U.S. Strategy for Combatting Terrorism: Should the U.S. and USSR Develop a Joint Strategy Based on International Cooperation?

Abstract : U.S. policy toward terrorism has evolved incrementally. Its basic premises are that the United States will make no concessions to terrorists, pay no ransoms, release no prisoners, or agree to other acts that might encourage terrorism. For the past several years the United States has tried through diplomatic means to encourage its Western European Allies to participate in a joint international counter terrorist strategy. Future U.S. policy probably will depend on the level of terrorism and the extent to which international states are willing to cooperate strategically. This paper will propose that a better national strategy for combatting international terrorism must include international cooperation, specifically with the Soviet Union. At present, the American foreign policy community is actively engaged in a review of U.S. diplomacy toward the Soviet Union's new thinking. the idea that terrorism might be an area of possible cooperation between East and West unquestionably warrants exploration.