Rating: 
Summary: Technology as religion
Review: Both religion and technology are seductive in their ability to both soothe and explain - but both are dangerous in the hands of zealots of either discipline. Stern, a Harvard professor and former fellow on terrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations, expands her definition of religious terrorists worldwide by including the Muslim jihad in Indonesia, militant Palestinians, zealous Israelis, and Americans who kill abortion doctors in the name of Christianity. Stern outlines how militants of all persuasions find recruits and recondition them in cultlike sects to embrace suicide and murder.
Stern spent 5+ years traveling worldwide to research this book, which combines psychology and forensic science in a remarkable study that all who are interested in keeping abreast of the growing role of religious terrorism should be required to read.
Rating:
Summary: Stern did an exceedingly fairminded job
Review: I applaud Miss Stern's effort in presenting us with the whole picture. For years we have been focusing solely on Muslim militants, forgetting that fanatics of other faiths also utilize terror as their tool. Before 9/11, the terrorist organization that has killed the largest number of civilians was the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and their Protestant Royalist counterparts came a close-second. But no one pay any attention to them, since they were killing each other, not us, and that they are both white and Christian. The problem of this book in revealing the terrorist acts perpetrated by Christians is that it misplaced the focus on American homegrown Christian fundamentalists, rather than Christian fanatics in Serbia, Croatia and Northern Ireland. I agree with my previous viewers that people like Falwells don't kill, they just rant. And ranting is no terrorism. But IRA does kill (even though I am sympathetic towards their cause), and Stern should probably spend more time on them. As for Jewish settlers vs. terrorists: Yes most Jewish settlers are just ordinary, law-abiding people like you and I, but the only Jewish terrorists *today* (I'm not talking about the LEHI or Avraham Shtern) are recruited from the ranks of the settlers. So if one wish to conduct a thorough research on their mindset, etc., one has to investigate the environment under which their psychology were forged. Thus, researching the history and realities of the settlements is indeed a useful way through which one can learn Jewish extremism better. Some may ask, why study this topic at all if there are at most 50-60 Jewish terrorist when Stern's writing her book? Well it's not about numbers. If one try to learn the relationship between religious fervor and terrorism, one *has to* study terrorism committed in the name of *different* religions. This is the method of "abstraction", through which researchers like Stern drew general principles out from the realities in the case of each religion. And she did a darn fine job. It's not about politicla correctness, it's about scientific methodology.
Rating: 
Summary: A Serious and Troubling Book
Review: I have been recommending "Terror in the Name of God" to everyone I know who will read a serious and troubling book. And troubling indeed is Jessica Stern's look at why religious militants kill. Troubling also are her observations on how others, both individuals and governments, respond to religious violence. While governments all over the world respond in ways that escalate religious violence, her main concern is that America, and especially American foreign policy, tend to respond in ways that make matters worse.
Stern's first point is that grievances, real or imagined, give rise to an individual's joining a terrorist group. One group with a grievance, which we might not think of as a terrorist organization, is an American group existing only as virtual organization. A website for those who believe in killing doctors who provide abortions announces which clinics are scheduled to have protests, and encourages people to show up to harass staff and women coming for abortions. The site provides names and home addresses of such doctors, and people encouraged by the site have succeeded in forcing clinics in several states to shut down. At least two murders of abortion providers have been traced to this site. But it is very difficult to prosecute on virtual evidence. And it is almost impossible to trace the money donated through the Internet, and the people who "belong" to such a nebulous group.
Stern also talked to men in a militant Jewish group in Jerusalem, who were involved in a plan to blow up the Dome of the Rock to make room to rebuild the Temple. To them, Judaism will not be complete unless this is done.
But the crux of the book, because it is of such danger in today's world, is Islamist fundamentalist violence, in its multiplicity of forms, from Algeria to Indonesia. This is the truly frightening part of the book, because it poses the greatest danger, and because the West, specifically the United States, is responding to it in such counterproductive ways.
Stern builds up to this conclusion. She must have been researching terrorism for years before she began this particular book, given her position on the National Security Council as far back as 1994. For this book, she began visiting terrorists in 1999, and was still visiting after September 11. In some cases, it took nearly two years of negotiations before they would meet with her. And she is very careful to remind the reader that they all lied to her, to serve their own purposes. In cases where she could verify the lies, she points them out. In other cases, they have to go unchecked.
