The classic argument made in the latter twentieth century was that terrorism often succeeds tactically but is virtually nowhere a strategic success. However, this seductive mental framework can mask the essential interactive nature of terrorism: as many in the U.S. military like to say, in terrorism as in war, the “enemy gets a vote.” Some tactical achievements have strategic consequences for progress toward overall goals, and the strategic objectives themselves normally evolve in the course of a terrorist campaign, making it very difficult to judge exactly what “success” means in a given
...more
