The Conflict

The ways in which terrorist groups operate have changed significantly in the late 1980s and 1990s, creating new challenges for security agencies in the twenty-first century. Governments must protect their interests against the threat of terrorist attack while safeguarding civil rights and liberties.

Ideological

• Terrorist groups in the early twenty-first century usually form based on shared ideological grounds of politics, religion, or other beliefs and tend to be more loosely organized and less controlled by a central authority than in the past.
• Terrorist attacks, while sometimes less frequent than earlier in the twentieth century, have generally become more deadly, with terrorists focusing on inflicting mass casualties rather than on gaining political support.

Technological

• Globalization has facilitated the easy movement of information, goods, and people, increasing opportunities for terrorists to gain and disseminate information and...