Review Essay Terrorism and Insurgency

The war on terrorism will have lasted seven years by September 2008, making it much longer than the American Civil War or World War II. Current American national security and military strategy documents, in fact, frame this war as a protracted struggle, one which may see persistent conflict lasting several decades. Despite the duration of this war, the US government has not yet exhibited a great deal of perspicacity in identifying and describing it coherently. It has used monikers that vary from the “Global War on Terrorism” to the “Long War” and “Persistent Conflict.” These labels may well capture a portion of the enemy’s methodology, or the longevity of the fight, but they do not provide for a clear understanding of what kind of war America and its partners are prosecuting. Is it a war, or a struggle, against terrorism? Or is it a war aimed at countering an insurgency of global scale in which nonstate, armed groups coalesce and affiliate under the aegis of a radical interpretative religious ideology, with the stated aim of overthrowing the Westphalian State system? In the latter sense, does al Qaeda foment no less than a revolution in revolution? The vast collection of essays contained in Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century: International Perspectives attempts to answer these questions as well as many others. Herein lies the value of this multivolume edited work, as it provides a comprehensive examination of a host of issues and challenges that continue to make this perennial and irregular war an exceedingly challenging one. James Forest is certainly qualified to edit such a massive undertaking. He is the Director of Terrorism Studies at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he teaches courses on counterterrorism and information warfare. In this capacity, he also directs research initiatives for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. In just over 2,000 pages, comprising three volumes, Forest has compiled 60-odd thematic essays that outline perspectives on insurgency, terrorism, strategy, intelligence, interagency cooperation, democratization, ideology, and martyrdom. This aggregation of essays summarizes and distills extant knowledge with the aim of understanding and learning more regarding terrorism and insurgencies; and how to better counter them. Portions of this work explore best practices in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, while other chapters examine failed methodologies. The first volume, “Strategic and Tactical Considerations,” analyzes hard power, soft power, and intelligence, as well as counterintelligence. The second volume, “Sources and Facilitators,” examines state failure, border security, democratization, network organiza-