Terror Incorporated
by Loretta Napoleoni
English
Published: Seven Stories Press
2005
Buy now at Amazon.com
Read the preface

Terror Incorporated
by Loretta Napoleoni
English
Published: Penguin Books
2004
Buy now at Amazon.co.uk

Selected Reviews

MADRID, March 10 - Last March, when a series of bombs ripped through four rush-hour commuter trains, killing 191 people and injuring more than 1,500, the attack was widely seen as Europe’s 9/11 — a shock that would force governments to take coordinated action against a terrorist threat that had moved to their soil.

One year later, Europe’s fight against terrorism remains hampered by some of the same national rivalries, fragmented intelligence services and bureaucratic obstacles that existed before the blasts of March 11, 2004, according to analysts, diplomats and other experts. About 75 people — the majority of them Moroccan nationals — have been arrested in connection with the attacks, and 23 remain in prison. But central questions of who organized them, and how, remain unanswered.
(Read the rest of the review here)

By Pamela Rolfe, The Washington Post

What this work does achieve is a fascinating and incisive cataloguing of the known economic activities of organizations that, whether terrorist or not, have as their aim the transformation of the existing order in the Middle East, the broader Muslim world and, ultimately, the United States.
Terrorism’s Cost in a Global Economy

Alan Cowell, The New York Times

Economist Loretta Napoleoni comes up with a startling conclusion that the “New Economy of Terror is a fast growing international economic system, with a turnover of about $1.5 trillion, twice the GDP of the United Kingdom.
Surveying the World-Wide Terrorism Battleground

George Melloan, The Wall Street Journal

Rather than look at terrorism from a political or religious standpoint, Napoleoni approaches it as an economist, which she was before becoming a writer. By tracing the dollars behind the terror networks, she estimates that the “new economy of terrorism” has now grown to $1.5 trillion or more in both illegal and legal transactions. The business of terrorism is now so large and the financial networks supporting it so complex, she says, that if the flow of money to terrorists were suddenly cut off, the drop in liquidity could have a serious impact on the Western economies.
Newsweek - Question & Answer Interview with Loretta Napoleoni

Napoleoni’s utterly compelling, heroically researched and indispensable analysis follows nothing but, eschews what she calls the “trap of politics”, sets out to trace Islamist terrorism to its financial roots and show how, as with everything else, there are grey areas. Modern Jihad is the last act in Kipling’s great game, and the economics of oil, as usual, lie close to the surface. A murky financial network of dynastic ties shows that little separates the Bushes from the Bin Ladens - apart from a financial consultant and a merchant bank or two.
Smart Money

Chris Petit, The Guardian (UK)

Loretta Napoleoni, a journalist and economist, examines global terrorism not as a political tool or an expression of religious fervor, but as an economic system that generates over $1 billion annually. While state sponsors used to finance global terrorism, with the end of the Cold War the terrorists entered the global free market, making alliances with organized crime and taking over the infrastructure of collapsing states. This well-researched book untangles a web of economic interests that links terrorists to illegal activities, charitable organizations, and legitimate businesses around the globe. Given the interdependence between Western capitalism and what Napoleoni calls the New Economy of Terror, in order to fight terrorism, the West must be willing to suffer the consequences of forgoing the capital terrorism’s business activities introduce into our economy.
—Todd A. Price
The Virginia Quarterly Review

“I think there was a reluctance to accept a book like this because at that certain moment, after 9/11 what they wanted to push forward was the religious argument. That it was a bunch of religious fanatics, whereas this book is saying the opposite”. Loretta Napoleoni is talking about the initial resistance from publishers to take on her book, that looks away from the ideological concerns of terrorism and focuses on the bottom line, the economics.

It’s an argument that Napoleoni has been interested in for a number of years. Having grown up in an Italy that was all too familiar with terrorism, during the so- called ‘Anni di Piombo’ [years of lead]. Indeed one of her friends, it turned out subsequently, was heavily involved in the Red Brigades. Napoleoni was never asked to join, as she was seen as too independent minded, but she did later manage to interview a number of the imprisoned leaders of one of Europe’s most notorious terrorist organisations, giving her unique insights into the business side of terror.
(Read the rest of the review here)

Andrew Lawless, Three Monkeys Online

Ever since Watergate, investigative journalists have known that the quickest way to the heart of a story is to follow the money. When it comes to the biggest issue of the age, however, remarkably few writers have been willing to make the effort.

The Italian economist, Loretta Napoleoni, has finally shown the way, with this comprehensive account of how international terrorists fund their murderous schemes.

When she first pitched the idea for Terror Inc. in the late 1990s, Napoleoni found herself unable to find a publisher. But in the post-September 11 era it has become an international bestseller. It seems terrorism can often be surprisingly good for business and, if this book is to be believed, a little too good for comfort.

