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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle > General
A timely work of major historical importance, examining the whole spectrum of events from the 1916 Easter Rising to the current and ongoing peace process, fully updated with a new afterword for the paperback edition. 'An essential book ... closely-reasoned, formidably intelligent and utterly compelling ... required reading across the political spectrum ... important and riveting' Roy Foster, "The Times " 'An outstanding new book on the IRA ... a calm, rational but in the end devastating deconstruction of the IRA' Henry McDonald, "Observer" 'Superb ... the first full history of the IRA and the best overall account of the organization. English writes to the highest scholarly standards ... Moreover, he writes with the common reader in mind: he has crafted a fine balance of detail and analysis and his prose is clear, fresh and jargon-free ... sets a new standard for debate on republicanism' Peter Hart, "Irish Times" 'The one book I recommend for anyone trying to understand the craziness and complexity of the Northern Ireland tragedy.' Frank McCourt, author of "Angela's Ashes"
Nuclear Insecurity is an insider's account of official American efforts to prevent the theft or diversion of nuclear and radiological weapons that could be used by rogue nations or terrorist groups. This perspective draws heavily from the author's work on the White House National Security Council Staff (1996-2000), where he was directly responsible to President Clinton for the development of U.S. nuclear material security policies and, subsequently, at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he directed the department's largest international nuclear security program, focused primarily on Russia. In Caravelli's assessment, despite exceptional bipartisan political support and very high funding levels that have reached over $9 billion, a series of policy mistakes and programmatic bureaucratic missteps have badly compromised the United States government's efforts to protect against the spread of nuclear weapons and materials. The most striking example of the current situation is that the U.S. government, some 12 years after the start of these programs, still has failed to enhance the security of more than 300 metric tons of nuclear materials in Russia alone, enough to make hundreds of nuclear devices. The book concludes with recommendations and policy prescriptions for addressing some of these problems.
Marianne Wade and Almir Maljevi? Although the worries about terrorism paled in comparison to the economic crisis as a topic during the last US election, one can find plenty of grounds to assume that they remain issue number one in the minds of politicians in Europe. As the German houses of Parliament prepare to call in the mediation committee in the discussion of legislation which would provide the Federal Police - thus far mandated purely with the post-facto investigation of crime - with powers to act to prevent acts of terrorism, Spain's struggle with ETA and the British Government licks its wounds after a resounding defeat of its latest anti-terrorist proposals by the House of Lords, one cannot but wonder whether post 9/11, the Europeans are not even more concerned with terrorism than their US counterparts. A look at media reports, legislative and judicial activities in either Britain or Germany clearly underlines that those two countries are deeply embroiled in anti-terrorist activity. Can it be that Europe is embroiled in the "War on Terror"; constantly providing for new arms in this conflict? Or is it a refusal to participate in the "War on Terror" that fuels a constant need for Parliaments to grapple with the subject; begrudgingly conceding one increasingly draconian measure after the other? The question as to where Europe stands in the "War on Terror" is a fascinating one, but one, which is difficult to answer.
Religious terrorism has become the scourge of the modern world.
What causes a person to kill innocent strangers in the name of
religion? As both a clinical psychologist and an authority on
comparative religion, James W. Jones is uniquely qualified to
address this increasingly urgent question. Research on the
psychology of violence shows that several factors work to make
ordinary people turn "evil." These include feelings of humiliation
or shame, a tendency to see the world in black and white, and
demonization or dehumanization of other people. Authoritarian
religion or "fundamentalism," Jones shows, is a particularly rich
source of such ideas and feelings, which he finds throughout the
writings of Islamic jihadists, such as the 9/11 conspirators.
