Serenade of Suffering: A Portrait of Middle East Terrorism, 1968–1993 by Richard J. Chasdi. Lexington Books (http://www.lexingtonbooks. com/home.shtml), 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706, 1999, 288 pages, $65.00.

Wayne State University academic Richard Chasdi’s first book is a scholarly look into a quarter century of terrorism in the Middle East. one of the pivotal missions of foreign area officers (FAO) is to give field commanders an extra edge in force-protection matters. This book, which discusses the evolution of many terrorist groups in the region, will help in the classification of different types of terrorism. The author offers a balanced description of Islamic militant, Palestinian radical, and Jewish extremist groups, comparing and contrasting them. Furthermore, the descriptions of terrorist organizations as theocentric, ethnocentric, and ideocentric will aid FAOs in articulating the types of groups operating in an area.

Chasdi’s second chapter is a study of what stimulates action in terrorist organizations. Some stimulants are more direct, such as the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Others are key dates, commemorations that Palestinian, Jewish, and Shiite radicals exploit to make a political statement. Chapter four is an excellent historical discussion that outlines each terrorist group, starting with Al-Ikhwan al-Muslimeen (the Islamic Brotherhood), founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna as a sociopolitical party in Egypt. This organization is the blueprint for many Islamic groups throughout the region. Another group, Hamas, is the offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. The author also discusses the key founders of these organizations in this useful chapter, the best and most worthwhile in the book.

Chasdi peels back the Palestinian movement’s different factions, many of whom espouse different views on how to gain independence. The discussion of the Syrian-backed Al-Saiqa (Thunderbolt) and the Iraqi-sponsored Arab Liberation Front demonstrates how regimes wish to manipulate the Palestinian cause to enhance their regional influence in the Arab world. Serenade of Suffering ends with counterterrorism tips from both long- and short-term perspectives. Middle East FAOs will benefit from reading this volume.

Lt Youssef H. Aboul-Enein, USN
Washington, D.C.