So we follow her as she goes to Pakistan, Palestine, Israel, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India. She takes what have to me felt like isolated incidents, and shows how they have helped groups learn from each other and in many cases merge. For instance, Egypt did an excellent job of suppressing its militant jihadist group. They then left Egypt, joined Al Queda, and provided the technical know-how that made possible the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the African Embassy bombings, and September 11. It was Osama Bin Laden, through his legitimate and illegitimate businesses in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere who provided the money.
So why do they hate us? Partly it is because we do not embody their religious values. Fifty years ago, Muslims came to the West for higher education. Now, if they come, they are repelled by our materialism, the freedom of our women, our decadence, and our lack of religious and moral values. They return with anti-Western values. But current surveys show that people in the Arab world still highly value the technology of the West (no doubt including our weapons, though the survey didn't include this question). This ambivalence no doubt fuels some of the problem.
So what are doing wrong, and what could we do to improve things? First, we don't understand the complexities of what drives people to be terrorists. As one example, in places like Pakistan, schools are so inadequate, and expensive, that poor parents may have no choice. If they want their sons to get any education, they send them to the madrassahs. Boys enter these schools as early as five; there they are fed, housed, clothed, taught the Koran--and the hard line of the terrorist organization. If they show promise, they may be allowed to enter the organization. Even if they do not, they will in all likelihood toe the party line, and perhaps send their sons to the school. (Rather than try to shut these schools down, she would like to see alternative schools set up, which would provide an education beyond the Koran, which is the only curriculum in these schools. A free practical education might siphon off some of the attendance.)
Stern talks about the "God-shaped hole" in modern life, which afflicts people in Indonesia as much as it does in Chicago. People are looking for meaning in their lives, and they will take it wherever they can find it. If all that is on offer is a terrorist organization, so be it.
Stern sees the Islamic world as particularly vulnerable to the virus of terrorism, for a number of reasons. One is US support for Israel. Another is that standards of living have remained stable or fallen in most Muslim states over the last 25 years, while in the rest of the developed world they have risen. This has bred fury with rich America. 80% of Muslim states are ruled non-democratically. She makes the interesting point that states with many natural resources (i.e. oil) have especially hard times becoming viable democracies. I wish she'd explored that more. She also notes that the transition to democracy is a vulnerable period across the board. I wish she'd explored that more too, given the current situation in Iraq.
As to what to do, she is critical of a strictly military approach. For one thing, Al Queda and other terrorist groups don't function like armies; they use small amorphous cells in a wide variety of places, and our usual military tactics don't work. I'd guess this is why we end up with so much "collateral damage." And when we use military force, we provide more recruits for terrorism. She is also critical of our insistence on the death penalty, primarily because the European Parliament has prohibited extradition of terrorists to the US without guarantees that the death penalty will not be used. And Britain has said that its soldiers will not turn Bin Laden over to the US unless the death penalty is waived.
The US needs to denounce, loudly, Israel's de facto settlement process, and wherever possible, counter the slogans of the terrorists, not with throwing down gauntlets, but with statements of our values in ways that respect the true values of Islam.
Let me finish this overly long review of a truly important book with a short quotation from her ending:
"The religious terrorists we face are fighting us on every level--militarily, economically, psychologically, and spiritually. Their military weapons are powerful, but spiritual dread is the most dangerous weapon in their arsenal....We need to avoid giving in to spiritual dread, and to hold fast to the best of our principles, by emphasizing tolerance, empathy, and courage."
Rating:
Summary: A valuable look at a difficult subject
Review: I have grown utterly weary of the explosion of terrorism studies following 9/11, but this book held me rapt from beginning to end. Stern has written a deeply personal work far removed from either dry academic prose or "I was there" anecdotes without losing the ability to present a fairly balanced view across a number of regions and religions. The result is a remarkable look at both the personalities of those she interviewed and her sometimes startlingly honest reactions to each one. Her style is solid and the footnotes are filled with extensive, valuable resources for further reading. This is not a good buy for those readers that prefer the author remain detached from his or her subject, but in my opinion it is Stern's first-person style, descriptive narrative and open revelation of her thoughts and reactions to each subject that makes this an especially powerful work.