This book places the current wave of religion-based terrorism in a historical perspective, explaining why religion is associated with terrorism, comparing religion-based terrorism to other forms of terrorism, and documenting how religion-based terrorism is a product of powerful political, socioeconomic, and psychological forces. Religion-based terrorism is perceived as one of the most significant threats to U.S. homeland security in the 21st century. Sacred Terror: How Faith Becomes Lethal makes the central argument that religion-based violence and terrorism is primarily a result of political, socioeconomic, and psychological forces, thereby demystifying religion-based terrorism and revealing its inherent similarity to other forms of terrorism and war. Daniel Price examines religious texts and traditions in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; looks at the history of religion-based terrorism; and explores why religion facilitates violence. He builds upon this foundation to explain how religion as an ideological force that motivates violence is not as powerful as commonly believed, and that religious fervor is not unlike other non-religious ideologies such as Marxism, nationalism, and anarchism. The work also presents in-depth analysis of the political, socioeconomic, and psychological forces that are behind religion-based violence, and discusses case studies from multiple religions that illustrate the author's argument.
From wiretapping American citizens to waterboarding foreign prisoners, the Bush administration has triggered an uproar over its tactics in the War on Terror-and over its justifications for using them. Through a close study of the legal advice provided to President Bush, former Justice Department attorney Harold Bruff provides an incisive and scathing critique of those justifications, which he finds at odds with both American law and moral authority. Bruff rigorously examines legal opinions regarding NSA surveillance, the indefinite detention of terror suspects, the denial of Geneva Convention protection, trial by military commissions, and suspect interrogation techniques. He shows that Bush's claims of executive power exceed anything found in U.S. history or judicial precedent, that clear statutory limitations were treated with contempt, and that Bush and his lawyers strove to exclude both congressional and judicial participation in setting antiterrorist policy. Bruff dissects the legal underpinnings employed by John Yoo, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, and others to defend an inflated view of presidential power, showing how they combined ideology, policy advocacy, and selective readings of legal precedent to bolster executive actions. Most important, he brings into sharp focus legitimate counterarguments from the State Department, the Pentagon, and the Office of Legal Counsel that challenged or refuted these legally suspect views and yet were largely ignored or even ridiculed by the president's advisers. Offering contrasts with the legal advice provided previous presidents, he also reviews the fundamental constitutional limits on executive action and the principles of professional responsibility that govern lawyers when they counsel government clients. As Bruff observes, bad advice to presidents is never in short supply, but legal advice should be objective and reliable. His book points up the urgent need for advisers to serve both the president and the nation by finding a middle ground between limiting presidential power and allowing it the flexibility it needs to respond to crises. Both highly readable and authoritative, it is a must for legal scholars and an eye-opener for every citizen concerned with preserving our nation's commitment to the rule of law.
Since 2001, the United States has created or reorganized more than two counterterrorism organizations for every terrorist arrest or apprehension it has made of people plotting to do damage within the country. Central to this massive enterprise is 'ghost-chasing,' as less than one alarm in 10,000 is an actual threat-the rest all point to ghosts. And the vast majority of the leads deemed to be productive have led to terrorist enterprises that were either trivial or at most aspirational. As John Mueller and Mark Stewart suggest in Chasing Ghosts, this is often an exercise in dueling delusions: a Muslim hothead has delusions about changing the world by blowing something up, and the authorities have delusions that he might actually be able to overcome his patent inadequacies to do so. Mueller and Stewart systematically examine this expensive, exhausting, bewildering, chaotic, and paranoia-inducing process. They evaluate the counterterrorism efforts of the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and local policing agencies. In addition, applying a new set of case studies, they appraise the capacities of the terrorist 'adversary' and discuss what they calls 'the myth of the mastermind.' They also assess public opinion, a key driving force for counterterrorism efforts. The yearly chance an American will be killed by a terrorist within the country is about one in four million under present conditions. However, polling data suggest that, although over a trillion dollars has been spent on domestic counterterrorism since 2001, Americans continue to be alarmed and say they do not feel safer. No defense of civil liberties is likely to be terribly effective as long as officials and the population at large continue to believe that the threat from terrorism is massive, even existential. Mueller and Stewart do not argue that there is nothing for the ghost-chasers to find-the terrorist 'adversary' is real and does exist. The question that is central to the exercise, but one the ghost-chasers never really probe, is an important and rather straight-forward one to which standard evaluative procedures can be applied: is the chase worth the effort? Or is it excessive given a serious consideration of the danger that terrorism actually presents?
