Terrorism Worldwide 2018

This comprehensive worldwide study catalogs terrorist attacks in 2018, during which the Islamic State continued its decline from a quasi-government commanding territory the size of the United Kingdom to a more traditional terrorist network controlling just 1000 square miles. Yet IS still boasts 30,000 adherents in Syria and Iraq, with many others awaiting plans for attacks in their home nations. Organized by region and country, this volume covers domestic and international incidents around the world, outlining significant trends. The author offers several indicators of what to watch in the coming years. The single-year format allows readers access to the most up-to-date information on terrorism, while geographic focus more easily facilitates regional comparison.

"Imagine getting on the bus to go from one major city to another. It had been a long week and all you wanted to do is get home and take a nap while doing that. Imagine falling asleep and enjoying the rest on the bus. Now imagine as the bus is driving up a mountain you wake to hearing someone scream out something incoherent and you can feel the bus swerve to the right and through a road barrier and over the side of the mountain. Some of the people you are with on the bus fly out the window as it crashes down the mountain into a ravine while others fly around the bus slamming into each other, into metal and into shattering glass. As the bus slams down you can feel parts of your body break and you see other people die in front of you. You then lose consciousness. When you wake, you are lying outside the bus with glass and screaming people around you just above a bus that is now with its roof on the ground. Besides your own pain you can see the dead, the dying and the broken people all around you and dozens of people streaming down the valley to come help you and the people around you"--

Terrorism is one of the forces defining our age, but it has also been around since some of the earliest civilizations. This one-of-a-kind study of the history of terrorism — from ancient Assyria to the post-9/11 War on Terror — puts terrorism into broad historical, political, religious and social context. The book leads the reader through the shifting understandings and definitions of terrorism through the ages, and its continuous development of themes allows for a fuller understanding of the uses of and responses to terrorism. The study of terrorism is constantly growing and ever changing. In Terrorism: A History, Randall Law gives students and general readers access to this rich field through the most up-to-date research combined with a much-needed long-range historical perspective. He extensively covers jihadism, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Northern Ireland and the Ku Klux Klan plus lesser known movements in Uruguay, Algeria and even the pre-modern uses of terror in ancient Rome, medieval Europe and the French Revolution, among other topics.

Attacks by network-based transnational terrorist groups cause on average 25,000 deaths every year worldwide, with the law enforcement agencies of some states facing many challenges in bringing those responsible to justice. Despite various attempts to codify the law on transnational terrorism since the 1930s, a crime of transnational terrorism under international law remains contested, reflecting concerns regarding the relative importance of prosecuting members of transnational terrorist groups before the International Criminal Court. This book critically examines the limits of international criminal law in bringing members of transnational terrorist groups to justice in the context of changing methods of warfare, drawing from human rights, sociology, and best practices in international criminal justice. Drawing on organisational network theory, Anna Marie Brennan explores the nature of international crimes and assesses the potential for the International Criminal Court to prosecute and investigate alleged crimes perpetrated by members of transnational terrorist groups, paying particular attention to their modus operandi and organisational structure. This book argues that because of the network-based organisational structure of some transnational terrorist groups, achieving justice for victims will prove challenging, in the context of the relationship between the commanders and the subordinate members of the group requiring a re-evaluation of accountability mechanisms at the international level. In advancing an innovative perspective on the accountability of members of transnational terrorist groups, and in offering solutions to current challenges, the book will be of great interest and use to academic, practitioners, and students engaged in the study of terrorism, the ICC, or international humanitarian law.

The Oklahoma City bombing, intentional crashing of airliners on September 11, 2001, and anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001 have made Americans acutely aware of the impacts of terrorism. These events and continued threats of terrorism have raised questions about the impact on the psychological health of the nation and how well the public health infrastructure is able to meet the psychological needs that will likely result. Preparing for the Psychological Consequences of Terrorism highlights some of the critical issues in responding to the psychological needs that result from terrorism and provides possible options for intervention. The committee offers an example for a public health strategy that may serve as a base from which plans to prevent and respond to the psychological consequences of a variety of terrorism events can be formulated. The report includes recommendations for the training and education of service providers, ensuring appropriate guidelines for the protection of service providers, and developing public health surveillance for preevent, event, and postevent factors related to psychological consequences.