Three Essential Works on Terrorism

Michael Scheuer, Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, and Thomas P.M. Barnett, The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century, are the three most important books written on contemporary affairs and international terrorism.

In their own way, each frightened and enlightened me in ways that I believe most Americans need to hear. None of them sit well with their opponents and other political ideologies but they share a certain refreshing pragmatism.

No one really knows what to do about terrorism but these three books more than others articulate from a military, intelligence, and political science perspective how to understand Islamo-fascism, the most important issue of our day.