How Terrorism Ends

Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns

By: Audrey Kurth Cronin

Narrated by: Diana Dorman

Amid the fear following 9/11 and other recent terror attacks, it is easy to forget the most important fact about terrorist campaigns: the always come to an end - and often far more quickly than expected. Contrary to what many assume, when it comes to dealing with terrorism, it may be more important to understand how it ends than how it begins. Only by understanding the common ways in which terrorist movements have died out or been eradicated in the past can we hope to figure out how to speed the decline of today's terrorist groups, while avoiding unnecessary fears and costly overreactions.

In How Terrorism Ends, Audrey Kurth Cronin examines how terrorist campaigns have met their demise over the past two centuries, and applies these enduring lessons to outline a new strategy against al-Qaeda.This book answers questions such as: How long do terrorist campaigns last? When does targeting the leadership finish a group? When do negotiations come to an end? Under what conditions do groups transition to other forms of violence, such as insurgency or civil war? How and when do they succeed or fail, and then disappear?

Examining a wide range of historical examples - including the anti-tsarist Narodnaya Volya, the Provisional IRA, Peru's Shining Path, Japan's Aum Shinrikyo, and various Palestinian groups - Cronin identifies the ways in which almost all terrorist groups die out, including decapitation (catching or killing the leader), negotiation, repression, and implosion. How Terrorism Ends is the only comprehensive book on its subject and a rarity among all the books on terrorism - at once practical, optimistic, rigorous, and historical.

©2009 Princeton University Press (P)2011 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"[R]ich in fascinating detail.... [Its] insights should rightly guarantee the text a wide readership.... The timeliness, clarity and simplicity of How Terrorism Ends should commend it to readers of all descriptions." ( International Affairs)

Great First Read on Global Terror

I never before thought about studying this topic from the perspective of the end of terror groups and campaigns but it turns out that may be more useful than focusing solely on preventing them.

Halfway through

I've decided I won't continue listening. The book seemed interesting, and my library doesn't own the print version, so I thought I'd try it as an audio. Unfortunately, it's just not "general interest" enough to hold my interest for the second part; perhaps I might've continued on at least skimming through the actual book. Narration could be a bit better, but the underlying material really doesn't lend itself to the audio format. I'd say listening would an option for those with a strong, specific interest (and background) in the subject.

Great book bad narrator

The content of the book is excellent. This book is a must read in the subject matter. The narrator had some very strange pronunciations of words. I found this very distracting.

A must read for counter terrorism students

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I am studying counter terrorism at the moment and I would highly recommend this to any one studying or just interested in the field. A very insightful look at terrorism and how to combat it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What about Diana Dorman’s performance did you like?

Good read, not one of my favorites though.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me think about the topic in a new way

Any additional comments?

One of the better books on CT out there

Incredible detail

The level of detail into the causes, successes and failures of terrorism that drives its demise offers a solution to nearly every scenario. The author draws on analysis of over 400 groups from the past 100 years to find patterns and tendencies. Spoiler alert: bombing the living daylights out of the civilian population that the terrorists claim to represent only rarely succeeds. Read the book to find out what does work.

Awful - Dry, Repetitive, Vacuous

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This might be required reading for a class, otherwise no-one would voluntarily get through it.

Has How Terrorism Ends turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not necessarily.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Unpleasant, squeaky voice. Dry as cardboard narration. Affected accent.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really; the subject is intriguing but the book does not deliver at all. Out of dozens of Audible books I have purchased, this is by far the worst and the only one I did not finish listening to.

Any additional comments?

The content is extremely repetitive, as if required to fill a word quota. The book really doesn't say much.