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Summary: A cogent, well thought out treatise by a serious thinker
Review: I was shocked by the ferocity with which a couple of reviewers panned this book. It reminded me of the initial outcry and emotional vetting that took place right after 9/11. Tellingly, at that moment when a vast majority of the civilian population was screaming for blood, it was the military who pushed for calmer heads to prevail. Knowing your enemy is a big part of suceeding and if we as Americans can be faulted with anything, it's our arrogance. I submit that being able to mentally hold an idea and at the same time not agreeing with it is a level of intellectual prowess not acheived by some reveiwers. This book is fantastic. I could not put it down. Unlike most books of this sort which by necessity rely primarily on anecdotal evidence, this is serious work. It is closer to hard science in its procedure than most of the rabble rousing goobly gook masquerading as serious books on terrorism. Prof. Stern is not trying to morally equate anything. She simply tries to expose some terrorist core motivations which are decidedly different from those of a soldier. Traditional phase-line thinking will not win thin war on terrorism. We need more thinkers of Stern's ilk to raise the level of the discourse.
Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read for Understanding Today's World
Review: If you care at all about the future of the United States, and if you're intelligent enough to ask "WHY?" (why do people turn to terrorism to get their point across?!), read this book.
Ms. Stern doesn't just cover Al Queda -- she covers terrorist groups all over the planet, including some in the United States that you might not have previously thought of as being "terrorists" .... although they clearly are just that.
This book is fascinating and an easy read, and I absolutely recommend it. I also applaud Ms. Stern's willingness to take on this dangerous mission and compile this information for the rest of us -- she's done an awesome job!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent framework for understanding terrorism
Review: In surveying books on terrorism for my college course, I found this one of the best. Wish it wasn't hardcover! Stern analyzes the different types of reasons for terrorism (humiliation, alienation, demographics, territory, and history) and explains both on the psychological and sociological level how they operate. She also explains how the different methods of terrorism operate to bring about the psychological trance/bliss state, how terrorists become as well as their logistical operations. She describes charismatic leaders, commanders and cadres, lone wolves, and freelance franchises as forms of organization and the sometimes mixed motives of their members. She discusses terrorist organizations' relationships with states, weapons acquistion and type, recruit training, and techniques to enhance commitment. The book covers much the same territory that Mark Juergensmeyer's "Terror in the Mind of God" covers. He does it more elegantly, with more depth, and with many of the same insights and conclusions, but Stern provides more information on the nature of organizations and a better categorization of motives. This is the broader book. If you have strong ideological beliefs or interests in parties involved with or affected by terrorism, you probably won't like the book. Christian terrorism and Jewish terrorism exist, albeit on a vastly lower level than Islamic terrorism at the moment, but the forces behind all kinds of terrorism have much in common, as this book points out. If we can't get past emotional reactions and judgments to understand why and how these terrible and tragic events occur, then we only contribute to their perpetuation, not their alleviation.
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Summary: Extremely important information presented in a dry manner
Review: In the interest of not repeating what other reviewers have already pointed out, I want to focus on two specific points about Stern's extremely important book. Stern has made a huge contribution with this book by providing insight into what makes terrorists tick. It is wonderfully devoid of the gung ho jingoistic machismo we so often see in today's political debate. While Stern's observations might not win votes, it is psychologically and sociologically logical and coherent. If only the policitians would heed the information Stern has presented we might actually defeat terrorism in the long term. Unfortunately, how Stern has presented her information is rather dry to say the least. A quick glance confirms her background at Harvard University. "In this chapter I will explain . . . " is the classic academic style of a first sentence of a chapter. This might be fine for a thesis paper, it is not for a book for public consumption. This severely detracts from the possible larger reading audience Stern could have had had she used a more interesting approach. I'd rather listen to material like this than read it, so I recommend the audio version over the original text. It's abridged and it suffers from Stern's dry reading style, but it is easier to digest overall. The other issue which another reviewer raised was whether or not Stern actually spoke to terrorists given how misognystic Islamic extremists can be. The idea is that such people would not talk to a woman. As someone who has also travelled to the Middle East, including Iraq in 1998 when I met many Iraqi soldiers, I have observed many Muslims, good and bad, separate in social settings how they behave towards a Muslim Arab woman versus how they might behave towards a liberal white woman born in the U.S. While they won't tolerate the behavior of the former, they will the latter. Obviously, this is not to suggest that all Arabs and Muslims are alike or that what I observed is also symptomatic of terrorists. But it does suggest that some people with strong religious beliefs do indeed have a surprising level of cultural tolerance in certain circumstances. It's impossible to prove either way if Stern actually spoke with terrorists. Could a man prove beyond a doubt that he had? Just as likely he could not. Thus, I would not so easily dismiss Stern's experiences and insight just because she is a woman. There's ample evidence here to show that Stern knows exactly what she's talking about.