You won't be able to stop reading once you pick up Dr. John Hall's terrifying account, A New Breed: Satellite Terrorism in America. Dr. Hall's narration is based on true-life events and what you'll find will open your eyes to a completely new form of terrorism. Dr. Hall has treated numerous patients who have complained about voices in their heads, eventually being driven to a form of serious psychosis. In his book, he describes his relationship with his significant other, Mallory, a young, attractive woman with a bright future. Upon beginning a new profession, Mallory was suddenly struck down by unexplainable happenings: mind control, surveillance, stalking, and rape. Hall and others sacrificed themselves and their careers to bring her nightmare to an end. What happened to Mallory and what is happening to countless others? Hall's supposition is that we are faced with a type of terrorism that is unseen but just as deadly. Our government satellite surveillance systems are a new way for criminals to gain possession not only of our financial lives, but our most precious resource: Our minds. What can we do and who are these individuals who are trying to control the way the think, feel, act and what we do? Author Bio: Dr. John Hall has published numerous articles in professional journals and currently works as a medical doctor practicing anesthesia and pain management. Dr. Hall is currently working on a second book detailing what safeguards one can take against satellite surveillance. He lives near San Antonio, Texas.
According to a British intelligence report leaked to the press in
2007, al Qaeda operatives are planning a large-scale attack "on par
with Hiroshima and Nagasaki." How likely is it that terrorists will
develop the capability of such an attack? No one understands the
nature of the threat posed by nuclear terrorism better than Brian
Michael Jenkins--one of the world's most renowned experts on
terrorism. For more than thirty years, he has been advising the
military, government, and prestigious think tanks on the dangers of
escalating terrorism.
Suicide bombers are often compared to "smart bombs." From the point of view of their dispatchers, they are highly effective, inexpensive forms of weaponry, and there is no need to invest in their technological development. Suicide bombers are in fact smarter than smart bombs because they can choose their own target--and they can react to circumstances on the ground, changing their target, or their timing, in an instant, to ensure the maximum damage, destruction, and death. Of course, unlike smart bombs, suicide bombers think and feel, they have histories, stories, beliefs, desires--in short, they have an inner world. Exploring the inner world of suicide bombers has been the focus of Anat Berko's research for years. She has worked to understand the thought processes of a people who can choose to place explosives on their bodies and kill themselves, taking as many other people with them as they can. Do male bombers really believe that death will transport them to a paradise where they will be greeted by virgins? Are they victims of unbearable pressure to commit this act of terror? What are female bombers promised in the hereafter? Is there something that links all suicide bombers? Berko also explores the world of those who "drop the smart bomb"--the dispatchers: who are these people who persuade others to go calmly to their horrific deaths? To learn about the inner world of suicide bombers and their dispatchers, Berko entered Israel's most heavily secured prison cells and conducted intensive and extensive interviews with male and female suicide bombers who had failed their missions, as well as with their dispatchers--including former Hamas spiritual and operative leader Sheikh AhmedYassin (later assassinated by Israel).
Northern Ireland's Belfast Agreement has faced continual crises of implementation over a variety of security related issues. Too frequently analyses have neglected to study the wider changes that have occurred inside and outside Northern Ireland. These have had profound effects in changing attitudes towards violence, paramilitaries, the position of women and ideas of nationalism and sovereignty. This book places the implementation of the Belfast Agreement in a wider context to provide an analysis of why implementation has been so difficult.
