A comparative study of the policies, strategies, and instruments employed by various democratic governments in the fight against terrorism.

Examines global terrorist networks and discusses the long-term future of terrorism.

Terrorist violence is no novelty in human history and, while government reactions to it have varied over time, some lessons can be learnt from the past. Indeed, the debate on when and how a state should use emergency powers that limit individual freedoms is nearly as old as the history of political thought. After reviewing some history of state responses to terrorist violence and their efficacy, this book sets out to assess the effects of contemporary counterterrorism law and policies on democratic states. In particular, it considers the interaction between national and international law in shaping and implementing anti-terror measures, and the difficult role of the judiciary in striking a balance between security concerns and fundamental rights. It also examines the strains this has caused on some democracies, especially a blurring in the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, giving reason to enquire afresh whether new paradigms are needed. Finally, the issue of whether the doctrine of constitutionalism can provide an appropriate frame of analysis to encapsulate current developments in international law in response to terrorism is broached. By drawing on the expertise of historians, political scientists and lawyers, this book promotes transdisciplinary dialogue, recognising that counterterrorism is an issue at the intersection of law and politics that has profound implications for democratic institutions and practices.

A chilling, up-to-the-minute look at the links between political instability and terrorism in Asia and Africa

In this book, the author offers an approach to understanding and fighting the increase in domestic and international terrorism throughout the world. Citing diverse examples from around the globe, he demonstrates that domestic terrorist groups are usually no match for an advanced technological society which can successfully roll back terror without any significant curtailment of civil liberties. But he sees an even more potent threat from the new international terrorism which is increasingly the product of Islamic militants, who draw their inspiration and directives from Iran and its growing cadre of satellite states. The spread of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, coupled with the possibility that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, poses a more frightening threat from an adversary less rational and therefore less controllable than was Soviet Communism. How democracies can defend themselves against this new threat concludes this book.

Democratic Responses to Terrorism tackles how to protect democratic societies against terrorist violence while, at the same time, making sure that the steps democracies take to protect themselves do no fundamental harm to the rule of law and the rights of citizens. With a foreword by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, the essays here assess such elements as the role of the legal framework, human rights, democracy and civil society, as well as international cooperation. The series explores one of the most pressing issues of our time: how to reconcile the need to fight terrorism with our desire to protect and enhance democratic values. The volumes are an outgrowth of a summit conference organized by the Club de Madrid, an independent organization comprised of many former heads of state, dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world.

This book examines the relationship between terrorism and counterterrorism and how it operates within the broader context of communication, control, power, and democratic governance at the national, international, and transnational level. A culmination of decades of research on the challenges that liberal democracies face in dealing with terrorism, this work provides an innovative framework that maps out the broader context in which terrorism and counterterrorism interact and co-evolve – the terrorism–counterterrorism nexus. In a series of models moving from local to global perspectives, the framework places this nexus within the broader context of social, cultural, political, and economic life. This framework provides a tool for maintaining situational awareness in a multi-tiered, networked world where geography and history are splintering into a rainbow of perspectives and locales, revealing the contested nature of space and time themselves. This book will be of much interest to students of political violence, terrorism studies, communication studies, and international relations, as well as security professionals.