![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle > General
The Moral Dilemmas of Fighting Terrorism and Guerrilla Groups discusses the most important ethical dilemmas associated with the fight against terrorist organizations and guerilla groups by providing readers with a rigorous, yet accessible analysis of how these forms of violence can be justified and how they ought to be fought by entities targeted by groups resorting to these strategies. It will be valuable to anyone interested in understanding the main ethical questions associated with these forms of political violence and the way they can be addressed. After providing conceptual clarifications that will allow the reader to distinguish between terrorism and guerrilla warfare, it explains and discusses what the criteria are that can justify resorting to lethal violence on the part of the latter group as well as the criteria that can determine the identity of those who can legitimately be targeted by these groups. The book analyzes when terrorists ought to be targeted and how this can be done, focusing on the inherent problems associated with the solutions that are normally used against state actors in order to prevent attacks on their part, namely what can be coined as "non-violent alternatives to war", such as economic or diplomatic sanctions, arm embargoes and non-violent resistance and, on the other hand, preemptive attacks.
Since 9/11, al-Qaida has become one of the most infamous and widely discussed terrorist organizations in the world, with affiliates spread across the globe. However, little-known are the group's activities within Afghanistan itself, something which Anne Stenersen examines in this book. Using an array of unique primary sources, she presents an alternative narrative of al-Qaida's goals and strategies prior to 9/11. She argues that al-Qaida's actions were not just an ideological expression of religious fanaticism and violent anti-Americanism, but that they were actually far more practical and organised, with a more revolutionary and Middle Eastern-focused agenda than previously thought. Through Stenersen's analysis, we see how al-Qaida employed a dual strategy: with a small section focused on staging international terrorist attacks, but at the same time a larger part dedicated to building a resilient and cohesive organization that would ultimately serve as a vanguard for future Islamist revolutions.
"NATO and Terrorism" posits that the post 9/11 war on terrorism has had a profound effect on NATO's post Cold War structure and military missions. "NATO and Terrorism" focuses on the decades from 1989 until 2009, during which NATO underwent two major transformations. The first was the expansion from sixteen to twenty-six member states. This section traces the evolution of the new member states from communist enemies to democratic partners, looking at their differences and similarities, the reactions of their publics to membership, and their involvement in NATO activities. The second was the radical shift in the missions of the alliance and the book analyzes the military operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq as well as the new issue of the Missile Shield for Europe. Both sections also look at how inclusion of more states is predicated on the conclusion that their geopolitical position makes them a barrier against terrorism centered further east and how the missions involve the struggle against several varieties of terrorism.
This book questions when, why, and how it is just for a people to go to war, or to refrain from warring, in a post-9/11 world. To do so, it explores Just War Theory (JWT) in relationship to recent American accounts of the experience of war. The book analyses the jus ad bellum criteria of just war-right intention, legitimate authority, just cause, probability of success, and last resort-before exploring jus in bello, or the law that governs the way in which warfare is conducted. By combining just-war ethics and sustained explorations of major works of twentieth and twenty-first century American war writing, this study offers the first book-length reflection on how JWT and literary studies can inform one another fruitfully.
This book explores the changing nature of secessionist attempts in connection with rapidly evolving geopolitical and technological landscapes. By presenting theoretical chapters as well as case studies on various secessionist movements around the globe, the contributing authors study a range of topics, including: the role of the media in secessionist conflicts; secessionist referenda and the viability of secessionist attempts in terms of their internal dimension; and external support and interference. The book will appeal to political scientists and international relations scholars who are interested in the processes, politics and geopolitical implications of secessionist movements.
This book examines our contemporary preoccupation with risk and how criminal law and punishment have been transformed as a result of these anxieties. It adopts an historical approach to examine the development of risk control measures used across the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada - particularly since the 1980's - with the rise of the "security sanction". It also takes a criminological and sociological approach to analysing shifts in criminal law and punishment and its implications for contemporary society and criminal justice systems. Law, Insecurity and Risk Control analyses the range and scope of the 'security sanction' and its immobilizing measures, ranging from control over minor incivilities to the most serious crimes. Despite these innovations, though, it argues that our anxieties about risk have become so extensive that the "security sanction" is no longer sufficient to provide social stability and cohesion. As a consequence, people have been attracted to the 'magic' of populism in a revolt against mainstream politics and organisations of government, as with the EU referendum in the UK and the US presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016. While there have been political manoeuvrings to rein back risk and place new controls on it, these have only brought further disillusionment, insecurity and anxiety. This book argues that the "security sanction" is likely to become more deeply embedded in the criminal justice systems of these societies, as new risks to both the well-being of individuals and the nation state are identified.
