The New Terrorism

Walter Laqueur’s book, “The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction”, is teaching his readers with all of the information about terrorism. The reasons behind terrorism are not easy to understand, but Laqueur goes into great detail to try and bring the reader to an understanding of what the terrorist is thinking in order to justify his reasoning

Chapter 1

Laqueur shows much explanation about terrorism: Arms of Mass Destruction. The chemical and biological weapons of yesterday are available and relatively cheap on today’s open market. Mr. Laqueur goes into depth on previous usages by terrorist organizations using these types of weapons as well as the possibility of further use. One frightening point that Laqueur makes is that the use of nuclear devices could very well have a possible future in terrorism.

Chapter 2

With nuclear devices as a possible method for inflicting terrorism, there will be no safe place for any citizen of any nation. The United States of America is one of the largest targets of terrorism, and a gigantic threat to our countries security. The author’s main thesis focuses around this new type of nuclear terrorism, and he gives many different types of examples of groups that have already used biological and chemical methods to achieve favorable results for their cause. Twenty years ago these types of biological and chemical actions were unheard of, due mostly to the unavailability of the different types of chemical agents. An example is The Aum Supreme Truth, a cult in Japan, is a group that used a chemical agent to give the illusion that the world was nearing the end. The purpose for the use of saran gas in the Tokyo subway system was to fulfill the prophecy of the cult leader Shoko Asahara.

Chapter 3

Despite the motives of a terrorist organization, the access to weapons of mass destruction is just around the corner. With the breakdown of Russia and the outburst of technology, it will not be to long before the weapons of mass destruction fall into the wrong hands. This leads to Laqueur’s main concern for the 21st century. If in another twenty years, nuclear weapons and the technology to build such devices are as available as biological and chemical weapons are now, the terrorist will achieve a weapon that will have to be dealt with very carefully.

Chapter 4

Another terrorist weapon that is still in the infancy stages is cyber terrorism. Currently the computer threat is minimal with only a few viruses here and there, but with the evolution process, Laqueur foresees a greater threat through the use of the computer. With a global society quickly becoming dependent