caused by a relative handful. This book places today's terrorism in historical context and challenges the idea of a global war on terrorism.

Thomas R. Mockaitis is Professor of History at DePaul University in Chicago. As a consultant for the Center for Civil-Military Relations at the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, California), he also teaches civil and military responses to terrorism at venues around the world. He is an expert in insurgency, counterinsurgency, peace operations, terrorism, unconventional war, and civil-military cooperation and a frequent media commentator on those subjects. He is the author of four books and numerous articles. His most recent book is Grand Strategy in the War on Terrorism (co-edited with Brian Rich, 2003).