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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle > General
The role of technology is crucial to any adequate assessment of the terrorist threat and the measures needed to combat it effectively. Technology and Terrorism fills a huge gap in the literature and reflects the latest thinking of scientists, technologists and analysts of terrorism. Among the key questions they address are: What part has technology played in the causation of terrorism? Have terrorists been primarily innovative or conservative in their use of technologies? Does modern technology tilt the balance in favour of the terrorists in their constant battle to defeat the efforts of counter-terrorist agencies, or vice versa? How can we assess the feasibility and probability of terrorists in certain circumstances resorting to nuclear, chemical or biological weapons? Bearing in mind that terrorists have already resorted to mass murder in the form of sabotage bombing of airliners, tragically demonstrated in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, how effective have the aviation authorities been in using technology and other measures to combat this threat? There have been significant advances in the aviation security policies of Britain, America, Canada, Australia and several other countries. But what are the problems involved in strengthening many weak links in the international aviation security system?
In this collection, senior experts explore all aspects of extreme right wing political violence, from the nature of the threat, processes of engagement, and ideology to the lessons that can be drawn from exiting such engagement. Further, right wing activism and political violence are compared with Jihadi violence and engagement. Also, the European experience is placed within a greater framework, including that of the United States and the Arab Spring. The book opens with an essay on U.S. far right groups, investigating their origins and processes of recruitment. It then delves into violence against UK Mosques and Islamic centers, the relationship between Ulster loyalism and far right extremism, the Dutch extremist landscape, and the July 2011 Norway attacks. Also discussed are how narratives of violence are built and justified, at what point do individuals join into violence, and how differently states respond to left-wing vs. right-wing extremism. This comparative work offers a unique look into the very nature of right wing extremism and will be a must-read for anyone studying political violence and terrorism
Today, there is an urgent need to develop an understanding for the systems behaviors and vulnerabilities of interacting infrastructure networks in order to protect that infrastructure from naturally occurring hazards and man-made acts of terrorism. Infrastructure is the underlying foundation or basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions. The NATO-Russia Workshop focuses on the creation of a risk-informed analysis capability for modeling and predicting the behavior of complex infrastructure networks; applying emerging technology to the problems of designing, constructing, monitoring, and operating critical infrastructure systems; and building an understanding of the social, economic, and environmental factors that affect, and are affected by, critical infrastructure. The problem posed by modern, complex infrastructure is that society has become completely dependent on the reliable functioning of these systems, yet, we do not fully understand their systems behavior, which is subject to perturbations by natural hazards and malicious threats. Further, the characteristics of these hazards and threats are changing, driven both by global change and land use, and by changing political conditions. The disruption of the smooth functioning of civil infrastructure has important engineering and public policy implications, as well as social and environmental impacts.
The pioneering essays in this volume explore national security challenges posed by new technologies and examine some ongoing efforts to understand and mitigate their potential negative effects. The authors, drawn from among a roster of international scholars, approach these issues from different yet ultimately complementary angles. Turkish scholar Emin Daskin chronicles the efforts of the Turkish government to develop and implement a Cyber Security Strategy aimed at protecting the country from attacks by both governmental and non-governmental cyber actors. French researcher Christine Dugoin-Clement has studied what she views as a successful case of cyberwarfare, in which Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the eastern separatist region of Donbass have been targeted by cyber attackers attempting to deteriorate their cognition, rendering them less effective in the field. Another French author and military academy instructor, Thomas Flichy de La Neuville, provides a counterpoint study of militarized motorbike attacks in the Sahel, demonstrating that cyberspace is not the only technological sphere in which innovation increasingly threatens security. Finally, American academic Christopher Whyte offers a trenchant critique of current academic studies of cyberterrorism, noting that while "cyberterrorism" appears frequently as a subject of research, the actual work being carried out in this critical area lacks thematic nuance and is only tenuously linked to related major thematic topic areas. The collection highlights the unique challenges faced by countries as they attempt to deal with previously unknown adversaries, as both the nature of the enemy and the field of operations continues to shift with unprecedented speed. It will undoubtedly be of interest to anyone concerned with international relations, cybersecurity, cyberterrorism, and national security in the twenty-first century.
