International terrorism has come increasingly to dominate the national security discussion both in the media and the corridors of the Pentagon.

Yet in spite of the extent of attention, the public, its leaders, and academic experts on terrorism are too often unable to effectively and convincingly develop either short or long-range strategies for dealing with the dangers that it represents.

This web site has been created in the hope that by providing access to the best thinking on terrorism, and by providing a forum in which informed persons with the widest experience with terrorism or with the analysis of terrorism can share their experiences and information and develop new ideas.

It is our belief that the beginning of adequate response is to get beyond the fear and hype that too often are evoked by "terrorism". If we understand terrorism as a unfortunately common and universal human reaction to certain difficult situations, we can more effectively frame our responses both in terms of ameliorating the situations that give rise to terrorist activity and in terms of countering the activity itself.