Explores how young people from communities targeted in the War on Terror engage with the "political," even while they are under constant scrutiny and surveillance Since the attacks of 9/11, the banner of national security has led to intense monitoring of the politics of Muslim and Arab Americans. Young people from these communities have come of age in a time when the question of political engagement is both urgent and fraught. In The 9/11 Generation, Sunaina Marr Maira uses extensive ethnography to understand the meaning of political subjecthood and mobilization for Arab, South Asian, and Afghan American youth. Maira explores how young people from communities targeted in the War on Terror engage with the "political," forging coalitions based on new racial and ethnic categories, even while they are under constant scrutiny and surveillance, and organizing around notions of civil rights and human rights. The 9/11 Generation explores the possibilities and pitfalls of rights-based organizing at a moment when the vocabulary of rights and democracy has been used to justify imperial interventions, such as the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maira further reconsiders political solidarity in cross-racial and interfaith alliances at a time when U.S. nationalism is understood as not just multicultural but also post-racial. Throughout, she weaves stories of post-9/11 youth activism through key debates about neoliberal democracy, the "radicalization" of Muslim youth, gender, and humanitarianism.

The text aims to uncover the roots of the United States' near perpetual involvement in war since the beginning of WWI in 1914. Using alliance politics as the main framework of analysis, it offers a new interpretation that contrasts with the traditional views that war is an interruption of the American foreign policy emphasis on diplomacy. Instead, it posits that war has been the norm during the past century while peaceful interludes were but a time of respite and preparation for the next conflict. After a thorough discussion of the concepts of alliance building and the containment doctrine, the work then addresses such themes as the alliance networks used to confront German and Japanese powers during the early 20th century wars, the role of alliances in containing the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the creation of alliances to restrict and defeat rogue state powers, and whether they were useful when dealing with the challenges posed by terrorism in the post-9/11 world. Each chapter features case studies, a summary, references, and web links. In addition, the book utilizes primary sources, such as U.S. Department of Defense and State documents and presidential statements. An exhaustive study of containment and alliance, this text will be an essential resource for anyone studying U.S. foreign policy, international relations, and national security.

This book discusses the role of women in jihadi organizations. It explores the critical puzzle of why, despite the traditional restrictive views of Islamic jurisprudence on women's social activities, the level of women's incorporation into some jihadi organizations is growing rapidly both in numbers and roles around the world. The author argues that the increasing incorporation of women and their diversity of roles reflect a strategic logic -jihadi groups integrate women to enhance organizational success. To explain the structural metamorphosis of jihadi organizations and to provide insight into the strategic logic of women in jihadi groups, the book develops a new continuum typology, dividing jihadi groups into operation-based and state-building jihadi organizations. The book uses multiple methods, including empirical fieldwork and the conceptual framework of fragile states to explain the expanding role of women within organizations such as ISIS. Addressing a much-overlooked gap in contemporary studies of women's association with militant jihadi organizations, this book will be of interest to scholars in the field of gender and international security, think tanks working on the Middle East security affairs, activists, policy-makers, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking study or research associated with gender and militant non-state actors.

The Kennedy assassination has produced a number of conspiracy theories based largely upon intriguing questions, speculation, and inference. Thousands of books and articles have been written about the assassination with a large majority of the published material arguing for a conspiracy of one kind or another. However, a relatively small volume of literature has been written from a scholarly and academic perspective. The Faces of Lee Harvey Oswald provides the first comprehensive scholarly analysis of Lee Harvey's Oswald's role in the JFK assassination. Scott P. Johnson objectively examines the various narratives of Lee Harvey Oswald created by researchers and authors over the last fifty years. He finds that at first glance any theory related to Oswald's role appears as convincing as the next, particularly when researchers carefully select information that only advances their preferred theory. In reality, however, Oswald's role in the assassination offers little certainty when one looks at the mystery surrounding Oswald's life and death as well as the complexity and ambiguity surrounding the murder of President Kennedy. Rather than putting forth a single theory, Johnson lays out the known facts against each theory and allows the readers to make their own decision.

