Democracies At War Against Terrorism

Numerous democratic nations have been singled out by NGOs for brutality in their modus operandi, for paying inadequate attention to civilian protection or for torture of prisoners. This book deals with the difficulties faced when conducting asymmetric warfare in populated areas without violating humanitarian law.

This book examines the terrorist networks that operate globally and analyses the long-term future of terrorism and terrorist-backed insurgencies. Terrorism remains a serious problem for the international community. The global picture does not indicate that the ‘war on terror’, which President George W. Bush declared in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, has been won. On the other hand it would be incorrect to assume that Al Qaeda, its affiliates and other jihadi groups have won their so-called ‘holy war’ against the Coalition against Terrorism formed after 9/11. This new edition gives more attention to the political and strategic impact of modern transnational terrorism, the need for maximum international cooperation by law-abiding states to counter not only direct threats to the safety and security of their own citizens but also to preserve international peace and security through strengthening counter-proliferation and cooperative threat reduction (CTR). This book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of terrorism studies, political science and international relations, as well as for policy makers and journalists.

Examines the legal and moral complexities democracies face when dealing with terrorism. This book is useful to students and teachers of law, political science, and philosophy, as well as to citizens and activists concerned with the impact of terrorism on civil liberties.

This book unravels the role of democracy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and reflects important debates surrounding the security of Muslim communities in the years to come. It looks at the problems of torture, violence and the legal resources available to contemporary democracies to confront terrorism. While terrorism is often regarded as one of the major threats to the West and the nation-state, this book explores the notion that a disciplined sense of terror is what keeps society working. The strengths and limitations of liberalism are examined, as well as the ethical dilemma of torture and human right violations in the struggle against terrorism. This book carefully dissects the origin of the nation-state and how it keeps society united. The author offers a creative and unique approach to democracy and worldwide terrorism, exploring the consequences for the nation-state. This book looks at the connections between terrorism, mobility, consumption, torture and fear. It will be of interest to researchers as well as postgraduate and postdoctoral students within the fields of Human Geography, Politics, Media and International Relations.

By their nature, democracies clearly have greater constraints than autocratic regimes on their freedom of action as they have to meet constitutional, legal and moral criteria in their use of force. This collection analyses a number of case studies showing how democracies have won small wars.

Democratic Responses to Terrorism tackles how to protect democratic societies against terrorist violence while, at the same time, making sure that the steps democracies take to protect themselves do no fundamental harm to the rule of law and the rights of citizens. With a foreword by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, the essays here assess such elements as the role of the legal framework, human rights, democracy and civil society, as well as international cooperation. The series explores one of the most pressing issues of our time: how to reconcile the need to fight terrorism with our desire to protect and enhance democratic values. The volumes are an outgrowth of a summit conference organized by the Club de Madrid, an independent organization comprised of many former heads of state, dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world.

Several democratic countries have used emergency powers to restrict or suspend individual liberties in order to fight terrorism more effectively. Emergency powers are controversial in their potential to undermine democracy and civil liberties. Freeman challenges popular arguments of both the supporters of emergency powers, who focus on their expected effectiveness, and the critics, who focus on the dangers. In reality, the recent experiences of four different democratic states that have invoked emergency powers show that a positive outcome is just as likely as negative outcome. As the United States fights its war against terrorism, it should heed the lessons learned by other democracies in similar struggles, particularly Great Britain's relationship with Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s, Uruguay's response to the Tupamaros in the late 60s and early 70s, Canada's dealings with the FLQ in 1970, and Peru's conflict with the Shining Path movement in the 80s and early 90s.

The author examines historical and contemporary examples of military involvement in counterterrorism, outlining the specific roles which the armed forces of liberal democracies have performed in combating terrorism, both in a domestic and international context. He describes the political, strategic, conceptual, diplomatic, and ethical problems that can arise when a state's armed forces become engaged in counterterrorism, and argues that military power can only be employed as part of a coordinated counterterrorist strategy aimed at the containment and frustration -- rather than the physical elimination -- of the terrorist group(s) concerned.