Oh please, we're the "silly country" through and through- we went from leading world standards to redifining the gap between first and second world (with supposedly 'second world countries' now far surpassing us in broadband capabilities).

Anyway- Terrorism isn't a random phenomena- it comes from two sources
1- occupying, supporting or participating in the occupation of another nation (Iraq, Afghanistan- and in previous cases, supporting Israel and Saudi Arabia)
2- importing religious nutters and providing the means and permission for them to operate
3- homegrown religious nutter converts- or generally social outcasts who resort to extremism to be heard (Breivik).

Stop these three and the problem is solved- measures 1 and 2 are easy- it's only the third one that is not.

With all due respect....people are now becoming what science is, so since this is a tiny-planet....and holding back.....on we know by pollies questions with the will of man, how do you think we got here?

Cactus

So, Author, nice compendium, but no offered alternative or solution?

What is the basis of terrorism? Disaffection, mostly based on religious, national, historical or cultural differences, or various other disaffection held with a religious fervour - political, ethnic, affluence/opportunity, employment, etc - or mental imbalance.

What is missing? An overriding social conscience. What mitigates against a universal social conscience? In the first instance, human nature - compounded by our system-based inequity in this aggressively capitalistic superiority-compelled social order.

The solution? Education and equity - equality of opportunity and right to life. (Mind you, there's little can be done about the nutters, except perhaps making psychological assessment mandatory for gun ownership.) Is a universal social conscience essential for world order? You bet! Can it be easily achieved? No!

Critics of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions have a point. However, it is possible that this ham-fisted, poorly conducted evolution may prove to be the beginning of a radical revision of international and world-order social affairs. Unfortunately, the converse is also possible, and the difference will be in how the major nations proceed forward from Libya and the rest of the middle east. Fingers crossed, there is a long hard road to go, but all radical and essential reform has to start somewhere - and the key will be in reconstruction, and that reconstruction will have to be fully engaging the local constituency and populace, and with a total absence of the corruption and jobs-for-the-boys evident thus far in the Iraqi reconstruction effort.

Hair-brained? Maybe, but I think the future lies in the development of the UN as a formidable arbiter in world social affairs and social order. For the future of humanity, no one nation should have the power to dictate to or take precedence over others.