This rare 10th anniversary edition (published in 2007) contains a new introduction by expert Soviet historian David M. Glantz. In addition all maps and graphics have been enhanced from the 1996 edition. "When the Soviet Union decided to invade Afghanistan, they evaluated their chances for success upon their experiences in East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately for their soldiers, as well as the people of Afghanistan, they ignored not only the experiences of the British in the same region, but also their own experience with the Basmachi resistance fighters in Central Asia from 1918-1933. Consequently, in Afghanistan the Soviet army found its tactics inadequate to meet the challenges posed by the difficult terrain and the highly motivated mujahideen freedom fighters. To capture the lessons their tactical leaders learned in Afghanistan and to explain the change in tactics that followed, the Frunze Military Academy compiled this book for their command and general staff combat arms officers. The lessons are valuable not just for Russian officers, but for the tactical training of platoon, company and battalion leaders of any nation likely to engage in conflicts involving civil war, guerrilla forces and rough terrain. This is a book dealing with the starkest features of the unforgiving landscape of tactical combat: casualties and death, adaptation, and survival." (From the original foreword by Hans Binnendijk, 1996)

Why do states and international relations organizations participate in the "global war on terrorism"? This book asks this question within a broad framework, exploring the mechanisms and causes for participation in global governance and taking counterterrorism as a pertinent case. Challenging the assumption of egalitarian structures of global governance, the author argues that power relations and the use of power (influence, coercion and force) play a more important role than previously suggested. Providing a critical assessment of the counterterrorism policies of EU, US and ASEAN, the book identifies a number of causes of participation in hegemonic governance, including asymmetric interdependence with the US, open and informal pressure in the case of the EU, and the authority and legitimacy of the leading actors.

Terroredia is a newly coined term by the editor, Dr. Mahmoud Eid, to explain the phenomenal, yet under-researched relationship between terrorists and media professionals in which acts of terrorism and media coverage are exchanged, influenced, and fueled by one another. Exchanging Terrorism Oxygen for Media Airwaves: The Age of Terroredia provides a timely and thorough discussion on a wide range of issues surrounding terrorism in relation to both traditional and new media. Comprised of insights and research from leading experts in the fields of terrorism and media studies, this publication presents various topics relating to Terroredia: understanding of terrorism and the role of the media, terrorism manifestations and media representations of terrorism, types of terrorism and media stereotypes of terrorism, terrorism tactics and media strategies, the war on terrorism, the function of terrorism and the employment of the media, new terrorism and new media, contemporary cases of terrorist-media interactions, the rationality behind terrorism and counterterrorism, as well as the responsibility of the media. This publication is of interest to government officials, media professionals, researchers, and upper-level students interested in learning more about the complex relationship between terrorism and the media.

Written by a former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear inspector and nuclear security expert, this book provides a comprehensive and authentic overview of current global nuclear developments. The author provides detailed insights into current and past nuclear crises and reveals the technical capabilities, political strategies and motives of nuclear weapon owners. By analyzing the nuclear programs and strategies of various countries, including the USA, Russia, China, Great Britain and France, this book highlights the existing global nuclear threat and the risks it entails for humanity. It also describes the current blockades and suggests possible ways out. Given its scope, the book will appeal to scholars and policymakers interested in gaining new insights into sensitive or complex nuclear programs in various countries.

What threat does Al Qaeda pose to the United States as it continues to evolve in the wake of the Arab Spring, and what are the group's evolving strategies for growth and survival internationally? This book provides answers. Ideal for both students of terrorism and general readers wanting to better understand modern terrorism, this book provides an in-depth look at Al Qaeda, including its origins, evolution, doctrines, structure, and terrorist operations. The authors examine Al Qaeda's operational transitions over the last two decades, and consider these changes in terms of the impact of the Internet, the viciousness of the violence employed, the leverage of colonial past, and the subsequent international implications. Particular attention is paid to Al Qaeda's changing strategies for growth and survival across the Middle East and Africa as well as the threats that it poses to the United States as it continues to evolve in the wake of the Arab Spring. The work addresses why Al Qaeda-now both a professional force and a network of so-called "lone wolves"-must remain a primary focus of the United States and other Western states while also recognizing that the threat of terrorism goes beyond Al Qaeda. Analyzes the Al Qaeda belief that violence is required to achieve its goals and the common Al Qaeda perception that violence was used effectively by the colonialists and the West, particularly the United States and France Identifies the precursors to Al Qaeda organizations and how al Qaeda became what it is today Examines Al Qaeda's business associations and its ties to piracy and organized crime, identifying the opportunities these ties create; as well as the organization's use of emerging technology-especially the Internet-to reach out to a younger, technology-savvy audience for their message