Rating:
Summary: Fighting Terrorism with Brains Not Political Rhetoric
Review: In this lucid, intelligent study, Professor Jessica Stern brings us face to face with members of some of most notorious terrorist organizations around the globe and introduces us to their point of view without making excuses for them or losing site of the fact that they are premeditated mass-murderers. This is not only a remarkable feat but also an extremely necessary one. Famous strategists have argued throughout history that the only way to defeat a powerful enemy is to understand how it thinks. This is especially true of global terrorism whose practitioners are often stateless, furtive, flexible, and remarkably regenerative. Few people are as qualified to examine this subject as Stern. Not only has she researched and taught terrorism at prestigious government organizations and universities in the United States, but also, she personally interviewed numerous terrorist cadres and leaders both in captivity and while they were at large. This book warrants a couple of cautionary statements. First, readers should not confuse it with sociologist, Mark Jurgensmeyer's similarly titled study, "Terror in the Mind of God" which was published in 1998. In that book, Jurgensmeyer provides a sociological study of global terrorists that adduces common modes of thought to a variety of terrorist organizations around the globe. Second, this book will not appeal to anyone who clings to the comforting but woefully inadequate belief that terrorists are simply "evil doers" who are "jealous of our freedoms." Terrorism certainly is an evil phenomenon, and many sections of this book depict the author's moral struggle to empathize with people who plan and carry out unspeakable acts. But as Stern points out, we can only effectively combat terrorism when we place ourselves in the minds of terrorists and attempt to understand their thinking. TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
One of the most important contributions of this book is the fact that it provides a functional taxonomy of terrorist organizations. Stern demonstrates that terrorist movements range from individual practitioners and leaderless groups, to complex hierarchical organizations, and ultimately to massive, transnational "franchises" that incorporate all others. Individuals or "lone wolf avengers" as Stern calls them include examples such as the notorious Unibomber, while at the other end of the scale massive, transnational terrorist "franchises" include al Quaeda which recruits a variety of different people for different roles whether they are skilled specialists, or merely individuals that possess the required citizenship and language skills for a specific operation. TERRORIST MOTIVATIONS
Perhaps more important is Stern's examination of terrorist motivations. In many cases, terrorist organizations-however reprehensible their acts may be-do possess legitimate grievances most of which center around brutality and humiliation suffered at the hands of a more powerful force. But in numerous instances, Stern finds that terrorists often depart from their original grievances until they are committing acts of terror as both a business and a lifestyle. In Kashmir, for example, Stern found that terrorists who originally opposed the brutal treatment of Kashmiri citizens by Indian police and soldiers later benefited from their plight because it provided them with a source of funding and recruits. Ironically, these same terrorists eventually collaborated with corrupt Indian military officials and members of India's organized crime in order to further achieve their goals. Their original "mission" became obscured and the terrorists-as so often happens-began to operate more out of economic necessity and habit than in order to redress a grievance. TERRORISM AS A PRODUCT
As strange as it may seem, Stern notes that terrorist organizations must often market themselves and vie for funding in the same manner as NGOs and startup companies. In order to attract financial backers and popular support, terrorist organizations frequently try to sell their missions. Prior to the attacks of September 11th for example, al Quaeda rarely mentioned the plight of the Palestinians. But after the attacks, al Quaeda immediately mentioned the Palestinians in their broadcast speeches in order to attract the sympathy of moderate Moslems who might otherwise be alienated by the scale and brutality of September 11th. TERRORISM AND GLOBALIZATION
Despite their outspoken opposition to globalization, many terrorist organizations, like their counterparts in the business world, fully exploit it in order to develop trans-national capabilities. Al Quaeda for example has franchise groups all over the world and in the past it has acquired financially insolvent groups such as Egyptian Islamic Jihad. In South America's un-patrolled tri border area (where Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina meet) terrorist groups from all over the world including white supremacists from the United States and Islamic fundamentalists from the Middle East regularly meet to exchange logistics and tradecraft. For this reason, intelligence agencies fear that in the future al Quaeda could "outsource" some of its missions to white supremacist terrorist organizations within the United States effectively making it the Haliburton of the terrorist world. AMERICAN TERRORISTS
