Understanding America's Terrorist Crisis What Should Be Done?

Some of the most recognized voices in American writing and academia contribute to this provocative forum concerning the terrorist crisis and its causes. Moderated by Lewis Lapham, this timely debate features conversations with noted author and vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy, Gore Vidal; historian Barton Bernstein of Stanford University; economist and historian Robert Higgs of the Independent Institute; and Thomas Gale Moore of the Hoover Institution. Voicing opinions counter to those espoused by the present administration and seldom heard in mainstream media, they discuss the definition of terrorism, the impact of U.S. foreign policy on the terrorist crisis, and the long-term significance of the September 11 attacks. Also examined are the potential curtailment of basic civil liberties, the effects of a global U.S. military presence, and alternatives that would lessen the terrorist threat.

Gore Vidal is the author of 23 novels, five plays, numerous screenplays, and more than 200 essays. Among his best-known novels are Burr, Lincoln, 1876, and Smithsonian. His book United States, Essays 1952–92 won the National Book Award. His recent bestsellers are Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace and Dreaming War. Lewis H. Lapham is the author of Theater of War and the editor of Harper's Magazine. He lives in New York City.