This book explores the processes by which, in the 20 years after 9/11, the practices of urban security and counter-terrorism have impacted the everyday experiences of the Western city. Highlighting the localised urban responses to new security challenges, it reflects critically upon the historical trajectory of techniques of territorialisation and physical protection, urban surveillance and the increasing need for cities to enhance resilience and prepare for anticipated future attacks and unpacks the practices and impacts of the intensification of recent urban security practices in the name of countering terrorism. Drawing on over 25 years of research and practical experience, the author utilises a range of international case studies, framed by conceptual ideas drawn from critical security, political and geographical theory. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of politics, war studies, urban studies, geography, sociology, criminology, and the growing market of security and resilience professionals, as well as non-academic audiences seeking to understand responses to terrorist risk.

In an 1821 Independence Day speech, John Quincy Adams declared, “[America] goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.” Much has changed in the past two centuries, and America is now constantly in search of monsters to destroy. History has shown that such an imperial foreign policy is inimical to a peaceful society, and ultimately to individual liberty. Liberty, Security, and the War on Terrorism is a collection of essays that predicted the dire consequences of current U.S. foreign policy before the attacks of September 11, documents the loss of liberty that has ensued in the aftermath, and lays out what the proper role of a peaceful republic should be in a world full of monsters.

Through examining the development of new trends in terrorism, it is evident that the purpose of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) has yet to be achieved since the terror landscape is constantly changing due to new developments. The Israel and Hamas war that began in October 2023 has awakened many militant organizations and has amplified the efforts of active militants on the ground and online. Therefore, such attacks will motivate like-minded individuals and continue the legacy of militancy, making it a challenge to eradicate. Hence, it is evident that the GWOT is constantly being challenged by new circumstances in the global terror landscape. This book provides a comprehensive overview of counterterrorism efforts such as the GWOT.

Paragraph 10 of the Security Environment section of the NATO Strategic Concept adopted in 2010 clearly defines terrorism as ‘a direct threat to the security of the citizens of NATO countries, and to international stability and prosperity more broadly’. Terrorist attacks in Turkey, France, Belgium, Germany, Canada and the United States have demonstrated both the vulnerability of NATO members to terrorist activity and the need to strengthen security cooperation with countries of both the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). This book presents papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Training Course (ATC) ‘Countering Terrorism and Urban Warfare’, held in Herzliya, Israel, in November 2017. Course participants from both the military and the civilian sectors shared theoretical and practical best practice in the countering of terrorism in an urban warfare context, and the 10 papers included here cover topics such as protecting the civilian population in urban combat areas; terrorists logic behind the choice of target; what Europe can learn from its southern neighbors; countering hybrid threats in megacities and densely populated urban areas; and where will ISIS regroup? The book will be of interest to all those concerned with the countering of terrorism, particularly in urban areas.

At home and abroad, the U.S. Government has cut corners on the rule of law in the name of preventing future terror attacks - from 'waterboarding' detainees, to disappearing suspects into CIA prisons, to attacking Iraq against the wishes of the U.N. security council. The authors of this book argue that the great irony is that these sacrifices have made us more susceptible to future terrorist attacks. They conclusively debunk the claim that the U.S. is winning the 'war on terror', and offer another strategy to keep us both safe and free.

Developing ideas established in the successful first edition, this new version of America's War on Terror updates and expands the original collection of essays, allowing the reader to fully understand how the causes of the war on terror, both the domestic and foreign policy implications, and the future challenges faced by the United States have moved on since 2003. Features include: "

Interrogating the War on Terror presents a critique of contemporary war culture and politics, introducing a range of political, philosophical, legal, artistic and social perspectives on a devastating war. Bringing together contributors from the United States, UK and Australia—implicitly dissenting from within the Coalition of the Willing—this volume explores the discourses and cultural effects of the current “war on terror”. Is the so-called war on terror justified? Seeking an ethical engagement with the problems and paradoxes of this global conflict, the authors situate the historical and legal meanings of terror and terrorism alongside the exploitation of such terms by the Bush Administration and other governments in recent years. Contributions by philosophers, sociologists, and law and literature scholars raise questions about neo-conservatism, freedom, security and the new legitimation of torture, and demonstrate how this war brings political and discursive power to bear on democracy, human rights and individuals in places as far-flung as Iraq, Bali, and the U.S. Artworks by internationally renowned war artist George Gittoes, and several essays by cultural theorists return a critical emphasis to the role of visual media, affect, gender and popular culture in understanding and rethinking war. Interrogating the War on Terror’s multi-disciplinary and international perspectives will be useful to scholars and students alike in addressing this highly topical issue. The essays reference mainstream sources and widely-documented events in the war on terror, making it accessible also to the general reader.

This book examines the language of the war on terrorism and is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand how the Bush administration's approach to counter-terrorism became the dominant policy paradigm in American politics today.

President George W. Bush maintained in his address of 20 September 2001, that the successful prosecution of the war against terrorism will require the judicious use of 'every resource at our command - every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war'. Unlike the Cold War, the War on Terrorism is neither a battle against some ideology nor bounded by physical boundaries or conventional political units such as nation-states. The War on Terrorism is the internationalisation, or rather, globalisation of previous wars. Terror is not a nation, and the enemies in such wars are not nations; any regime such as Libya simply by repudiating terrorism, can become an ally of the anti-terror coalition. Regimes that continue to practice terrorism against domestic opponents qualify to participate in the wider war if they conform to certain norms in external affairs. The 28 articles reprinted here consider aspects of that most amorphous of animals - the War on Terrorism. They do not set out to provide all of the answers; nor do they radiate a unified vision of what constitutes the war on terrorism; the pieces begin from a range of political and intellectual outlooks. Taken as a group, however, the difficulties of determining the limits and nature of the war on terrorism receive important attention. The authors address several major themes within the war on terrorism: what falls within its perimeters, its shifting manifestations, implications, responses and future directions.

This edited volume aims to deepen our understanding of state power through a series of case studies of political violence arising from state ‘counter-terrorism’ strategies. The book examines how state counter-terrorism strategies are invariably underpinned by terror, in the form of state political violence. It seeks to answer three key questions: To what extent can counter-terror strategies be read as a form of state terror? How fundamental is state terror to the maintenance of a neo-liberal social order? What are the features of counter-terrorism that render it so easily reducible to state terror? In order to explore these issues, and to reach an understanding of what it means to say that the ‘war on terror’ is terror , the contributing authors draw upon case studies from a range of geographical contexts including the UK and Northern Ireland, the US and Colombia, and Sri Lanka and Tamil Eelam. Analysing these case studies from a psychological-warfare and hegemonic perspective, the book also includes two chapters from Noam Chomsky and John Pilger, which provide a global and historical context. This book will be of great interest to students of critical terrorism studies, political violence, war and conflict studies, sociology, international security and IR.