Scripts of Terror: The Stories Terrorists Tell Themselves - Hardcover

by Benedict Wilkinson (Author)

This book explores terrorism as a strategic choice-- one made carefully and deliberately by rational actors. Through an analysis of the terrorist groups of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, this book charts a series of different strategic 'scripts' at play in terrorist behavior, from survival, to efforts in mobilizing a supporter base, through to the grinding attrition of a long terrorist campaign.

The theme that runs through all the organizations is the unbridgeable gap between their strategic vision, and what actually unfolds. Regardless of which script terrorists follow, they often fall short of achieving their political ambitions. And yet, despite its frequent failure, the terrorist strategy is returned to time and again-- people continue to join such groups, and to commit mindless acts of violence.

Scripts of Terror explores the reasons behind this. It asks why, if terrorism is so rarely successful and so hard to pull off, its approach remains an appealing one. And it examines how terrorists formulate their strategies, and how they envisage achieving their ambitions through violence. Most importantly, it explores why they so often fail.

Author Biography

Benedict Wilkinson is Senior Research Fellow at King's College London's Policy Institute, where he works on contemporary defense, security and foreign policy issues. He completed his PhD in War Studies at King's under the supervision of Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, during which time he was Head of Security and Counter- Terrorism at RUSI. This is his second book.