This book explores the rise and impact of violent non-state actors in contemporary Africa and the implications for the sovereignty and security of African states. Each chapter tackles a unique angle on violent organizations on the continent with the view of highlighting the conditions that lead to the rise and radicalization of these groups. The chapters further examine the ways in which governments have responded to the challenge and the national, regional and international strategies that they have adopted as a result. Chapter contributors to this volume examine the emergence of Islamist terrorists in Nigeria, Mali and Libya; rebels in DR Congo, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Rwanda; and warlords and pirates in Somalia, Uganda and Sierra Leone.

This is a collection of interdisciplinary essays that examines the historical, political, and social significance of 9/11. This collection considers 9/11 as an event situated within the much larger historical context of late late-capitalism, a paradoxical time in which American and capitalist hegemony exist as pervasive and yet under precarious circumstances. Contributors to this collection examine the ways in which 9/11 changed both everything and, at the same time, nothing at all. They likewise examine the implications of 9/11 through a variety of different media and art forms including literature, film, television, and street art.

Islamic State's Online Activity and Responses provides a unique examination of Islamic State's online activity at the peak of its "golden age" between 2014 and 2017 and evaluates some of the principal responses to this phenomenon. Featuring contributions from experts across a range of disciplines, the volume examines a variety of aspects of IS's online activity, including their strategic objectives, the content and nature of their magazines and videos, and their online targeting of females and depiction of children. It also details and analyses responses to IS's online activity - from content moderation and account suspensions to informal counter-messaging and disrupting terrorist financing - and explores the possible impact of technological developments, such as decentralised and peer-to-peer networks, going forward. Platforms discussed include dedicated jihadi forums, major social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and newer services, including Twister. Islamic State's Online Activity and Responses is essential reading for researchers, students, policymakers, and all those interested in the contemporary challenges posed by online terrorist propaganda and radicalisation. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Studies in Conflict & Terrorism.

This book investigates the strategic use of America's historical crime control, counterterrorism, national security and immigration policies as a mechanism in the modern-day Trump administration to restrict migration and refugee settlement with a view of promoting national security and preservation. National Security and Policy in America critically explores how American culture, neocolonial aspirations, and indifference towards others negatively impact long-term global security. This book examines immigration and security policies and their origins, purpose, impact, and evolution vis-a-vis the recently imposed 'travel ban' and proposed border wall across the Southern border, as well as how foreign policy influenced many of the migration flows that are often labeled as security risks. The book also seeks to understand why immigration has been falsely associated with crime, terrorism, and national insecurity, giving rise to counterproductive policies, despite evidence that immigrants face intolerance and turmoil due to the powerful distinctions between them and the native-born. This book uses an interdisciplinary framework in examining the U.S.' current response to immigration and security and will thus appeal to undergraduate and graduate students of law, social justice, criminology, critical theory, neo-colonialism, security studies, policing, migration, and political science, as well as those interested in the practical questions of public administration.

The concept of risk in global life has not been fully understood and explored and this book attempts to examine what it entails in the fast changing, interconnected and complex world. As a foundational component of safety systems, risk has been considered relatively simple, predictable, and therefore, assessable and manageable phenomenon. Social and political sciences prefer the terminology of security to capture the dimension of risk which is more complex and more consequential to survival. Risk has become more human-made and intentional today, and this book explores innovative approaches and engages in theoretical and policy debates to capture its political and security dimensions.

With intensified threats to global security from international terrorism worldwide, education systems themselves face these same unprecedented security threats. Schools and universities have become marked loci of interest for the monitoring of extremism and counter-terrorism by security and intelligence agencies. The relationship between education systems and national security is nothing new though - it extends in surprising and unexpected ways into territory which is by turns open and covert, even secret. Acknowledging the genuine political and security concerns which have drawn educational systems ever closer to the intelligence community, this book shows how and why this has happened, and explains why the relationship between education and the security and intelligence communities extends beyond contemporary concerns with counter-terrorism. As the title of this book demonstrates, this is as much an intellectual challenge as a security struggle. Education, Security and Intelligence Studies thus critically engages with multi-disciplinary perspectives on a complex and contentious interface: between systems of often secret and covert national security and intelligence and open systems of national education. Delving into difficult to access and often closely guarded aspects of public life, the book provides the pathfinding groundwork and theoretical modelling for research into a complex of little explored institutional and epistemological interconnectedness between universities and the security and intelligence agencies. This book was originally published as a special issue of the British Journal of Educational Studies.

