TAILOR-MADE TERRORISM: THE POTENTIAL RESURGENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSONALIZED TERRORISM TACTICS AGAINST KEY LEADERS

When people hear the word “terrorism,” images of the chaos caused by large, violent attacks and the horrific events of September 11, 2001, usually flood imaginations and captivate attentions. All of these events depict the very real threat of physical violence, death, and destruction perpetrated by terrorists against the masses. These attacks targeting the masses also dominate current strategic policy conversations and academic study. However, the power and utility of more focused and personalized terrorism tactics targeting key influential leaders remain widely unappreciated and undertheorized. If terrorists are constantly adapting and calculating operational risks versus rewards during their selection of tactics and strategy, whom will they choose to target and how? Will they target populations or the key individuals who control these populations? This work highlights the following indicators and observations that could lead to a future rise and resurgence of personalized terrorism tactics against key leaders: increased counterterrorism proficiency in a post-9/11 world, improved technologies/the power of media, and a historical blueprint of previous applications of personalized terrorism tactics. These factors serve as powerful motivators for pragmatic terrorists or terrorist organizations to change their target selections and tactics, but may not influence a radical ideologue.http://archive.org/details/tailormadeterror1094564013Major, United States ArmyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited