Books
Below are some of the books published on terrorism, political violence, and/or homeland security over the last few months. This list does not represent the entirety of books published in the field, nor are they necessarily endorsed by SWOTT. Instead, the collection is a representative sample from some of the major publishers in the field. Books are listed by alphabetical order according to the primary author’s last name within each topic. This first list includes the full citation of the book. The second list provides an abstract if one exists.
List compiled by Drew Oldham
General Terrorism Texts
Vincent Burns and Kate Dempsey Peterson, Terrorism:A Documentary and Reference Guide (Praeger, 2005).
Cynthia Combs, Terrorism in the 21st Century, 4/E (Prentice-Hall, 2005).
Walter Enders and Todd Sandler, The Political Economy of Terrorism (Cambridge, 2005).
James Forest, Teaching Terror: Knowledge Transfer in the Terrorist World (Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming 2006).
Russell Howard and Reid Sawyer, Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Readings and Interpretations, 2/E (McGraw Hill, 2005).
Bridgette Nacos, Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding Threats and Responses in the Post-9/11 World (Penguin Academics, 2005).
Homeland Security Texts
Daniel Hamilton, Transatlantic National Security? (Routledge, 2005).
Russell Howard, James Forest, and Joanne Moore, Homeland Security and Terrorism (McGraw Hill, 2005).
James Johnson, Geral Ledlow, and Mark Cwiek, CommunityPreparedness and Response to Terrorism[Three Volumes] (Praeger, 2005).
David Kamien,The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook (McGraw Hill, 2005).
Mark Sauter and James Carafano, Homeland Security: A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing and Surviving Terrorism (McGraw Hill, 2005).
Terrorism Chronologies
Christopher Hewitt, Political Violence and Terrorism in Modern America: A Chronology (Praeger, 2005).
Edward Mickolus and Susan Simmons, Terrorism, 2002-2004 [Three Volumes]A Chronology (Praeger, 2005).
Terrorist Groups
Karen Greenberg, Al Qaeda Now (Cambridge, 2005).
Ethnic Conflict
Raymond Taras and Rajat Ganguly, Understanding Ethnic Conflict: The International Dimension, 3/E. (Longman, 2005).
Joseph Soeters,Ethnic Conflict and Terrorism (Routledge, 2005).
Suicide Terrorism
Mia Bloom, Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror (Columbia, 2005).
Robert Pape, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House, 2005).
WMD Terrorism
Peter Brookes, A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Rogue States (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005).
Betsy Hartmann, Banu Subramniam, and Charles Zerner, eds., Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005).
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CITATIONS WITH ABSTRACTS
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General Terrorism Texts
Vincent Burns and Kate Dempsey Peterson, Terrorism:A Documentary and Reference Guide (Praeger, 2005).
This documentary history examines the roots of global terrorism and its current state. Documents range from the 1950s through 2004, and are drawn from terrorist training guides, recently declassified CIA reports, archival materials, excerpts from the U.S. PATRIOT Act, and suicide bombers' final letters. Much of the material relates to the lead-up to the September 11 attacks and their ongoing aftermath both in the United States and among its enemies. Other material illustrates political and ethnic terrorism, terrorism's role in the Cold War, and, finally, its longstanding significance to the history of violence in the Middle East. Every document is followed by detailed analyses and exhaustive print and online bibliographies and prefaced by annotations indicating the document's source, date issued, where issued, and importance. Besides the documents, the work includes an overview foreword from James K. Kallstrom, Special Advisor to Governor Pataki on Counter-Terrorism and former Assistant Director of the New York Office of the FBI. Other features in this must-have sourcebook on modern terrorism and the al Qaeda threat: 65 photographs, 50+ sidebars, and a comprehensive bibliography that includes video and Internet resources.
Cynthia Combs, Terrorism in the 21st Century, 4/E (Prentice-Hall, 2005).
This book is designed to enable the reader to understand what terrorism is and, based on that understanding, to realistically assess future trends of this phenomenon. The book, written to be “user-friendly” for those not familiar with this unique form of political violence, putting terrorism in historical perspective, offers evaluative tools which can be applied to terrorist acts to assess the critical characteristics of what, who, why and how related to these acts in a non-pejorative fashion, including examples and case studies to facilitate this analysis. It evaluates various national and international responses to terrorism, in terms of their effectiveness and their legal ramifications, and offers predictions about future trends in terrorism based on current patterns, with graphs and statistics from the U.S. Department of State to make visualization of such patterns easier.
