The war on terror: Separating the (star) fish from the sea / Paul W. Zagorski and Stephen A. Harmon.

Format:

Book

Government document

Author/Creator:

Zagorski, Paul W., author.

Contributor:

Harmon, Stephen A..

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Peacekeeping and Security.

Human Rights and Refugees.

Local Subjects:

Peacekeeping and Security.

Human Rights and Refugees.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (4 pages)

Contained In:

Freedom from Fear Vol. 2009, no. 5, p. 4-7 2009:5<4 2519-0709

Place of Publication:

New York : United Nations, 2009.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Though hardly a new phenomenon, terrorism has assumed greater political saliency since the events of 9/11. Unfortunately, this greater saliency has not resulted in more effective strategies to counter the terrorist threat, the nature of which is often poorly understood. This essay describes terrorism as a method, then develops a model of what terrorist organizations look like and how they function, focusing on their evolution from hierarchical insurgent groups of the pre 9/11 era to network-like structures of today, such as al-Qaeda. Mao Zedong's dictum about insurgency says, "The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea. "Counterinsurgent strategy has often attempted to "drain the sea"- id est, separate the guerrilla from his support base in the population. By implication, this essay will point out that counterterrorist strategies against contemporary terrorist networks must adapt this drain-the-sea principle to the network model if effective policies are to be developed.

Notes:

Title from title screen (viewed May 1, 2017).

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.