This edited collection surveys how non-Western states have responded to the threats of domestic and international terrorism in ways consistent with and reflective of their broad historical, political, cultural and religious traditions. It presents a series of eighteen case studies of counterterrorism theory and practice in the non-Western world, including countries such as China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Egypt and Brazil. These case studies, written by country experts and drawing on original language sources, demonstrate the diversity of counter-terrorism theory and practice and illustrate how the world 'sees' and responds to terrorism is different from the way that the United States, the United Kingdom and many European governments do. This volume - the first ever comprehensive account of counter-terrorism in the non-Western world - will be of interest to students, scholars, students and policymakers responsible for developing counter-terrorism policy. -- .
Weapons of Mass Destruction are diverse and pose unique challenges to governments attempting to keep them out of the wrong hands and preparing to respond to an attack. This text analyzes Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons and terrorist groups with a known interest in them. It presents accessible information about the technical challenges posed by each type of weapon, assesses the threats, and reviews the US governmental responses. It provides structured CBRN case studies and allows for easy comparison of threats, challenges, and responses. The text combines weapons and policy information in one comprehensive and comparative resource for researchers and students interested in key issues in modern terrorism and international security.
In 1964, less than one year into his tenure as publisher of the Bogalusa Daily News, New Orleans native Lou Major found himself guiding the newspaper through a turbulent period in the history of American civil rights. Bogalusa, Louisiana, became a flashpoint for clashes between African Americans advocating for equal treatment and white residents who resisted this change, a conflict that generated an upsurge in activity by the Ku Klux Klan. Local members of the KKK stepped up acts of terror and intimidation directed against residents and institutions they perceived as sympathetic to civil rights efforts. During this turmoil, the Daily News took a public stand against the Klan and its platform of hatred and white supremacy. Against the Klan, Major's memoir of those years, recounts his attempts to balance the good of the community, the health of the newspaper, and the safety of his family. He provides an in-depth look at the stance the Daily News took in response to the city's civil rights struggles, including the many fiery editorials he penned condemning the KKK's actions and urging peaceful relations in Bogalusa. Major's richly detailed personal account offers a ground-level view of the challenges local journalists faced when covering civil rights campaigns in the Deep South and of the role played by the press in exposing the nefarious activities of hate groups such as the Klan.
'Punctuated by the stories of a host of interesting and extraordinary characters, Crossland has produced a fascinating exploration of the long nineteenth century's development of terrorism and counterterrorism, highlighting the role of fear and the paranoia, repression, and overreaction it engendered.' Michael Stohl, Professor at the University of California Author of Crime and Terrorism 'By applying an innovative historical lens, The Rise of the Devils by James Crossland offers a remarkable perspective on the history of terrorism that is not overdetermined by the events of 9/11 and explores a "violent strain of nihilism intoxicated by a whiff of martyrdom." The book reads like the prequel to the "National Treasure" movie franchise and offers a completely unique understanding of Terrorism's First Wave.' Mia Bloom, Georgia State University Author of Dying to Kill: the Allure of Suicide Terror In the dying light of the nineteenth century, the world came to know and fear terrorism. Much like today, this was a time of progress and dread, in which breakthroughs in communications and weapons were made, political reforms were implemented and immigration waves bolstered the populations of ever-expanding cities. This era also simmered with political rage and social inequalities, which drove nationalists, nihilists, anarchists and republicans to dynamite cities and discharge pistols into the bodies of presidents, police chiefs and emperors. This wave of terrorism was seized upon by an outrage-hungry press that peddled hysteria, conspiracy theories and, sometimes, fake news in response, convincing many a reader that they were living through the end of days. Against the backdrop of this world of fear and disorder, The rise of devils chronicles the journeys of the men and women who evoked this panic and created modern terrorism - revolutionary philosophers, cult leaders, criminals and charlatans, as well as the paranoid police chiefs and unscrupulous spies who tried to thwart them. In doing so, this book explains how radicals once thought just in their causes became, as Pope Pius IX denounced them, little more than 'devils risen up from Hell'. -- .
