The War on Terrorism: A Collision of Values, Strategies, and Societies

In order to eradicate terrorism, our nation must go beyond merely shoring up military strength. It must also effectively confront the fundamentalist ideology that fuels and supports the terrorists. The War on Terrorism: A Collision of Values, Strategies, and Societies operates on the premise that the violent rejection of globalization at the root of terrorism must be addressed not solely by Western society and its armies, but also by those moderate and progressive Muslims and their religious leaders who are capable of rebutting the medieval underpinnings of the jihadist interpretation of Islam. By promoting an understanding of both terrorism and the terrorist, this volume examines the complexities inherent in creating a national security policy that successfully combats terrorist attacks.

Emphasizing the underpinnings of terrorist ideology throughout the text, the book examines the tools used by terrorist groups, the infrastructure targets most vulnerable to attack, and our vulnerabilities to the five major categories of WMDs. It describes the roles and responsibilities of each of our nation’s 16 intelligence agencies, while also reviewing the role conflict between the National Security Council and the U.S. State Department. The final chapter summarizes the challenge of globalization and presents a future forecast of the trends in global terrorism.

An understanding of the forces behind terrorism and its impacts are crucial to all nations and to the policy makers who design and construct counterterrorism programs. It is only through a multi-faceted approach that we can ever hope to make our country safe. This comprehensive volume provides those charged with protecting our homeland with the information necessary to understand terrorists and terrorism and to create effective, sensible national security policies.

Globalization, Ideology, and the Clash of Societies
The Clash of Societies
Religion, Moral Certainty, and Fundamentalism
Our Fragile Environment: How Societies Collapse
The Management and Mitigation of Risk
The Role of the University and Research in the War on Terrorism
Terrorism, Islamic Insurgency, and Religious War
The Global War on Terrorism—Instruments of Statecraft
Terrorism: Characteristics and Ideology
Organizational Skills of the Terrorist Leader
The World Wide Web and WorldWide Terrorism
Targets of Terrorists
The Challenge of Protecting Our Nation
Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets
Research and Development in Support of Critical Infrastructure
Focus on Targets, Not Terrorists
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Broken Borders and Illicit Trafficking in Nuclear Materials
Nuclear Terrorism
Biological Terrorism
Chemical Terrorism
Agroterrorism
Our Intelligence Community
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
National Intelligence Program Agencies
Military Intelligence Program Agencies
Congressional Oversight Committees
The Intelligence Process
The Reform and Reorganization of Our Intelligence Community
Historical Emergence of Intelligence Organizations
The Cold War Years: 1947–1989
Two Gulf Wars and Middle East Terrorist Activity
September 11, 2001 Attack and Categories of Failure
Transforming the Intelligence Community
National Security and Counterterrorism Policy Formulation: Transformational Issues and Challenges
Instruments of Statecraft
Transformational Issues and Challenges
Future Trends in Global Terrorism: Mapping the Strategy to Defeat an Ideology
Globalization, Ideology, and Security
Trends in Global Terrorism
Global Trends—2015 and Mapping the Global Future—2020
21st Century Nation-State Issues and Challenges
Bibliography
Appendices
Index