Napoleoni claims that the “terrorist economy” generates a staggering $1.5 trillion every year in narcotics, arms trading and diamond smuggling, creating an intricate financial system that ends up lining the pockets of both brokers in Wall Street and militia leaders in Fallujah.

So complex are the supporting networks, that cutting off the supply would plunge most western economies into a deep recession.
(Read the rest of the review here)

Andrew Lynch, Sunday Business Post

Most recent books on terrorism attempt to locate its motivation in history, culture, or religion. Napoleoni focuses on economics and therefore adds a useful new layer to the study of terrorism. She argues that terrorism can be understood as an economic system that is highly integrated with but has interests fundamentally opposed to global capitalism, thus the difficulty Western countries have understanding, opposing, or destroying it. Many readers will disagree with the author’s assertion that today’s terrorism has its roots in Cold War policies, or that there are strong parallels between the motivation of Christian Crusaders a thousand years ago and Muslim terrorists today. Attempts to estimate the size of ‘The New Economy of Terror’ (perhaps $1.5 trillion?) are necessarily problematic. And, like many books by economic journalists, this volume sacrifices scholarly standards of argument and evidence in an attempt to reach a wider audience. The book’s strength is its determination to ‘follow the money,’ highlighting the consequences of economic dependency and providing detailed accounts of how terrorist organizations are funded. The glossary is very useful in revealing the meanings of economic, Islamic, and terrorist terminology. Summing Up: Recommended. Public and undergraduate academic collections.
M. Veseth, University of Puget Sound, March 1, 2004

Modern Jihad is precise, well organized, and economically incontrovertible. Napoleoni systematically approaches such subjects as the mutually beneficial connection between terrorists and drug dealers, the mechanics of the state shell (unofficial governments operating within the body politic of collapsing countries), the surprisingly modern ways in which suicide bombers are recruited, the fiscal transfers between legitimate businesses and armed insurrectionaries, the extreme volatility of the Caucasus, the practical differences between “failing” and “failed” states, and the uncrackable secrecy of Islamic banking practices, the monetary engine propelling the Wahhabi “colonization” of depleted Muslim nations.
Straight.com By Mark Harris, February 19, 2004

Napoleoni maintains that the roots of terrorism are economic, not political or religious. She came to this conclusion initially during the early 1990s when she interviewed members of the Italian Red Brigades and discovered that their daily lives were ruled by economics, not ideology. “They spent most of their time raising money to buy weapons and carry out their attacks.”
Global Terrorism Economy a Tangled Web

Brian Brennan, Business Edge

Her book looks at terrorism from a purely economic perspective. She noted that during the Cold War, state-sponsored insurgent groups proliferated as the United States and the Soviet Union financed proxy wars. In recent years, many of these groups became financially self-sufficient by developing legitimate businesses, relying on an extensive network of charities, imposing taxes on expatriates, and dealing drugs.
Expert Says U.S. Ignores Financing of Terror

Charlie Smith, Straight.com

Napoleoni traces 50 years of Western economic and political dominance in developing Muslim countries - backing repressive, corrupt regimes, fighting the Cold War by Proxy and blocking the legitimate economic ascendancy of millions. “As in the Crusades”, in which Napoleoni finds many modern parallels, “religion is simply a recruitment tool; the real driving force is economics.
Publisher’s Weekly

An Italian-born economist and journalist, Napoleoni was one of only a few people allowed to interview the Red Brigades in Italy in the early 1990s. From her time with that “arms organization” she learned the group spent more time talking about money than acts of terror.
Bozeman Daily Chronicle

If you simply follow the money, the elements that enable terror networks to function often can be traced back to the United States and other Western countries. Napoleoni, an economist and foreign correspondent for several Italian newspapers, identifies that “economy of terror” as a $1.5 trillion, fully functioning economic system twice the size of Great Britain’s gross national product.
The Star Ledger

When economist Loretta Napoleoni first pitched a book proposal on terrorism back in the early 1990’s, she was told there wasn’t any interest in the topic. September 11th, 2001 changed all that and she eventually got the book published. “Modern Jihad” is her new book. It traces the dollars that fund and prop up terrorist groups. And the findings are shocking. The terrorist economy is said to be worth 1.5 trillion dollars US … and growing.
The Current, CBC

Napoleoni’s research shows that The New Economy of Terror is approximately the same size as 5% of world GDP, and ironically, is a product of globalisation. The breaking down of borders has faciliatated the networking of terrorist movements.
Late Night Live

Loretta Napoleoni’s Modern Jihad isn’t just another discussion of Islam or 9/11: it is an informed and informative financial probe of the roots of terror networks, tracing the dollars behind them and how terrorism is funded. From the creation of illegal organizations and subverted international economic systems; to trafficing money to terrorist groups; to smuggling, Modern Jihad is quite a different take on global terrorism and is strongly recommended as a mainstay addition to any serious collection on contemporary terrorism.
Midwest Book Review