ABOUT THE BOOK
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:Description
Facing the threats posed by dedicated suicide bombers who have access to
modern technology for mass destruction and who intend to cause maximum human
suffering and casualties, democratic governments have hard choices to make. On
the one hand, they must uphold the basic values of democratic societies based
on due process and human rights. On the other, they need to pre-empt the kind
of destruction inflicted upon New York, Madrid, London, and Bali.
The premise of this book is that for intelligence organizations to be
able to face up to the challenges of global terrorism, they must think outside
the box and utilize all of their resources effectively and creatively. To
overcome the enemy, we must also secure the peace. Winning the hearts and minds
of the terrorists` pool of potential recruits will be essential to cutting off
the supply of suicide bombers. The support and cooperation of the people in
countries where the terrorists strike must be sustained by ensuring they have
confidence in the government and intelligence services. If a government and its
intelligence services become so focused on pre-empting terrorist attacks that
they infringe on the rights of their citizens and encroach on democratic norms,
they unwittingly fall into a trap set by Al Qaeda and its kind. These
organizations aim to destroy the democratic way of life so cherished in the
West, and to incite the Muslim populations in democratic countries and their
non-Muslim fellow citizens into a vicious circle of mutual hatred and violence.
This book therefore addresses not only the question of how intelligence
organizations can improve their efficacy in pre-empting terrorist outrages, but
also the wider issue of removing the forces that sustain global terrorism as a
scourge of the 21st century. The general public in the target countries and
recruiting grounds must also be persuaded that-despite their rhetoric-the
terrorists are not engaged in a holy war. Ultimately, the brand of global
terrorism promoted by Osama bin Laden and his associates is meant to satisfy
their own vanity and aspirations toward semi-divine status; the organization
they have formed for this purpose is merely a global syndicate that commits
serious crimes of a particularly heinous nature. Intelligence services of
various countries need to find convincing evidence to prove this point. But it
is up to governments, civil society, and the media in different parts of the
world to work together if the evidence unearthed by national intelligence
services is to be accepted by the general public. Unless the emotional or
quasi-religious appeal of the global terrorists can be removed, the simple
arrest of bin Laden and his close associates-or even the destruction of Al
Qaeda as an organization-will not be sufficient to prevent others from rising
to replace them.
ABOUT Author
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:aboutAuthor
STEVE TSANG is University Reader in Politics and Louis Cha
Senior Research Fellow at St. Antony`s College, Oxford University, where he is
also Director of the Pluscarden Programme for the Study of Global Terrorism and
Intelligence.