This book examines the intersecting forces of nationalism, terrorism, and patriotism that normalize an acceptance of the global war on terror as essential to maintaining freedom and democracy as defined by white nation-states. Readers are introduced to speculative ethnography: an experimental methodology that bends time and space through the practice of avant-garde poetics. This study conceptualizes terrorism as a place of colonial encounters between soldiers, insurgents, civilians, and leaders of nation-states. The tactics of suicide bombings employed by the Tamil nationalist movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, are juxtaposed with drone strikes in asymmetric warfare where violence becomes a means of dialogue. Each chapter weaves seemingly disparate narratives from multiple experiences and sites of war, inviting readers to witness the condition of getting lost in that willful attachment to killing and being killed in service of patriotic pride and national belonging.

This book seeks to investigate not only the causes of radicalization but also how radicalization has unfolded since 2009 based on an exhaustive review of the relevant literature and two stints of fieldwork in Bangladesh involving 71 in depth interviews of highly credentialed individuals. This book looks at both local and global factors that have served to provoke young Bangladeshis, many of whom are from relatively well-educated backgrounds, to become religiously belligerent and eventually to turn into terrorists. Ideology, it is argued, plays a pivotal role in the radicalization process, and justifies violence. Most importantly, ideology proffers solutions to the micro and macrocauses of commonly identifiable youth disaffection. This book mainly focuses on the Islamic State and Al Qaeda's exploitation of religious beliefs and their construction of a mobilizing, apocalyptic narrative that strikes a chord with the young, middle-class Muslims. Both organizations target them for recruitment. The book ends by proffering what is called a 'Pyramid Root Cause model,' which attempts to tie all the causative variables of radicalization into a connected explanation of what has been happening in Bangladesh over the last decade. This book is of interest to scholars of political Islam, international politics, and security studies, including terrorism and the politics of South Asia.

Independent scholar Falk analyzes the genesis of Islamic terror from many standpoints, including religious, cultural, historical, political, social, economic and, above all, psychological. Drawing on his training as a clinical psychologist, Falk's writings specialize in psychohistory and political psychology. Here, he examines topics including infantile experience and adult terrorism, the meaning of terror, terrorists and their mothers, narcissistic rage and Islamic terror, and whether terrorists are normal people, as some scholars claim. He also describes the infantile development of terrorist pathology, non-psychoanalytic theories of terrorism, globalization's effect on terrorism, and the notion of the clash of civilizations. Other topics addressed in this reader-friendly analysis include history's first Islamic terrorists and three important cases--two recent, deadly terrorists and a primary figure in our current war on terror.

Independent scholar Falk analyzes the genesis of Islamic terror from many standpoints, including religious, cultural, historical, political, social, economic and, above all, psychological. Drawing on his training as a clinical psychologist, Falk's writings specialize in psychohistory and political psychology. Here, he examines topics including infantile experience and adult terrorism, the meaning of terror, terrorists and their mothers, narcissistic rage and Islamic terror, and whether terrorists are normal people, as some scholars claim. He also describes the infantile development of terrorist pathology, non-psychoanalytic theories of terrorism, globalization's effect on terrorism, and the notion of the clash of civilizations. Examining the emotional structure of traditional Muslim families, Falk shows us the Muslim child's ambivalence toward his or her parents, ways in which Muslims abuse women and children, and the roots of Muslim rage, and why all of that plays into the development of future terrorism. Other topics addressed in this reader-friendly analysis include history's first Islamic terrorists and three important cases--two recent, deadly terrorists and a primary figure in our current war on terror.

The central idea throughout the book is that a person's attitude toward terror and terrorism--as well as whether he or she becomes a murderous terrorist, or even who wages a global war on terror--has much to do with that person's own terrifying experiences in infancy and childhood. Such terror, usually experienced first in the earliest interactions with the mother, is symbolically expressed, as Falk shows, in fairy tales and myths about terrifying witches and female monsters. Further terror may be experienced in the relationship with the father and also in various other traumatic ways. It is these early terrors, when extreme and uncontrollable, that most often produce terrorists and wars on terror, Falk argues. Thus, his book focuses on the conscious, but also on the irrational and unconscious causes of terrorism.

Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the topic of terrorism has been almost continually front-page news in the United Kingdom. The subsequent 'war on terror', including the invasion of Iraq, has only heightened interest in the matter. With the London bombings of 7 July 2005, Britain became a frontline in international terrorism and counter-terrorism. This reality has only been heightened by failed attacks in London on 21 July 2005, and through a series of high profile arrests in Forest Hill, in Birmingham in connection to a beheading plot, the arrests of NHS staff in connection to failed attacks in London and Glasgow, and the attempted arrest of Jean Charles de Menezes, which had tragic consequences. In this illuminating and fascinating look at an often misunderstood world Steve Hewitt offers a balanced, measured, and informed examination of recent events and offers a historical and contemporary context to this new threat, and how we are dealing with it.

In this groundbreaking work, leading scholars and experts set out to explore the utility of the concept of affordance in the study and understanding of terrorism and political violence.
Affordance is a concept used in a variety of fields, from psychology to artificial intelligence, which refers to how the quality of an environment or object allows an individual to perform a specific action. This concept can represent an important element in the process of choice involved in behavior, and is closely related to situational analyses of criminal behavior. In this book, the contributors set out to explore how this concept can be used to study terrorism and, as a result, develop management strategies. Essays discuss such topics as affordance in relation to counterterrorism, technology, cyber-jihad, ideology, and political ecologies.
By importing the concept of affordance and a new set of research to the study of terrorism, the authors offer an innovative and original work that challenges and adds to various aspects of situational crime prevention and counterterrorism.

This groundbreaking work challenges modernist military science and explores how a more open design epistemology is becoming an attractive alternative to a military staff culture rooted in a monistic scientific paradigm. The author offers fresh sociological avenues to become more institutionally reflexive - to offer a variety of design frames of reference, beyond those typified by modern military doctrine. Modernist military knowledge has been institutionalized to the point that blinds militaries to alternative designs organizationally and in their interventions. This book seeks to reconstruct strategy and operations in "designing ways" and develops theories of action through multifaceted contextualizations and recontextualizations of situations, showing that Military Design does not have to rely on set rational-analytic decision-making schemes, but on seeking alternative meanings in- and on-action. The work offers an alternative philosophy of practice that embraces the unpredictability of tasks to be accomplished. Written by Colonel Paparone (U.S. Army, Ret., PhD) with a special chapter by two active duty officers, it will appeal to all in military and security studies, including professionals and policymakers.

Following previous trends of suicide bombings and violence against Western and local hostages, the 2005-2007 period saw a continuing tide of terrorism. Mickolus catalogues these recent insurgencies and technique, including airplane hijackings, letter bombs, food tampering, and major assassinations. An extension of his other other works, including terrorism dating back to 1980, this comprehensive chronology also provides follow-up material to prior incidents and enumerates their effects on current airport security measures around the world. This volume expertly details key players in each event, ranging from the terrorist whose violence created an atmosphere of fear and anxiety, to their unknowing victims. This work is divided into three sections: incidents, updates, and bibliography. In the first two segments, both domestic and international terrorist attacks are examined within security and political contexts to shed light on how the events unfolded. The extensive bibliographic data is also an invaluable resource for scholars, international organizations, and students.

