Terror's New Face: The Radicalization and Escalation of Modern Terrorism‪.‬

WALTER LAQUEUR is Chairman of the International Research Council at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Terrorism promises to continue for years to come as the prevalent mode of conflict--sometimes in its "pure" form, sometimes within the framework of civil war or general lawlessness. Nonetheless, much rethinking must occur since the terrorist acts of the past do not necessarily offer a reliable guide for the future. Only an examination of the changing face of terrorism and an analysis of current trends can offer valuable insights into future outbreaks. For a long time, conventional wisdom held that terrorists were idealistic, courageous young patriots and social revolutionaries driven to desperate actions by intolerable conditions, oppression, and tyranny. This assessment was not entirely wrong; it was buttressed by the existence of oppression and social conflicts to which violence seemed the only effective response.