In a radio broadcast in 1939 Winston Churchill defined Russia in a famous quip as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ The chain of metaphors in Churchill’s famous maxim was to point the difficulty of making sense of the great political transformation Russia had gone through. Though perplexed, Churchill had a key to solve the Russian riddle: the national interest or more precisely ‘historic-life interests.’ The ‘new Middle East’ is also a riddle inside an enigma rolled up in a puzzle mat. The former is difficult to grasp even with metaphors. The national interest is not a ‘key’ either, for it appears more of a political ploy than an analytical edifice that can hardly be applicable to the haplessly artificial regional states. The enigma of the ‘Arab Spring,’ the mystery of the ISIL, the riddle of Russian intervention in Syria and the puzzle of Turkish national interests in the Middle East are few items in the long list of explanandum.

Last year was the year of elections in Turkey with two parliamentary elections and months-long electoral campaigns that dominated the political agenda of the country. The parliamentary elections of June 7, 2015 brought an end to the AK Party’s 12-year long era of parliamentary majority and single-party government in Turkey. Nevertheless, the endeavors to form a coalition government could not be concluded successfully and another election appeared on the horizon. The country was ruled by an AK Party-led interim government and the elections were repeated five months later on November 1, 2015. While close in time, the two elections were quite distant with regard to the political contexts in which they were carried out, and in their respective results. The November elections witnessed a comeback for the AK Party, which increased its votes by over 9 points with the addition of five million new votes in the ballot box.

Energy security, at the heart of energy policy, has become central to the dynamics of international relations. Political turmoil has overwhelmed many oil and gas producing countries, forcing them to adapt their national energy policies according to this continuous change. Specifically, because of the wars and instability in the Middle East and the Ukrainian crisis, global energy security is no longer guaranteed. One of the foremost experts on the energy industry, Daniel Yergin, identifies energy security as “the availability of sufficient supplies at affordable prices.” He also comments that every country interprets the definition of energy security with its own dynamics. In practice, the definition of energy security is polysemic and the topic of energy security is being explored daily, under the lens of numerous new studies, by scholars, energy experts, government officials, activists, and journalists.

“Trump’s America” – The Latest Issue of Insight Turkey Is Published In this issue, Insight Turkey, deals with the events in world politics with the interpretation of Turkish and foreign authors. The issue discusses how U.S. President Donald Trump won the presidential election, and the changes and challenges that Trump brought to the U.S. domestic and foreign policy. Inderjeet Parmar, Lütfi Sunar and Tuncay Kardaş focus on the internal issues that the U.S. is facing under the Trump Presidency. Parmar addresses the legitimacy crisis of the American elite while Sunar emphasizes the effectiveness of Trump's election campaign by alienating Muslims living in the United States. On the other hand, Kardaş examines Trump's victory in the 2016 Presidential Election in the context of cultural, political and structural factors. Moving towards the international affairs, Mustafa Kibaroğlu and Tom Sauer justify why Trump should remove the nuclear weapons form Europe, while Andreas Krieg and Samuel S. Kim analyze the U.S.’ foreign policies towards the Middle East and China, respectively. This issue of Insight Turkey also examines some current events in the world politics. Abdallah Marouf Omar examines the resistance Palestinian Muslims have given on the restrictions imposed by the Israeli forces regarding the entrance in the al-Aqsa Mosque. Moreover, Talip Küçükcan reviews the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative project and the main opportunities and challenges that the participatory states will face in context of the Middle East. Emrah Kekilli scrutinizes the Libyan crisis and how regional and global actors have been a big influence on the instability Libya has faced in this period. By focusing on the main elements of both the Gülen structure and Kemalism, Çaylak ve Dinç, make a comparison between these two. Lastly, Hamza Preljević evaluates the results of the Serbian genocide in Bosnia and the efforts of religious communities to provide peace and security in a divided society, with a special focus on the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina We trust that our readers will find this issue informative and constructive!

The date of July 15, 2016 is a watershed in the history of democracy as well as in the history of Turkey. On the night of July 15, the world witnessed an exceptional and historic event. The Turkish people heroically stood up against the brutal coup plotters; they became an example for other peoples on how to defend your nation and on what is the real meaning of national self-determination. At the same time, they gave a valuable lesson to the Western governments on how to support a democratically elected government. But more than anything, Turkish people proved to themselves that it is they who decide for themselves, for their future. After all, isn’t that what democracy is all about? The memory of what happened on July 15 will never be erased from the minds and hearts of the people who were in Turkey that night. We all lost someone on the night of July 15 –a mother, a father, a child, a friend or someone that we did not even know but we broke into tears when we saw them giving their life for this country.