Relating to both the practice of teaching media studies and also to theoretical questions within media and cultural studies, this study examines pop music, media studies and the micro-cultural politics of adolescence. It argues that media education has neglected pop music, and that, as something of enormous significance in the lives of young people, it merits a serious place in the field.; The author provides accounts of media studies in action, including detailed accounts of classroom discussions, interviews with students and teachers, examples of students' work and their biographical reflections. He links this to broader debates both within cultural studies and around the place of pop music in young people's lives.; Teen Spirits should be of interest to students of media and cultural studies, as well as to practicing teachers, and readers with an interest in questions of youth and identity.
With large questions of right and wrong, there is a division of labour. So, with the attack on three subway trains and a bus in London on July 7, 2005. Of what moral relevance, if any, was the fact that the British army had been engaged in the killing of greatly more of a people with whom the terrorists identified? Of what relevance, as a newspaper article asked a week later, was the fact that the British prime minister put his own people at risk in the service of a foreign power? So begins Ted Honderich's intelligent and thoughtful analysis in "Terrorism and Humanity". What Honderich says will doubtless cause a great deal of controversy too (his last book on this subject was initially banned in Germany on the grounds it was anti-Semitic, only to be re-published by a Jewish press). However, his views will also be acceptable to a great many Jews (he puts forward arguments to justify the founding of Israel and its secure perpetual existence). Looking in detail at the situation in Palestine, 9/11, the war in Iraq and the events of 7/7, Ted Honderich offers neither a sensationalist rant nor an academic treatise. Instead "Terrorism and Humanity" provides a thoughtful and perceptive exploration of the "biggest" issue facing the western world today.
View the Table of Contents. aThe interpretive frameworkpresented offers students of
political violence a highly accessible template from which to study
the sociopsychological reasons individuals are drawn into terrorist
groups, and how the groups themselves act to reinforce the
identities of their members....The authors are to be commended for
producing a model with such tremendous analytical clarity and
pedagogical utility.a "Arena and Arrigo give us a brilliant glimpse into the
'terrorist' psyche as they detail the creation and maintenance of
identity in various terrorist organizations. Their conceptual
framework has important implications for law enforcement, public
policy makers, and academic researchers engaged in the study of
terrorism." "The overall quality of this book is astonishing, the ease of
reading and the depth of theoretical knowledge, equally impressive.
It is a valuable contribution to the terrorism literature and of
such quality that it will be quoted, used, debated, and confronted
by researchers for years to come. This book represents a vanguard
of sociological thought on this subject and is a much needed voice
in the debates on terrorism." Who would strap a bomb to his chest, walk into a crowded subway station and blow himself up? Only by examining how a terrorist understands his own identity and actions can this question be answered. The authors of The Terrorist Identity explore how the notion of self-concept combined with membership interrorist and extremist groups, can shape and sustain the identity of a terrorist as well as their subsequent justification for violence and the legitimacy of their actions. The book provides an understanding of identity that draws on concepts from psychology, criminology, and sociology. Notably, the book examines several case studies of various terrorist groups, including: the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Hamas, the Shining Path, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and racist Skinheads. By making the construct of identity central to this analysis The Terrorist Identity explains how violent and extremist collective behavior emerges culturally, how it informs the identity of group members socially, and how participants assume their place in these groups completely even at the expense of life-threatening harm to others or to themselves.
