RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

Through its publications INSS provides cutting-edge research, analyses, and innovative solutions on critical national security issues in support of the joint warfighter and Department of War stakeholders.

 
News | March 10, 2026

From Theory to Policy: The Four Waves and U.S. Counterterrorism

By Kim Cragin Terrorism and Political Violence

"From Theory to Practice: The Four Waves and U.S. Counterterrorism," by Dr. Kim Cragin (INSS) was released by Terrorism and Political Violence. It examines David Rapoport's Four Waves Theory through the lens of U.S. counterterrorism and argues that policymakers, like Rapoport, understood terrorism as largescale phenomena. But, unlike Rapoport, they did not view themselves as having the ability to affect the direction, momentum or stagnation of terrorism's waves. This perceived lack of agency constrained the amount of time, attention, and resources that policymakers were willing to devote to counterterrorism during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

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