The End of Terrorism?

by Leonard Weinberg

Published 19 August 2011

This book considers not the beginning or origins of terrorism but how groups that use terrorism end. Terrorism as a tactic is unlikely to disappear, however virtually all the groups that employed terrorist violence during the 1960s and 1970s have passed from the scene in one way or another. Likewise most of the individuals who embarked on 'careers' in terrorism over these same years now engage in other pursuits.

The author argues that al-Qaeda and the various violent Islamist groups it has inspired are, like their predecessors, bound to bring their operations to an end. Rather than discussing the defection or de-radicalization of individuals the book aims to analyze how terrorist groups are defeated, or defeat themselves. It examines the historical record, drawing on a large collection of empirical data to analyze in detail the various ends of these violent organizations.

This book provides a unique empirically informed perspective on the end of terrorism that is a valuable addition to the currently available literature and will be of interest to scholars of terrorism, security studies and international politics.


What is the relationship between political parties that embrace the democratic process and terrorist groups which eschew the legal and procedural strictures of democracy? This book provides a detailed theoretical and empirical analysis of this key relationship for the twenty-first century.