Long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, awakened the United States and the Western world to the heightened level of the terrorist threat, Southeast Asia had been dealing with this threat. The bombing in Bali that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists, was by no means the region's first experience with Islamic extremism, which can be traced back to the 1940s, and the Darul Islam struggle. The most recent group to emerge is Al-Jama'ah Al-Islamiyah (AJAI), the most potent Islamic terrorist organization to date in the region and the group behind the Bali bombing. Prior to 9/11, the terrorist challenge was essentially national in character, with groups attempting either to secede from the central government to form a new state or to force the central government to adopt policies that would support the raison d'etre of these extremist groups. Essentially, this involved the establishment of a political system that was more Islamic in character, either nationally or within a specific territory of a national state. This book analyzes the increasing Talibanization of Southeast Asia, a relatively new phenomenon that involves the adoption of Islamist doctrines, ideologies, and values that are largely militant in character, and that for some groups includes the adoption of violence to achieve their goals. Understanding this process of Talibanization in Southeast Asia, which was once an oasis of moderate Islam in the modern world, is the key to unraveling the mystery of the increased radicalization in the region. The AJAI represents the birth of the first regional terrorist organization in Southeast Asia. It is a transnational terrorist organization along the lines ofal-Qaeda. It aims to establish a regional Islamic state covering most of southern Southeast Asia that would ultimately form a new Islamic epicenter in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, what has made the AJAI a potent force has been its ability to synergize with various existing religious extremist groups in the region and beyond, including al-Qaeda and other like-minded groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This has succeeded in posing one of the most serious security challenges to the region since the end of the Cold War. Jihadists are operating in small and localized cells even though the broad goals remain the same, namely, to spread sharia, establish an Islamic state, and bring down secular regimes. As most governments do not have the credibility or the expertise to diminish the threat posed by Islamist extremism, Wahhabism, and Salafism, Southeast Asia is in danger of being Talibanized in the near future.

One aspect of war is often overlooked: how much do they cost and how are they funded. Funding Extended Conflicts develops a baseline on Federal spending for the two extended conflicts of the Cold War era, Korea and Vietnam, and compares them with the global war on terror, including current outlays for Iraq and Afghanistan. It also provides wartime cases that offer recommendations on how to pay for future wars and focuses on the length of the tails of such spending, which are often omitted in the final analyses and distort funding estimates. Background chapters examine financing and budget issues as well as problems associated with defining the real cost of Korea, Vietnam, and the so-called long war against terrorism and are complemented by an assessment of the open-ended commitment to support homeland defense and conduct ongoing military operations in Southwest Asia. One aspect of war is often overlooked: how much do they cost and how are they funded. Funding Extended Conflicts develops a baseline on Federal spending for the two extended conflicts of the Cold War era, Korea and Vietnam, and compares them with the global war on terror, including current outlays for Iraq and Afghanistan. It also provides wartime cases that offer recommendations on how to pay for future wars and focuses on the length of the tails of such spending, which are often omitted in the final analyses and distort funding estimates. Background chapters examine financing and budget issues as well as problems associated with defining the real cost of Korea, Vietnam, and the so-called long war against terrorism and are complemented by an assessment of the open-ended commitment to support homeland defense and conduct ongoing military operations in Southwest Asia.

In volume, an emerging generation of African scholars examines specific states in Africa where instability is the order of the day. Considerations of African instability are highly relevant in today's world, where one examines the types of regimes that were put in place after the Cold War and their effects on Africa. Multiparty systems introduced in Africa, rather than bringing about inclusive governance, allowed for the emergence of religious strife, ethnic conflict, and cronyism inscribed in the continent's "politicalscapes." The economics of exclusivity fueled by globalization have decisively contributed to the emergence of non-state actors claiming sovereignty in sovereign states. From Libya's implosion to the low-key war in Mozambique to the crisis of climate change, there are many variables that make stability a mirage on the continent. Widespread terrorism implies that for the foreseeable future, the continent may be a theater of crises. Regime change, as seen in Libya, Ivory Coast, and Liberia, not only increases instability in the states concerned, but has and will have spill over effects in adjacent states. Boko Haram's activities in Nigeria, which ought to be an internal matter of the Abuja government, for instance, are having negative effects in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon. The effect on food production, disputed access to farmland, and daily challenges faced by food producers are instances of underdevelopment perpetuated by climate change and other challenges considered in this timely book.

This text explores the nature and possibility of revolution and civil strife in the context of international politics. "Terrorism, Civil War, and Revolution" analyzes the role of revolution and civil strife in the present day world. Expanding on the 2nd edition of Calvert's "Revolution and International Politics", this new work reflects the drastic changes that have taken place in the world order since 2001. With an increased focus on terrorism and civil war, the book looks into such key issues as the use of force by the state in the international system, challenges to states, wars of national liberation, counterinsurgency, and more. Written in a clear and accessible manner by a respected expert in the field, the book features the most recent examples of events, such as the insurgency in Sri Lanka, the rise of Al-Qaeda, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This approach will help situate revolutions in the larger context of political violence and will appeal to anyone interested in comparative politics, international relations, and revolutions.