Quote Originally Posted by relative autonomy
....I would really suggest actually reading the book before you write it off. You may not agree with her world-systemic analysis but she gives a lot of insight into how armed groups operate and are funded. Also I bet there is some new information in there that you will be happy to have read and learned.
Well, given the bit from the preface that you quoted at the top of the thread, I'd say that Rex's statement is dead on. Based solely on what you've given us, I'd hesitate to waste the limited time I have to deal with my overloaded reading list on junk.

But I did take the time to look her up, and read through some of her other commentaries and interviews that are readily available. I'll give her that she's a smart woman, and well-informed on the broader general subject. However, the impression that I ultimately come away with is that she's made some seriously flawed assumptions - both about the threat, and about the manner in which the agencies tasked with monitoring and disrupting terrorist financing are dealing with the threat. In some interviews, she comes off as very patronizing with those assumptions of hers. In sum, I perceive her personal political beliefs coloring her analysis to a degree that it contaminates her conclusions.