lice officers, newspaper workers, and businessmen. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism, extreme leftism lost its inspiration and the terrorists lost their support. Baader-Meinhof announced its own disbandment in 1998, five years after its last terrorist attack and seven years after the Soviet Union disbanded.
Terrorism, however, did not go away.
Many of the next generation of terrorists found inspiration in the founding narrative of Islam, of Mohammed and his few but dedicated supporters affecting massive political change against impossible odds. While this is perverse to the vast majority of Muslims, some genuine grievances helped broaden political support for that agenda among a wider population. Cheap and easy air travel, fluid financial systems, and especially the flow of information over the Internet enabled a greater reach than in the 70s.
Whatever else it is, al-Qaeda was an inspiration, with an agenda easily adopted by willing "franchisees." State support still continues. Elements of the Pakistani military continue to assist terrorist organizations in Indian Kashmir and in Afghanistan. Iran and Syria continued in a similar fashion, sponsoring operations in support of foreign policy objectives within their neighbors' territories.
The lesson of Soviet-sponsored terror and its end is that, if the world is to defeat Islamist terrorism, it will have to defeat the motivating narrative. In the same way that communism became a bankrupt ideology, the political philosophy underpinning terrorism needs to be challenged, exposed, and ridiculed.
Nick Lockwood is a British post-conflict expert, specializing in population engagement and stability operations, and an Adjunct Fellow at the American Security Project.