Author Description

Deterrence has been a crucial element in fighting terrorism, both in politics and in rational choice analyses of terrorism. However, there are two strategies that are superior to deterrence. The first one is to make terrorist attacks less devastating and less attractive to terrorists through decentralization. The second one is to raise the opportunity cost - rather than the material cost - for terrorists. These alternative strategies will effectively dissuade potential terrorists. It is here argued that they not only apply to society as a whole but can also usefully be applied by business enterprises. Al-Qaida is no longer the organization it once was. Most of the group's senior leadership is dead or in custody, its membership on the run, and its capabilities sharply degraded. More than 3,400 al-Qaida suspects have been arrested or detained worldwide. Virtually every country in the world has expressed support for the war on terrorist financing: 173 nations have issued orders to freeze terrorist assets, more than 100 countries have introduced new legislation to fight terrorist financing, and 84 countries have established financial intelligence units to share information. The term terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience. The term international terrorism means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country. The term terrorist group means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.