About Article

Despite five years of concerted effort to eradicate it, terrorism has managed to taunt us continuously. Understanding terrorism and that which makes a person a terrorist is essential, but will not be enough. Dealing with terrorism is a multi-faceted problem reflecting numerous dimensions, peoples and cultures. To be effective, understanding must translate into wise policies, and policies into actions, carried out with judicious sensibility. The emotional desire to simplify terrorism as a characteristic of a certain culture or geographic region ought to be rejected as misguided and counter-productive. This article suggests a crucial distinction between leaders and recruits, and posits that terrorist movements with political aspirations may be converted. Two case studies, Hezbollah and Hamas, are briefly presented to illustrate that possibility.