This book explores the powerful role of ordinary people's agency in times of violent conflict. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and a Critical Discourse Analysis, the author draws out the motivations, drivers and strategies at individual and community levels. With a focus on people's own voices, this research highlights rich findings showing a wide range of experiences and actions that people engaged in during the violent conflict, and dimensions that are often missed in dominant explanations of violent conflict. Therefore, while looking at peace and conflict from an everyday perspective, the question of power and the meaning of peace knowledge become central. This monograph addresses the power of people's agency not only in shaping the politics and dynamics of violence, but also in redefining what 'peace' and 'change' ought to look like. Essential reading for researchers and students of Peace and Conflict Studies, and also International Relations, Security Studies, Resistance Studies, Anthropology, Politics, International Development.
Terrorism: Documents of International and Local Control is a hardbound series that provides primary-source documents on the worldwide counter-terrorism effort. Chief among the documents collected are transcripts of Congressional and Parliamentary testimony, reports by quasi-governmental organizations, and case law covering issues related to terrorism. The series also includes a subject index and other indices that guide the user through this complex area of the law. Overall, the series keeps users up-to-date on the panoply of terrorism issues now facing the U.S. and the world. Presidential Powers and the Global War Against Terrorists provides readers with a detailed and insightful exposition of the law of presidential war powers. The recent expansion of those powers by the Bush Administration has created uncertainty as to where the legal limits for Executive Branch military and surveillance activity currently lie. In this volume, Professor Doug Lovelace identifies those limits through both his presentation of relevant documents and his expert commentary of the meaning behind those documents.
This book interrogates the nature of elections and election violence in the African countries. It traces the causes of the governance menace to multiple factors that are not limited to poverty, unemployment, and media. The book documents how election violence cripples the nation-building process across many African countries. Consequently, it reveals that states have lost their manifest destiny of national transformation in Africa because they cannot guarantee that legitimate candidates, who should win elections, due to the widespread manipulation of violence at all levels of electoral engineering. The chapters rely on the cases and changing dynamics of elections and electoral violence in the different Nigerian states. It traces the origins of elections, the nature and patterns of a number of past elections as well as the roles of youth, judiciary, electoral umpire, social media, and gender on the changing nature of elections in Nigeria.
This book centers on the power of mythical narratives and technology in creating the idea of a world that should be purged. The introduction of sin, the fall and other disruptive conflict have led mankind towards a world of scarcity, where suffering and sacrifice prevail. The author analyzes this apocalypse theory, which describes humans' perversion by the use of technology, self-consciousness and knowledge. Based on an anthropological viewpoint, the book not only discusses the nature of bottom days, but explores other related sub-themes such as capitalism, terrorism, dark tourism, the essence of evil and the power of prophecy, coining the term thana-capitalism to denote a new stage of capitalism where death is the main commodity exchanged.
Since September 11th, the threat of a bioterrorist attack--massive,
lethal, and unpreventable--has hung in the air over America.
Bracing for Armageddon? offers a vividly written primer for the
general reader, shedding light on the science behind potential
bioterrorist attacks and revealing what could happen, what is
likely to happen, and what almost certainly will not happen.
"The West's Road to 9/11" offers a detailed explanation of the
handling of the challenge of terrorism by the USA, the UK and the
West over the last thirty years. David Carlton contends that
anti-terrorist rhetoric by the Governments of the West frequently
masked indifference to the activities of many practitioners of
non-state violence; and that in the case of the United States it
did not hesitate even to sponsor those terrorist movements if
deemed supportive of its wider geopolitical objectives.
Radicalization, and the terrorism that is frequently linked to it, have been subject to much study and governmental intervention. Nevertheless, the processes that lead to radicalization remain thinly conceptualized although governments and their agencies worldwide have invested heavily in counter and de-radicalization programs. There are at least 34 anti-radicalization programs worldwide, most of which were initiated post-2001, with a focus on Muslims and Muslim communities. These policies and programs have led to interventions in the daily lives of thousands, often in ways that push the boundaries of human rights law and norms. However, the effectiveness of these programs is unclear. This book compares anti-radicalization programs that target Islamic extremism in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the Netherlands and Pakistan. It looks particularly at the ways in which the program tactics differ depending on the gender of the target, arguing that the gendered way in which anti-radicalization is pursued helps to reveal its limitations. These programs fail to take into account how masculinity and femininity inform the radicalization process. Moreover, the programs tend to link men's radicalization to excessive, but flawed, masculinity, and women's radicalization to passivity, which consequentially limits understandings of the various modes of belief, belonging, and behavior of those they are trying to engage. Solutions for male de-radicalization hinge on particular ideals of masculinity that few men can obtain, while the de-radicalization of women is seen as a rescue mission. Although the rhetoric of battling terrorism is often couched in a narrative of "women's rights" and "liberal values", the book demonstrates that the consequences of the programs often run counter to such ideals. The book's findings are applicable not just to de-radicalization programs, but also to broader counter-radicalization agendas that address resilience and community engagement. The book also highlights the way in which anti-radicalization measures hew to or differ from older programs addressing right-wing extremism, anti-cult measures, and sectarianism. Ultimately, Gender, Religion, Extremism proposes an alternative way of implementing anti-radicalization efforts that are rooted in a feminist peace-one that is transformative, inclusive, and sustainable.
