How terrorism ends : understanding the decline and demise of terrorist campaigns / Audrey Kurth Cronin.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [283]-296) and index.

The Evolution of Terrorism as a Strategic Threat -- A Word About Scope and Terms -- The Conceptual Framework -- Case Selection -- Overview of Chapters -- Ch. 1. Decapitation: Catching or Killing the Leader -- What Decapitation Means -- The Arrest of Top Leaders -- Assassination Or "Targeted Killing" -- How Decapitation Ends Terrorism -- Ch. 2. Negotiations: Transition toward a Legitimate Political Process -- Why Governments Negotiate -- Why Groups Negotiate -- Case Studies of Negotiations -- LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers) Promising and Unpromising Circumstances for Negotiations -- How Negotiations End Terrorism -- Ch. 3. Success: Achieving the Objective -- What Does "Success" Mean? -- Ending Terrorism: Strategic or "Outcome" Goals -- Cases of Success -- How Success Ends Terrorism -- Ch. 4. Failure: Imploding, Provoking a Backlash, or Becoming Marginalized -- Implosion: Mistakes, Burnout, and Collapse -- Marginalization: Diminishing Popular Support -- How Failure Ends Terrorism -- Ch. 5. Repression: Crushing Terrorism with Force -- Analyzing the Strategies of Terrorism -- Case Studies of Repression -- How Repression Ends Terrorism -- Ch. 6. Reorientation: Transitioning to Another Modus Operandi -- Criminality and Terrorism -- Insurgency and Terrorism -- Terrorism as a Catalyst for Major War -- Outdated Paradigms, Practical Implications -- How War Ends Terrorism -- Ch. 7. How Al-Qaeda Ends: The Relevance and Irrelevance of History -- Is Al-Qaeda Unique? -- The Relevance and Irrelevance of History For Al-Qaeda: Applying the Framework -- Al-Qaeda's Decline and Demise -- Understanding How Terrorism Ends -- Appendix. Statistical Analysis of Terrorist Campaigns.

"Amid the fear following 9/11 and other recent terror attacks, it is easy to forget the most important fact about terrorist campaigns: they always come to an end - and often far more quickly than expected. Contrary to what many assume, when it comes to dealing with terrorism it may be more important to understand how it ends than how it begins. Only by understanding the common ways in which terrorist movements have died out or been eradicated in the past can we hope to figure out how to speed the decline of today's terrorist groups, while avoiding unnecessary fears and costly overreactions. In How Terrorism Ends, Audrey Kurth Cronin examines how terrorist campaigns have met their demise over the past two centuries, and applies these enduring lessons to outline a new strategy against al-Qaeda."--BOOK JACKET.