About Article

The Mumbai and Paris attacks are representative cases of mass casualty terrorism due to the number of casualties and the level of devastation they caused. This type of terrorism has often been the result of strategic surprise resuting from intelligence failure. In both India and France, security agencies were taken by surprise and failed to respond promptly. Although the concept of strategic surprise has been largely explored by Western scholars, there is an Islamist perspective that has not received any attention. The article claims that strategic surprise can be understood as a cultural particular leading to mass-casualty terrorism. Finally, it examines the implications for intelligence and deterrence which need to adapt accordingly.