The New Terrorism: The Nature of the War on Terrorism

Abstract

This study defines the nature of the war on terrorism by assessing the changing nature of terrorism itself and develops an analytical framework within which to assess the strategies of terrorist groups. It compares the strategies of old terrorist groups -- Red Army Faction, Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and Irish Republican Army (IRA) -- to the new terrorism, the militant Islamic movement. The study concludes that there is a "new terrorism" that is not merely terrorism but a global insurgency. The strategy of this new movement requires an aggressive war on terrorism as a counterstrategy, but not necessarily the war that the United States is trying to fight. This study develops guidelines for military strategy against the insurgents by using the same analytical framework to assess the insurgents' strategy.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA455763

Entities

People

  • Michael W. Kometer

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Electronic Warfare
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Crime
  • Employment
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Guerrilla Warfare
  • International Organizations
  • Man Borne Improvised Explosive Devices
  • Military Science
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Societies
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Sociology

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.