Walter Enders and Todd Sandler, The Political Economy of Terrorism (Cambridge, 2005).
Presenting a widely accessible approach to the study of terrorism, this volume combines economic methods with political analysis and realities. It applies economic methodology--theoretical and empirical--with political analysis to the study of domestic and transnational terrorism, to provide a qualitative and quantitative investigation of terrorism in a balanced up-to-date presentation for students, policymakers, researchers, and the general reader. Included are historical aspects of the phenomenon, a discussion of watershed events, the rise of modern-day terrorism, examination of current trends, the dilemma of liberal democracies, evaluation of counterterrorism, and analysis of hostage incidents.
James Forest, Teaching Terror: Knowledge Transfer in the Terrorist World (Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming 2006).
In the world of terrorism, knowledge is a critical asset. Recent studies have revealed that, among international terrorists, there is a global sharing of ideas, tactics, strategies, and lessons learned. Teaching Terror examines this sharing of learning in the terrorist world, informing our understanding of, and response to, the global threat of terrorism. Chapters cover various aspects of individual and organizational learning, some using a general level of analysis, while others present case studies of individual terrorist groups. These groups learn from each other through a variety of means, including training camps and the Internet. Terrorist networks are also learning organizations, drawing on situational awareness, adapting their behavior and, to give one example, improving not just their use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), but also rendering technology such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and satellite phones ineffective. This book provides a wealth of insights on the transfer of knowledge in the world of terrorism, and offers policy implications for counterterrorism professionals, scholars, and policymakers.
Russell Howard and Reid Sawyer, Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Readings and Interpretations, 2/E (McGraw Hill, 2005).
In this new edition of Terrorism And Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Brigadier General (Retired) Russell Howard and Major Reid Sawyer have collected original and previously published seminal articles and essays by political scientists, government officials, and members of the nation’s armed forces. The editors and several of the authors write from practical field experience in the nation’s war on terrorism. Others have had significant responsibility for planning government policy and responses. The contributors include a majority of the significant names in the field including General (Retired) Wayne Downing (former Deputy National Security Advisor), General (Retired) Barry McCaffrey, Martha Crenshaw, Bruce Hoffman, Barry Posen, Jessica Stern. Part One of the book analyzes the philosophical, political, and religious roots of terrorist activities around the world and discusses the national, regional, and global effects of historical and recent acts of terrorism. In addition to material on the threats from suicide bombers, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons, there are also important contributions analyzing new and growing threats: narco-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, genomic terrorism, and agro-terrorism. Part Two deals with past, present, and future national and international responses to--and defenses against--terrorism. Essays and articles in this section analyze and debate the practical, political, ethical, and moral questions raised by military and non-military responses (and pre-emptive actions) outside of the context of declared war. Five detailed Appendices: Chronology of Terrorism Incidents, Groups Designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Terrorist Group Profiles, and Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Bridgette Nacos, Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding Threats and Responses in the Post-9/11 World (Penguin Academics, 2005).
An accessible introductory textbook on terrorism that examines both new and historical trends in terror, includes topics often ignored in other texts, and explores terror in both an international and American context. This new first edition offers an accessible introduction to terrorism that includes coverage of both new terror in the post-Cold War and post-9/11 world as well as historical acts of terror. The author has been selective in her choice of topics, choosing to go into richer detail on fewer issues while nonetheless including coverage of topics that have been ignored by the competition, such as “Terrorist Propaganda and the Media” and “Terror and Hate in Cyberspace.” In addition, the author adds the American context of terror to the standard international context offered by most texts.
Homeland Security Texts
Daniel Hamilton, Transatlantic National Security? (Routledge, 2005).
Creating an effective and integrated national homeland security effort represents a significant challenge. Europe and the United States have reacted differently to the emergence of mass casualty terrorism, but must work together to cope with the diverse issue areas, sectors, professions, and relevant actors involved in such a broad-based concept. This study provides both conceptual and practical guidance at a crucial time when intellectual and practical efforts to protect against the new terrorism should move beyond a purely domestic focus. Europe and the US have a lot to gain by coordinating more closely, and exchange of experience is crucial as we attempt to stay ahead of a learning enemy.