This book analyses the US drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan to assess whether the 'pre-emptive' use of combat drones to kill terrorists is ever legally justified. Exploring the doctrinal discourse of pre-emption vis-a-vis the US drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan, the book shows that the debate surrounding this discourse encapsulates crucial tensions between the permission and limits of the right of self-defence. Drawing from the long history of God-given and man-made laws of war, this book employs positivism as a legal frame to explore and explain the doctrine of pre-emption and analyses the doctrine of the state's rights to self-defence as it stretches into pre-emptive or preventive use of force. The book investigates why the US chose the recourse to pre-emption through the use of combat drones in the 'war on terror' and whether there is a potential future for the pre-emption of terrorism through combat drones. The author argues that the policy to 'kill first' is easy to adopt; however, any disregard for the web of legal requirements surrounding the policy has the potential to undercut the legal claims of an armed act. The book enables the framing and analysis of such controversies in legal terms as opposed to a choice between law and policy. An examination of the legal dilemma concerning drone warfare, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of international relations, Asian politics, South Asian studies, and security studies, in particular, global security law, new wars, and emerging technologies of warfare.

Online Terrorist Propaganda, Recruitment, and Radicalization is most complete treatment of the rapidly growing phenomenon of how terrorists' online presence is utilized for terrorism funding, communication, and recruitment purposes. The book offers an in-depth coverage of the history and development of online "footprints" to target new converts, broaden their messaging, and increase their influence. Chapters present the emergence of various groups; the advancement of terrorist groups' online presences; their utilization of video, chat room, and social media; and the current capability for propaganda, training, and recruitment. With contributions from leading experts in the field-including practitioners and terrorism researchers-the coverage moves from general factors to specific groups practices as relate to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and numerous other groups. Chapters also examine the lone wolf phenomenon as a part of the disturbing trend of self-radicalization. A functional, real-world approach is used regarding the classification of the means and methods by which an online presence is often utilized to promote and support acts of terrorism. Online Terrorist Propaganda, Recruitment, and Radicalization examines practical solutions in identifying the threat posed by terrorist propaganda and U.S. government efforts to counter it, with a particular focus on ISIS, the Dark Web, national and international measures to identify, thwart, and prosecute terrorist activities online. As such, it will be an invaluable resources for intelligence professionals, terrorism and counterterrorism professionals, those researching terrorism funding, and policy makers looking to restrict the spread of terrorism propaganda online.

"Writing with years of experience in government, Ambassador Edward Marks and Michael Kraft have produced a splendid history of America's long campaign against terrorism. The book analyzes the recent changes in technology and tactics that have profoundly altered today's terrorist challenge...to understand where we are and how we got there, start here."-Brian Michael Jenkins, The Rand Corporation "...This book provides important perspective on where the United States has been in this fight and how that fight must evolve in the new administration. It is must reading for the Trump Administration and anyone else seriously concerned about the next steps in this long struggle." -Brig. Gen. Francis X Taylor, USAF (Rtd.), Former U.S. Coordinator for Counterterrorism and DHS Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis "...an indispensable guide to U.S. counterterrorism efforts and policies spanning five decades and nine presidencies ... (The book) fills a significant gap in the literature by providing an invaluable historical context to this unending struggle." -Professor Bruce Hoffman, Director, Security Studies, Georgetown University "A clear and comprehensive survey of American policy toward terrorism over the past half century ... it provides essential background for analysis of future policy." -Martha Crenshaw, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University U.S. Counterterrorism: From Nixon to Trump - Key Challenges, Issues, and Responses examines the "war on modern terrorism," from the Nixon administration to the early stages of the Trump administration. The book describes the evolution of U.S. counterterrorism responses to the changing terrorist threats, from primarily secular groups, to those with broad-reaching fundamentalist religious goals such as ISIS. The authors highlight the accelerating rate of changes in the terrorism situation from modern technology; the internet, "lone wolf" terrorists, cyber threats, and armed drones. The book describes the Bush Administration's dealing with terrorism as an existential threat and a Global War on Terrorism following 9/11. It then discusses how the Obama administration both continued and modified previous policies. The book provides an extensive list of key documents for those interested in the original texts and a discussion of legal issues. U.S. Counterterrorism provides insights and a useful backdrop for future decisions by the new administration and Congress.

