ABSTRACT
There is a great deal of disagreement about the causes of terrorism and the most effective ways to respond to this sort of political violence. Comparing the fight against terrorism with public health experts’ struggle against communicable diseases, Pillar concluded, some of the threats are waxing; some are waning. Terrorists force nation-states to react, and often they get their target societies to overreact at the expense of violating their most fundamental values. Politicians must accept that partisan expedience should never enter counterterrorist discussions, measures, and policies. Terrorists aim at influencing politics and policies in their target countries. Terror alerts play into the hands of terrorists because the mere threat of terrorism affects target audiences nearly as much as real strikes. A well-informed and well-prepared society is less likely to panic in the face of a terrorist crisis and more likely to opt for proportional counterterrorist responses at home and abroad than a clueless audience.
