From 'Terrorism and Affordance' Ed. M.Taylor and M. Currie. 2012. Continuum Press, ISBN 9781441133816 Chapter 1 Affordance and Terrorism – An Introduction Max Taylor University of St Andrews The country – its physical features and population – is more than just the source of all armed forces proper; it is in itself an integral element among the factors at work in war – though only that part which is the actual theatre of operations or has noticeable influence on it. (von Clausewitz) 1 Clausewitz’s comment on qualities of war may be familiar to students of warfare and perhaps also students of terrorism, but probably less familiar to students from other disciplines. It is a part of his discussion of the Nature of Warfare, and his commentary on the significance of terrain in warfare that the quotation above emphasizes is further developed later in his discussion of Military forces. As he notes, the structure of the ground upon which a battle is fought, and its accompanying artefacts such as hedges, fields, woods, streams, etc., shape and influence the opportunities available to both an attacking and defending army. “The influence is always active; its degree varies according to the nature of the country” 2 . Clausewitz wrote in the early part of the nineteenth century for a largely military audience, principally concerned with the actual conduct of war. His readers might have had to face attacking a defended opponent, and would know from experience that the opportunity to effectively conduct an attack was limited by a range of features, the most obvious one being the nature of the ground on which the battle was fought. In modern parlance, we might say the environment in which the battle is fought provides, or in terms relevant to this book affords, the soldier both the possibility of certain kinds of activities, and the reduction of other kinds of activities; which of these depends upon the environment and the individual soldier