Stephen T. Hosmer’s scientific contributions

Covert aggression--in the forms of state-sponsored terrorism, subversion, and insurgency--will likely remain the dominant mode of warfare in the Third World for the foreseeable future. For reasons of operational expediency and the need to control costs and risks, the communist and other states abetting such attacks will usually attempt to mask their role and/or ultimate objectives. While terrorism presents the most widespread danger to U.S. nationals and property, subversion and insurgency most fundamentally threaten U.S. national security interests. Terrorist acts alone rarely if ever bring to power Marxist-Leninist regimes, whereas subversion and insurgency sometimes do. Political and military constraints, along with doubts about the efficacy of retaliation, militate against attacking sponsoring states in most cases of covert aggression. Nevertheless, the United States must prepare the way in the event punitive or preemptive military actions against such transgressor states become necessary.