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Letters & CommentsDavid Tucker
David Tucker is an associate professor in the Department of Defense Analysis and co-director of the Center on Terrorism and Irregular Warfare at the Naval Postgraduate School. He holds a PhD from the Claremont Graduate School. Dr. Tucker’s previous publications include Enlightened Republicanism: A Study of Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia (2008), United States Special Operations Forces (2007), and Skirmishes at the Edge of Empire, the United States and International Terrorism (1997) as well as articles in Terrorism and Political Violence, Parameters, the Washington Quarterly and other journals. He can be reached at dctucker@nps.edu.
Terrorism, Networks, and Strategy: Why the Conventional Wisdom is Wrong
ABSTRACT:
Once we understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of networks and hierarchies,
and the environments in which they operate, we can discern optimal strategies for these organizations.
With regard to the United States and its confrontation with networked terrorists,
the optimal strategy turns out to be the opposite of what the conventional wisdom recommends.
It does not take a network to fight a network. Hierarchies are more useful.
Except in a limited tactical sense, it is not useful to emphasize the killing and capturing of high-value terrorist targets.
It is more useful to emphasize countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
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SUGGESTED CITATION:
Tucker, David. “Terrorism, Networks, and Strategy: Why the Conventional Wisdom is Wrong.” Homeland Security Affairs IV, no. 2 (June 2008)http://www.hsaj.org/?article=4.2.5