Extremist Propaganda in Social Media: A Threat to Homeland Security presents both an analysis of the impact of propaganda in social media and the rise of extremism in mass society from technological and social perspectives. The book identifies the current phenomenon, what shall be dubbed for purposes of this book "Blisstopian Societies"-characterized in the abiding "ignorance is bliss" principle-whereby a population is complacent and has unquestioning acceptance of a social doctrine without challenge and introspection. In these subcultures, the malleable population self-select social media content, "news," and propaganda delivery mechanisms. By doing so, they expose themselves only to content that motivates, reinforces, and contributes to their isolation, alienation, and self-regulation of the social groups and individuals. In doing this, objective news is dismissed, fake-or news otherwise intended to misinform-reinforces their stereotyped beliefs about society and the world around them. This phenomenon is, unfortunately, not "fake news," but a real threat to which counterterror, intelligence, Homeland Security, law enforcement, the military, and global organizations must be hyper-vigilant of, now and into the foreseeable future. Chapters cite numerous examples from the 2016 political election, the Russia investigation into the Trump Campaign, ISIS, domestic US terrorists, among many other examples of extremist and radicalizing rhetoric. The book illustrates throughout that this contrived and manufactured bliss has fueled the rise and perpetuation of hate crimes, radicalism, and violence in such groups as ISIS, Boko Haram, Neo-Nazis, white separatists, and white supremacists in the United States-in addition to perpetuating ethnic cleansing actions around the world. This dynamic has led to increased political polarization in the United States and abroad, while furthering an unwillingness and inability to both compromise or see others' perspectives-further fomenting insular populations increasing willing to harm others and do violence. Extremist Propaganda in Social Media relates current Blisstopian practices to real-world hate speech and violence, connecting how such information is consumed by groups and translated into violent action. The book is an invaluable resources for those professionals that require an awareness of social media radicalization including: social media strategists, law enforcement, Homeland Security professionals, military planners and operatives-anyone tasked with countering combat such violent factions and fringes in conflict situations.

This interdisciplinary book explores the Northern Ireland conflict through a human rights framework. The book examines the conflict from the creation of the Northern Ireland state in 1921 to 2014. This timeframe allows an analysis of how human rights impacted upon the conflict in its broadest understanding (i.e. the pre-violent conflict, the violent conflict and the post-violent conflict phases). Furthermore, it allows for a better understanding of how the various stages of the conflict impacted upon how human rights are understood in Northern Ireland today. The study's main findings are that: (i) human rights had a significant impact on the development of the conflict; (ii) human rights violations were both underlying causes and direct causes of the descent into violence; (iii) the conflict coloured the view of human rights held by the main political actors; and (iv) human rights continue to be partially understood through the prism of the conflict. More generally, this interdisciplinary work explores the relationship between law, politics and conflict. This book will be of much interest to students of human rights, conflict resolution, British politics, law and security studies.

This book provides a rich analysis of the actors and organizations to reflect on the antecedents and trajectories of terrorism and insurgency in South Asia, and the different countermeasures adopted by the countries to deal with the security and developmental challenges. South Asia is a complex geography that has been both a victim and a playing field for indigenous insurgencies, and domestic and transnational terrorist movements. The contributors to this volume explore how this situation has posed serious challenges to the sovereignty of the states, to national and human security, and to the socioeconomic fabric of the communities, and to the ethnic and religious cohesion. The book provides detailed studies of country cases on terrorism, security, and insurgencies, and it underlines the national, regional, and global implications of the threats that emanate from this region. Presenting an opportunity to diversify away from a Western-centric focus on terrorism and security, this book will be valuable to researchers in political science, criminology, defense and security studies, and to policy makers and think tanks.

