'' Unconquerable Nation: Knowing Our Enemy, Strengthening Ourselves'' () is a book written by

Brian Michael Jenkins Brian Michael Jenkins (born 1942) is an American expert on terrorism and transportation security. During his nearly four decades of analysis, Jenkins has advised governments, private corporations, the Catholic Church, and the Church of England on t ...

, one of the world's foremost authorities on

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. In it the author asserts that some of America's recent approaches to counterterrorism 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 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) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of '' The ...

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

Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

. 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 which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

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

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...

*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

* * {{cite web , last=Lorraine , first=Nancy , title=Chickasaw Unconquered and Unconquerable (Book review) , publisher=MBR Bookwatch , year=2009 , url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-208693590.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924151714/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-208693590.html, url-status=dead, archive-date=2015-09-24

External links

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