In the wake of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush drew a line in the sand, saying, “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.” Since 9/11, many counterterrorism partners have been both “with” and “against” the United States, helping it in some areas and hindering it in others. Yet what the United States can reasonably expect from its counterterrorism partners―and how to get more out of them―remain too little understood. With Us and Against Us provides nuanced propositions for assessing counterterrorism cooperation in order to get the most out of difficult partnerships
With Us and Against Us is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Columbia University Press.
Select Infographics from the book can be found here.
Early Reviews
"This book provides the most thorough description and analysis of interstate counterterrorist cooperation, and everything that affects it, from a U.S. point of view. It will serve as a standard reference point in the literature whenever the subject of such cooperation comes up. Tankel convincingly demonstrates that many of the states in question are simultaneously both part of the problem and part of the solution. With Us and Against Us is a serious, careful, and informed treatment of a timely and important topic." Paul R. Pillar, former national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia, and author of Why America Misunderstands the World: National Experience and Roots of Misperception
"Working with partners is a vital part of US counterterrorism strategy. Stephen Tankel's book is a major contribution to our understanding of these partnerships, why their record of is often mixed, and how to get more out of them." Peter Bergen, author of United States of Jihad: Who are America's Homegrown Terrorists and How do We Stop Them?
"With Us and Against Us shines a bright light on a notoriously shadowy subject: the cooperation between states and terrorist groups. If there’s anyone qualified to write about the conflicting interests that drive these relationships and the tough trade-offs they entail for U.S. policy makers, it’s Tankel." Will McCants, author of The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State
"Working with international partners in the fight against terrorism can be demanding and frustrating. Yet as Stephen Tankel demonstrates in reviewing some of the United States’ most important partnerships, they are also vital. He warns that attempts to combat terrorism without them risks trouble." Lawrence Freedman, author of The Future of War: A History
With Us and Against Us is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Columbia University Press.
Select Infographics from the book can be found here.
Early Reviews
"This book provides the most thorough description and analysis of interstate counterterrorist cooperation, and everything that affects it, from a U.S. point of view. It will serve as a standard reference point in the literature whenever the subject of such cooperation comes up. Tankel convincingly demonstrates that many of the states in question are simultaneously both part of the problem and part of the solution. With Us and Against Us is a serious, careful, and informed treatment of a timely and important topic." Paul R. Pillar, former national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia, and author of Why America Misunderstands the World: National Experience and Roots of Misperception
"Working with partners is a vital part of US counterterrorism strategy. Stephen Tankel's book is a major contribution to our understanding of these partnerships, why their record of is often mixed, and how to get more out of them." Peter Bergen, author of United States of Jihad: Who are America's Homegrown Terrorists and How do We Stop Them?
"With Us and Against Us shines a bright light on a notoriously shadowy subject: the cooperation between states and terrorist groups. If there’s anyone qualified to write about the conflicting interests that drive these relationships and the tough trade-offs they entail for U.S. policy makers, it’s Tankel." Will McCants, author of The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State
"Working with international partners in the fight against terrorism can be demanding and frustrating. Yet as Stephen Tankel demonstrates in reviewing some of the United States’ most important partnerships, they are also vital. He warns that attempts to combat terrorism without them risks trouble." Lawrence Freedman, author of The Future of War: A History
On the night of 21 November 2008, in a series of simultaneous and well-coordinated attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba gunmen killed more than 170 people and injured over 300 in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital. The victims included not only the Indian elite, but also Jews and Westerners. Lashkar-e-Taiba was already the most powerful and dangerous terrorist group in South Asia, and Pakistan's most reliable proxy against India. The Mumbai attacks announced Lashkar-e-Taiba’s emergence on the world stage, and raised pressing questions about whether the group was evolving into a global terrorist threat or still fixated on India. Storming the World Stage not only answers these questions, but provides the information necessary to forecast how Lashkar might evolve in the future by studying its past.
Storming the World Stage is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Hurst Publishers, and Oxford University Press.
Sample Reviews
"Storming the World Stage is the definitive account of one the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world. Tankel’s research in Pakistan is prodigious and his analytical judgements are well-calibrated. Highly recommended." Peter Bergen, author of The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda
"Storming the World Stage is one of those rare books that come out before their time is ripe. This militant Islamic group based in Pakistan and Afghanistan is the most dangerous in the world, and you will be hearing much more of it in the years to come. Mr. Tankel is ahead of his time." Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent Into Chaos
"An important and insightful book about the world’s most dangerous terrorists, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and their complex ties to Al Qaeda and to Pakistan’s intelligence service. A must read to understand today’s global jihad." Bruce Riedel, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Deadly Embrace; Pakistan, America and the Future of the Global Jihad
"Lashkar-e-Taiba is perhaps the most important terrorist group of global reach after Al Qaeda, but it is, unfortunately, less well understood. Stephen Tankel’s book now eliminates all excuses for ignorance: by vividly taking the reader into Lashkar’s milieu, describing its organisation and its activities, and exposing its worldview, he shows how continued apathy towards Lashkar-e-Taiba will prove to be dangerous not only for South Asia but the West as well. Storming the World Stage is an urgent wake-up call about a group that neither will fade away quietly nor can be ignored any longer." Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"The most detailed and impresssive account yet of the development and activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba." Patrick French, The Sunday Times
"This is the first work of social science research on Lashkar-e-Taiba. It reveals how diverse its activities are, from jihad to social welfare, and how close to Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) the movement is. A vivid and detailed account of a major Islamist actor in today’s world." Christophe Jaffrelot, Critique
Storming the World Stage is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Hurst Publishers, and Oxford University Press.
Sample Reviews
"Storming the World Stage is the definitive account of one the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world. Tankel’s research in Pakistan is prodigious and his analytical judgements are well-calibrated. Highly recommended." Peter Bergen, author of The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda
"Storming the World Stage is one of those rare books that come out before their time is ripe. This militant Islamic group based in Pakistan and Afghanistan is the most dangerous in the world, and you will be hearing much more of it in the years to come. Mr. Tankel is ahead of his time." Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent Into Chaos
"An important and insightful book about the world’s most dangerous terrorists, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and their complex ties to Al Qaeda and to Pakistan’s intelligence service. A must read to understand today’s global jihad." Bruce Riedel, Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Deadly Embrace; Pakistan, America and the Future of the Global Jihad
"Lashkar-e-Taiba is perhaps the most important terrorist group of global reach after Al Qaeda, but it is, unfortunately, less well understood. Stephen Tankel’s book now eliminates all excuses for ignorance: by vividly taking the reader into Lashkar’s milieu, describing its organisation and its activities, and exposing its worldview, he shows how continued apathy towards Lashkar-e-Taiba will prove to be dangerous not only for South Asia but the West as well. Storming the World Stage is an urgent wake-up call about a group that neither will fade away quietly nor can be ignored any longer." Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"The most detailed and impresssive account yet of the development and activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba." Patrick French, The Sunday Times
"This is the first work of social science research on Lashkar-e-Taiba. It reveals how diverse its activities are, from jihad to social welfare, and how close to Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) the movement is. A vivid and detailed account of a major Islamist actor in today’s world." Christophe Jaffrelot, Critique