ABSTRACT
The author describes key aspects of the threat and the increasing vulnerability of terrorist targets and, finally, he recounts the successes and failures of counterterrorism. His argument is that terrorism became less distinguishable from common crime and that the examples of theft, fraud, and extortion are regular terrorist activities. This led to his final observation, that the complexity of an effective security response to terrorism is that no one agency or organization will have all the resources, skills, and expertise to mount effective prevention and post-event management. The author describes the developing challenge of the terrorist threat and the vulnerability of contemporary targets it is relevant to reflect on the developing response, the art of counterterrorism. His intention in reviewing counter-terrorism development is to highlight those aspects that have proved successful-to map where things have worked-and those aspects that are likely to continue to be effective.
