The Transformation of Terrorism

The New Terrorism, Impact Scalability and the Dynamic of Reciprocal Threat Perception

Author(s): Doron Zimmermann
Editor(s): Andreas Wenger
Series: Zürcher Beiträge zur Sicherheitspolitik und Konfliktforschung
Issue: 67
Publisher(s): Forschungsstelle für Sicherheitspolitik, ETH Zurich
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Place: Zurich

This book reappraises the paradigm of New Terrorism and addresses the following questions: Has terrorism undergone substantial change? Is New Terrorism really new, and if so, in what way? And what, in fact, constitutes New Terrorism? The author argues that terrorism is more dangerous than generally suggested due to the almost limitless impact scalability given to political violence movements through the development of precision delivery systems for conventional and unconventional weapons. Moreover, the reciprocal dynamic of threat perception - the pressure felt by terrorist organizations to realize the worst fears of Western societies and governments - makes the threat of a mass casualty terrorist attack more real than abstract.

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