| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Terrorism, a form of violence that deliberately rather than inadvertently targets civilians, should be understood as a process that evolves over long periods of time, rather than as a series of discrete events. This approach helps place the cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001, in comparative perspective. It also avoids the erroneous assumption that radical Islamism and terrorism are synonymous. From a long-term perspective, 9/11 marked neither a culmination of a trend nor a completely new phenomenon. Terrorism is not static-strategy adapts to circumstances and profits from technological advances; states take effective precautions; different ideologies and conditions motivate violence-but there are also important continuities.
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