Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues / Edition 5

by Gus Martin

Overview

Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues offers a multidisciplinary, comprehensive exploration of contemporary terrorism that helps readers develop the knowledge and skills they need to critically assess terrorism in general and terrorist incidents. The Fifth Edition has been comprehensively updated with new information on terrorist incidents, evolving terrorist environments, and emerging perspectives on counterterrorism and security. Author Gus Martin provides a fresh analysis of violent extremism throughout, with discussions of both international and domestic challenges and options. Focused discussion is provided on contemporary threats, new movements and tendencies, and the effectiveness of responses to these scenarios. Profiles are provided of prominent individuals, including updated information on longstanding extremist personalities. Discussion of policies and responses to terrorist environments has been augmented to include new perspectives on counterterrorist options, comparisons of domestic and international scenarios, and the contexts of promoting regional and national security. The effectiveness of policy options is discussed within the contexts of international threat scenarios, as well as domestic scenarios, including regional security challenges and responses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483378985
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/07/2015
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

C. Augustus “Gus” Martin is a Professor of Criminal Justice Administration at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he regularly teaches a course on the subject of terrorism and extremism. He has also served as Associate Vice President for Human Resources Management, Acting Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration and Public Policy, Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, and Chair of the Department of Public Administration & Public Policy. He began his academic career as a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, where he was an Administration of Justice professor. His current research and professional interests are terrorism and extremism, homeland security, administration of justice, and juvenile justice.

Dr. Martin is author of a number of books on the subjects of terrorism and homeland security, including Understanding Homeland Security (SAGE, 2016); Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies (2016); Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues (SAGE, 2015); The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition (SAGE, 2011); Terrorism and Homeland Security (SAGE, 2011); and The New Era of Terrorism: Selected Readings (SAGE, 2004). He is also author of Juvenile Justice: Process and Systems (SAGE, 2005).

Prior to joining academia, Dr. Martin served as Managing Attorney for the Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, where he was also director of a program created under a federal consent decree to desegregate public and assisted housing. He was also Special Counsel to the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas. As Special Counsel, he occupied a personal and confidential position in the central office of the Department of Justice; sat as hearing officer for disciplinary hearings and departmental grievances; served as chair of the Drug Policy Committee; served as liaison to the intergovernmental Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee as well as to the Narcotics Strike Force; and provided daily legal and policy advice to the Attorney General. Prior to serving as Special Counsel, he was a “floor” Legislative Assistant to Congressman Charles B. Rangel of New York. As Legislative Assistant, he researched, evaluated and drafted legislation in areas of foreign policy, foreign aid, human rights, housing, education, social services, and poverty; he also drafted House floor statements, Congressional Record inserts, press releases, and news articles; and he composed speeches, briefing materials, and legislative correspondence.

