Surrogate Terrorists Iran's Formula for Success

Today, National Security is embroiled in the unknown, the uncertain, the unseen, and the unexpected. In the twenty-first century, failed states, rogue states, ethnic militias, and radical extremists produce transnational actors involved in global conflicts. During the 1980s, Iran used Hizballah as a surrogate terrorist organization. This was an excellent example of the transition from the traditional state-centered paradigm ordered around conventional strength between rival states to a new type of warfare practiced today. The model created from this research shows many of the conditions, activities, and events necessary to create a state-sponsored terrorist group and provides the reader with indicators that such a group is being formed. Surrogate Terrorists explores some of the analytic methodology used to understand terrorism, insurgency, asymmetric warfare, and state practice of denial and deception. It closes with examples of state-sponsored surrogate terrorist groups' centers of gravity that can be exploited.

Stephen Kramer is an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Government's Intelligence Community He has also served as a security consultant in post-conflict areas of the world.