Russell Howard, James Forest, and Joanne Moore, Homeland Security and Terrorism (McGraw Hill, 2005).
The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Series draws on frontline government, military, and business experts to detail what individuals and businesses can and must do to understand and move forward in this challenging new environment. Books in this timely and noteworthy series will cover everything from the balance between freedom and safety to strategies for protection of intellectual, business, and personal property to structures and goals of terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda. Homeland Security and Terrorism is a comprehensive collection of essays and articles addressing the problems and solutions of maintaining openness and freedom in American society, while providing protection against future terrorist incidents. Noted contributors including former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating discuss relevant matters from the changing relationships and responsibilities among government, industry, and private citizens to strategies for minimizing tensions between establishing defensive measures and the financial and societal costs of those matters.
James Johnson, Geral Ledlow, and Mark Cwiek, CommunityPreparedness and Response to Terrorism[Three Volumes] (Praeger, 2005).
What can we do to protect ourselves from a terrorist attack, and how can communities respond most effectively if the unthinkable should happen? The next large-scale terrorist attack on the United States could be carried out using any number of agents and delivery methods, including anthrax, smallpox, the water system, the agriculture industry; threats to bridges, tunnels, trains, airlines, and other transportation systems; suicide bombings in crowded cities, convention centers, and shopping malls; the possibilities are many, but not endless. Local preparation is critical. Until now, scant attention has been paid to the role of communities in preparing for and responding to terrorism. This invaluable set covers chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive scenarios. Throughout, the focus is on community preparedness and response.
David Kamien,The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook (McGraw Hill, 2005).
More than $3 billion is spent annually on homeland security. New threats and vulnerabilities are identified on virtually a daily basis. The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Handbook provides first responders, security professionals, and students with a fundamental and definitive overview of critical homeland security issues. This first all-in-one reference features review and assessment of myriad homeland security risks, along with insights, strategies, and practical advice for working successfully in the new threat environment. A team of more than 70 experts supplies chapters covering terrorist tactics, intra-government coordination of information, behavioral pattern recognition, aviation and maritime passenger and cargo security, new rules for securing cyberspace, roles of media and private individuals, and more.
Mark Sauter and James Carafano, Homeland Security: A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing and Surviving Terrorism (McGraw Hill, 2005).
Homeland Security: A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing and Surviving Terrorism is the authoritative textbook on one of the most important topics facing our nation. From complex policy issues to Common terrorist tactics, Homeland Security provides a practical foundation for professionals, students, and concerned citizens alike. Designed for readers who need to understand both the "big picture" and their own roles in the war against terror, the book provides a clear, comprehensive and fascinating overview of an increasingly complex and misunderstood topic. This indispensable reference, filled with fascinating real-life examples and tips, covers the basics of homeland security such as: national strategies and principles; federal, state and local roles; terrorist history and tactics; cyber-terrorism; business preparedness; critical infrastructure protection; weapons of mass destruction; and key policy issues. Perfect for academic and training classrooms, each chapter includes an overview, learning objectives, source document, discussion topic, summary, and quiz.
Terrorism Chronologies
Christopher Hewitt, Political Violence and Terrorism in Modern America: A Chronology (Praeger, 2005).
American terrorism--terrorism that occurs within the United States and Puerto Rico--has been remarkably diverse in terms of the causes and ideologies of the terrorists. Here, Christopher Hewitt has compiled the details of over 3,100 bombings, shootings, kidnappings, and robberies carried out for political or social objectives between 1954 and the 2005. Arranged chronologically, concise entries offer valuable ready reference information including the date of the incident, the type of incident, the group or person responsible, where the attack occurred, and the details of the act. Thematic indexes, bibliography, and thorough indexing make this an indispensable resource to students and researchers of modern political violence in America.
Edward Mickolus and Susan Simmons, Terrorism, 2002-2004 [Three Volumes]A Chronology (Praeger, 2005).
