This is the first comprehensive discussion of all the main philosophical issues raised by terrorism against the background of its past and recent developments. Prominent philosophers discuss definitions of terrorism, approaches to its moral evaluation, and the contentious subject of state terrorism. Also included are four case studies, showing how the concepts and arguments philosophers deploy in discussing violence, war and terrorism apply to particular instances of both insurgent and state terrorism, ranging from World War II to September 11, 2001.

Between 1983 and 1987, mercenaries adopting the pseudonym GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberacion, Antiterrorist Liberation Group) paid by the Spanish treasury and relying upon national intelligence support were at war with the Basque militant group ETA (Euskadi (e)Ta Askatasuna, Basque Country and Freedom). Over four years, their campaign of extrajudicial assassinations spanned the French-Spanish border. Nearly thirty people were killed in a campaign comprised of torture, kidnapping, bombing and the assassination of suspected ETA activists and Basque refugees. This establishment of unofficial counterterrorist squads by a Spanish Government was a blatant detour from legality. It was also a rare case in Europe where no less than fourteen high-ranking Spanish police officers and senior government officials, including the Minister of Interior himself, were eventually arrested and condemned for counter-terrorism wrongdoings and illiberal practices. Thirty years later, this campaign of intimidation, coercion and targeted killings continues to grip Spain. The GAL affair was not only a serious example of a major departure from accepted liberal democratic constitutional principles of law and order, but also a brutal campaign that postponed by decades the possibility of a political solution for the Basque conflict. Counter-terror by proxy uncovers why and how a democratic government in a liberal society turned to a 'dirty war' and went down the route of illegal and extrajudicial killing actions. It offers a fuller examination of the long-term implications of the use of unorthodox counter-terrorist strategies in a liberal democracy. -- .

This book analyzes intelligence relations in an unsecure world and provides contributions on intelligence processes, interstate intelligence relations and hybrid warfare. Tactical, operational and strategic intelligence relations, both within and between intelligence agencies, and between states, are essential to support decision makers. This book ties together how intelligence adapts to security changes, global power shifts and the trend from globalization to a more nationalistic approach. During such changes, there is a need to analyze intelligence sharing relationships. Bringing together practitioners and academics, the book presents a plurality of approaches relative to intelligence relations that seek to advance the debate in the field.

Policy decisions in education have changed drastically as a result of the recent threats to our international and national security. In this timely and compelling collection, contributors discuss the significance of policy decisions on education systems, and argue that all forms of violence, including terrorism, are often reproduced through education. Contributors incorporate case studies from a broad spectrum of countries to make a case for peace-building alternatives and non-military security cooperation. The collection highlights education systems around the globe that sustain violence, brings together human security and preventive diplomacy research to predict future trends, explores foreign policy implications that could lead to non-violent interventions abroad, and provides teachers and policymakers with relevant reflections on reform. This collection arrives at a time when many of us are wondering what education systems can do to eliminate violence, and is the only one of its kind to address these questions on a global scale.

This book examines mass shootings and attempted shootings that occurred across 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, known as post-communist states. This region of the world has been described by social scientists as possessing specific social, cultural, and political characteristics which may mean that mass shootings in this part of the world are driven by distinct causal factors in comparison to those in North America and elsewhere. This book explores trends and patterns that underpin cases in this under-explored region and tests whether Cumulative Strain Theory can account for mass shooting occurrences. It uses in-depth qualitative analysis to examine select case studies in one chapter, followed by a chapter which uses quantitative methods to identify trends across a wider set of cases and to test the theoretically-driven hypotheses. This data is then compared with data in the US. This book draws on a wide range of media, forensic and court reports and provides methodological insights and discussions of future trends including the potential incidental increase of mass shootings in these regions. It also engages in recent public policy debates pertaining to firearm ownership and regulation.

A human rights lawyer travels to hot zones around the globe, before and after the September 11 attacks, to document abuses committed by warlords, terrorist groups, and government counterterrorism forces. Whether reporting on al Qaeda safe houses, the mechanics of the Pentagon's smartest bombs, his interviews with politicians and ordinary civilians, or his own brush with death outside Kabul, John Sifton wants to help us understand violence-what it is, and how we think and speak about it. For the human rights community, the global war on terror brought unprecedented challenges. Of special concern were the secret detention centers operated by the CIA as it expanded into a paramilitary force, and the harsh treatment of prisoners throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. In drafting legal memoranda that made domestic prosecution for these crimes impossible, Sifton argues, the United States possessed not only the detainees but the law itself. Sifton recounts his efforts to locate secret prisons and reflects on the historical development of sanctioned military or police violence-from hand-to-hand combat to the use of drones-and the likelihood that technology will soon enable completely automated killing. Sifton is equally concerned to examine what people have meant by nonviolent social change, and he asks whether pure nonviolence is ever possible. To invoke rights is to invoke the force to uphold them, he reminds us. Ultimately, advocates for human rights can only shame the world into better behavior, and their work may involve advocating the very violence they deplore.

