NCJ Number
91507
Date Published
1983
Length
170 pages
Annotation
Seven essays examine the implications of terrorism for the authority and policies of government and for the freedom of individuals and the well-being of their societies, including case studies of Northern Ireland and Argentina to portray terrorism in a democratic and in an authorization state.
Abstract
One paper analyzes the failures and successes of terrorism in meeting its intended objectives, noting that although terrorism has failed to achieve its primary objective of changing the foundations of targeted state power, it has been effective in influencing democratic societies to curb essential freedoms in the name of counterterrorism objectives. Another presentation advises that a credible long-term response to terrorism must have the dimensions of law enforcement, social and economic reform, moral suasion, a deterrent policy, and media restraint. Each of these dimensions is examined. Following a discussion of the forms and causes of terrorism in democracies, one study discusses the impacts of terrorism on democracies, followed by consideration of counterterrorism grand policies for democracies. After developing a definition for terrorism within a democratic society, a paper labels the Irish Republican Army as a terrorist organization, and its history is traced to support the 'terrorist' label applied to it. Another paper presents the ideology, history, structure, and tactics of the Protestant and Catholic terrorist extremist groups in Northern Ireland and assesses the prospects for peace. The concluding presentation examines the terrorism and counterterrorism in Argentina that plunged the country into a period of violence and lawlessness from 1965 to 1979. Some overall conclusions about terrorism derived from the papers compose the final chapter. A total of 142 bibliographic entries are provided along with a subject index. For individual entries, see NCJ 91508-13.