The most up-to-date, comprehensive and authoritative reference source on global terrorism brings Mickolus's coverage of political violence around the world up to the end of 2004. This two-volume set meticulously chronicles every terrorist act committed during the turbulent post-9/11 period. Information about the terrorists, their victims, attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice, and governmental responses are included. This invaluable source of topical information will prove useful to students, researchers, journalists, policy analysts, defense and intelligence analysts and legislators. Mickolus also provides updates on terrorist acts covered in earlier volumes as new events unfold and new information is revealed. An exhaustive bibliography of the literature on terrorism published over that past fifty years is also included, as are thematic indices that allow users to locate attacks by region and type. The work is fully indexed.
Terrorist Groups
Karen Greenberg, Al Qaeda Now (Cambridge, 2005).
This volume of presentations by a group of authorities on international terrorism and Al Qaeda constitute a valuable synopsis of current knowledge on this terrorist group and the policies in place to counter threats of future attacks. The articles contribute to understanding how Al Qaeda has evolved from a movement to an ideology, what influence it has on Middle East stability and what continued threat it is to the United States, Europe, and other areas of the world. The contributors, from academia, research centers, government agencies and the media, represent a cross section of recognized experts on Al Qaeda and international terrorism.
Ethnic Conflict
Raymond Taras and Rajat Ganguly, Understanding Ethnic Conflict: The International Dimension, 3/E. (Longman, 2005).
The completely updated edition of this groundbreaking text provides students with a clear analytical framework for understanding ethnic conflicts and how they affect international relations. This text surveys theories of nationalism and ethnic conflict and tests their applicability to a number of contemporary cases: the more confident nationalism of Putin's Russia, the intensification of ethnic war in Sri Lanka, and the struggle to change the face of nationalism in the former Yugoslavia, to name just a few. After a look at the sources of nationalist conflict in a country, each case study then asks how the international system reacted. Taken as a whole, the book examines how successful the international system has been in managing the many ethnic conflicts that erupted after the Cold War. This updated edition reflects all recent world events, as well as the latest scholarship in the field.
Joseph Soeters,Ethnic Conflict and Terrorism (Routledge, 2005).
In the early 1990s a number of violent civil wars and large-scale ethnic crises shocked the world. In Rwanda, Bosnia, Chechnya and elsewhere atrocities were committed that led to hundreds of thousands of dead and displaced people. Explaining the origins and dynamics of such inhuman actions and events, this new sensitive and detailed analysis includes: full analysis of the origins of civil wars, terrorism and ethnic strife; insights drawn from across the social sciences; practical and topical illustrations of the information provided; fully updated assessments with details of key contemporary events. Although the number of these conflicts has diminished over the years, the phenomenon has not disappeared: in the Sudan, the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Iraq people are still being killed in large numbers, without authorities being able to avert or end the hostilities. On nine-eleven large-scale terrorist attacks in Washington and New York shocked the world again, and since then other violent events took place in Bali, Casablanca, Riyadh, Moscow, Istanbul and Madrid. This book is of concern to all people, because recent history has shown us that such violence can strike everywhere and at any time. The final chapter delivers a number of constructive considerations aiming at the development of policies to prevent and stop such conflicts. This is an important new contribution to tackling the complex challenges of the twenty first century. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of contemporary history, development studies, political and social sciences and International Relations.
Suicide Terrorism
Mia Bloom, Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror (Columbia, 2005).
What motivates suicide bombers in Iraq and around the world? Can winning the hearts and minds of local populations stop them? Will the phenomenon spread to the United States? These vital questions are at the heart of this important book. Mia Bloom examines the use, strategies, successes, and failures of suicide bombing in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and assesses the effectiveness of government responses. She argues that in many instances the efforts of Israel, Russia, and the United States in Iraq have failed to deter terrorism and suicide bombings. Bloom also considers how terrorist groups learn from one another, how they respond to counterterror tactics, the financing of terrorism, and the role of suicide attacks against the backdrop of larger ethnic and political conflicts. Dying to Kill begins with a review of the long history of terrorism, from ancient times to modernity, from the Japanese Kamikazes during World War II, to the Palestinian, Tamil, Iraqi, and Chechen terrorists of today. Bloom explores how suicide terror is used to achieve the goals of terrorist groups: to instill public fear, attract international news coverage, gain support for their cause, and create solidarity or competition between disparate terrorist organizations. She contends that it is often social and political motivations rather than inherently religious ones that inspire suicide bombers. In her chapter focusing on the increasing number of women suicide bombers and terrorists, Bloom examines Sri Lanka, where 33 percent of bombers have been women; Turkey, where the PKK used women feigning pregnancy as bombers; and the role of the Black Widows in the Chechen struggle against Moscow. The motives of individuals, whether religious or nationalist, are important but the larger question is, what external factors make it possible for suicide terrorism to flourish? Bloom describes these conditions and develops a theory of why terrorist tactics work in some instances and fail in others.
