The military side of the war on terrorism, says Adam Garfinkle, is a necessary but not sufficient aspect of the solution. Weapons of mass destruction are activated by ideas of mass destruction, and these ideas arise from complex historical and social factors. A Practical Guide to Winning the War on Terrorism offers concrete steps for undermining the very notion that terrorism is a legitimate method of political struggle—and for changing the conditions that lead people to embrace it.

Adam Garfinkle and his expert contributors—all intimately familiar with Middle Eastern social settings and political cultures—examine the diplomatic, educational, and religious aspects of the problem. They show how we can—and must—stigmatize the idea of murdering civilians for any political cause, identify and stop the flow of money and other resources to those who carry out terrorism, refute the distortions of U.S. motivations that are promulgated by Islamic propagandists, and work patiently at social, economic, and political reform in Muslim countries.