'This is a truly magisterial work of scholarship. By pulling all this material together in one place, and by organizing it so accessibly, Pluchinsky has performed an invaluable service for researchers and counter-terrorism practitioners alike … the real selling point is the factual content. Pluchinsky has written the definitive contextual history of US counter-terrorism policy and these volumes, and I confidently expect the two companion volumes still to come, deserve a place in every serious library of terrorism.'Critical Studies on TerrorismVolume I examined the policies and actions in the Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations that contributed to the creation of anti-American grievances which in turn fueled the rise of anti-American terrorism overseas and domestically during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations. Volume II chronicles the high-water mark of anti-American terrorism overseas that occurred during the Reagan administration. The litany of terrorist attacks on US targets overseas during this period is well known and unmatched in American history: 1983 suicide attack on US Embassy Beirut, 1983 suicide attack on US Marine Barracks Beirut, 1983 suicide attack on US Embassy Kuwait, 1984 suicide attack on US Embassy Beirut, 1985 assault on the TWA counter at Rome airport, 1985 hijacking of TWA 847, 1986 mid-air bombing of TWA 840, 1988 mid-air bombing of Pan Am 103, and the 1982-1988 kidnappings of 18 Americans in Lebanon. This wave of anti-American terrorist attacks demanded an appropriate response. The Reagan administration proceeded to construct the most ambitious and costly counter-terrorism program in the pre-9/11 era. Although the terrorist threat was perceived to be in decline during the George H W Bush administration, it still had to deal with the potential terrorist threat emanating from the first Gulf War in 1990-1991, two assassination attempts on the president, and the ramifications of the Pan Am 103 bombing.

"One of the major international security concerns that surfaced in the post-World War II period was the emergence and evolution of international terrorism. The dominant theme in the evolution of this threat has been anti-American terrorism. No other country in the world has had its overseas interests subjected to the level, lethality, diversity, and geographic scope of international terrorist activity than the United States. This four-volume work recounts the development of this threat through 12 US presidential administrations over a 70-year period. It assesses the terrorist threat in the US and overseas and how the government has responded with counter-terrorism policies, strategies, programs, organizations, legislation, international conventions, executive orders, special operations units, and actions. The evolution of the field of terrorism in academia, think tanks, institutes, and the private sector over these 12 administrations is also chronicled"--

'Pluchinsky's first volume focusing on anti-American terrorism is a densely packed and comprehensive look at one of the most complex US national security challenges our nation faces. It reflects the evolving nature of terrorism that has changed with the politics, technology, and media during this tumultuous period in US history. The book is also a thorough accounting of how US policymakers attempt to find solutions to address this dynamic issue. A broad spectrum of terrorism experts, policymakers, and casual reads will undoubtedly find noteworthy facts about terrorist attacks that targeted US interest abroad and at home in this volume. Pluchinsky's level of detail and strong qualitative methodology makes this work an essential desk reference for any serious terrorism scholar.'Studies in Intelligence 'This is a truly magisterial work of scholarship. By pulling all this material together in one place, and by organizing it so accessibly, Pluchinsky has performed an invaluable service for researchers and counter-terrorism practitioners alike … the real selling point is the factual content. Pluchinsky has written the definitive contextual history of US counter-terrorism policy and these volumes, and I confidently expect the two companion volumes still to come, deserve a place in every serious library of terrorism.'Critical Studies on TerrorismOne of the major international security concerns that surfaced in the post-World War II period was the emergence and evolution of international terrorism. The dominant theme in the evolution of this threat has been anti-American terrorism. No other country in the world has had its overseas interests subjected to the level, lethality, diversity, and geographic scope of international terrorist activity than the United States. This four-volume work recounts the development of this threat through 12 US presidential administrations over a 70-year period. It assesses the terrorist threat in the US and overseas and how the government has responded with counter-terrorism policies, strategies, programs, organizations, legislation, international conventions, executive orders, special operations units, and actions. The evolution of the field of terrorism in academia, think tanks, institutes, and the private sector over these 12 administrations is also chronicled.

During the first World War, over a million Armenians were killed as Ottoman Turks embarked on a bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing. Scholars have long described these massacres as genocide, one of Hitler’s prime inspirations for the Holocaust, yet the United States did not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide until 2021. This is the first book to examine how and why the United States refused to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide until the early 2020s. Although the American government expressed sympathy towards the plight of the Armenians in the 1910s and 1920s, historian Julien Zarifian explores how, from the 1960s, a set of geopolitical and institutional factors soon led the United States to adopt a policy of genocide non-recognition which it would cling to for over fifty years, through Republican and Democratic administrations alike. He describes the forces on each side of this issue: activists from the US Armenian diaspora and their allies, challenging Cold War statesmen worried about alienating NATO ally Turkey and dealing with a widespread American reluctance to directly confront the horrors of the past. Drawing from congressional records, rare newspapers, and interviews with lobbyists and decision-makers, he reveals how genocide recognition became such a complex, politically sensitive issue.

Though largely forgotten today, one of the most destructive terrorist groups in the United States was the Galleanists, a fiery band of Italian anarchists active during the early 1900s. In America’s Forgotten Terrorists, Jeffrey D. Simon shows how alienation and frustration among segments of a community were transformed into a militant extremist movement. Luigi Galleani, a gifted writer and speaker, tapped into widespread disappointment among Italian immigrants concerning their lives in America. Unemployment, low wages, long working hours, discrimination, and a poor quality of life made many Italian immigrants receptive to his words. The Galleanists introduced terrorist tactics and strategies that are still used today: they were the first group to send package bombs across the country and to exploit the media for their own advantage. One of their members is also suspected of launching the first vehicle bomb in the United States in 1920, considered the worst act of domestic terrorism until the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The story of the Galleanists is a chilling journey through a volatile period in American history, including labor-management conflicts, World War I, and the Red Scare. An expert in terrorism, Simon offers striking insights into the Galleanist era and some of its eerie connections to modern America, calling us to recognize the risks of repeating our history. How the Galleanists operated and how the U.S. government responded hold lessons for today as we continue to deal with the threat of terrorism.

The book 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.