Robert Pape, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism (Random House, 2005).
Suicide terrorism is rising around the world, but there is great confusion as to why. In this paradigm-shifting analysis, University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape has collected groundbreaking evidence to explain the strategic, social, and individual factors responsible for this growing threat. One of the world’s foremost authorities on the subject, Professor Pape has created the first comprehensive database of every suicide terrorist attack in the world from 1980 until today. With striking clarity and precision, Professor Pape uses this unprecedented research to debunk widely held misconceptions about the nature of suicide terrorism and provide a new lens that makes sense of the threat we face.
WMD Terrorism
Peter Brookes, A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Rogue States (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005).
The bad news is that with the end of the Cold War, threats to international peace and security became less predictable and more diverse. The rise of international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles, and the troubling actions of rogue states replaced the US-USSR superpower rivalry as the central organizing theme of the new national security environment. The idea of a "peace dividend," consisting of years of international tranquility and stability, were dashed on September 11, 2001. The threats of the Cold War were supplanted by new national security environment characterized by unpredictable, motivated, capable adversaries posing multiple threats. Peter Brookes, one of the most respected national security experts in the United States, reminds Americans that the world continues to be a very dangerous place, filled with people and groups eager to topple the United States. This devil's triangle-the intersection of terrorism, Chemical/Biological/ Radioactive/Nuclear weapons, and state sponsors-raises the timely question, What should America do about these new security challenges? America is at war and there is no other course but action. The United States can face these threats squarely and emerge victorious if we have the will and resolve to carry it through. Terrorism can be defeated. Proliferation can be curtailed. The behavior of rogue states can be modified. The United States is in an epic struggle in the defense of freedom and our way of life. A failure to identify, understand, and meet these security challenges head on could lead to an incident that would make the unspeakable horrors of 9/11 seem like a minor tragedy. With resolve, determination and a willingness to lead, America will successfully meet these challenges, and freedom will prevail.
Betsy Hartmann, Banu Subramniam, and Charles Zerner, eds., Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005).
Today we live in times of proliferating fears. The daily updates on the ongoing "war on terror" amplify fear and anxiety as if they were necessary and important aspects of our reality. Concerns about the environment increasingly take center-stage, as stories and images abound about deadly viruses, alien species invasions, scarcity of oil, water, food; safety of GMOs, biological weapons, and fears of overpopulation. Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties addresses how such environmental and biological fears are used to manufacture threats to individual, national, and global security. Contributors from environmental studies, political science, international security, biology, sociology and anthropology discuss what they share in common: the view that fears should be critically examined to avoid unnecessary alarm and scapegoating of people and nations as the 'enemy Other'. In these highly original and thought-provoking essays, Making Threats focuses on five themes: security, scarcity, purity, circulation and terror. No other book has systematically examined the proliferation of fear in the context of current world events and from such a multidisciplinary perspective. It consolidates in one place cutting edge research and reflection on how the contemporary landscape of fear shapes and is shaped by environmental and biological discourses. By uncovering the linguistic tools that make fear resonate in the public consciousness, by identifying the interests that create or are sustained by fears, in short by giving fears histories, Making Threats: Biofears and Environmental Anxieties engages with some of the most potent and disturbing political and cultural aspects of the contemporary scene.
Jihad Terrorism
Phares, Walid, Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against America(Palgrave/St Martin, 2005). See http://www.futurejihad.com/.
This book presents a frightening new picture of what we can expect from terrorists in the future. Phares shows that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding about al Qaeda's ultimate goal in the West and what victory means to jihadists. Called by the press, 'the only person who really can read the minds of terrorists', Phares is uniquely qualified to identify the aims and strategies of the organizations waging war on the West. He answers such critical questions as: How long will this war last? Is the United States secure on the inside? Will it have to engage the jihadists worldwide in multiple campaigns and where? Future Jihad points the way for America to win the ideological war at the heart of jihad.
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