A comprehensive guide to counterterrorism units around the world, and their recruitment, training, weapons, equipment, tactics, and missions. In the past thirty-five years, counterterrorist units have been deployed to deal with airplane, ship, train, and bus hijackings. They have rescued hostages in various types of buildings and have dealt with barricaded bank robbers, prison rioters, and assorted dangerous criminals. Thousands have been rescued and millions have been safer because terrorists were aware that elite antiterrorist units were poised to act should they take hostages. Following the September 11th attack on the World Trade Centre, the mission of many anti-terrorist units has expanded. Some units now track terrorists to their lairs in other countries and strike them there. Despite the significant and growing role of these units, little is known about the way they operate. The selection, training, structure, and principles of maintaining such units, together with basic theories of asymmetric warfare are the subject of Thompson’s latest work. In a practical, step-by-step guide he analyses the necessary organization of such elite teams, the arming and equipping of units, and methods for a variety of missions from hostage rescue and high-level dignitary protection to securing foreign embassies and counter–WMD strikes. Open the pages of this book and enter the world of the counterterrorist operator. Praise for The Counter Terrorist Manual “A finely illustrated guidebook to antiterrorist units deployed to handle airplane, ship, train and bus hijackings. Units around the world are examined in a survey of these elite antiterrorist units and their operations, a pick for any military library and packed with color photos of equipment and more.” —Midwest Book Review

The only way to deal effectively with terrorism is to have a thorough understanding of its present-day characteristics. Who is involved and what weapons and tactics are they likely to use? The players on the counterterrorism team need to take stock of what is in their tool kits; what works and what doesn't work; and what new capabilities need to be developed in order to face not only today's terrorist, but tomorrow's as well. The Counterterrorism Handbook: Tactics, Procedures, and Techniques lays out a comprehensive strategy of how to deal with an entire range of possible terrorist incidents in a language friendly to first responders, policymakers, and security personnel. It covers everything from bombings and hostage-taking, to nuclear terrorism and what needs to be done before, during, and after an event. The authors each bring to the table unique insights and real-world experiences based on years in the counterterrorism field. Their hands-on knowledge of the topic infuse the book with a down-to-earth practicality often missing from other counterterrorism studies. The Counterterrorism Handbook: Tactics, Procedures, and Techniques is a must-read for anyone who may have to cope with a serious terrorist attack.

Terrorist groups throughout the world have been studied primarily through the use of social science methods. However, major advances in IT during the past decade have led to significant new ways of studying terrorist groups, making forecasts, learning models of their behaviour, and shaping policies about their behaviour. Handbook of Computational Approaches to Counterterrorism provides the first in-depth look at how advanced mathematics and modern computing technology is shaping the study of terrorist groups. This book includes contributions from world experts in the field, and presents extensive information on terrorism data sets, new ways of building such data sets in real-time using text analytics, introduces the mathematics and computational approaches to understand terror group behaviour, analyzes terror networks, forecasts terror group behaviour, and shapes policies against terrorist groups. Auxiliary information will be posted on the book’s website. This book targets defence analysts, counter terror analysts, computer scientists, mathematicians, political scientists, psychologists, and researchers from the wide variety of fields engaged in counter-terrorism research. Advanced-level students in computer science, mathematics and social sciences will also find this book useful.

The expansion and escalation of global terrorism has left populations across the world and decision-makers responsible for contending with it unprepared. This book, now in paperback, is the first attempt of its kind to create a manual of counter-terrorism measures on all the relevant operational levels. The author's main purpose is to give decision-makers the tools to make rational and effective decisions in both preventing and countering terrorism. The need to contend with terrorism can be found in almost every sphere of life: security, prevention and suppression of terrorism, legal and ethical dilemmas regarding democratic issues, such as the individual's human rights, intelligence interrogations, the right of the public to know, as well as coping with social, psychological, and media-related issues.

This guide shows you how best to prepare for the unknown, covering everything from foreign travel to living through biological and chemical weapon attack. Including advice on how to cope in a hijack situation, extortion and product tampering and emergency first aid, this book goes beyond the bland government advice to give you the real answers!

This Citizen’s Guide addresses the public policy issues of terrorism and counterterrorism in the United States after Bin Laden’s death. Written for the thinking citizen and student alike, this succinct and up-to-date book takes a "grand strategy" approach toward terrorism and uses examples and issues drawn from present-day perpetrators and actors. Christopher Harmon, a veteran academic of military theory who has also instructed U.S. and foreign military officers, organizes his book into four sections. He first introduces the problem of America’s continued vulnerability to terrorist attack by reviewing the long line of recent attacks and attempts against the U.S., focusing specifically on New York City. Part II examines the varied ways in which the U.S. is already fighting terrorism, highlighting the labors of diverse experts, government offices, intelligence and military personnel, and foreign allies. The book outlines the various aspects of the U.S. strategy, including intelligence, diplomacy, public diplomacy, economic counterterrorism, and law and law-making. Next, Harmon sketches the prospects for further action, steering clear of simple partisanship and instead listing recommendations with pros and cons and also including factual stories of how individual citizens have made a difference in the national effort against terrorism. This concise book will contribute to our understanding of the problems surrounding terrorism and counterterrorism—and the approaches the United States may take to meet them—in the early 21st century

Almost two decades after the events of 9/11, this Handbook offers a comprehensive insight into the evolution and development of terrorism and insurgency since then. Gathering contributions from a broad range of perspectives, it both identifies new technological developments in terrorism and insurgency, and addresses the distinct state responses to the threat of political, or religiously motivated violence; not only in the Middle East and Europe, but also in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and North and South America.