ABSTRACT
Introduction By itself, sub-state terrorism rarely, if ever, has had significant direct historical consequences, except perhaps in a few cases of political assassination or where both the stakes and the tolerance for casualties of the terrorized are very low. Beyond this, any historically significant developments that emerge from terrorism generally derive not from the act itself, but from the reactions, or overreactions, of states and electorates to that act.1 Sometimes these reactions are self-defeating or even self-destructive, and very often they play into the hands of the terrorists. In many respects, then, the way to defeat terrorism is for states and peoples to exercise self-control, to restrain their reactions, and, in particular, their desires to overreact. Moreover, although leaders have often felt differently, there may not really be a compelling political requirement to overreact.