Explores both counter-terrorism and enabling policy dimensions of emerging information technologies in national security After the September 11th attacks, "connecting the dots" has become the watchword for using information and intelligence to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks. Advanced and emerging information technologies offer key assets in confronting a secretive, asymmetric, and networked enemy. Yet, in a free and open society, policies must ensure that these powerful technologies are used responsibly, and that privacy and civil liberties remain protected. Emergent Information Technologies and Enabling Policies for Counter-Terrorism provides a unique, integrated treatment of cutting-edge counter-terrorism technologies and their corresponding policy options. Featuring contributions from nationally recognized authorities and experts, this book brings together a diverse knowledge base for those charged with protecting our nation from terrorist attacks while preserving our civil liberties. Topics covered include: Counter-terrorism modeling Quantitative and computational social science Signal processing and information management techniques Semantic Web and knowledge management technologies Information and intelligence sharing technologies Text/data processing and language translation technologies Social network analysis Legal standards for data mining Potential structures for enabling policies Technical system designto support policy Countering terrorism in today's world requires innovative technologies and corresponding creative policies; the two cannot be practically and realistically addressed separately. Emergent Information Technologies and Enabling Policies for Counter-Terrorism offers a comprehensive examination of both areas, serving as an essential resource for students, practitioners, researchers, developers, and decision-makers.
"The first in-depth reconstruction of the struggle based on fully
original documentation. It is, indeed, a welcome and important
book." One of the longest-standing and most intractable problems in contemporary international politics, the Cyprus question continues to plague the international community. Isle of Discord sketches the post-war origins of the Cyprus problem from the first drive toward internationalization to the outbreak of armed struggle against the British colonial regime-to show how the potential for a peaceful resolution of the conflict was repeatedly and fatefully squandered. Strategically located at the hub of three continents, the island of Cyprus has been a bone of contention between Greek and Turkish nationalists-and consequently between U.S., British, and U. N. policymakers. Detailing the central role of the nationalist Enosis movement, of the U.N., and of insidious factionalism in the area, Stefanidis brings new insight to this undertreated period of Cypriot history through U.S., British, and Greek records not before used. A timely profile of this legacy of modern diplomatic history, Isle of Discord identifies the various forces, competing interests, and partisan pressures that helped shape the Cyprus problem.
"Lebanon" provides a comprehensive history and political analysis of Lebanon from ancient times to present day. It examines the mid-19th century civil war periods in detail and discusses the conflicts in Lebanon during the two world wars, in 1958, in 1975-76, and during the last period of civil strife and foreign invasion from 1978-1990. It examines the last phase of bitter conflict during which a million Lebanese and Palestinians were either killed or injured, much of the countries infrastructure was destroyed and it's great city, Beirut, was reduces to ordinary status.
A comprehensive analysis of the rise of Boko Haram from a small religious cult to a major terrorist group, placing them within the context of Nigerian politics and the international War on Terror. In 2009, Nigerian security forces stormed a religious cult by the name of Boko Haram, killing its leader and thousands of followers. Six years later, Boko Haram is an enemy to reckon with, boasting 15,000 members and taking credit for 20,000 deaths. This book looks at the successful rise of this terrorist group, probing the religious and political environment that enabled a relatively small cult to threaten a nation. The study draws on the author's fieldwork in Nigeria, where she had access to officials, activists, psychologists, and military personnel. Written in a clear and accessible manner, it offers a micro-to-macro investigation of the Boko Haram as a phenomenon. It also provides readers with an understanding of the regional dynamics that obstructed political and military cooperation among neighboring countries, enabling Boko Haram's success. This book traces the group's religious origins in the early 2000s and documents its violent political claims in Nigeria and across the border in Northern Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Finally, it examines the impact of the international War on Terror and presents a comparative study of other contemporary terrorism movements and their networks. Takes a comprehensive approach to the political, historical, social, economic, and international dynamics that enabled the rise and transformation of Boko Haram Draws on field work in Nigeria, including interviews with military representatives, politicians, activists, psychologists, security operatives, and victims of the Boko Haram war Offers a comprehensive analysis of contemporary Nigeria at a crucial point in its history Makes an original contribution to the study of violent non-state actors by examining similarities and differences between Boko Haram and other like-minded terrorist movements
This book draws together empirical contributions which focus on conceptualising the lived realities of time and temporality in migrant lives and journeys. This book uncovers the ways in which human existence is often overshadowed by legislative interpretations of legal and illegalised. It unearths the consequences of uncertainty and unknowing for people whose futures often lay in the hands of states, smugglers, traffickers and employers that pay little attention to the significance of individuals' time and thus, by default, their very human existence. Overall, the collection draws perspectives from several disciplines and locations to advance knowledge on how temporal exclusion relates to social and personal processes of exclusion. It begins by conceptualising what we understand by 'time' and looks at how temporality and lived realities of time combine for people during and after processes of migration. As the book develops, focus is trained on temporality and survival during encampment, border transgression, everyday borders and hostility, detention, deportation and the temporal impacts of border deaths. This book both conceptualises and realises the lived experiences of time with regard to those who are afforded minimal autonomy over their own time: people living in and between borders.
