NCJ Number
109023
Editor(s)
M Slann,
B Schechterman
Date Published
1987
Length
138 pages
Annotation
The text presents an overview of domestic and international terrorism and related issues.
Abstract
Part 1 discusses definitional issues and identifies elements most frequently found in attempts to define terrorism. Terrorist movements are analyzed in terms of the economic theory of collective goods. The distinction between politically motivated and irrational terrorism and its implications are discussed. In Part 2, dimensions of terrorism are considered, including (1) areas of military education in security studies with implications for counterterrorist strategies, (2) the state as terrorist, and (3) the rhetorical function of terrorist violence. Part 3 provides case studies of terrorism in Turkey, Iran, Italy, and Northern Ireland that highlight the role of such factors as culture, group dynamics, motivation, alienation, and terrorist characteristics in terrorist activities. Finally, the varying implications of international and domestic terrorist threats for civil rights and liberties in democratic societies are examined and illustrated in responses to the secessionist threat and U.S. Civil War by President Lincoln, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and the British response in Northern Ireland. An appendix provides an alphabetical listing by area or state of worldwide terrorism and the groups involved in it. Chapter notes, tables, and index.