Thinking Like a Terrorist: Insights of a Former FBI Undercover Agent

 ***** Thinking Like a Terrorist: Insights of a Former FBI Undercover Agent. By Mike German; published by Potomac Books, Inc., www.potomacbooksinc.com (Web); 238 pages, $17.95.

As a prescription for winning the war on terror, this book should be held up against similar works like Brian Jenkins’ excellent Unconquerable Nation: Knowing Our Enemy, Strengthening Ourselves (Book Reviews, November 2007). Although not without merit, this text compares poorly.

Early in the book, readers might be put off by author Mike German’s attempt to explain nearly everything related to counterterrorism, while disparaging any tactics other than his own. As a former intelligence analyst and agent, German is justifiably proud of his credentials. Yet his central claim is a stretch: that serving undercover among U.S-based, right-wing extremists makes him an authority on global terrorism, whatever its form or source.

German is correct in concluding that those fighting America’s war on terror lack a sufficient understanding of the terrorists’ motives, ambitions, and fears—a case also made by Jenkins. Jenkins, however, focused on the broader themes of America’s values and strengths, while German analyzes and dissects so many details of counterterrorist policy and action that the reader may become lost.

The book resembles a dense political science text when German drifts into complex discussions of questionable relevance. These tangents detract from more compelling reasons to improve our counterterrorism strategies.

The book is not without merit, however. German demonstrates an impressive command of his case studies—the Algerian War, the Ku Klux Klan, and the IRA; these analyses represent perhaps the strongest element of this work. Even a reader already familiar with these cases will likely learn something new from German’s critiques.

The chapter titled “Analysis of the Global War on Terrorism” and a final chapter on our “Constitutional Shield Against Terrorism” have some useful insights as well, but this reviewer found some of German’s conclusions offensive. For example, he writes, “Inexplicably, after 9/11, the greatest security failure in U.S. history, the intelligence agencies that performed so poorly received more money, more power, and less oversight.”

The author also cannot resist inserting occasional sarcasm, such as when he writes, “But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Constitution does have flaws that impede our counterterrorism efforts.” 

Despite its shortcomings, Thinking Like a Terrorist may be worth the time it takes to read for students of terrorism, but they should make sure they also read Jenkins’ book, which makes essentially the same case much more effectively.

Reviewer: James T. Dunne, CPP, is a senior analyst with the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and a member of ASIS International’s Global Terrorism, Political Instability, and International Crime Council. (The views expressed in this review do not represent those of the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security or the U.S. Government.)