Historically speaking, technology has been one of the main determinants in international politics due to its impact on economic development and warfare. However, lately, its preponderancy is becoming more inclusive considering that technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) Internet of Things (IoT), big data, blockchain, 3D printing, etc. are evolving faster than ever. From the Ukraine-Russia war and the energy crisis to the global economic and social crisis to the deepening great powers rivalry, all point to the importance of emerging technologies. Specifically, technology has become a key asset in the framework of international relations, and the so-called technopolitics –the entanglement of technology with politics– is impacting global affairs at the international and national levels. Primarily, emerging technologies have a transformative impact on the actors of the international order. While the existing Western-led international system had at its core the Westphalian principles, with states as the main actors, it is expected that in the close future this will be challenged by the tech giants who are now driving the technological revolution. Considering the state’s dependency on tech giants for the development of emerging technologies and the impact of these technologies on economic development and national security, it is understandable that the power of tech giants will increase. So, when faced with an international crisis, states and international/regional institutions will not be the only actors sitting at the table. Furthermore, the structure and hierarchy of the international system will be shaped by the evolution of technology. Seen both from the economic and military perspectives, the early adoption of these emerging technologies will provide a strategic advantage for the early users, which undoubtedly is directly reflected in the power of states and their position within the existing order. While some states become more successful than others in the production, development, and adoption of these technologies, the hierarchy between states will change as well, leading to a new global order. The ongoing great power competition –especially between the U.S. and China– can be understood within this framework as it would not be wrong to assert that technological competition is the main ground of rivalry. Both states consider technological development as the main asset to achieve their national goal, for the U.S. it is to maintain its leadership in the existing system; while China aims to leapfrog the U.S. and become a superpower. As technology shapes and changes the relations among states, so will other aspects of politics be affected, such as diplomacy and warfare. While the creation and advancement of the Metaverse are considered to revolutionize diplomacy, the application of artificial intelligence in the military is indeed revolutionizing warfare. As mentioned previously the proper and quick adoption of these emerging technologies in the political agenda is directly related to the reflection of a state’s power in the international system. In this context, lagging in this technological revolution would be detrimental to a state. Türkiye is one of the few states that is not only aware of the benefits of the early adoption of the new technologies but has also taken important steps in this regard. Becoming official in 2019, Türkiye has announced its policies called “National Technology Initiative” and “Digital Türkiye.” Both policies are impacting every sector of life in Türkiye –i.e., industry, health, education, defense, etc.– and aim to transform the state’s technological future by using its local capacities to produce high-tech products. As a result, Türkiye will gain more economic and technological independence which will place Türkiye among the most technologically developed states in the future. To illustrate this point, Türkiye’s defense industry has been revolutionized within the concept of the National Technology Initiative. Henceforth, today Türkiye has become one of the leading global actors in terms of the production and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The impact of the emerging technologies in every aspect of human life is unequivocal, however, this special issue of Insight Turkey will focus mainly on how technopolitics is shaping the states’ policies, with a special focus on Türkiye. Within this context, this issue includes 8 research papers and 5 commentaries, all of which offer a novel perspective on the subjects they address. Our commentary section features two on-topic and three off-topic pieces. In his inquisitive commentary, Richard A. Bitzinger seeks to illustrate how the technologies incorporated into the upcoming 4th industrial revolution, and AI in particular, promise to represent a radical paradigm shift in the form and conduct of combat in the future. Bitzinger’s analysis makes it clear that these technologies will probably also have a significant influence on international rivalries between large powers, aspirational regional actors, or governments who view technology as a vital force multiplier. This analysis, we believe, will shed light on how new and emerging critical technologies are challenging the traditional warfighting paradigm, as well as how militaries