A national security and homeland defense advisor known for his uncompromising honesty and integrity sounds the alarm in this new book. Following up on his highly acclaimed Unfinished Business: Afghanistan, the Middle East and Beyond-Defusing the Dangers to America's Security, Harlan Ullman warns that the United States is fighting a war it does not understand and waging it in the wrong places against the wrong people with flawed objectives. He advises that our country will not be safe until we understand that terror is only a tactic. The real threat comes from its underlying causes and political motivations. Describing terror as a symptom not a cause, Ullman argues that unless the causes of terror are rectified or neutralized, waging a war against it will fare no better than wars on drugs, poverty, crime, and other social ills. He defines the danger as a political ideology, clothed in a perverse interpretation of a religion with 1.3 billion followers, that is intent on establishing some form of a fundamentalist state, with or without borders, backed by Saudi oil money and sustained and protected by Pakistani nuclear weapons. The United States will prevail, he says, only by making fundamental changes in its aims, strategy, and means for waging a fight.

He further argues that the United States must recognize the effects its own political processes have on policies and actions. Going beyond theory, Ullman offers ten concrete actions to make America safer and more secure.