Anyone who views terrorism as the bi-product of a "Clash of Civilizations" or "Us vs. Them" scenario should read Stern's first chapter very carefully. Here, Stern describes a radical, white, Christian terrorist organization in the United States that planned in 1986 to poison urban water supplies to bring about The Apocalypse. More disturbing is the fact that despite their radically different ideologies, foreign and American terrorist groups largely sympathize with each other. Terrorists whom Stern interviewed from both camps expressed sympathy with the goals and actions of their counterparts in America or the Middle East. Stern's book leaves us with challenging questions and conclusions about terrorism. Since terrorists often depart from their original motives until they are acting out of mere greed and excitement, it is clearly impossible to defeat them with a strategy of appeasement. At the same time, we must recognize that as long as people feel humiliated, defeated, or excluded from progress and development terrorist organizations will have a never-ending supply of willing recruits. Stern provides us with an excellent starting point for effectively combating terrorism. But it is up to us to elect leaders who are competent and capable of performing this task instead of merely talking about it.
Rating:
Summary: Fair and Balanced Reporting
Review: Jessica Stern did an excellent job of interviewing the terrorists and reporting upon what they said their beliefs and reasoning was. She didn't do quite as good a job at organizing her interviews and background information into a coherent whole, probably due to the fact that her publisher wanted the book on the shelves before terrorism stopped being a hot topic. That said, while I am glad she covered terrorists in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, she has "holes" in her coverage. She did not mention, let alone study, the Hindu, Buddhist, and other terrorist groups found throughout Asia. She completely disregarded the secular terrorist groups, despite the fact that Hamas and Islamic Jihad (for example) arose entirely due to the fact that the secular, socialist Palestinian terrorist groups failed so miserably in the 70s and early 80s. A worse hole in her coverage (accepting that she only covers terrorism based on the Abrahamic faiths) is that she only covers Christian terrorists in North America. Regrettably, they also exist in North Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, and elswhere. The United States makes much of the "Muslim Terrorist" groups operating in Indonesia these days, what is failed to mention is that these groups first arose in the late 80s and early 90s after Christians began massacring Muslim villages. So, of course, when American Christian missionaries show up, the more violent Muslim movements think they're there to provide funding and/or weapons or moral support to the Christians who were killing Muslims, and they get kidnapped. From their point of view, it's perfectly logical. I was very glad to see coverage of some of the Jewish terrorists that have shown up in recent decades. These are mostly ignored in the mainstream American media. However, in response to some of the criticisms... what makes it more morally acceptable to kill people by dropping a bomb on them from an airplane or helicopter, or to shoot them from a tank or run them over with a bulldozer? As far as I'm concerned, suicide bombers have at least removed themselves from the pool of future murderers. On a similar subject... the first Palestinian suicide bombings in the early 90s were aimed at Israeli military targets, usually military guardposts. The Israelis then made it so hard to hit a military target (this is called "hardening your target") that those Palestinians traumatized (usually terrorists have had at least a relative killed in the conflict) enough to want revenge by any means resorted to non-military targets (I have a hard time calling them civilian targets, when "civilian" women in the settlements take their kids out for for walks in strollers with a machine gun slung over their shoulders). If a person who looks Palestinian approaches a military target, they get shot first, and then asked questions if they survive. Also, the Israeli military uses civilian busses as transport. This is why so many targets have been busses or busstations - that way, the terrorist has at least a chance of hitting a military target. (International groups have suggested (repeatedly) that Israel have a separate transportation system for its soldiers.) This is not a justification (there is none), it is an explanation. Just as this book is an explanation of why the terrorists abuse their religions in the name of hatred, without justifying their hatred or their murderous actions.
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