Hoover Institution: In Countering Terrorism Richard A. Posner Examines Intelligence Reform, Proposes Alternative Approaches

In his new book Countering Terrorism: Blurred Focus, Halting Steps (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), the Honorable Richard A. Posner examines the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004 and its implementation and looks at alternative approaches to counterterrorism that go beyond that of intelligence reform. Posner notes several successes of intelligence reform but expresses a number of concerns. Most notable among Posner’s concerns, is that the director of intelligence and his staff have been trying to do too much.

Countering Terrorism is the third in a series of books by Posner on intelligence reform. The first two were Preventing Surprise Attacks: Intelligence Reform in the Wake of 9/11 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005) and Uncertain Shield: The U.S. Intelligence System in the Throes of Reform (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006).

Posner is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. He has authored hundreds of articles and nearly four dozen books on matters of public policy, including Catastrophe: Risk and Response (2004), Breaking the Deadlock: The 2000 Election, the Constitution, and the Courts (2001), and An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton (1999).

Countering Terrorism is one in a series of books titled Hoover Studies in Politics, Economics, and Society, edited by Hoover research fellows Peter Berkowitz and Tod Lindberg and published in cooperation with the Hoover Institution.