The Terrorist Trap, Second Edition: America's Experience with Terrorism

The bombings of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and of the World Trade Center in New York City have joined a long history of terrorists acts against the United States. In this updated edition of his work, Jeffrey Simon reaches back to the founding days of the Republic to tell a story that is both instructive and alarming. Simon uncovers the dynamics of a deadly conflict that affects all Americans. His in-depth interviews with terrorists and their victims, with reporters, government officials and others seek to bring to life a tale of presidents and terrorists, media and society, all entangled in a drama of international violence.;The text traces the government response to terrorism from the days of Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates to William Jefferson Clinton's confrontation with home-grown terrorism. It explores the terrorist trap: the psychological, political and social elements that make terrorism unlike any other conflict. With the end of the Cold War and the defeat of Saddam Hussein's army in the Gulf War, many believed that the threat of terrorism had been significantly reduced. But Simon shows how terrorism grows out of political, economic and social gri

Table of Contents:
Preliminary Introduction to the Second Edition Prologue 1. Welcome to Reality 2. The Endless Nature of Terrorism 3. The Threat Emerges 4. The Setting of the Terrorist Trap 5. Tough Talk on Terrorism 6. The Mother of All Hostage Takers 7. Media Players 8. Roots 9. Future Trends 10.Lessons Learned Epilogue Interviews Notes Acknowledgments Index

About the Author :
JEFFREY D. SIMON is a foreign policy consultant and writer.

Review :
Reviews of the first edition: "A solid, commonsense look at a phenomenon capable of producing the strongest emotions... Simon's predictions for the future, and what our responses should be, seem reasoned and right. Informative." Booklist "In a disturbing, timely, compelling report, [Simon] scrutinizes America's response to terrorism ... he outlines steps that governments, intelligence agencies and the news media can take to reduce terrorists' psychological advantage and to thwart their actions." Publishers Weekly (starred review) "The first edition of this book was written in 1994, which means that much more recent information about terrorism is absent and the author provides, in part, a useful snapshot of the attitudes of the time... Lots of information, pro-US analysis, selective omissions, and one warning about "aerial terrorism"--written in 1994--who says the Bush administration had no clues about what might happen to tall buildings in New York? This is a purportedly academic text intended to underwrite US ideology--a typical example of the genre."--Morning Star, 20 August 2002