Tide of Terror is an exclusive high-level analysis of the rise of the terrorist threat that all citizens now face in their daily lives. Tracing Sunni Islamic extremism - the kind espoused by Osamah bin Ladin - from its origins in Saudi Arabia, former intelligence officer Carl Hammer chronicles how it came to the fore during the Soviet war in Afghanistan and erupted with the 9/11 attacks on the United States. In addition to detailing the political and military situation in Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries at the outset of the subsequent War on Terror, Hammer also examines the evolution of Islamic extremism in other key countries and regions (a series of appendices details the situation in countries as diverse as Algeria, Yemen and the Philippines, among others), as well as how the West has attempted to combat it. Concluding with a frank assessment of the potential for eventually eradicating the threat from Islamic extremism and winning the War on Terror, Tide of Terror is essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the current conflicts in the Middle East. AUTHOR: Carl Hammer is a former government agent who for many years worked for the secret intelligence service of a European country. He later became a security consultant, and in that capacity was involved in several police investigations concerning, among other things, art theft and organized crime. He was also one of the many Western intelligence officers, volunteers and journalists who visited the Afghan mujahidin, often for extended periods, during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the early 1980s. At that time he also met several of the Islamic extremists who currently look up to Usamah bin Ladin as their leader and role model. His experience in the region led to an official assignment to follow and report on both the developments in Afghanistan and the Islamic extremist movement.