can access and leverage these innovations. In our second on-topic commentary Bruno Maçães challenges readers to consider climate change and its impact on global politics bravely and originally. According to Maçães, we cannot refer to climate change as a byproduct of the Anthropocene, the world that humans have created. Because of our limited potential to influence natural processes and consequent inability to control the unintended effects of our activities and decisions, climate change is still fundamentally a natural phenomenon that humans have only just begun to cause. Intriguingly, Maçães contends that joining the Anthropocene for the first time, as opposed to leaving it, is the solution to the climate problem. Our research articles cover a wide range of topics that are all important to the relationship between technological advancements and global politics. In the first paper of the line, Erman Akıllı launches a stimulating conversation about the future success of the Metaverse, which depends, according to the author, on the creation of universes that are founded on global organizations or regional integrations rather than monopolization. Instead of offering quick fixes, Akıllı poses some tough questions. For instance, he raises our attention to unanswered questions regarding state sovereignty in general and the issue of how a state can exercise its sovereign authority in the Metaverse. The author also emphasizes the vast prospects that the metaverse offers for nations to engage in cultural diplomacy. In line with this, the author describes efforts to build the Turkoverse, a metaverse based on the Turkic world, which would allow for unrestricted movement of people and goods inside the Turkic World while eliminating the physical gap between member states’ capitals. In the upcoming article, Javadbay Khalilzade describes how UAVs, or combat drones have proliferated and how this has changed and shaped modern warfare. The article looks at Türkiye as a manufacturer and active user of UAVs in wars in Africa and the Middle East. The case study in the article also looks at Azerbaijan, a third-tier small state that depends on drone exports but is ambitious enough to use drones to make its presence felt in the region and liberate its lands. The article makes the case that drones give militaries a tactical edge, improve combat precision, and broaden the arsenals available for fighting insurgencies; yet drone proliferation also makes states more prone to conflict and compromises regional peace and security. In the following research article, Nezir Akyeşilmen investigates the documents, policies, strategies, measures, and organizational structures of Türkiye’s national cybersecurity strategy. Is Türkiye’s cybersecurity strategy properly designed to deal with the new security environment in the hyper-anarchic world of cyberspace? Following a thorough examination of Türkiye’s cybersecurity strengths and weaknesses, Akyeşilmen responds prudently to this question: Türkiye’s technical performance is relatively weaker than its legal performance, necessitating the development and implementation of a centralized cybersecurity strategy by a large and powerful institution. Following Akyeşilmen’s insightful criticism, Ali Burak Darıcılı evaluates the Turkish National Intelligence Organization’s (Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) increasing operational capacity in the context of high-technology products. Darıcılı concludes that MİT’s domestic technology capabilities have made a significant contribution to Türkiye’s counter-terrorism activities, achievement of regional foreign policy goals, deployment of hard power in the field when necessary, and efforts to become a proactive actor in the region. Then, Cenay Babaoğlu questions how the pandemic process has affected the increasing digitalization of public administrations with the rising use of technology in administrative functions as our focus shifts from security to public administration. The author recalls that, with support from both supply and demand, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a driving force in government digitalization. As the author explains, following this trend, and particularly with the transition to the Presidential Government System in 2018, the Presidency Digital Transformation Office, which was established as the coordinator of digital transformation, played an important role in Türkiye during the pandemic. In what follows, Narmina Mamishova examines Türkiye’s vaccine diplomacy and its role in the country’s efforts to maintain and expand its stakes in the global power configuration. Highlighting how, since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, public health has emerged as a key issue of discourse among states, the authors show how Türkiye has managed to consolidate its strength in the international arena through both skillful balancing in terms of vaccine deals and well-packaged humanitarian efforts. The author argues that Türkiye has been successful in achieving this through persevering in the pursuit of a proactive, comprehensive policy, in which the sole standard for a move’s legitimacy would be its alignment with the nation’s national interests. As we shine a spotlight on the economy in the post-COVID-19 era, Bilal Bagis focuses