Vol. 69 No. 2 2002 - page 286

286
PARTI SAN REVI EW
lac k o f freedom-freed om of the mind from constra inr a nd indoc rr ina–
ti o n, to questi o n a nd inquire a nd spea k; . . . freedom o f women from
ma le o ppress io n; freedom of c iti zens from tyra nn y."
T hat o ther Wi se Old Ma n, Wa lter Laqueur (in "The Cha ngi ng Face
of Terro r"), accura tely and succinctl y de fin es terro ri sm as " the su bsta te
applica ti o n o f vio lence, o r the threa t of vio lence,
to
sow pa ni c
alld brillg
about political change"
(my emph as is); whil e a lso reminding us th a t
"radi ca l reli gio us g ro ups have been . .. pa rticul a rl y pro ne to turn vio–
lent in the Mu slim wo rld " ; th a t " the bl oodi est confl icrs have occurred
not between Muslim gro ups o r sta res a nd the Wes r bur w irhin rhe M us–
lim wo rld itse lf"; a nd th a t " th e recent ri se of Islami st radi ca li sm ca n
mo re usefull y be ex pl a ined as the res ult of th e . . . emerge nce of a n intel–
lectu a l a nd spiritu a l vac uum wa iting to be fill ed ."
NOT
SUR PRI S ING LY,
th ose cha pters trying, within a bri ef compass,
to
combine c ra sh co urses in regio na l hi stori es (A fgha ni sran , Centra l a nd
South As ia, Sa udi Ara bia) w ith current event upd a tes proved th e mos t
vuln era bl e to fas t-paced deve lo pments since the Seprember a ttac ks–
such as th e Ta liba n 's ignomini o us co ll a pse. But a ll o f rh em conta in
nuggets o f use ful factua l info rma ti o n ; a nd in th e Sa udi case G rego ry
Ga use expl a ins the perenni a l conundrum fac ing Was hing to n: we still
need (no do ubt mo re th a n we sho uld ) Sa udi o il ; sta bility in th e reg io n
rema ins a key U. S. interest; a nd we ca n push the Sa udi roya ls o nl y so
fa r either to democ ra ti ze th eir gove rnment a nd soc iery o r
to
impl ement
the type o f economi c refo rms th a t, some a rgue, would ra ke the w ind o ut
o f bin Laden sympa thi ze rs' sa il s.
Mo re helpful a re th e essays, g ro uped in the middle sec ri o n of rh e vo l–
ume, a ttempting bo th to ex pl a in th e " tec hni ca l" side of th e tragic events
o f September
I [
a nd to recommend w ha t rhe U. S. gove rnment ca n d o
in the sho rt-to-medium run so as to prevent a recurrence of ca ta stro phi c
terro ri st a ttac ks o n U.S. soil.
In
"Ta rgeting a l Q aed a's Fin ances," Willi am
F.
Wech sler o ffe rs a lo ng
list o f commo nsensica l sugges ti o ns fo r " stra ng ling th e H ydra, " w hil e
bemo aning th e fact that, in the past, " Was hingto n has o ften been
stymi ed by a lac k of political will o n the pa rt o f key sta tes la nd ostensi–
ble U.S. a lli es1 in th e Middl e Ea st a nd So uth Asia ."
M o re di sconce rting is Ri cha rd K. Betts's essay o n the " Intelli gence
Test "- w hi ch struck
me
as being simulta neously Pa ngloss ian a nd fa ta l–
isti c. Th e a uth o r di smi sses the conve nti o na l w isdom (" the CIA was
as leep a t the switch! "), asse rting " th e rU.S.1 intelli gence communiry has
wo rked much better tha n lirs c ritics
I
ass ume" a nd th a t the C IA " and
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