This handbook comprises essays by leading scholars and practitioners on the topic of U.S. counterterrorism and irregular warfare campaigns and operations around the globe. Terrorist groups have evolved substantially since 9/11, with the Islamic State often described as a pseudo-state, a terrorist group, and insurgency all at the same time. While researchers', analysts', and policymakers' understanding of terrorism has grown immensely over the past two decades, similar advancements in the understanding of counterterrorism lag. As such, this handbook explains why it is necessary to take a broader view of counterterrorism which can, and often does, include irregular warfare. The volume is divided into three thematic sections: Part I examines modern terrorism in the Islamic world and gives an overview of the major terrorist groups from the past three decades; Part II provides a wide variety of case studies of counterterrorism and irregular warfare operations, spanning from the 1980s to the irregular warfare campaign against the Islamic State in northern Syria in 2018; Part III examines the government instruments used to combat terrorism and wage irregular warfare, such as drones, Theater Special Operations Commands, and Theater Commands. The handbook fills a gap in the traditional counterterrorism literature by its inclusion of irregular warfare and by providing analyses from academic experts as well as practitioners. It will be of much interest to students of counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, U.S. national security, military affairs, and International Relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-US-Counterterrorism-and-Irregular-Warfare-Operations/Sheehan-Marquardt-Collins/p/book/9780367758363, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

With recent changes in social and political landscapes around the world the focus of preventive counter-terrorism has shifted in many places from government to civil society. The contributors analyze the different approaches of Civil Society Organizations in preventing and countering violent extremism in various countries in South and Southeast Asia. The cases examined include, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The key emphasis is on understanding the context within which each example was initiated, and the factors that determined their relative success or failure. The evidence from these cases suggests that much can be achieved through empowering communities to engage in aiding both the indoctrinated and those who pose the greatest risk of radicalization. A valuable contribution to the literature on preventing and countering violent extremism.

This book analyses the process of the recruitment of foreign fighters from the Western Balkans, specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, to Syria and Iraq from 2012 to 2015. Utilizing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with foreign fighters and their families, as well as a number of relevant stakeholders it answers the question of what were the processes and circumstances leading up to the departure of foreign fighters from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and what informed their agency? The author draws on the theories of social movement approaches, more specifically, contentious politics literature and utilizes the specific concepts of triggering mechanisms, which refer to the enabling circumstances that make the radicalization and departure possible, and pleasure in agency, to elaborate on individual motivation. The book also shows how a wider state- fragility within the context of the post-Yugoslav wars and the transitional period that never ended, aided radicalization and how an incomplete process of post-war transition can fuel the process of political and religious radicalization creating a wider enabling web for recruitment. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Southeast European politics and foreign policy, post-war democratic transition, security policy and radicalization more broadly.

* Includes interdisciplinary contributions and brings together research on a range of extreme behaviors in one volume, by making theoretical links between different contexts * Explores the brain, hormones, and behaviour to offer insights into the mechanisms and processes that enable extremism to explain their occurrence and the conditions under which they may be likely to emerge * Ideal reading for high-level students taking courses on extremism, academics, and professionals dealing with extreme behavior

This book examines the evolution of counter-terrorism (CT) policies in liberal democracies since 2001, with a specific focus on the case of Belgium. What is counter-terrorism (CT)? While the answer to this question may seem self-evident, it has become quite complicated to define the contours of a field that has expanded dramatically in the two decades since the 9/11 attacks. The development of "softer" policies, dealing with the prevention of radicalisation, has blurred the limits of CT. Through the use of public policy theory and an in-depth case study on Belgium, the book identifies the key factors influencing CT policy-making, both domestically and internationally, and offers an explanation for the development of a more comprehensive CT agenda across Europe. It provides an innovative theoretical approach and is also based on extensive interviews with key counter-terrorism officials and analysis of key policy documents. The book concludes by identifying some key drivers of change and offers an embryonic theory of CT policy-making. The book will be of much interest to students and practitioners of counter-terrorism, radicalisation, European politics and security studies.