Taking issue with the convenient views that the Middle East is an irrational and exceptional region of world politics and that the long and bloody history of the Palestine conflict is proof, the authors of this stimulating collection combine theoretical reflection and empirical investigation, marrying International Relations theory and Middle East studies. Through integrating macro- and micro-perspectives, tracing the interaction of global and regional environments with individuals pursuing political goals, this book rejects the cultural stereotype of "Middle Eastern exceptionalism" and argues that regional patterns of conflict are deeply embedded in international and transnational relations and that their particular trajectories have to be interpreted in the light of global political developments.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on a scale few had imagined possible. In their aftermath, we exaggerated the men who perpetrated the attacks, shaping hasty and often mistaken reporting into caricatures we could comprehend -- monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. In reality, the 9/11 hijackers were unexceptional men, not much different from countless others. It is this ordinary enemy, not the caricature, that we must understand if we are to have a legitimate hope of defeating terrorism.Using research undertaken in twenty countries on four continents, Los Angeles Times correspondent Terry McDermott provides gripping, authoritative portraits of the main players in the 9/11 plot. With brilliant reporting and thoughtful analysis, McDermott brings us a clearer, more nuanced, and in some ways more frightening, understanding of the landmark event of our time.

This book analyzes the ideological roots, structures and operational methods of Jihadi intelligence and counterintelligence activities. Based on a substantive collection of data on terrorist attacks, communication channels, recruitment methods, manuals and statements released by various Jihadi groups, it examines and compares the nature, ideology and realities of Jihadi intelligence operations. The author, an expert on Jihadist ideology and paramilitary intelligence, compares the modus operandi of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the IS with those of governmental intelligence agencies, and subsequently analyzes the role of historical and religious narratives that help Jihadist groups justify their actions and military management. Further topics covered include encryption, counterfeiting, covert operations and Jihadi intelligence activities in the digital realm. The insights shared here will allow readers to gain a comprehensive understanding of Jihadist groups and their intelligence operations, while helping practitioners and policymakers develop better counterterrorism activities and counternarratives.

Terrorists perform terrible acts. They maim, mutilate and kill in pursuit of their goals. The horrifying events of 9/11 and the regular suicide bombings around the world have made terrorism one of the central preoccupations of the twenty-first century. But what is the distinctive wrong of terrorism? Criminal acts such as murder and hijacking are already on the moral statute books, so why is it that we regard terrorists as different from and morally worse than ordinary killers and kidnappers?

Some see terrorism is an ideology, others claim it is a deep-seated social or psychological failing, others that it is a form of fighting unfairly judged by just-war standards. In this provocative new book, Robert Goodin puts forward the view that terrorism is, in fact, a deliberate tactic of frightening people for socio-political gain. Fear affects peoples ability to reason clearly and undermines their capacity for autonomous self-government.

In this way, Goodin contends that terror is not only the weapon of organizations such as al-Qaeda; it also benefits democratic politicians who profit from the climate of insecurity induced by terrorist threats and violence. Political figures conducting a campaign of fear as part of their war on terrorism may therefore be committing wrongs akin to those of terrorists themselves. This, Goodin argues, is what is distinctively wrong with terrorism in the contemporary world.

This book is a telling analysis of the pre-war media debate around the globe, which set the stage for the 2003 Iraq war. Arguably, each country's media represented its opinions for or against the war, giving the viewer insight into the nation's stance on the war and its political reasoning. By concentrating on the pre-war coverage, this group of scholars engages in a more open discussion of the issues that would take place during wartime, and uncovers the implications for each country's position on international concerns.

The global trend of increasing violence against the press has spurred research interest into the questions of where, why, and how communicators are repressed. As a result, scholarship has demonstrating that hybrid regimes - which mix undemocratic and democratic elements - constitute a specifically dangerous and lethal context for these actors.  Decentralized countries, in which some subnational political elites have retained authoritarian features, have been identified as the most perilous context for communicators. However, despite the burgeoning interest in illiberal practices and repression on the subnational level, it is still relatively unexplored how and why subnational political elites repress communicators within their multi-level setting. The author argues that communicators in subnational undemocratic regimes who can spread the scope of compromising information beyond subnational boundaries can cause uncertainties for subnational undemocratic regimes. The book explores how the political elites of these regimes repress these communicators in response.