As the U.S. government continues the battle against terrorism, Congress-representatives of the people-must develop long-term policies that provide for national security and protect the civil liberties of the American people. Much of the conversation surrounding the War on Terror focuses on presidential power and responses to the president's exercising that power. Often overlooked or downplayed is the role of Congress in directing the outcome of the war. This book illustrates how Congress-in conjunction with the president and the judiciary-has played a key role in laying the foundation for many post-9/11 policies in areas such as surveillance and detention. Instead of arguing that Congress is incapable of making successful counterterrorism policy, Congress and the War on Terror objectively examines what Congress has done in the past to suggest what action may be needed in the future. Covering controversial topics including torture, interrogation, drones, and military tribunals, it shows that only understanding previous decisions will enable Americans to determine what role Congress should play as the United States fights terror. Chronicles congressional policymaking in the War on Terror, notes its successes and failures, and provides recommendations to improve the congressional role in the US's fight against terror Includes up-to-date examples of post-9/11 issues such as military tribunals and electronic surveillance Focuses on how Congress handles conflict related to the important issue of War on Terror policymaking Explores whether Congress can serve as the voice of the American people in debating the balance between national security and civil liberties
While terrorism is hardly a new phenomenon, terrorism by the state and its opponents reached new levels in the twentieth century. Drawing together veteran experts on terrorism with authorities in Islam, media studies, American history, and social psychology, Dr. Howard presents a volume which lends fresh interpretations to such major issues as the origins, the impact, and the appropriate personal and public responses to terrorism. The volume covers a wide range of relevant topics, from an examination of insurgency, counterinsurgency, and terrorism during the struggle for Mexican independence in the early nineteenth century, to an overview of the difficulties of creating a concerted policy toward terrorism within the European Community, and the possible connections between terrorism and guerrilla warfare in the future. Particular attention has been placed on examining the role of the media and military retaliation in either exacerbating or checking the prevalence of terrorism. As we come to recognize that the problem of terrorism can not be viewed solely through the lens of military policy, we need to rethink the concepts and assumptions of international security using the additional disciplines of cross-cultural studies, psychology, and history. This collection makes a major contribution by refocusing our thinking, toward an interdisciplinary approach and will be of value to policy makers, as well as those involved with military studies, social psychology, and international relations.
This book brings together several scholars to examine the relationship between guerrilla insurgencies and state building. In essays covering such societies as Mozambique, Algeria, Peru, Malaysia and Sri Lanka the authors show that the rise of guerrilla insurgency can lead states to develop far-reaching programmes of social and economic modernisation or else in some cases to disintegrate from within if the challenge of modernisation proves to be beyond their capacities. The book argues that as the last phase of colonial modernisation of developing states has finished insurgencies increasingly threaten the cohesion of less developed states in a global order in which superpower patronage has largely ended.
This book provides a detailed examination of the threats and dangers facing the West at the far end of the cybersecurity spectrum. It concentrates on threats to critical infrastructure which includes major public utilities. It focusses on the threats posed by the two most potent adversaries/competitors to the West, Russia and China, whilst considering threats posed by Iran and North Korea. The arguments and themes are empirically driven but are also driven by the need to evolve the nascent debate on cyberwarfare and conceptions of 'cyberwar'. This book seeks to progress both conceptions and define them more tightly. This accessibly written book speaks to those interested in cybersecurity, international relations and international security, law, criminology, psychology as well as to the technical cybersecurity community, those in industry, governments, policing, law making and law enforcement, and in militaries (particularly NATO members).
