Message from the Editor

In 1998, a RAND Review cover series called “Old Madness, New Methods” warned of the intensifying ferocity of religious terrorism coupled with the growing capability of terrorist groups to exploit a new form of networked warfare that we dubbed “netwar.” Less than three years later, those dual dangers — ancient religious motivations abetted by modern information-age methods — converged with spectacular malevolence to produce the carnage of 9/11.

In 2002, on the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a RAND Review cover series called “Hitting Home” warned that America should treat its European allies as full partners in the fight against terrorism, that the U.S. quest to tackle Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could be at odds with the fight against terrorism, that America should promote its core values and interests by making global health care a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy, and that Americans at home should be enlisted to help make their communities more resilient in the face of a terrorist attack. The series also included an introductory essay from our current issue’s lead author, Brian Michael Jenkins.

And now in 2006, on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the Jenkins cover story called “True Grit” elaborates on those themes from 2002. But this time, Jenkins abandons the passionless language of the analyst. He warns that we in America have succumbed too easily to fear and, as a consequence, that we risk forsaking the very things for which we are fighting. He further warns that the American strategy for the long conflict ahead must become sustainable. Jenkins has devoted his entire life to defending America. He refuses to surrender his faith in what he believes are America’s truest values. He reminds us of what they are.

Jenkins understands that countering terror is less like gun fighting at the O.K. Corral and more like negotiating a tempestuous sea. The ocean is a given. It will always be there. It cannot be subdued with a rifle. Survival amid a stormy sea depends upon oneself and one’s understanding of the elements. Strength, stability, skill, and security must come from within. That’s true grit.

—John Godges