The papers in this special issue of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism accompanied the conference in Oklahoma in April 2000, whose purpose was to assess developments in terrorism over the preceeding two decades, map its likely future direction and propose policy recommendations and other remedial steps to counter the menace. The conference and papers address themes such as: Continuity and changes in terrorist motivations, strategies & capabilities; policy and research concerns in coping with terrorism; evaluations of the effectiveness of both international and American counterterrorism policies and capabilities.