On Friday 04 December 2009 Dr Audrey Kurth Cronin, Professor of Strategy at the U.S. National War College in Washington, DC, will speak on “How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns” from 3-4pm.
Terrorist campaigns seem endless, but they always end. Why? Noted strategy scholar Audrey Kurth Cronin shows why it may be more important to understand how terrorism ends than why it begins.
When it comes to terrorism, we are asking all the wrong questions. The most important thing we need to ask about terrorist campaigns isn’t “How are we doing?” but “How will it end?” Moreover, we should be less concerned with asking “When will the next attack be?” and instead ask “What will we do after that?” In How Terrorism Ends:
Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns Cronin follows the demise of terrorist groups over the past two centuries—from the African National Congress to the Tamil Tigers to the Real Irish Republican Army—and outlines the steps we need to take in the current fight against al-Qaeda. Understanding the common ways in which terrorism movements have met their end provides the best example for how we might strategically approach today’s terrorist groups, without resorting to fear mongering.
Audrey Kurth Cronin is professor of strategy at the U.S. National War College in Washington, DC, and senior associate in the Changing Character of War program at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Ending Terrorism: Lessons for Defeating al-Qaeda and the co-author of Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy.
In 2008 Audrey Kurth Cronin published an Adelphi Paper on Ending Terrorism: Lessons for Defeating al-Qaeda, AP 394. This paper first explains five typical strategies of terrorism and why Western thinkers fail to grasp them. It then describes historical patterns in ending terrorism to suggest how insights from that history can lay a foundation for more effective counter-strategies. Finally, it extracts policy prescriptions specifically relevant to ending the campaign of al-Qaeda and its associates, moving towards a post al Qaeda world.
This discussion will be moderated by Adam Ward, Director of Studies at the IISS. It will take place in the 4th Floor Conference Room at Arundel House, 13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3D.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP Kelly Signorelli-Chaplin at: currentevents@iiss.org.