Table of Contents

Part I: Terrorism: A Conceptual Review
Chapter 1: Terrorism: First Impressions
First Considerations
Conceptual Considerations: Understanding Political Violence
The Past as Prologue: Historical Perspectives on Terrorism
Terrorism and Criminal Skill: Three Cases from the Modern Era
Chapter 2: The Nature of the Beast: Defining Terrorism
Understanding Extremism: The Foundation of Terrorism
Defining Terrorism: An Ongoing Debate
A Definitional Problem: Perspectives on Terrorism
The Political Violence Matrix
Chapter 3: Beginnings: The Causes of Terrorism
Political Violence as the Fruit of Injustice
Political Violence as Strategic Choice
Moral Justifications for Political Violence
Moral Convictions of Terrorists
Part II: The Terrorists
Chapter 4: Terror From Above: Terrorism by the State
The State as Terrorist: A State Terrorism Paradigm
Violence Abroad: Terrorism as Foreign Policy
Violence at Home: Terrorism as Domestic Policy
The Problem of Accountability: Monitoring State Terrorism
Chapter 5: Terror From Below: Terrorism by Dissidents
The Rebel as Terrorist: A Dissident Terrorism Paradigm
Warring Against the State: Antistate Dissident Terrorism
Warring Against a People: Communal Terrorism
Operational Shifts: Dissidents and the New Terrorism
Chapter 6: Violence in the Name of the Faith: Religious Terrorism
Primary and Secondary Motives: The Idiosyncratic Quality of Religious Terrorism
Historical Cases in Point: Fighting, Dying, and Killing in the Name of the Faith
State-Sponsored Religious Terrorism in the Modern Era
Dissident Religious Terrorism in the Modern Era
The Future of Religious Terrorism
Chapter 7: Violent Ideologies: Terrorism From the Left and Right
Reactionaries and Radicals: The Classical Ideological Continuum
Left-Wing Ideologies and Activism
Class Struggle and National Liberation: The Terrorist Left
Right-Wing Activism and Extremism
Race and Order: The Terrorist Right
Violent Ideologies in the New Era of Terrorism
Chapter 8: Terrorist Spillovers: International Terrorism
Defining International Terrorism
Globalized Revolution: Reasons for International Terrorism
Globalized Solidarity: International Terrorist Networks
The International Dimension of the New Terrorism
Postscript: The “Stateless Revolutionaries”
Chapter 9: Emerging Terrorist Environments: Gender-Selective Political Violence and Criminal Dissident Terrorism
Culture and Conflict: Gender-Selected Victims of Terrorist Violence
Protecting the Enterprise: Criminal Dissident Terrorism
A Global Problem: Regional Cases of Criminal Dissident Terrorism
Part III: The Terrorist Trade and Counterterrorism
Chapter 10: Tools of the Trade: Tactics and Targets of Terrorists
The Purpose: Terrorist Objectives
The Means: Terrorist Methods
The Focus: Terrorist Targets
The Outcome: Is Terrorism Effective?
Chapter 11: The Information Battleground: Terrorist Violence and the Role of the Media
Two Perspectives: The Media and Governments
Understanding the Role of the Media
A New Battleground: The War for the Information High Ground
The Public’s Right to Know: Regulating the Media
Chapter 12: The American Case: Terrorism in the United States
An Introduction to the American Case
Left-Wing Terrorism in the United States
Background to Terrorism: Left-Wing Activism and Ideological Extremism in America
Background to Terrorism: Rightist Activism and Ideological Extremism in America
Right-Wing Terrorism in the United States
International Terrorism in the United States
Part IV: Securing the Homeland
Chapter 13: Counterterrorism: The Options
Responding to Terror: The Scope of Options
Warlike Operations: Counterterrorism and the Use of Force
Operations Other Than War: Repressive Options
Operations Other Than War: Conciliatory Options
Applying the Rule of Law: Legalistic Options
Chapter 14: A New Era: Homeland Security
Homeland Security in Perspective
The American Case: Homeland Security in the United States
Civil Liberties and Securing the Homeland
Chapter 15: What Next? The Future of Terrorism
An Overview of Near-Term Projections
The Future of Terrorism: New Threats
Controlling Terrorism: New Challenges
Threats to the Homeland: Prospects for Terrorism in the United States

Editorial Reviews

This is the type of text you want to keep and refer to it for information of other topics. It is a complete text that any student can learn from

Greg Allen

[Understand Terrorism] is very easy for students to grasp the concepts of what they are reading, the timeline is a phenomenal resource for students in tracking terrorist activity, and the explanations of different terrorist acts are a wonderful tool to enhance student engagement and discussion.

Ronda M. Blevins

The Student Study Site looks like a great resource for students. The amount of detail in the text is great.…The writing style is clear and concise. All of the material is presented in a manner that is conducive to learning.

Matthew Costello

The length and writing style is appropriate for our student body, is interactive and certain to maintain student attention, and is conceptual.…This book is excellent.

Shawn L. Schwaner

Comprehensive and broad and covers most of the material needed for a class on terrorism. I recommend it.”

Ibrahim Zabad

Highly recommend. It is student friendly and easily taught.”

John Comiskey

This is a very interesting work and offers many useful material for the classroom. Students should be able to have a well-rounded educational experience and use, or in some cases develop, critical thinking skills. The text has may tools available to help the instructor in the classroom in presenting and testing the material the student is expected to learn.”

Andy F. Nazario

A very complete introductory text that focuses on the history and modern expressions of violent extremism. It pays special attention to countering terrorism on the homeland and has a series of pedagogical features that make it very well suited for the undergraduate classroom.”

Neil Shortland

The latest edition of Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues by Gus Martin is a well-thought-out, detailed, scholarly work that is a must-read for students engaged in terrorism studies—either in the undergraduate or graduate level. Each chapter covers a specific topic key to understanding the terrorist threat, both domestic and international. The text has a wealth of student and instructor resources to enhance the learning experience.”

Daniel Cutrer

[Gus Martin] has expertly curated the most important topics and sources in the field and put them together in an ideal manner to assist students in understanding the breadth and complexity of modern-day terrorism. Coupled with the instructor and student resources, this text is a perfect introduction to the field.”

Ryan Vogel

This is a comprehensive textbook designed for students with no background on the subject and told through a voice that is both authoritative and easy to understand.”

Michael Loadenthal

This is a strong text on terrorism, including actors, motivations, and events. It covers counterterrorism and future trends that illustrate to the student not only the threat but also ways to combat the threat. The writing is strong, the examples are relevant, and most topics are covered.”

Paul Byrd

The writing is clear, the content is accurately explained, and the tone of the book is engaging. The book features a wide array of pedagogical activities that will help students to learn the material. Moreover, the book does a good job of linking content to current events and contemporary issues related to terrorism and terrorists.”

Kevin Beaver

This book has a comprehensive understanding of terrorism and violence. It is very content-oriented.

Mitsunori Misawa

Very thorough, well thought out to benefit student knowledge and growth on the topic, and clear.

Misti Kill

Very well done and an excellent resource for students.

Gary Maynard

"Gus Martin's Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues (Second Edition) is one of the finest stand-alone, comprehensive textbooks for university courses.  Each chapter is organized pedagogically, with opposing viewpoints and issues for classroom discussion. "

Joshua Sinai

"Gus Martin's Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues is the best stand alone comprehensive textbook for university courses. Its 696 pages cover the spectrum of all issues involved in studying terrorism . . . Each chapter is organized pedagogically, with opposing viewpoints and issues for classroom discussion. "

Dr. Joshua Sinai

"Understanding Terrorism sets the standard as a textbook and baseline for anyone who desires to increase their real world knowledge of terrorism. It is an enlightening piece to a most difficult puzzle. "

Major General Jack A. Davis

The updated Second Edition of Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues is an excellent purchase for both college-level reference holdings and for assigned reading for college-level courses on social issues. Added here is a new chapter on religious terrorism, reviews of new material on gender terrorism and criminal businesses, updates on pedagogy, and a format which includes test questions, amps from the book, and more on both a CD-ROM and an accompanying web site. Plenty of examples from events around the world pepper surveys which cover the politics, economics, and social foundations of international terrorist experiences.

CALIFORNIA BOOKWATCH

"The best stand-alone text for university courses."

Maryann Batsakis

"Let me say that this book is one of the most comprehensive works on the matter that I have ever had the pleasure of reading."

Timothy N. Cash

"I am very favorably impressed with this book. The author is well informed and an excellent writer. The recommended readings, Web sites, boxes, tables and the like provide very attractive features. There is an abundance of very good historical and current examples. I would adopt this book for my courses and look forward to its publication. "

Frank Hagan

"Understanding Terrorism sets the standard as a textbook and baseline for anyone who desires to increase their real world knowledge of terrorism. It is an enlightening piece to a most difficult puzzle. "

Major General - Jack A. Davis

The updated Second Edition of Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues is an excellent purchase for both college-level reference holdings and for assigned reading for college-level courses on social issues. Added here is a new chapter on religious terrorism, reviews of new material on gender terrorism and criminal businesses, updates on pedagogy, and a format which includes test questions, amps from the book, and more on both a CD-ROM and an accompanying web site. Plenty of examples from events around the world pepper surveys which cover the politics, economics, and social foundations of international terrorist experiences.

California Bookwatch

"Gus Martin's Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues (Second Edition) is one of the finest stand-alone, comprehensive textbooks for university courses. Each chapter is organized pedagogically, with opposing viewpoints and issues for classroom discussion. "— Joshua Sinai

Fore Word