The Changing Nature of State Sponsorship of Terrorism, 2008

We want to highlight the Analysis paper by Daniel l. Byman The Changing Nature of State Sponsorship of Terrorism published by Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in May, 2008. State support remains one of the deadliest and most important aspects of terrorism. However, the identity and nature of state sponsors of terrorism has changed considerably in recent years. As a result, the United States must modify its efforts to fight this deadly scourge. The remainder of this paper has five sections. The first describes different categories of sponsorship today. This categorization is followed by an overview of the main sponsors today, both active and passive. The third section looks at the motivations of today’s sponsors, and reviews the impact, both positive and negative, of their support, and the justifications and excuses they often employ. In the fourth section, the efforts of the Bush Administration to fight state sponsored terrorism are briefly evaluated. The paper concludes by offering suggestions on how to better fight state sponsorship of terrorism.

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