One of the strategies Kydd & Walter describe is called "provocation". It strikes me that this is one of the most frequently-cited goals of terrorists--to "provoke" the enemy into responding in such a disproportionate manner that they end up driving an entire population into the arms of the terrorists. It can be especially effective when there is great political pressure on the government to respond with massive force. This was one of the goals of Hamas on Oct 7, and the conditions in Israel were almost ideal--a hard-line government in power facing massive political pressure to respond forcefully.

To neutralize this strategy, the authors offer a frustratingly vague prescription: They recommend that governments respond selectively and inflict as little collateral damage as possible. As you can imagine, this is easier said than done from the perspective of a government. How can we improve upon this advice? See if you can come up with more specific policy advice for a government that has just been targeted by a devastating terror attack and is facing political pressure to issue a massive military response. How should the government respond effectively, and without creating more sympathy for the terrorist group?