Publication

This paper describes how both politicians and pundits often erroneously compare the "global war on terror" to the ideological struggles against fascism and communism that defined the World War II and Cold War eras. The author explains how the fight against extremism is likely to be as prolonged as the previous contests against fascism and communism and will require a comparable mobilization of resources if it to be successful, but emphasizes that it is important not to overstate the comparison. The paper concludes that the challenge posed by Islamist extremism is fundamentally different from the state-centric threats that defined the security paradigm of the 20th century.