Dying to Win

the strategic logic of suicide terrorism

Robert Pape

'Pape's scrupulously well-researched book … stands as one of the most intelligent and thoughtful critiques of suicide terrorism. It is a must-read for anyone whose interest in terrorism goes beyond the over-simplifications and paranoid superficialities that dominate public discourse.'

David Wright-Neville (The Age)

'Timely … well-written … thought-provoking … We are lucky Pape has come up with this account of something that matters to all of us.'

Kevin Jackman (The Australian)

'Since 2003 there have been several books on suicide terrorism. Robert Pape's is the latest, and most authoritative, of this genre … Pape does not engage in a partisan debate, rather he lays out the evidence and draws obvious logical conclusions.'

Clive Williams (The Canberra Times)

Suicide terrorism is increasing around the world, but there is great confusion as to why. University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape has collected comprehensive evidence, documenting every suicide terrorist attack in the world from 1980 until 2003. In this groundbreaking analysis, he explains with striking clarity and precision the strategic, social, and individual factors responsible for this growing threat, and successfully debunks widely held misconceptions about suicide terrorism:

  • suicide terrorism is not primarily a product of Islamic fundamentalism;
  • the world’s leading practitioners of suicide terrorism are the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka a Marxist-Leninist group drawn from Hindu families;
  • 95 per cent of suicide terrorist attacks are organised by large militant organisations with significant public support;
  • every suicide terrorist campaign has had a clear goal that is secular and political; and
  • despite their rhetoric, western democracies have routinely made concessions to suicide terrorists. Suicide terrorism is on the rise because terrorists have learned that it’s effective.

More than simply advancing new theories, Professor Pape answers key questions about the ‘war on terror’ and recommends concrete strategies for nations to prevent terrorist attacks a comprehensive, long-term approach that abandons visions of empire.

For both policy-makers and the general public, Dying to Win transcends speculation with systematic scholarship and rare understanding, making it one of the most important political studies of recent times.

‘Dying to Win is a distinctive and insightful contribution to the study of terrorism.’

Tony LeRay-Meyer (Defender)

'From now on, writers making generalisations about terrorism will be obliged to take account of Pape's data, if only to argue with it, or they will risk forfeiting the right to be taken seriously.'

Steven Poole (The Guardian (UK))

Robert Pape

Robert Pape is associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, where he teaches international politics and is the director of the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism. A distinguished scholar of US national security affairs, he is a contributor to The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and The Washington Post, and has often appeared in the press and on television and radio around the world.

Professor Pape visited Australia in September 2006, when he addressed several conferences on security, gave briefings to policy-makers, politicians, and government agencies, and was widely interviewed on national media.

Dyingtowin
Format: Pb
Extent: 352pp
Size: 234mm x 153mm
ISBN (10): 1920769 579
ISBN (13): 9781920769574
RRP: $35.00
Pub date: July 2005