Women and Terrorism analyses a new phenomenon of international concern: the participation of women in subversive terrorist movements. The book deals with four main issues: 1) women's participation in violent terrorist movements to discover the key to the psychological and sociological interpretation of their involvement in a life experience they are not traditionally associated with; 2) the different responses to 'penitentism' between men and women; 3) the psychological and social interpretation of women's support of armed struggle and an inquiry - through the personal experience of the women terrorists interviewed - into the reasons for women's greater resistance to repentance; 4) the use of the leads this inquiry has furnished for prognostic purposes and to predict and create conditions that facilitate repentance.
This book assesses the effectiveness of Nigeria's counterterrorist policies against Boko Haram. It takes a critical review of the interventionist strategies adopted by the Nigerian government, highlights the motivations behind the choice of strategies, and proffers a deeper understanding of the factors responsible for the state's inability, thus far, to rid the country of terrorism. Specifically, it evaluates the NACTEST policy framework that guides the Nigerian state's counterterrorist strategies, which contains both hard and soft power approaches. Adopting historical and case study approaches which put the Nigerian state and occurrences of violent conflict in context, it takes cognizance of the politics of ethno-religious diversity which reinforce violent conflicts among groups and against the state, and reviews the socio-economic and political realities that led to the emergence and sustenance of Boko Haram. The volume concludes by suggesting practical policy options for combating Boko Haram and other similar armed insurrection. This book is appropriate for researchers and students interested in African politics, conflict, security, peace studies, terrorism, and counterterrorism, as well as policy makers and government departments dealing with terrorism and counterterrorism.
This comprehensive account examines the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)-the most significant Muslim militant group in China-including its origins, objectives, ideology, leadership, and tactics. To effectively engage China on counterterrorism issues, we must understand the capabilities and intentions of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the most significant Muslim militant group in China. The ETIM: China's Islamic Militants and the Global Terrorist Threat is the first book to focus specifically on the ETIM, a terrorist group that demands an independent Muslim state for the Uyghur ethnic minority in northwest China. This fascinating study offers a comprehensive account of the group's origins, objectives, ideology, leadership, and tactics. It details the historical and contemporary contexts of the Uyghur separatist movement, the ETIM's alleged ties to international terrorist networks, and the Chinese government's interest in promoting the ETIM as a significant international problem. In addition, the book addresses conflicting claims about the membership and viability of the organization, noting where the Chinese government has apparently manipulated information about the ETIM to suit its own goals. A final chapter explores how various countries define ETIM activities and what that means for relations with China. Includes press releases issued by the Chinese government on violent Uyghur separatism and presents timelines of the ETIM's attacks and other activities and of major events in the history of Uyghur separatism Offers a bibliography that compiles scholarly and news sources pertaining to the ETIM and provides glossary of key terms derived from the Chinese, Uyghur, and English languages
Part I is a compendium of World War II service recollections embracing the unusual, bizarre and humorous, most of which never appeared in the news or any publications. However, I do believe readers will be very interested in the other side of war. Part II is an incisive review of Vietnam, and why we failed or should never have been involved militarily. Part III is a current analysis of terrorism and the Iraq war, including a new proposal to address the global aspects of terrorism and the Palestinian issue.
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the nuclear threats facing the world are constantly evolving and have grown more complex since the end of the Cold War. The diversion of complete weapon systems or nuclear material to rogue nations and terrorist organizations has increased and new nuclear powers (e.g. Iran, Korea, Pakistan and India) have further complicated global proliferation issues. The events of the past years have proved the necessity to reevaluate these threats on a level never before considered. In recognition that no single country possesses all of the answers to the critical scientific, institutional and legal questions associated with combating nuclear and radiological terrorism, the 2005 Workshop and this proceeding was structured to promote wide-ranging, multi-national exploration of critical technology needs and underlying scientific challenges to reducing the threat of nuclear/radiological terrorism; to illustrate through country-specific presentations how resulting technologies were used in national programs; and to outline the role of legal, policy and institutional frameworks in countering nuclear/radiological terrorism. One key outcome of this book is better understanding of the independent contributions from across the international community of the scientific and technological components and the legal, policy and institutional components to combating nuclear/radiological terrorism. The book can serve as a tool for communicating the outcomes of the workshop not only to the multi-national scientific communities engaged in combating nuclear/radiological terrorism, but also to those working at governmental and policy levels whose actions affect the directionsscience takes and how the technology is incorporated into country-specific national systems for combating nuclear/radiological terrorism.