This book argues that catastrophe is a particular way of governing future events - such as terrorism, climate change or pandemics - which we cannot predict but which may strike suddenly, without warning, and cause irreversible damage. At a time where catastrophe increasingly functions as a signifier of our future, imaginaries of pending doom have fostered new modes of anticipatory knowledge and redeployed existing ones. Although it shares many similarities with crises, disasters, risks and other disruptive incidents, this book claims that catastrophes also bring out the very limits of knowledge and management. The politics of catastrophe is turned towards an unknown future, which must be imagined and inhabited in order to be made palpable, knowable and actionable. Politics of Catastrophe critically assesses the effects of these new practices of knowing and governing catastrophes to come and challenges the reader to think about the possibility of an alternative politics of catastrophe. This book will be of interest to students of critical security studies, risk theory, political theory and International Relations in general.

After the rise of the Islamic State in the Middle East and the new geopolitical landscape in this region, it is essential for the modern reader to understand the history that has allowed for and influenced these types of Islamic groups to form. Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism acts as a didactic resource that explains, from the Islamic perspective, the historical importance of the Islamic fundamentalist world. This dictionary provides a comprehensive and thorough analysis of various groups, events, movements, key figures, and dogmas that have influenced contemporary Islamic fundamentalism. A chronology spanning 600 years, graphs of complex Islamic group associations and alliances, and an Arabic-to-English glossary have all been included to facilitate a complete understanding of the nuances and generalities that have shaped this movement. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism also contains an introduction, appendixes, an extensive bibliography, and more than 700 cross-referenced entries on ideologies, people, events, and movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Building on the emerging field of biopolitics of security, this research monograph demonstrates that political speech can be crafted to manipulate segments of the voting population who are inherently predisposed to being receptive to certain language. The authors, who come from both political science and behavioral neuroscience, examine how the human brain reacts to expressions of political ideology regarding terrorism. They apply these reactions to specific forms of political communication, many of which are designed to elicit a desired response in creating support for a policymaker's agenda. By comparing and contrasting a variety of case studies, they demonstrate how similar acts accompanied by starkly different political language can create cognitive dissonance in the minds of the electorate and influence policy choices. Each chapter analyzes the content of a speech, its assimilation by different political groups, and two case studies. For example, the case of Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile and former CIA agent responsible for the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976 is examined alongside that of Mohamed El Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the bombing of Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 This unique study uses new research in neuropsychology to demonstrate how the American public's response to various policies on terrorism is manipulated, highlighting the impact of ideological speech regarding terrorism-the "language of terror."

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, American citizens within the United States constantly worry about security against future terrorist attacks. But author Gordon Greer delves further into this subject by trying to understand why the general public is so intent on the ramifications of security measures, such as the Patriot Act. The history of warfare might provide an answer. Greer examines domestic security throughout the history of the United States. During a period of war or the aftermath of war, the American government has generally found it necessary to install security measures that may limit a citizen's basic rights or freedoms. Greer discusses these security issues from the earliest history of the United States, beginning with the early American settlers and the Revolutionary War through World War II and the Cold War. Greer points out that ordinary American citizens may chafe under the constraints such wars produce simply because the United States has arguably never been a totalitarian government. "What Price Security?" is a thought-provoking look at a subject that affects us all, offering insight into how America can protect itself against future attacks.

The book addresses security threats and challenges to the European Union emanating from its eastern neighbourhood. The volume includes the expertise of policy and scholarly contributors coming from North America, Russia and Central Asia, and from across the EU. Themes and issues include the EU's capacities and actorness, support from the United States, challenges from Russia, and a range of case studies including Ukraine, other post-Soviet conflicts, the Kurdish question, Central Asia, and terrorism and counter-terrorism. Authors identify current threats and place these challenges into necessary historical context. They offer long-term recommendations for actionable goals to achieve greater stability in this complex and volatile region. This work is explanatory and long-lasting, and will engage readers in the limits and possibilities of the EU in a challenging era and in its most vital and demanding geographic arena.