on the ways a new instrument, central bank digital currency, is projected to improve contemporary payment systems, strengthen the effectiveness of the monetary policy, and assure financial stability in the new period. Following the 2008 Crisis and the 2020 Pandemic, as well as innovations such as the all-new cryptocurrencies and stable coins, many central banks have expressed an interest in introducing their own digital money, according to the paper. Anticipating that physical currencies will inevitably be digitalized, one way or the other, the author poses a valid question: “why not embrace the trend and the new technology, regulate and then make sure digital currencies satisfy all the functions of a regular conventional physical currency?” In a similar spirit, in our final research paper, Mehmet Rıda Tür makes the prediction that AI will soon overtake humans as the primary decision-makers in the energy sector. For the author, making the energy system more flexible and establishing a smart supply system with domestic and renewable energy resources at its core is necessary to prevent any bottlenecks in satisfying the energy demand of all countries including Türkiye. From our off-topic pieces, Mahmut Özer, the Minister of National Education of Türkiye, elaborates on the process of universalization from elementary to higher education in Türkiye, describing how it gave priority to areas with comparatively lower rates of schooling by making large investments and carrying out large initiatives. Özer explains how, because of recent changes the nation has undergone in the education sector, Türkiye’s educational system has been able to overcome the difficulties it had inherited from the past and has strengthened its capacity to become even more effective and equitable for all pupils. In the following off-topic commentary, Nurşin Ateşoğlu Güney focused on the most recent achievement of Türkiye in bringing the warring sides of Ukraine and Russia to an agreement on the transfer of grain from Ukraine’s ports. Güney contends that this is a result of Ankara’s long-standing sensible approach of maintaining communication with both capitals despite hostilities to maintain access to both. She concludes that the prospect of growing food scarcity conditions and subsequently the projected worldwide crisis appears to have been avoided for the time being thanks to Türkiye’s effective mediating performance, which will also be conducive to alleviating the negative conditions caused by the likelihood of food shortages in locations like Egypt, Lebanon, and elsewhere. The political and strategic repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine are examined by Sabrina P. Ramet and Aleksander Zdravkovski in the final commentary. The authors claim that because of the war in Ukraine, Serbia may now see an opportunity to conclude some unfinished business. Serbia has recently been buying weapons from China and Russia for this purpose, and it has also tried to buy 12 fighter jets from France. The recent armaments buildup by Serbia is unlikely to be for defensive purposes, as the writers draw our attention to the fact that none of Serbia’s neighbors or any other states for that matter pose a threat to Serbia. All things considered, we endeavored to explore as many facets as possible of the interplay between new technology advancements and Turkish technopolitics in the Summer 2022 issue of Insight Turkey. We hope and believe that the insightful and stimulating debates raised on the issue will be helpful to our readers.

“Reclaiming the Region: Russia, the West and the Middle East” – The Latest Issue of Insight Turkey Is Published In its last issue of 2017, Insight Turkey discusses Russia who has a strong say in many fields and how it steers international politics. This special issue of Insight Turkey aims to discuss the continuities and changes in Russia’s foreign policy priorities and strategies since the end of the Cold War. Richard Sakwa, Igor Torbakov, Emre Erşen and Nikolay Kozhanov analyze some of the most current events. More specifically they address Russia’s relations with the Trump administration, Europe, Turkey and Iran respectively. Additionally, Yury Barmin and Muhammet Koçak on their papers deal with some crucial topics such as Russia’s oil policies and the security narratives on Islam in Russia. Three off-topic commentaries and one off-topic article finish off the dossier for this issue. Tun Khin in his commentary assesses the genocide taking place in Burma. The commentary of Othman Ali focuses on another important topic: the conflict in Kirkuk, which is under the rule of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Arguing on the importance that Kirkuk maintains for Turkey, Ali gives suggestions on the options Turkey has and how this matter could be resolved. Venezuela crisis, another important crisis of the last month, is brought to the readers through the commentary of Oliver Stuenkel. Lastly, Beril Dedeoğlu and Tolga Bilener portray the integration process between India and ASEAN. “Reclaiming the Region: Russia, the West and the Middle East,” is the last issue for 2017, which has been a very successful year for Insight Turkey. As with the previous issues, we trust that our readers will find this issue informative and constructive!

