The Ultimate Terrorists

By Jessica Stern

Book Overview

As bad as they are, why aren't terrorists worse? With biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons at hand, they easily could be. And, as this chilling book suggests, they soon may well be. A former member of the National Security Council staff, Jessica Stern guides us expertly through a post-Cold War world in which the threat of all-out nuclear war, devastating but highly unlikely, is being replaced by the less costly but much more imminent threat of terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction.

According to SternThe Ultimate Terrorists depicts a not-very-distant future in which both independent and state-sponsored terrorism using weapons of mass destruction could actually occur. But Stern also holds out hope for new technologies that might combat this trend, and for legal and political remedies that would improve public safety without compromising basic constitutional rights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B000LZKMIE
• ISBN13: 9780674003941
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Stern's Ultimate Terrorist, a great book

This book must be one of the easiest books to read and understand on the subject. Sageman's book is great and Hoffman is excellent, but to me, this book was the best! The others go over terrorist inception much more, but Stern is more interested in the WMD proliferation. If there was ever a terrorist book that one could curl up to near a fireplace, this is it.

Critically important and timely reading.

The Ultimate Terrorists joins other timely publications in providing an assessment of differences between post-Cold War perceived threats and the modern reality of imminent terrorist attacks with weapons of mass destruction. From the threat of nuclear materials to biological warfare, The Ultimate Terrorists provides chapters which assess the new sources of terrorist activity.

A must for students of public policy

Not to be missed! Well documented and well written, Stern's informative, thought-provoking book is a must for students of public policy.

The best book on the subject.

Jessica Stern has a unique combination of qualifications: experience in the government, where she ran the White House's interagency task force on nuclear smuggling -- and solid credentials in academia, where she has published many articles on terrorism and chemical and nuclear weapons. And she writes extremely well. In my personal opinion, this is simply the best book on the subject.