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Letters & CommentsUri Fisher
Uri Fisher is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He is currently completing his dissertation entitled “Military Entrepreneurship and War Duration.”
Deterrence, Terrorism, and American Values
ABSTRACT:
This article explores the practical obstacles to applying deterrence to United States counterterrorism policy.
Many commentators still discuss deterrence as a tool for U.S. policymakers to use to prevent future terrorist attacks
on the U.S. homeland or its interests abroad.
This paper argues that, while theoretically deterrence may be a viable approach to defending against terrorism,
the actual policy choices that will be required of the U.S. to deter terrorism are morally and politically problematic.
To effectively deter elements of a terrorist organization the U.S. would be forced to pursue policies
that come into direct conflict with American core values.
This paper aims to identify a number of the actual policy choices the U.S. must consider in order to deter the elements
that comprise a terrorist organization and assess the compatibility of those choices with democratic values.
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SUGGESTED CITATION:
Fisher, Uri. “Deterrence, Terrorism, and American Values.” Homeland Security Affairs III, no. 1 (February 2007)http://www.hsaj.org/?article=3.1.4