"The September 11th attacks on the United States pushed terrorism to the forefront of the international agenda. But as President Bush quickly discovered, this complex global phenomenon defies easy definition." "Onlookers, victims, responsible authorities: each have a different idea of what terrorism means. Those dubbed terrorists by the authorities rarely recognize the term as a description of themselves. Dedicated to a cause or belief, the end is argued to justify the means." "Despite the growing incidence of terrorist acts - some 80,000 perpetrated by more than sixty groups in the last three decades - counter-measures have been piecemeal and ineffective." "The complexity and amount of information is bewildering. Isolating the key issues, David J. Whittaker provides a layman's guide to the worldwide spread of terrorism."--Jacket.