The European Union is a success story. It brought enemy countries together, combined their powers, fostered economic and social development, successfully competed with the American market and also resisted against the Soviet expansionism. As the most developed supranational international organization in modern history, the EU maintained Europe at the center of world politics. With the end of the Cold War, the member states attempted to transform the organization from an economic institution into a political and military structure having the ultimate goal to create a federal state-like institution. However, after unexpected changes in the global system and the emergence of new political actors, the EU began to experience many difficulties. As a result, today the EU is in a political deadlock and it seems that the continental unity achieved by the EU has begun to shatter. The reasons behind this are several. First of all, increasing illiberalism and authoritarianism in the West began to threaten the main liberal values that provide the expedient environment for social development and also for peaceful coexistence. The increase of xenophobia, racism, fascism, ultra-nationalism, and anti-Islamism uncovered the illiberal European traditions. As a result we now witness a division not only between Europeans and non-Europeans, but also between Europeans themselves. Namely, there are many fault lines, which divide and alienate the European countries from one another. For instance, there is an increasing friction between relatively robust economies of the north and volatile economies of the south. Second, the member states of the EU have lost their common other/enemy. Throughout the Cold War most European countries stood behind the U.S. in order to struggle against all global and regional threats such as the spread of communism and the expansionism of the Soviet Union. However, today European countries have different national priorities. For instance, while some European countries have begun to spend more in their defense budget, others refuse to increase their defense allocation and continue to prioritize economic development. A similar division can be seen in terms of the stance towards Russia. Third, the future of the EU is closely associated with the future of NATO. Maintaining the unity in military and security issues requires cooperation in other sectors, especially in the economy. Many European countries are not happy with what the U.S. does regarding NATO. The Trump Administration has been following a nationalist, unilateral and therefore conflictual economic policy towards Europe. Considering the European trade surplus with the U.S, Trump declared Europe “as bad as China.” These developments have further deepened the gap between the EU and the U.S. Fourth, the EU institutionalization was at its peak after the collapse of the Cold War system and the EU enlargement towards Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, it faced important challenges stemming from new topics such as defense and foreign policy, and the accession of possible new members. Following the accession of Eastern European states, the gap between the most advanced members and relatively less developed states widened. Consequently, the EU lost its attractiveness for many European states and the British, who did not want to share the burden of other member states, decided to leave the EU. This was the first step towards disintegration of the EU and this backward tendency will most probably continue. Fifth, due to increasing shallowness and mediocrity, European politics has lost its visionary outlook and strategic depth. The new generation of European politicians on the whole lack the visionary outlook of the previous generations. They are trapped in conjuncture and populist policies with short-term concerns or gains. That is, they just try to save the day. This new political elite in Europe does not believe in EU values such as pluralism and the win-win strategy. Some EU members are reluctant to share the burden of other members. Southern tier EU countries have been experiencing economic problems and struggling against the influx of refugees, but the northern tier countries are relatively free of these problems and do not want to import these issues into their domestic politics. Last but not least, European countries have been otherizing migrants and foreigners. In this context Turkey has been considered as the main ‘other’ for many years. It seems that when it comes to Turkey, the EU institutions and member countries freeze most of their differences and problems, and prioritize Turkey’s domestic and foreign developments. The new generation of politicians welcomes the increase of ultra-nationalism, fascism, racism, xenophobia, anti-Islamism and anti-Turkism. Even mainstream politicians have begun to normalize this tendency and as such the animosity against Islam and Turkey is becoming widespread all over Europe. With these in mind, this new issue of Insight Turkey aims at providing a general framework regarding some of the most important issues that have a direct impact on the future of the EU, including here: German hegemony after Brexit, cyber security, EU relations with Turkey and the U.S. and the rise of the radical right. Simon Bulmer’s commentary focuses on the sources of German hegemony within the EU after Brexit to later suggest two possible scenarios, namely the Franco-German partnership’s revival or a form of German hegemony. André Barrinha, in his commentary, touches upon a very interesting topic that has gained a lot of importance lately. Cyber security has emerged as the focus of many western organizations, especially for the EU as they perceive Russia as a direct threat in cyberspace. In this context, Barrinha analyzes the response of the EU to the Russian threat and its effectiveness. Trump’s arrival has created a lot of chaos in the world and we witness the decomposition of liberal values every day. In such an environment, U.S.