ROOTS OF TERRORISM. IN: TERRORISM. REDUCING VULNERABILITIES AND IMPROVING RESPONSES. U.S.-RUSSIAN WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS.

This chapter on the roots of terrorism is from a book that gathers papers and proceedings from workshops held between 2001 and 2003 of meetings of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the National Academies of Science (NAS, United States), focusing on reducing vulnerabilities and improving responses to terrorism. The author of this chapter takes a different approach, bringing the social and behavioral science perspectives to the fight against terrorism. The author describes his work with ethnic violence and ethnic tensions, which subsequently evolved into a concern with full-scale terrorism. The author outlines questions that arise in an environment where ethnic violence is prevalent, and explores its later relationship to terrorism, whether religiously or politically motivated. The author stresses that ideological terrorism does not arise in a vacuum from a few unstable individuals who go berserk; rather, a group process generates true believers. A first line of defense is to get the communities from which the suicide attackers stem to stop the attacks by learning how to minimize the receptivity of mostly ordinary people to recruiting organizations. Real peacemaking and peacekeeping require transparency in the give-and-take of negotiation and readiness to work through all available third parties as partners. The author emphasizes the purely military solutions are seldom if ever effective. The author concludes with a list of operating parameters to assist the development of interacademy cooperation.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309089719
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Committee on Counterterrorism Challenges for Russia and the United States. Office for Central Europe and Eurasia Development, Security, and Cooperation, Policy and Global Affairs. In cooperation with the Russian Academy of Sciences.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Research Council

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  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Adams, R M
• Publication Date: 2004

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 168-175
• Serial:
  • Publication of: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Research Council

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cooperation; Countermeasures; Ethnic groups; Prevention; Psychological aspects; Psychological conflict; Psychological trust; Risk assessment; Risk management; Social psychology; Terrorism; Tolerance (Psychology)
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00987448
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309089719
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 7 2005 12:00AM