Radical Conflict addresses conflict at interpersonal and communal, legal and rhetorical, ethnopolitical, global, and geopolitical levels. The conflicts analyzed are "radical" because in each some intense and often prolonged violence takes place. The chapters address different kinds of violence(s)-physical and gratuitous, structural and socio-economic, legal and symbolic, all with significant ill effects and injustices that spiral in all directions. All share an interest in exploring imaginatively and speculatively what can be done to attenuate such cycles of violence. The volume analyzes how recurrent narratives, mythologies, media(ted) constructions and other discourse(s) of liberal democratic and authoritarian states play a significant role in exacerbating or thwarting violence, exposing, escalating, legitimizing, rationalizing, propagating, but also possibly mitigating violence in all of its forms. Each contributor provides a critical interpretation of the status of the conflict under inquiry, including: a teacher verbally abusing and ridiculing a student then exposing it in social media; a community torn apart by environmental disaster; the incommensurate but not incommensurable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians; the Muslim Brotherhood and the militarized state(s) of Egypt and Libya; urban discourses in cyberspace among Moroccan and Maghreb youth that have become counter-signifying publics against oppression of the state; the role of media and violence in Zimbabwe's political struggle; the impact of the Circassian diaspora in global politics especially in the United States; India's soft power approach to the Kashmir conflict as a way to capitalize on it through tourism; the agonistic discourses that pervade the conflict over the Sahara and deprive Sahrawi people of rights; and how the liberal state is implicated in the gratuitous violence of ISIL. The volume also offers a section on the rhetoric of exclusionary laws associated with intractable conflicts of the abortion conflict, the right to die controversy, and a Burkean perspective on violence in Bangladesh. Contributors suggest what can be done conceptually and politically to mitigate and end violations of those who are most vulnerable, banished, forgotten, damaged, and often silenced.

In the wake of the publication of the Chilcot report, this book reinterprets the relationship between British public opinion and the Blair government's decision-making in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It highlights how the government won the parliamentary vote and got its war, but never won the argument that it was the right thing to do. Understanding how, why and with what consequences Britain wound up in this position means understanding better both this specific case and the wider issue of how democratic publics influence foreign policy processes. Taking an innovative constructivist approach to understanding how public actors potentially influence foreign policy, Strong frames the debate about Iraq as a contest over legitimacy among active public actors, breaking it down into four constituent elements covering the necessity, legality and morality of war, and the government's authority. The book presents a detailed empirical account of the British public debate before the invasion of Iraq based on the rigorous interrogation of thousands of primary sources, employing both quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods to interpret the shape of debate between January 2002 and March 2003. Also contributing to the wider foreign policy analysis literature, the book investigates the domestic politics of foreign policy decision-making, and particularly the influence public opinion exerts; considers the domestic structural determinants of foreign policy decision-making; and studies the ethics of foreign policy decision-making, and the legitimate use of force. It will be of great use to students and scholars of foreign policy analysis, as well as those interested in legitimacy in international conflict, British foreign policy, the Iraq War and the role of public opinion in conflict situations.

The War on Terror has established a new global order of political structures, legislation, and technologies designed to spy on the world's Muslims. This book explains the origins and trajectories of this political system. The contributors argue that a constellation of Western ideas about Muslims have evolved over time to produce an insatiable desire for all-pervasive, ever-expanding surveillance in our contemporary moment. The book posits that the surveillance order is not, however, only the result of conceptions of Muslims. It is, rather, the outcome of centuries of European thought regarding religion, governance, and revolution. Islamophobia and Surveillance traverses the existential desire for wakeful vigilance, the religious wars of early modern Europe, colonial India, the Balkan frontier of the EU, and the walls of the United States-Mexico border. The consequences of the new surveillance order transcend the West's Muslim Question and threaten the very existence of the liberal democratic state. This book will, therefore, be of interest to those studying a range of subjects related to international co-operation, modern political systems, and security studies, as well as Islamophobia. Islamophobia and Surveillance was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.