Counterterrorism: Mission Critical Skills helps current and future counterterrorism specialists develop skills that are vital for their professional success. The book provides readers with a well-researched argument as to why a particular set of soft skills are indispensable to counterterrorism specialists. It underscores the need for best practices and proficiencies among the extensive network of agencies and entities that fight terrorism.

The opening chapter explores the various counterterrorism entities in the United States, highlighting their interconnectedness and illuminating the need for entities to work collaboratively toward a shared goal. Each of the remaining chapters profile a mission-critical soft skill and offer learning demands for guidance, first-person quotes from professional counterterrorism experts, and operational vignettes to demonstrate the importance of each skill. The skills presented include teamwork, imagination, strategic consciousness, cultural mindfulness, discernment, empathy, mutuality, and operational adaptability.

Counterterrorism equips readers with the soft skills that, when paired with the hard skills counterterrorism specialists are required to learn, will help them develop into highly capable, well-rounded, and efficient counterterrorism professionals.

Leslie Adrienne Payne is a military and intelligence policy researcher with the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, with a background in social science and qualitative research methodologies. With RAND, her research has focused on civilian-military relations, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and pertinent issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military services. Ms. Payne previously served as an intelligence officer and military analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as a social scientist with the U.S. Army's Human Terrain System, where she was embedded with U.S. military units in Iraq and Afghanistan for 26 months. Her other field work deployments include Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and South Africa. She holds a M.A. in security policy studies from George Washington University, M.A. in international political theory from The New School for Social Research, and B.A. in cultural anthropology from Howard University. Ms. Payne is a current Ph.D. student in the Defence Studies Department at King's College London and lives in Los Angeles, California, with her family.