This superbly researched book reflects the experiences of Colonel Russ Howard and Captain Reid Sawyer in teaching security-related courses in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point. Colonel Howard and Captain Sawyer have refined their thinking on the topic by their experimentation with the curriculum in these national security courses. We suggest that students of national security polity will find this book to be a unique combination of well-known and astute thinkers who have articulated the current and future policy implications of terrorism. The relevant experience of both Howard and Sawyer as editors places them in the best position to "connect the dots" of this wide-ranging material. - General Barry R. McCaffrey (Ret.), on back cover.

Foreword / Barry R. MacCaffrey -- Preface / Russell D. Howard -- Part one : Defining the threat. Terrorism defined -- Why terrorism? -- The new terrorism model -- Religion -- Weapons of mass destruction -- The threat of other forms of terrorism -- Part two : Countering the terrorist threat. The challenges of terrorism -- Strategies and approaches to combating terrorism -- Organizing to fight terrorism -- Instruments of counterterrorism -- Appendices. Background information on designated foreign terrorist organizations -- Significant terrorist incidents, 1961-2001 -- Chemical and biological weapons : possession and programs past and present -- Statement by the President in his address to the nation, September 11, 2001 -- Terrorist incidents, 1981-2001.