Steven Livingston demonstrates the complex interactions among the press, the public, and political actors in illuminating a policymaking process that relies on image management as one strategy in achieving policy objectives-not just in combating terrorism but also in handling other foreign policy problems.

Preface -- Political Power, Violence, and the News Media -- Counterterrorism in the 1980s and 1990s: The Case of Iraq -- "Quality" and "Marginalized" Violence: The Non-Terrorism of American-Backed Guerrilla Groups -- Political Violence and the Official Designation of "Terrorism" -- Managing the News and Setting the Agenda -- Press Treatment of Alleged U.S. Ties to Salvadoran State Terrorism -- The Terrorism Spectacle: Foreign Policy Objectives -- The Terrorism Spectacle: Domestic Policy Objectives -- Considering Alternatives -- Appendix