Foreign Affairs has convened a "round table" to discuss John Mueller's article about the lack of a terrorist attack in the US since 9/11. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that in general the panelists support Mueller and my interpretation of the article.
James Fallows summarizes his opinion of the terrorist threat as follows: "Great nations face risks. That's life." Jessica Stern disputes some of Mueller's points, but points out that "while the US approach to the war on terrorism has been principally military, the enemy has been fighting a war of ideas". And who do you think is winning that war of ideas? Fawaz Gerges laments our not understanding "the internal political and ideological dynamics of the Muslim world". Had we done so, "it would have second thoughts about militarizing the war on terror". Paul Pillar bemoans our lack of rational thinking as we "place far more emphasis on deaths due to terrorism than in drownings in bathtubs or the like".
The second part of the roundtable will be held on 9/11/2006.
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