'' Unconquerable Nation: Knowing Our Enemy, Strengthening Ourselves'' () is a book written by Brian Michael Jenkins, one of the world's foremost authorities on

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. In it the author asserts that some of

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

's recent approaches to

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

have been counterproductive. The book is based in part on objective research, particularly as it applies to knowing the enemy, and it also includes the personal reflections of Brian Michael Jenkins, who draws on 40 years of terrorism research. Jenkins currently serves as Senior Advisor to the President of the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

. The title Unconquerable Nation derives from a quote by the ancient Chinese strategist

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...

, who 25 centuries ago wrote, "Being unconquerable lies with yourself." ''Unconquerable Nation'' was published on August 22, 2006, by the RAND Corporation.

The jihadist enterprise

Jenkins describes

Islamism Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...

in terms of a worldwide "jihadist enterprise" directly at odds with the underpinnings of

Western civilization Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompasses the social no ...

. His book describes several strategic principles to guide the response of the West and particularly America: *conserving resources for a long war *waging an effective political warfare campaign *breaking the cycle of

jihadism Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

*maintaining international cooperation *pre-empting attempts by terrorists to launch attacks involving

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

*retaliating "in kind" against any state that provides WMD to a terrorist group * rebuilding Afghanistan *in Iraq, finding a way to reduce "insurgent, sectarian and predatory criminal violence to a level that permits social and political progress."

References

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External links

RAND page for the book
{{terrorism-book-stub Books about counterterrorism Books about terrorism 2006 non-fiction books