A Counterterrorism Strategy for the Obama Administration

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4087656
AutoresBruce Hoffman (0000-0002-7740-1545, Georgetown University, autor correspondente)
Ano2009
Volume21
Fascículo3
Páginas359-377
Data de publicação2009-06-29
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoTerrorism and Political Violence (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0954-6553 • E-ISSN: 1556-1836
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09546550902950316
OpenAlexW2073968473
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas11

This article assesses the scope and nature of the current terrorist threat to the United States and suggests a strategy to counter it. Al-Qaeda continues to pose the most serious terrorist threat to the U.S. today. If the September 11, 2001 attacks have taught us anything, it is that al-Qaeda is most dangerous when it has a sanctuary or safe haven from which to plan and plot attacks. Al-Qaeda has acquired such a sanctuary in Pakistan's Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and its North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and surrounding environs. Accordingly, the highest priority for the new American presidential administration must be to refocus our—and our allies'—attention on Afghanistan and Pakistan, where al-Qaeda began to collapse after 2001, but has now re-grouped. This will entail understanding that al-Qaeda and its local militant jihadi allies cannot be defeated by military means alone. Success will require a dual strategy of systematically destroying and weakening enemy capabilities—that is, continuing to kill and capture al-Qaeda commanders and operatives—along with breaking the cycle of terrorist recruitment among radicalized “bunches of guys” as well as more effectively countering al-Qaeda's effective information operations. The U.S. thus requires a strategy that harnesses the overwhelming kinetic force of the American military as part of a comprehensive vision to transform other, non-kinetic instruments of national power in order to deal more effectively with irregular and unconventional threats. This article first discusses the scope and details of the terrorist threat today and then proposes a counterterrorism strategy for the new presidential administration. It focuses first on creating a micro approach to address the deteriorating situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. It then considers the requirements of a broader macro strategy to counter terrorism and insurgency

Adversary · Al qaeda · Computer security · Frontier · Jihadism · Militant · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Terrorism · Computer Science · Law · Military History and Strategy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence