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A short commentary by Professor George Kassimeris, a SME on terrorism, and the sub-title is:The author's bio:http://www.wlv.ac.uk/about-us/our-sc...ge-kassimeris/Students and politicians may struggle to accept this – especially in the wake of the attacks in Paris – but the best we can do is contain a phenomenon that is as old as the hills,
He compares the 'old' and 'new' terrorism, an excerpt:He ends with:In that period terrorists wanted – to use the often-cited observation by Brian Jenkins, director of the security and subnational conflict programme of the RAND Corporation – “a lot of people watching and a lot of people listening and not a lot of people dead”. Now things are different. What we have now is a series of loose, mutually reinforcing and quite separate international networks whose followers combine medieval religious beliefs with modern weaponry and a level of fanaticism that expresses itself primarily in suicide bombings and a willingness to use indiscriminate violence on large scale.The article itself:http://www.wlv.ac.uk/about-us/news-a...l-violence.phpWhether one supports politically motivated violence or not as a tactic, it is important to place the phenomenon in a clear context in order to attempt to understand the nature of the threat. Not to eradicate it, because that is impossible, but to contain it.
Others have advocated containment as the option, alongside with work ast home.
The Forum has ninety threads with terrorism in the title, none appeared on a review to suit this commentary.
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Earlier this year I attended a British Academy conference on this theme and now a book has been published.
There's also two short blog articles for free:
1) Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Paris by Richard English, which has some startling passages, here is a taster:Link:http://blog.britac.ac.uk/terrorism-c...ism-and-paris/There is the ironic echo between – say – al-Qaida and their post-9/11 US-led enemies, that both sides have displayed greater technical and tactical sophistication than they have political wisdom or strategic understanding.
And there is the related irony that humanity’s most sustained ever attempt to rid the world of terrorism – the post-9/11 War on Terror – inaugurated a period within which the number of terrorist attacks and the number of terrorist-generated fatalities actually increased – most strikingly in those very arenas in which the War on Terror had been most concentratedly focused.
2) 'Terrorism does not destroy, provided we restrain our excusable instinct to dive into the false security of a police state' by Professor Connor Gearty. He ends with a reminder:Link:http://blog.britac.ac.uk/terrorism-d...-police-state/For all its horrors, terrorism of this sort remains ‘the weapon of the weak’, occasional typhoons of horror that frighten, shock, destabilise, stimulate increases in police power for sure, but ultimately do not destroy – as long as we keep our heads and restrain our excusable instinct to dive into the false security of a police state.
Back to the book:Link:http://www.britac.ac.uk/news/news.cfm/newsid/1348'Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism', edited by Professor Richard English, Director of the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) at the University of St Andrews.
Terrorism and counter-terrorism represent enduringly and globally important phenomena, and the interlinking relationship between terrorism and counter-terrorism continues to influence world politics. This book brings together leading scholars in these fields to analyse this connection.
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A wise academic, Audrey Kurth Cronin in a Q&A format reviews five influential books and in summary:Link:http://fivebooks.com/interview/audre...-on-terrorism/Terrorism sets out to make governments overreact. Our job is to control our rage and work instead to bring about about its swift—and ultimately inevitable—demise.
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Counter terrorism / counterterrorism (CT) appears in a large number of threads and arenas. Some threads refer to individual nations or regions, for examples France and Europe respectively.
This thread's theme is CT in the widest sense after twenty two threads were merged, most of them recent 2015-2016. There are many threads on terrorism which defy merging.
There is an old thread A Counter Terrorism reading list which has not been updated since 2011 and is now closed.
davidbfpo
Hat tip to CTC's Sentinel for a long article by Brian Jenkins, who asks this painful question. Time for a discussion here - over to you.
The Abstract:Link:https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/fifte...-war-on-terrorMeasuring progress in irregular warfare without frontlines is always difficult. The various dimensions and multiple fronts of the United States’ ongoing campaign against terrorists make it an exceptional challenge. And much has changed since that campaign began 15 years ago. There has not been another 9/11-scale event. Although they attract followers, neither al-Qa`ida nor its progeny has become a mass movement. The constellation of groups claiming allegiance to them is far from an effective alliance, and the Islamic State has been contained. The leaders of al-Qa`ida depend heavily on exhortation to get others to fight, and the turnout is thin. On the other side of the ledger, the targeted groups have survived, their determination seems undiminished, and their ideology remains powerful. They are deeply embedded in a number of fragile, divided, conflict-ridden states. Persistent foes, they are able to operate underground and capable of comebacks if pressure on them subsides. The conflict will go on.
Then there's Daniel Byman:http://www.vox.com/2016/9/9/12839824...ck-safer-today
He ends with:Despite not having a catastrophic attack on US since 9/11, terrorism remains an emotive issue. Its dangers should not be ignored, but too often they are played up or misconstrued, contributing to bad policies and helping the terrorists generate more fear.
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A stinging overview of where the USA principally finds itself from Politico magazine's editor, Michael Hirsh and a "taster":Link:http://www.politico.com/magazine/sto...f-shame-214239We can’t, of course, unmake these historic mistakes. So, do we give up, or figure a new way out? Here we are, engaged in a war without end, with a new principal enemy, ISIS, and a slew of Al Qaeda affiliates playing whack-a-mole with our drone forces on a global battlefield.
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A really useful review from 'The Atlantic' magazine. The abstract says:The trio are: Bruce Hoffman, Martha Crenshaw and Brain Jenkins.Prior to September 11, 2001, few Americans registered serious concern about terrorism in the United States. The attacks of 15 years ago were, and remain, the deadliest terrorist attacks in history. And yet terrorism was a deadly phenomenon around the world for decades before those attacks, and was the subject of study among a small community of researchers as early as the 1960s. What’s truly different about the terrorism of the post-9/11 era, and what’s been consistent over time? And why does the problem still seem so difficult to manage? Below, three of the scholars who helped define the modern field of terrorism research reflect on what’s been learned, what’s been forgotten, and what still isn’t known about why terrorists attack.
Link:http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...-qaeda/499334/
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A fascinating 66 minute talk by Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair's Chief of Staff, on this fraught question and ranges around the world. Notably talking on Colombia and Northern Ireland. The event was before the referendum in Colombia:http://www.britac.ac.uk/video/talking-terrorists
Precis:His Wiki bio reminded me Powell had been a diplomat:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonath...abour_adviser)Jonathan Powell discussed his ten years as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, from 1997 – 2007 and his role as chief negotiator on the Northern Ireland peace process. Since then he has set up Inter-Mediate, a charity that promotes conflict resolution and reconciliation around the world. He will highlight the challenges of talking to terrorists around the world, most recently in Colombia.
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