Terrorism: How the West Can Win (review)

234 SAIS REVIEW or Saigon, enjoyed the support of the masses. They gained this support by adopting social and economic policies and an ideology that met the needs of the people—for example, through land reform. Consequently, Kolko implies that mass support, not military tactics, was the major determinant of strength in the struggle. The Communists' "personal morality" was another important source of power. According to Kolko, the Communists were the only major actors able to act rationally because only they perceived social and economic realities accurately . Moreover, their victory validated the superiority of communist revolution . Given the Vietnamese social context, communist victory was inevitable. Kolko's emphasis on socioeconomic conditions in Vietnam makes for a unique approach to explaining the war's outcome. The author's personal biases—his opposition to U.S. intervention in the Third World and his Marxist assumptions—influence his conclusions. Nevertheless, his unconventional analysis of the Vietnam conflict is valuable. Terrorism: How the West Can Win. Edited by Benjamin Netanyahu. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1986. 245 pp. $18.95/cloth. Reviewed by Diana Tasnadi, M.A. candidate, SAIS. Ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu, whose brotherJonathan lost his life leading the 1976 Israeli rescue mission to Entebbe, is no dispassionate analyst of terrorism . Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Netanyahu prescribes a heavy dose of intestinal fortitude to curb terrorism, a recommendation certain to elicit lively response. If willing, he affirms, democracies can win the present war against terrorism. Terrorism: How the West Can Win confronts the reader with stark, politically unpleasant realities about the international terrorist network and its principal sponsors. It permits no ambiguity on the frequently obscured concepts of morality and legitimacy. Regardless of the cause, Netanyahu writes, terrorism has no justification. Terms are clearly defined, and the book shatters the relativist concept that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Netanyahu defines terrorism at the outset as the "deliberate and systematic murder, maiming, and menacing of the innocent to inspire fear for political ends." Before detailing his own proposal for addressing the problem, he presents a collection of essays by a politically diverse group of influential professionals, policymakers, academics, and journalists. Contributors such as Senator Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Representative Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) discuss how and why terrorists seek to undermine democracy, the role of totalitarian ideology, the emergence of terrorist states, the role of the media, and the legal foundations for fighting back. The consensus of the pieces is also Netanyahu's key point: the West must not allow terrorism to undermine democratic foundations, freedoms, and legal institutions. Netanyahu maintains that democracies should not cave in to blackmail and must be certain of their inherent legal right and moral duty to fight back. He does not, moreover, equate retaliation with stooping to the aggressor's level. BOOK REVIEWS 235 Netanyahu's well-defined remedies for the terrorist plague involve an absolute policy, consistent over time and coordinated among allies led by the United States. He argues first and foremost for a strict policy of nonaccommodation, backed when necessary by military force, and including the possibility of limited preemptive strikes against states that support terrorism. Political and economic measures he feels are useful in stopping terrorism include breaking formal diplomatic relations with states linked irrefutably to terrorist activities, applying strict economic sanctions, withdrawing aid, and revoking aircraft landing rights. In this way offending governments can be effectively isolated from the civilized international community. He also suggests making "neutralism" on the issue of international terrorism a costly position and notes that the media possesses tremendous power over terrorists, which journalists should exercise by refusing to clothe them in the garb of political legitimacy. Netanyahu's argument is concrete, consistent, and brilliantly reasoned. Whether or not you accept his premises and prescriptions, they provide the spark for the discussion that could lay the foundation for concerted action. Netanyahu's bottom line is that defeating terrorism is a question of political will. If nations can unite and subordinate commercial and political interests to the battle against terrorism, they can succeed. Courage is the key. Development Strategies Reconsidered. Edited byJohn P. Lewis and Valeriana Kallab. New Brunswick: Transaction...