By Richard English, John Horgan, Eli Berman Reviewed by Lawrence D.

Freedman

FROM OUR JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 ISSUE

he development of the field of terrorism studies has, in recent years, appeared to outpace the development of actual

terrorism. 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 terminology . !t is not evident that the general lessons for counterterrorism that have come to the fore in dealing with !slamist terrorism are that different from those that emerged from dealing with Northern !reland (on which English has written e"tensively . The basic need is to maintain a sense of perspective and understand that although particular campaigns come and go, political violence is a continuing possibility. 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 background 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 tentati e feel. After an earnest section on methodology and a decent o er iew of the current debates o er deradicali!ation, there are eight case studies of indi iduals, representing only a small sample of the inter iews Horgan has conducted, and these are only moderately interesting. It is hard to discern a single pattern of disillusion. "hat does come across is that whate er terrorists# commitment to an underlying ideology, their actual experience of perpetrating iolence affects them in different ways and can lead to disaffection. $he real gem of recent releases is %erman#s brilliant analysis of religious terrorism. $he alue lies not only in what is learned about this form of iolence but also in the elegance of the analysis. $his is first&rate social science, with a compelling theory, strong e idence, and an accessible style. $he con entional explanations for the success of religious terrorist groups point to the nature of the theology and perhaps fanatical cultural predispositions. %erman identifies the need to a oid defection as essential for the sur i al of these organi!ations, a weakness that the authorities can often exploit by making irresistible offers to indi idual members, in the form of either bribes or threats. $o understand why defection is less frequent than might be expected, he explores the nature of religious communities that tend to insist on distincti e dress and social codes, encourage religious education e en though it limits opportunities for outside ad ancement, and pro ide charitable ser ices to their adherents. $hey use whate er extra re enues they can get to boost these ser ices and distance members from the most likely alternati e culture. In most cases, these religious communities ha e nothing to do with terrorism && for example, ultra&'rthodox (ews && but should such groups become inclined to iolent strategies, the tight communal bonds help sol e the problem of defection. $heir 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.