Following 9/11 the United States faced a situation of exceptional insecurity. In that period the Bush administration argued that certain international norms did not apply to US conduct. Its argument was underpinned by the claim that the United States was in a state of armed conflict or war with a new kind of enemy. The purpose of this book is to examine whether this approach outlasted the moment of insecurity that gave rise to it. More than a decade on from those attacks, and following a change of administration, what influence do these arguments have on American policy? To answer this question it focuses on four areas of policy: the use of force and the prosecution, detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists. It demonstrates how the Bush policy programme was contested by liberals and realists from the outset. Any expectation that the war on terror would end following the election of President Obama has, however, proven unfounded. Obama consolidated the liberal pushback against aspects of the Bush programme but the US has continued to argue a state of armed conflict exists. The scope of the battlefield and the definition of the enemy has been a source of intense debate but the fact that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility remained open long after the President promised to close it is indicative of the underlying continuity. It is argued that this is driven in part by domestic politics and in part by an understanding of how the terrorist threat is evolving.
The book explores the global jihad movement and its emergence in
the latter half of the twentieth century. The book investigates the
nature and extent of this threat; traces its religious and
ideological roots; relevant history; the goals of the movement; who
is fighting jihad; how they end up in the movement; how it is being
funded and sponsored; and what nations, particularly the United
States, one of the movement's primary targets, are doing to counter
the threat. The book, intended for the general public, assumes that
the reader has only a minimal background of this compelling
contemporary topic. While the authors tried to avoid using academic
jargon, they have tried to source the book so that it could be used
in political science, international relations, and defense and
security studies courses.
Immigration and its consequences is a substantially contested subject with hugely differing viewpoints. While some contend that criminal participation by migrants is the result of environmental factors found in the host country that are beyond the control of migrants, others blame migrants for all that is wrong in their communities. In this book, experts from Europe, the USA, Turkey and Israel examine recent developments in the fields of culture conflict, organized crime, victimization and terrorism, all of which intersect to varying degrees with migration and illegal conduct. While the essays further our understanding of a variety of issues surrounding migration, at the same time they illuminate the complexities of managing the challenges as globalization increases.
The first major comparative study of the causes and consequences of violent conflict that integrates and addresses the issue of self-determination. The authors show that with violent conflict in the developing world as the critical issue for the twenty-first century, and conflict prevention a central security problem for both the developed and developing world, self-determination movements can only be understood, and conflict prevented, in the context of global economic and cultural forces, and of local responses to them.
This book carefully and thoroughly analyses the legal questions raised by the phenomenon of terrorism, and past and recent efforts to fight it, from the perspective of international humanitarian law (IHL). The objective is to substantially contribute to a better understanding of the issues surrounding the content and applicability of IHL as it applies to terrorism as well as to analyse and contextualise the current debates on these controversial and critically important questions. While due heed is paid to doctrinal debates, particular emphasis is placed on the practice of social actors, particularly, although not exclusively, States. The analysis of their actual conduct as well as their expectations about the interpretation and application of the law is crucial to establishing an interpretive consensus on when and how IHL is relevant to regulate acts of terrorism. The approach of the book is analytical and discursive, rather than prescriptive. Thus the reader will find the relevant rules of IHL and other legal regimes as regards terrorism, but also the debates over their application, the contradictions in State practice and the impact these may have upon IHL's evolution and implementation. The aim is to provide legal practitioners, as well as those in military, political and academic circles, with a useful reference point. Hopefully the book will also prove useful to other readers who will find its content and easy-to-read style an encouragement to getting acquainted with a topical subject, traditionally thought to be reserved for legal specialists. This book was cited with approval by the US Court of Appeals in Salim Ahmed Hamdan v United States of America, 16th October 2012