Opposing the orthodoxies of establishment postcolonialism, Beyond Postcolonial Theory posits acts of resistance and subversion by people of color as central to the unfolding dialogue with Western hegemony. The testimonies and signifying practices of Rigoberta Menchu, C.L.R. James, various "minority" writers in the United States, and intellectuals from Africa, Latin America, and Asia are counterposed against the dogmas of contingency, borderland nomadism, panethnicity, and the ideology of identity politics and transcultural postmodern pastiche. Reappropriating ideas from Gramsci, Bakhtin, Althusser, Freire, and others in the radical democratic tradition, San Juan deploys them to recover the memory of national liberation struggles (Fanon, Cabral, Che Guevara) on the face of the triumphal march of globalized capitalism.
*How do you strike the balance in opposing national security to individual liberties and the rule of law, both internationally and domestically? *Beyond an individual liberties perspective, what does this entail in institutional or structural terms? *How does this tie into long-running changes in international law aspects, including legitimacy and the use of armed force? With a renewed emphasis on national and homeland security, the United States is once again seeking to balance the needs of the state with both the rights of its citizens as well as those of other nations. This book represents an interdisciplinary approach to the legal dilemmas borne out by the war on terror-against the specific background of Afghanistan, Iraq, and this new kind of conflict. It is a strong contribution to a broader debate visible since 9/11, which will remain in the public eye for the foreseeable future. It addresses the overlap between religion, ethics, armed conflict, and law, within the context of the current conflict. While many issues in areas such as intelligence, reconciliation of civil liberties, dealing with terrorist threats, and the permissible bounds of interrogation, treatment of prisoners and laws governing armed conflict have long standing precedents under domestic and international law, this war has challenged even long standing legal interpretations. The contributors to this volume explore those precedents and contemporary challenges to them. Now that traditional wars between nation states are no longer the rule, the terrorist threat has gained credence (popularly, terrorism and its claimed breeding ground in failed states), linked in practice to issues of intervention on the territoryof states harboring such groups. In military circles the idea of armed struggle between modern military forces and what were formerly called guerillas has now largely been replaced by asymmetric warfare and the concept of intelligence and preventive action interchangeably within U.S. borders and overseas. Opposing views contemplate that different-and presumably lower-legal standards may apply in internal armed conflicts. Such legal issues are visible under current circumstances of asymmetric warfare in conjunction with questions about prisoner status and detentions, including the permissible bounds of interrogation versus torture following the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq but also the treatment at the Guantanamo Bay facility of alleged Al Q'aeda captives from Afghanistan. All of the contributors in this book explore the changing circumstances against which these contentious new legal issues now unfold. The experts strike no consensus. Indeed, one of the work's many strengths can be attributed to the fact that the many facets of the ongoing debate are represented herein.
This book examines community-based approaches to counter-terrorism through an analysis of the notions of community, partnership, engagement, gender and religion in order to shed new light on the potential of, and drawbacks to these approaches. Dr. Spalek stresses the need for policy makers and practitioners to reflect on the effectiveness of the initiatives that they are engaged with, particularly in relation to how community-targeted or community-focused they are.
Sinn Fein has undergone a startling transformation in the last two-and-a-half decades. Under the leadership of its two principal figures Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness the mainstream party of Irish republicanism has changed beyond almost all recognition. It has moved from the margins of political life, on both sides of the Irish border, to a position where it occupies the Deputy First Minister's chair in Northern Ireland and was viewed, until recently, as the coming force in southern Irish politics. In this book, the contours of Sinn Fein's recent evolution are considered, with particular emphasis on the various strategic objectives that the party has set itself. Sinn Fein's attitude to the Northern Irish peace process is considered at length here and the book challenges the 'conventional wisdom' that would juxtapose republican 'politics' and republican 'war' the notion being that, during the 1990s, republicans exchanged the latter for the former and were, therefore, 'tamed' into becoming a 'normal' political party. The central argument here is that such a view rests on a false dichotomy. It has been said that 'war is merely the continuation of politics'; with respect to Sinn Fein, it is argued, the inverse formulation needs also to be considered, with republican politics seen, by republicans themselves, as an extension of the war. In following through this line of argument, this book attempts to consider republicans on their own terms; to take their thoughts and words 'seriously' and to examine their recent history accordingly.