Given the extremely high cost of overseas military operations today, the author offers readers scholarly insights as to what motivates kingdoms, countries, and groups to engage in religious conflict, beginning with those found in the Hebrew Bible. To do this, he analyzes three related religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, to determine their similarities and differences regarding the killing of people. The areas of conflict analysis include Fundamentalism, Proselytization, Sacrifice (to include martyrdom), and Revenge (to include genocide). The insights of preeminent religious and political scholars are integrated into this comprehensive analysis of conflict involving religion, leading to an answer to the ultimate question: Is the killing worth it?

This edited volume addresses the role of non-state actors (NSAs) in international relations. From their emergence in the early 20th century, entities of non-state status have played a role of increasing prominence in international politics. Scholarly work has been slow to catch up, approaching NSAs mainly through the scope of legitimacy and international law or limiting focus to NGOs, international organizations, and economic corporations. This volume remedies that, creating a typology of NSAs based on systematic and coherent analysis.Presenting a series of cases of NSAs across the continuum of international relations, the chapters firmly ground NSAs in the ontology of international relations theory. Filling a gap in the current literature, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of international relations theory, international politics, international security, diplomatic history, and European and Middle East politics, as well as policy-makers and practitioners.

This book offers a unique and insightful econometric evaluation of the policies used to fight transnational terrorism between 1990 and 2014. It uses the tools of modern economics, game theory and structural econometrics to analyze the roles of foreign aid, educational capital, and military intervention. Jean-Paul Azam and Veronique Thelen analyze panel data over 25 years across 124 countries. They prove that foreign aid plays a key role in inducing recipient governments to protect the donors' political and economic interests within their sphere of influence. Demonstrating that countries endowed with better educational capital export fewer terrorist attacks, they also illustrate that, in contrast, military intervention is counter-productive in abating terrorism. Recognizing the strides taken by the Obama administration to increase the role of foreign aid and reduce the use of military interventions, this book shows the significant impact this has had in reducing the number of transnational terrorist attacks per source country, and suggests further developments in this vein. Practical and timely, this book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of economics and political science, as well as those working on the wider issue of terrorism. Presenting a series of new findings, the book will also appeal to international policy makers and government officials.

Sacred Violence and Religious Violence examines the place that ideology or political religion plays in legitimizing violence to bring about a purer world. In particular, the book examines Islamism and the western secular, liberal democratic responses to it.

Direct and indirect impacts of terrorism pose serious operational and management challenges to Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) especially in Emerging Markets (EM). Emerging markets are popular destinations for MNEs because the developed markets are saturated. Using real scenarios from seasoned managers and security managers of large MNEs, this volume explores the impacts of terrorism on them and offers strategies and solutions that can provide greater security to MNEs operating in areas afflicted with terrorism. This volume would be beneficial for managers, security managers, scholars and students.

This book sheds light on the emergence, roots and gradual change of jihadism and exposes its detrimental impact on human lives. The author collected insightful interviews with ISIS fighters and also with women who joined ISIS. The book analyzes root causes and motivations of people based on the firsthand information and proposes the non-enigma cycles radicalization theory, and argues that two main cycles- grievances and resentment, and the radical ideology are the most significant. The book addresses the current situation with 70,000 women and children, who were family members of ISIS fighters, trapped in the desert following the defeat of the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. The work also analyzes incentives of those who joined ISIS, nature of the jihadist ideology, emergence of a family jihad, roles of women and children within a so-called caliphate, and state policies to deal with captured ISIS fighters and their family members. The author gives detailed information on post-ISIS lives of women and children, who were family members of ISIS fighters who currently held in the desert in Northeast Syria. Detailed and vivid depiction of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in these camps presents the readers a clear understanding of the extent, intensity, and importance of the issue at hand and is what makes this book such a compelling and eye-catching one. The book also gives compelling accounts of state policies toward ISIS fighters that being discussed by international community such as establishing ad hoc tribunal, stripping citizenship, transferring to Iraqi prisons etc. It also gives detailed insights into rehabilitation and reintegration programs in several countries that repatriated their citizens from Syria and Iraq. The author`s research is unique due to her direct access to repatriated foreign fighters in several countries, which brought back their citizens from Iraq and Syria. "We will depart to Jihad if the God calls us," such are the imprints that are left on the minds of young children born and raised in ISIS-controlled territories. The book contains many human stories which makes the book interesting not only to scholars and policy makers but to general audience too.

Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God is the first thorough examination of Hezbollah's covert activities beyond Lebanon's borders, including its financial and logistical support networks and its criminal and terrorist operations worldwide. Hezbollah -- Lebanon's "Party of God" -- is a multifaceted organization: It is a powerful political party in Lebanon, a Shia Islam religious and social movement, Lebanon's largest militia, a close ally of Iran, and a terrorist organization. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including recently declassified government documents, court records, and personal interviews with intelligence and law enforcement officials around the world, Matthew Levitt examines Hezbollah's beginnings, its first violent forays in Lebanon, and then its terrorist activities and criminal enterprises abroad in Europe, the Middle East, South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and finally in North America. Levitt also describes Hezbollah's unit dedicated to supporting Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah's involvement in training and supporting insurgents who fought US troops in post-Saddam Iraq. The book concludes with a look at Hezbollah's integral, ongoing role in Iran's shadow war with Israel and the West, including plots targeting civilians around the world. Levitt shows convincingly that Hezbollah's willingness to use violence at home and abroad, its global reach, and its proxy-patron relationship with the Iranian regime should be of serious concern. Hezbollah is an important book for scholars, policymakers, students, and the general public interested in international security, terrorism, international criminal organizations, and Middle East studies.

This innovative new book aims to put society's fight against terrorism into a comprehensive crime prevention perspective with a clear, understandable theoretical foundation, developing a general model for the prevention of crime which is, in this book, applied to terrorism.Traditionally, both the police and other social and political agencies have tended to think of the prevention of terrorism and responses to terrorism as two separate tracks or activities. The holistic model presented in this book goes beyond this division by integrating criminal justice sanctions, harm reduction and several approaches to crime prevention into one unified model. This model, which identifies nine key preventive mechanisms, provides a powerful tool for thinking systematically about how to reduce terrorism and other crime problems. It will appeal to scholars and students in criminology, terrorism and security studies and also to police officers and other practitioners.

Paying tribute to a noted scholar by digging deep into the issues he explored.Long-time Brookings senior fellow Stephen Philip Cohen was the first American scholar to work in the field of South Asian security studies. He largely defined the field, trained many of is leading analysts, and was himself its most experienced and insightful scholar-practitioner until his death in 2019. This book of essays by several of his students who have made an impact on the field, along contributions from academics who knew Cohen well as well as former students in policy fields, is an intellectual homage to Cohen. It is also an impressive overview of a number of the vital questions facing the nations of that region as well as their neighbors both near and far. Major enduring issues in regional security include India-Pakistan relations, India-China relations, conventional forces-and perhaps the most sensitive issue of all, nuclear weapons. But other important issues remain underexplored, especially outside the region, and are addressed in this book. They include Pakistan's political culture, the politics of the insurgency in Baluchistan, political legitimacy and governance in India and China, and internal security threats facing Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. Governments and societies in the region have grappled with these issues for decades, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. To varying degrees, the issues have important implications for U.S. foreign policy in and beyond South Asia. Anyone interested in the security of South Asia will be rewarded with new insights from academics and analysts who address a wide range of subjects Stephen Philip Cohen covered during his long and distinguished career.

The Distributed Functions of Emergency Management and Homeland Security outlines the roles and responsibilities of various individuals and agencies involved in homeland security and all aspects of emergency management. Each chapter focuses on the practical and applied aspects of a range of public servants in various departments and the organizations that they represent. Rather than presenting a theoretical exploration alone, the book examines the practical knowledge and hands-on skills related to various functions and how their decisions and actions play into the larger framework of safety and security —in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Every professional has a unique and integral part to play in fulfilling their roles and obligations, whether it be in relation to prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response or recovery operations. Personnel that frequently come to mind in such scenarios include emergency managers, geographers and land-use planners, EMTs and paramedics, fire fighters, police officers, public health officials, nurses, public administrators, and public information officers. And while these individuals are integral to homeland security and emergency management, there are other professionals that also perform essential duties that—while they aren’t first-to-mind—are vital to efforts relating to terrorism and disasters; this includes pilots in the aviation sector, the military, attorneys, psychologists, and forensic professionals serving in pathology, DNA, and dentistry roles. Chapters provide a holistic rendering of the homeland security and emergency management landscape to present all these various professional capabilities and contributions. This includes how current functions are coordinated as well as how future efforts might change relative to a more proactive, all-hazards and holistic approach. As such, the book will be a useful resource for students and practitioners to understand the dynamic professions—and various disciplines and fields—that impact disaster and terrorism preparedness and response capabilities.