NCJ Number
47502
Date Published
1977
Length
271 pages
Annotation
THE RELATION OF TERRORISM TO THE VALUES AND PROCESSES OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES AND THE CAUSES OF, DEFENSES AGAINST, AND THE GROWTH AND IMPLICATIONS OF DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TERRORISM, EACH ONE WITH ITS OWN THEORIES, MODELS, AND APPROACHES WHICH CAN BE RELATED TO OTHER DIMENSIONS OF POLITICAL CHANGE. THE PRIMARY TASKS OF THE WORK ARE TO CLARIFY AND REFINE THE CONCEPT OF POLITICAL TERRORISM; TO ESTABLISH A WORKING TYPOLOGY OF POLITICAL TERRORISM; AND TO RELATE TERRORISM TO OTHER MODES OF VIOLENCE AND TO THE BASIC POLITICAL VALUES, STRUCTURES, AND PROCESSES OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY. THE BOOK ALSO DEALS WITH THE SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF REVOLUTIONARY AND SUBREVOLUTIONARY POLITICAL TERRORISM IN LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES. THE UNDERLYING AND PRECIPITATIVE CAUSES OF TERRORISM IN LIBERAL STATES ARE DISCUSSED, AND INFLUENTIAL CAUSAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES AND MODELS OF TERRORISM UNDER THESE CONDITIONS ARE ASSESSED. THE IDEOLOGIES, AIMS, BELIEFS, STRATEGIES, TACTICS, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, RECRUITMENT, AND LOGISTICS OF TERRORIST GROUPS ARE IDENTIFIED, AND THEIR INFLUENCE AND EFFICACY ARE ANALYZED. CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO EVALUATING BOTH THE IMPLICATONS OF TERRORISM FOR LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC STATES AND THE MOST PRACTICABLE AND POTENTIALLY EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES OF PREVENTION, DETERRENCE, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DEFENSE, AND COUNTEROFFENSIVES OPEN TO GOVERNMENTS AND SECURITY FORCES. THE LESSONS OF RECENT EXPERIENCE OF ANTITERRORIST CAMPAIGNS ARE DISCUSSED WITH REGARD TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE, POLICE, MILITARY, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES; TACTICS; EQUIPMENT; AND SECURITY, JUDICIAL, AND POLITICAL MEASURES MOST APPROPRIATE TO THE VARYING INTENSITIES OF ANTITERRORIST OPERATIONS, RANGING FROM ISOLATED BOMBINGS AND ASSASSINATIONS TO MAJOR ANTITERRORIST EMERGENCIES. THE MOST SERIOUS DANGERS AND MISTAKES THAT MAY THREATEN THE SUCCESS OF ANTITERRORIST OPERATIONS BY LIBERAL STATES -- UNDERREACTION, POLITICAL INERTIA, AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE STATE; AND OVERREACTION, INDISCRIMINATE REPRESSION, AND THE LOSS OF POPULAR SUPPORT AND LEGITIMACY -- ARE HIGHLIGHTED. THE FINAL PART OF THE BOOK IS CONCERNED WITH THE FACT THAT LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO INFILTRATION AND ATTACK BY INTERNATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISTS. THE SPECIFIC PROBLEMS OF SKYJACKING; DIPLOMATIC KIDNAPING; EMBASSY ATTACKS AND ASSASSINATIONS; AND POSSIBLE NATIONAL, BILATERAL, REGIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL COUNTERMEASURES AND COOPERATIVE ACTION AGAINST THESE FORMS OF TERRORISM ARE EXAMINED. NOTES, REFERENCES, AND AN INDEX ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--BAC)