Missing from many contemporary analyses of the causes of terrorism is any mention of the role of U.S. foreign policy, an examination of which is seen by some critics as inherently unpatriotic. Even less attention is paid to the role of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gerteiny, who has lived in the Middle East and who has studied the region for more than four decades, does not shy away from such controversies. In this book, he discusses the seminal causes of contemporary transnational terrorism, particularly the grievances inherent in the persistent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Gerteiny examines state and anti-state forms of terrorism, and he carefully distinguishes between terrorism carried out in pursuit of national liberation by the Palestinians and the theologically driven jihadism that feeds on it. He considers anti-Western Islamism as being reactive to a U.S. Middle East policy inordinately influenced by the Zionist lobby. He reflects on Muslim and Islamist world views and assesses the U.S. reaction to terrorism after 9/11, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israel's unchecked expansionism at the expense of Palestine and its suffocating grip over its population, carried out under the cover of U.S. protection, constitute ethnic cleansing in Gerteiny's view. This, and the ill-conceived U.S. strategy in the Gulf region, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the lack of communications with Syria and Iran are perceived by most Muslims as harbingers of an ongoing new "crusade." They constitute the main pernicious elements upon which the wider-reaching vengeful Islamist "theopolitical" jihadism thrives, ultimately threatening the spread of democracy, the survival of Israel in theMiddle East, and peaceful coexistence with the Muslim world.
When we think "terrorism," our minds conjure up dramatic and horrifying images of hijackings, suicide bombings, assassinations and various other forms of brutal carnage. Placing terrorist acts within a historical context, this book helps us understand the causes, dynamics and outcomes of terrorism.Providing a concise history of terrorism since the French Revolution, the author considers the relationship between terrorism and warfare, crime, technology globalization and the state. He investigates the meaning of the word "terrorism" and shows how the definition and practice have both evolved over time. Throughout, he considers what motivates terrorists and what they hope to accomplish.Written by a pioneer in the field, Terrorism: The Present Threat in Context offers a practical assessment of domestic and international threats to security. This book will help anyone concerned about terrorism learn to evaluate the risks in a rational way, devoid of the hysteria that so often dominates the subject.
Over the last decade, asymmetric warfare and terrorism have become prevalent threats to the United States. National security, today more than at any other time, demands decision-making under uncertainty. The issues presented in this book demonstrate that the value of planning depends on how well the USA can prepare for a perpetually unpredictable future. Each chapter examines pertinent management, leadership, and accountability issues related to U.S. national security and places readers at the centre of difficult decisions. Although the cases collected in this volume revolve around policy questions, they also illustrate more general policy dilemmas and are designed to stimulate new ideas. Endorsement: A] diverse and rich set of cases that explore many of the new challenges that confront U.S. national security policymakers today. Drawing on a team of established scholars and experienced practitioners, this book provides both an assessment of new threats and challenges and a case-based examination of decision-making processes... a compelling argument for the case-study approach and a fruitful blending of academic and practitioner perspectives and approaches. and decision-making processes as well as to our grasp of the security challenges of the 21st century. - Robert H. Dorff, Ph.D., Professor of National Security Policy and Strategy, and Chairman, Department of National Security and Strategy, U.S. Army War College.
This book examines both brigandage and irredentism in Greece since the War of Independence, tracing the intimate links between the two, their impact on Greek politics and statecraft, and their influence on the modern Greek state. It also served as a safety device which defused explosive situations. Unable to prevail over illegitimate group violence, the state tried to divert it into two generally acceptable channels - irredentist activity, and the incorporation of brigands into paramilitary units - giving it a semblance of legitimacy and rendering its activities less dangerous to the security of the state. Eventually the characteristics and values of brigandage itself and those who practised it became the predominant features of the modern Greek state and society, albeit wearing a mantle of Western respectability. Based on a wide range ogf sources, this study aims to separate reality from myth in examining the forces and factors involved in turning brigands into national heroes. |
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