Terrorism and Counterintelligence

Blake W. Mobley is an associate political scientist with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California. Before joining RAND, he worked for the Central Intelligence Agency as a counterintelligence analyst in the Middle East and Washington, D.C and specialized in non-state actor counterintelligence issues. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Georgetown University, his M.P.P. from Harvard University, and his B.A. from Stanford University.

• Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. The Provisional Irish Republican Army 3. Fatah and Black September 4. Al Qa'ida 5. The Egyptian Islamic Group 6. Failure in Embryonic Terrorist Groups 7. Terrorism and Counterintelligence Notes Bibliography Index

Blake W. Mobley has written a groundbreaking study on how terrorist groups collect intelligence. He vividly portrays terrorist group dilemmas and weaknesses, as well as their ability to foil the security services of their adversaries. -- Daniel Byman, Georgetown University, and research director of the Saban Center at The Brookings Institution With the strategic defeat of al Qaeda in sight, Terrorism and Counterintelligence offers a timely analysis of the vulnerabilities of terrorist organizations, which will speed their demise. -- Graham T. Allison, director of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Counterintelligence remains a stepchild in the study of intelligence, despite the fact that every organization, including NGOs, does it in some form whether or not they use the language. Blake W. Mobley's book is a welcome addition to the literature on this subject, all the more so because it looks at the counterintelligence of terrorist groups. He combines solid scholarship with an insider's sense for how the world actually works. His framework-organizational structure, popular support, and controlled territory-applies well to terrorist groups. Slightly adjusted, it could also apply to other groups as well, including NGOs. -- Gregory F. Treverton, director, RAND Corporation's Center for Global Risk and Security and vice chair of the National Intelligence Council A well-researched and compellingly argued book that sheds original light on a perplexing and heretofore often misunderstood subject... Highly recommended. Choice Terrorism and Counterintelligence is an intellectual rollercoaster that shows the ups and downs of the biggest and most prominent terrorist groups the world has dissected so far and leaves the reader with a renewed sense of the power and control these groups have on traditional society. -- Ross W. Clark, Penn State University Parameters