Among the violent acts perpetrated by radical Islamist groups in Europe, the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris has been one of those that has challenged established categories of public debate the most. Through a multifaceted and detailed analysis of the public discourse around the Charlie Hebdo episode in France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, Discursive Turns and Critical Junctures offers an in-depth analysis of how political groups and religious organizations have reacted to the event, which claims they have made in the public sphere, and how they have justified such claims. Drawing on newspaper sources and discourse analysis, the authors navigate the complexities caused by political violence. They develop a threefold comparison that considers how the debate differs across countries; how it evolved over time; and how it varies when one looks at mainstream media compared to social movement arenas. Based on a triangulation of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the volume pays particular attention to radical left, radical right and religious actors and to issues related to migration and integration, secularism and cultural diversity, security and civil rights. In particular, they focus on the way in which transformative events act as critical junctures within different public spheres. Starting from the nefarious attacks on January 2015, this highly relevant, theoretically compelling, and methodologically sophisticated study of public debates in Europe adds substantially to the growing body of research into critical junctures as discursive turning points and gives insights into into a number of debates ranging including citizenship and political violence.
This book examines the reasons for which children join terrorist movements and how they eventually become peace activists fighting the very crimes that they once committed. The transformation of child terrorists into peace activists has received scant attention from academics and practitioners alike. Particular focus is placed on child jihadism, child terrorism in Africa and Latin America, child separatist terrorism, and White child supremacism. These five groups of child terrorists represent about 80% of the problem across the world. The text serves as a primer for anti-terrorism and peace activism for global social change. It includes original, applied research and features personal accounts from former child terrorists who became peace activists themselves. One of the nine chapters provides an in-depth thematic analysis of the lives of 24 subjects (from all five aforementioned groups). The analysis produced four main themes that encapsulate the time and effort that it takes to become a peace activist today: metamorphosis, terrorist behavior, disillusionment, and anti-terrorist behavior. The book ends with multiple solutions from the perspective of social work, including the reintegration of former child terrorists into society. From Child Terrorism to Peace Activism is a resource of deep and broad appeal. The text is essential reading for upper-level undergraduate and Master's students in political science, military studies, international relations, international law, and peace and conflict studies. It can be pertinent reading for students and instructors in international social work contemplating social work-related solutions to rehabilitate former child terrorists and child soldiers into society through peace activism, anti-terrorist endeavors, and other socio-psychological methods that will produce social change. The text also would appeal to faculty and students in childhood studies with an interest in child terrorism, child development, and child trauma and resilience. Given the essentials, depth, and possibilities that the book offers, it is a useful resource for audiences within counterterrorism institutes, national security agencies, and academic think-tanks. Information on motives, strategies, radicalization processes, and recruitment methods used by terrorist organizations as well as their effects on various audiences will draw readers from law enforcement agencies and institutions.
Through various lenses and theoretical approaches, this book explores the contested experiences, meanings, realms, goals, and challenges associated with the construction, preservation, and transmission of the memories of state repression in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. The book both illuminates and questions the politics of memory that have been unfolding in these countries over the past three decades. It is one of few volumes written in English to be dedicated specifically to the study of the memory of state terrorism in the Southern Cone. Its contributors, both recognized and emerging scholars, come from Europe, the United States, and Latin America.
Islam and violence appear to dominate global politics in the
twenty-first century. This book examines dimensions of Islam and
violence as part of wider debates about politics, history, faith,
power, rebellion and struggle both within Muslims' realms and
outside it. The author accounts for definitions of violence and
terrorism with both historical and contemporary dimension. The book
explores the motif of violence in its myriad aspects including
debates about sacrifice, private and public violence, responses and
reactions, as well as suicide and martyrdom.
Considering an under-researched dimension of political violence, this interdisciplinary collection provides an extensive examination of terrorist victimisation. It explores how individual and public experiences of victimisation are constructed and how they are shaped by existing dynamics of violence. |
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