Terrorism: How to Respond by RICHARD ENGLISH; Walking Away From Terrorism: Accountsof Disengagement From Radical and Extremist Movements by JOHN HORGAN; Radical,Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism by ELI BERMANReview by: LAWRENCE D. FREEDMANForeign Affairs, Vol. 89, No. 1 (January/February 2010), pp. 141-142Published by: Council on Foreign RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20699801 .

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Recent Books

States has crowded out the debate over

Social Security, but the future fiscal viability of the latter has yet to be solved. With

increasing longevity everywhere, often

accompanied by low birthrates, the viability of public pension systems is a serious concern in all rich countries. This book

compares the U.S. system to others (it fares rather well) and explores whether reforms in other countries are applicable to

the United States. The authors conclude,

partly on the basis of international experi ence, that the U.S. system can be made

fiscally viable by gradually increasing the

age of eligibility for retirement (including early retirement), by increasing payments into Social Security by the wealthy, and, as necessary, by increasing taxes. They also

support a voluntary, government-sponsored, and privately managed retirement-savings

program for low- and middle-income

families?as an addition to, not a substitute

for, Social Security.

outpace the development of actual terror

ism. Now may be the era of diminishing marginal returns. One conclusion from

English's thoughtful, informed meditation on the state of terrorism research is that

there is not a lot new to say (and even here the field could have been spared another

disquisition on the problems of terminol

ogy). It is not evident that the general lessons for counterterrorism that have

come to the fore in dealing with Islamist terrorism are that different from those

that emerged from dealing with Northern Ireland (on which English has written

extensively). The basic need is to maintain a sense of perspective and understand that

although particular campaigns come and

go, political violence is a continuing pos sibility. English argues that governments must accept that the military has a limited role to play when dealing with the violence but that good intelligence will always be necessary.

Another author with an Irish back

ground is Horgan. His topic, asking why terrorists disengage, is a good one, and is far less explored than the question of why they engage in the first place. Unfortunately, as a pilot project for something bigger, this book has a rather interim and tentative

feel. After an earnest section on method

ology and a decent overview of the current

debates over deradicalization, there are

eight case studies of individuals, represent

ing only a small sample of the interviews

Horgan has conducted, and these are only

moderately interesting. It is hard to discern a single pattern of disillusion. What does come across is that whatever terrorists'

commitment to an underlying ideology, their actual experience of perpetrating violence affects them in different ways and can lead to disaffection.

Military, Scientific, and Technological

LAWRENCE D. FREEDMAN

Terrorism: How to Respond, by Richard

English. Oxford University Press,

2009,188 pp. $24.95.

Walking Away From Terrorism: Accounts of Disengagement From Radical and

Extremist Movements, by john horgan. Routledge, 2009, 216 pp.

$135.00 (paper, $36.95). Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New

Economics of Terrorism, by eli berman.

MIT Press, 2009,280 pp. $24.95. The developmen t of the field of terrorism studies has, in recent years, appeared to

FOREIGN AFFAIRS January/February 2010 [141]

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Recent Books

The real gem of recent releases is

Berman s brilliant analysis of religious terrorism. The value lies not only in

what is learned about this form of violence but also in the elegance of the analysis. This is first-rate social science, with a

compelling theory, strong evidence, and an accessible style. The conventional

explanations for the success of religious terrorist groups point to the nature of the

theology and perhaps fanatical cultural

predispositions. Berman identifies the need to avoid defection as essential for the survival of these organizations, a

weakness that the authorities can often

exploit by making irresistible offers to individual members, in the form of either bribes or threats. To understand why defection is less frequent than might be expected, he explores the nature of

religious communities that tend to insist

on distinctive dress and social codes,

encourage religious education even

though it limits opportunities for outside

advancement, and provide charitable

services to their adherents. They use

whatever extra revenues they can get to

boost these services and distance mem

bers from the most likely alternative

culture. In most cases, these religious communities have nothing to do with terrorism?for example, ultra-Orthodox

Jews?but should such groups become

inclined to violent strategies, the tight communal bonds help solve the prob lem of defection. Their loyalty to their

communities, and the aid that will go to their families, helps explain the readiness of some to become suicide

bombers and also why the nonsuicidal members of terrorist teams stick with

their tasks.

Living Weapons: Biological Warfare and International Security. by Gregory d.

koblentz. Cornell University Press,

2009, 256 pp. $35.00.

Breeding Bio Insecurity: How U. S.

Biodefense Is Exporting Fear, Globalizing Risk, and Making Us All Less Secure. by lynn c. klotz and edward j.

Sylvester. University of Chicago

Press, 2009, 272 pp. $27.50. Koblentz provides an up-to-date and

comprehensive analysis of biological weapons as a strategic problem that should

become the standard text in the field. He is alive to the paradoxes of the topic: these are weapons that cause disease yet arise from efforts to discover cures, they are absolutely prohibited by an interna tional treaty that nobody seems to think has removed the danger they pose, and

they are presumed to be widely available but are rarely used. They are compared to

nuclear weapons, but, as he notes, they do not work for deterrent purposes.

They did not help Iraq, for example, in

1991. At the core of the book are detailed case studies of what is and was known

about Iraqi, Soviet/Russian, and South

African programs. The book draws lessons

about intelligence, verification, and over

sight, and also about what strategic value

the offending countries sought to extract

by pursuing such weapons. (Its analysis of the failure to get an accurate reading of

the Iraqi position in 2002 is withering.) Through a careful examination of actual

cases, Koblentz has done his best to get the true measure of the bioterrorist threat.

A point made by Koblentz on how biodefense programs might advance offensive knowledge is fully developed in the forceful analysis by Klotz and Sylvester,

whose message is contained in its subtitle:

[142] FOREIGN AFFAIRS Volume 89 No. 1

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