This book explores the challenges of combating terrorism from a policing perspective using the example of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC (RUC) in Northern Ireland. The RUC was in the frontline of counter-terrorism work for thirty years of conflict during which time it also provided a normal policing service to the public. However, combating a protracted and vicious terrorist campaign exacted a heaving price on the force. Importantly, the book addresses a seriously under-researched theme in terrorism studies, namely, the impact of terrorism on members of the security forces. Accordingly, the book examines how officers have been affected by the conflict as terrorists adopted a strategy which targeted them both on and off duty. This resulted in a high percentage of officers being killed whilst off duty - sometimes in the company of their wives and children. The experience of officers' wives is also documented thus highlighting the familial impact of terrorism. Generally speaking, the victims of terrorist attacks have received scant scholarly attention which has resulted in victims' experiences being little understood. This piece of work casts a specific and unique light on the nature of victimhood as it has been experienced by members of this branch of the security forces in Northern Ireland.
This text analyzes how the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush used force in response to incidents of international terrorism - providing comparison between each of the administrations as they grappled with the evolving nature and role of terrorism in the United States and abroad.
In the Middle East, the world's deadliest organizations, the Islamic State and al Qaeda have firmly established their presence in the Levant and the Gulf. In parallel, state- sponsored Shia threat networks, groups and cells, notably the Lebanese Hezbollah and Houthis operate throughout the Middle East and beyond. Exploiting the conflict zones and their cascading ideologies, both the Sunni and Shia threat entities compete to advance their own interests. Their parent and affiliate entities recruit and radicalise both territorial and diaspora Muslims to fight each other. Unless governments work together to mitigate the threat at the core and the edge, the Middle East and its peripheral territories in Asia and Africa will suffer from terrorism and political violence in the foreseeable future.The response to extremism and its vicious by-product terrorism requires both preventive intelligence-led and pre-emptive community-based security approaches. While developing tactical counter-terrorism capabilities, governments should build strategic capabilities to erode their support bases. The new frontiers in counter-terrorism and extremism - community engagement and rehabilitation - should be integrated into government planning. Unless governments take the lead and work with community leaders, societies will be threatened by the existing and emerging wave of ideologically-motivated violence. Government and community leaders should develop whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approaches to dismantle transnational threats. To contain, isolate and eliminate the evolving threat, the Middle Eastern states should shift from security cooperation to collaboration and partnership.
This book sheds light on religiously motivated extremism and violence in South Asia, a phenomenon which ostensibly poses critical and unique challenges to the peace, security and governance not only of the region, but also of the world at large. The book is distinctive in-so-far as it reexamines conventional wisdom held about religious extremism in South Asia and departs from the literature which centres its analyses on Islamic militancy based on the questions and assumptions of the West's 'war on terror'. This volume also offers a comprehensive analysis of new extremist movements and how their emergence and success places existing theoretical frameworks in the study of religious extremism into question. It further examines topical issues including the study of social media and its impact on the evolution and operation of violent extremism. The book also analyses grassroots and innovative non-state initiatives aimed to counter extremist ideologies. Through case studies focusing on Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, this collection examines extremist materials, methods of political mobilisation and recruitment processes and maps the interconnected nature of sociological change with the ideological transformations of extremist movements. |
You may like...
Killing For Culture - From Edison to…
David Kerekes, David Slater
Paperback
R940
Discovery Miles 9 400
Do the Geneva Conventions Matter?
Matthew Evangelista, Nina Tannenwald
Hardcover
R3,294
Discovery Miles 32 940
|