-EU alliance is facing many difficulties and the cracks are becoming more visible. Kılıç Buğra Kanat has presented a brief analysis on the transatlantic relations and contends that unpredictability is now considered the defining characteristic of the U.S. attitude toward Europe. Remaining within the context of the transatlantic relations, Şafak Oğuz’s article focuses on the missile defense system of NATO, entitled the EPAA and argues that it is one of the key regional missile defense projects for the U.S., which claims to protect Europe from the Iranian ballistic missile threat but actually is designed to protect the American homeland, and targets Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles with nuclear warheads. The standoff in the Turkey-EU relations has been present for some years now. By focusing on the topic of the customs union, Ciğdem Nas and Serdar Altay, present a brief analysis and suggestions for a possible new agreement between Turkey and the EU. In her commentary, Çiğdem Nas, contends that the upgrade of the customs union could bring a breath of fresh air to Turkey-EU relations and reignite the process of Turkey’s gradual integration into the EU. While arguing on the necessity of the upgrade of the customs union, Altay states that since membership is no longer an option, the sole contractual framework that will bind Turkey and the EU for the foreseeable future will be an upgraded customs union. As mentioned above, the rise of the far right constitutes a serious threat to European unity and as a result, to the EU itself. In the light of this, Aristotle Kallis addresses the EU’s policies toward the rising far right and argues that the EU needs to take into consideration the causes of citizen resentment without adopting the language and logic of the right wing populists. The article of Sertan Akbaba provides a more detailed analysis of the now dominant discourses in Europe used by the leaders of the far right parties, mainly in Netherlands, Finland, Italy and Hungary. The main targets of these populist discourses have been the Muslim people living in the European countries, for this reason in this issue we bring to our readers two compelling perspectives. On the one hand, Pamela Irving Jackson and Pete Doerschler provide qualitative and quantitative evidence of European identification by Muslims in France, Austria and the Netherlands as a response to the far right political mobilization. On the other hand, Enes Bayraklı, Farid Hafez and Léonard Faytre evaluate how the governments in Austria, France and Germany have tried to assimilate the Muslims living in these states via specific laws and institutions. According to them, the underlying message of these policies is the fact that European states consider the Muslims a security threat to the state and society. The weakening and defeat of ISIS will ironically have a negative impact on European security. This is what Kyle Orton has argued in his article. After providing a detailed analysis of the terrorist organization PKK and its offshoots, Orton explains how the foreign fighters that fought in Syria against ISIS are now going back in their homelands, mainly Europe, becoming a serious threat to its security. Hakan Samur in his article evaluates the stance of the Kurdish people living in Turkey towards Turkey’s membership of the EU. Based on the research field that the author has conducted, Samur concludes by saying that while the Kurds are somewhat distrustful and skeptical toward the EU, they continue to support EU membership. The Balkans is one of the most important regions within Europe and it has a direct impact on European security, economy and policies. However, for a long time people living in this region have fought each other. In response to this, Mirsad Kriještorac, in optimistic tones, argues that in order to move past the enmity that has characterized the Balkans, it is necessary to display the region’s religious and ethnic diversity as an inherent quality, and a building block of cooperation and progress. Lastly, this issue of Insight Turkey brings an analysis of the June 24 elections in Turkey from the pen of Fahrettin Altun. After approximately one year since the Turkish people approved the transition to the presidential system in the April 16 referendum, in a consolidated majority Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the first president of the new Turkey. For those interested in Turkish politics, Altun’s commentary provides a general background to the new presidential system, the electoral campaign of the parties that participated in the elections and the impact that the results of these elections will have on Turkish politics. In conclusion, internal and external threats have weakened the EU and its political discourse of pluralism and peaceful coexistence. Furthermore, continental and global conjunctures are also at work against the principles of the EU. For this reason, it is possible that one questions the effectiveness and future of the EU. We are confident that this issue of Insight Turkey provides in depth information on important issues that are directly related to the EU and should be read carefully by anyone interested in the EU policies and its future.

'This book makes uncomfortable reading both in its detailed analysis of terrorism and its causes, and in the critique of state responses, particularly in modern times. It is unusual to have such a defence of a 'human rights framework' from a counter-terrorism practitioner rather than from within the legal fraternity. It is this that makes the case even more persuasive. All who are involved in counter-terrorism strategy should consider carefully the arguments put forward.'Global Policy JournalFor more than 150 years, nationalist, populist, Marxist and religious terrorists have all been remarkably consistent and explicit about their aims: provoke states into over-reacting to the threat they pose, then take advantage of the divisions in society that result. Yet, state after state falls into the trap that terrorists have set for them. Faced with a major terrorist threat, governments seem to reach instinctively for the most coercive tools at their disposal and, in doing so, risk exacerbating the situation. This policy response seems to be driven in equal parts by a lack of understanding in the true nature of the threat, an exaggerated faith in the use of force, and a lack of faith that democratic values are sufficiently flexible to allow for an effective counter-terrorism response. Drawing on a wealth of data from both historical and contemporary sources, Avoiding the Terrorist Trap addresses common misconceptions underpinning flawed counter-terrorist policies, identifies the core strategies that guide terrorist operations, consolidates the latest research on the underlying drivers of terrorist violence, and then demonstrates why a counter-terrorism strategy grounded in respect for human rights and the rule of law is the most effective approach to defeating terrorism.