FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON THE 1972 MASSACRE OF NINE ATHLETES AT THE MUNICH OLYMPIC VILLAGE AS AN EXAMPLE OF TERRORISM IN ACTION, THIS BOOK TRACES THE CAUSES OF TERRORISM, THE PERSONALITY TRAITS OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ENGAGE IN THIS TYPE OF VIOLENCE, AND THE ROLE AMBIGUITIES OF MASS MEDIA COVERAGE, ESPECIALLY TELEVISION, IN MAGNIFYING AND GLAMORIZING THE EVENTS IT BROADCASTS LIVE. THE IMPOTENCE OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL FACED WITH TERRORIST ACTS INVOLVING THE TAKING OF HOSTAGES, AND THE ALMOST SUPERSTITIOUS FEAR THAT TERRORISTS INSPIRE AMONG THE MASSES, HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE CREATION OF THE TERRORIST MYTH OF OMNIPOTENCE AND OMNIPRESENCE. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, A FREUDIAN PSYCHOANALYST AND PRACTICING PSCYHIATRIST, FOCUSES ON THE PSYCHODYNAMICS OF TERRORISM AND THE TERROR IT SPREADS. IN SEARCH OF EXPLANATIONS FOR THE INNER DRIVES AND COMPLEXITIES BEHIND TERRORIST MANIFESTATIONS THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CONTEMPORARY TERRORISM ARE TRACED TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE NAZI REGIME, THE TYRANNY OF GENGHIS KHAN, AND ZULU DESPOTISM. THE MIDDLE EASTERN SITUATION, THE PALESTINIAN LIBERATION MOVEMENT, AND OTHER HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL ASPECTS OF TERRORISM ARE ANALYZED. THE SEEMINGLY INSURMOUNTABLE PROBLEMS OF ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES ARE ALSO EXPLORED, AND SOME HOPE IS EXPRESSED THAT TEAMS OF ANTI-TERRORIST EXPERTS, TRAINED IN PSYCHOLOGY AND CRIMINOLOGY, MIGHT BE EMPLOYED IN CRISIS INTERVENTION SITUATIONS, WHERE THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE THE LIVES OF HOSTAGES AND TALK THE TERRORISTS INTO SURRENDER. ONE OF THE MAIN TERRORIST STRENGTH'S THEIR BELIEF IN STARK, RADICAL, SIMPLISTIC SOLUTIONS TO INTRICATE POLITICAL AND HUMAN PROBLEMS (E.G., THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO ALLOW THE PALESTINIANS TO REGAIN THEIR FORMER HOMELAND). SEEMINGLY FACED WITH A CHOICE BETWEEN TYRANNY AND ANARCHY, THE CIVILIZED WORLD MUST FIND OTHER ALTERNATIVES IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. FOOTNOTES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND A NAME INDEX ARE APPENDED.--IN GERMAN