Chandler, Michael.  Countering terrorism: can we meet the threat of global violence?, by Michael Chandler and Rohan Gunaratna.  Reaktion Books Ltd, 2007.  240p bibl index ISBN 1-86189-308-6, $22.95; ISBN 9781861893086, $22.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2860  HV6431   Brit. CIP 
  
Chandler (former chair of the UN group to monitor sanctions against the Taliban and the al Qaeda network) and Gunaratna (Tufts) provide a comprehensive, detailed analysis of many aspects of transnational terrorism. The bulk of the discussion centers on an extensive historical account of the Taliban and al Qaeda network, and what the international community needs to counter current and future threats from transnational terrorism. The authors argue that the international community failed woefully to capitalize on the golden opportunity presented after 9/11 to combat transnational terrorism through concerted, coordinated, and collaborative effort. Instead, the responses to terrorist threats have thus far relied heavily on military solutions, to the detriment of social, political, economic, and cultural interventions. A thorough analytical work with the potential to transform thinking about the present strategies on the war against terror, this book should be required reading for White House, Pentagon, and State Department officials responsible for counterterrorist operations. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — L. O. Imade, Shaw University 

Community preparedness and response to terrorism: v.1: The terrorist threat and community response; v.2: The role of community organizations and business; v.3: Communication and the media, ed. by H. Dan O’Hair, Robert L. Heath, and Gerald R. Ledlow with James A. Johnson and Mark A. Cwiek.  Praeger, 2005.  3v bibl index afp ISBN 0-275-98366-8, $225.00. Reviewed in 2005dec CHOICE.
43-1931  HV6432  2004-42290 CIP 
 
Terrorists use violence and threats that seem irrational precisely because they cannot win military, legal, cultural, personal, environmental, or electoral victories. In the aftermath of 9/11, “terrorism” is a term that has become familiar to the American public. Terrorism is perceived as a social disease to which all populations are susceptible. Thus this three-volume work makes a cogent, sober argument that community preparedness on many levels is required to manage terrorist attacks, whether the assaults be biomedical in nature or involve bombing or communication systems. The authors clearly convince readers that the consequences of lack of preparation would be horrible.

Each volume focuses on distinct but interrelated issues, and each chapter within each volume is written by individual experts. The result is a remarkably comprehensive discussion that highlights the complex nature of the strategic, legal, and cultural aspects of managing terrorist attacks at the local level. The first volume focuses on the terrorist threat and models of community response at the state and local level. The second volume addresses the role of community organizations and businesses in mitigating fear and confusion, managing the economics, building a response capacity, and training citizens. The third volume examines the complex interplay among messages, symbolism, communicators, media, communities, and agencies in the context of terrorism. The authors argue that terrorism is an act of communication, and that it is only through competent communication that terrorism can be managed. This three-volume work is scholarly, well documented, rich in resources, and straightforward. It also conveys a sense of foreboding as it analyzes in detail how terrorists cause disruption, drain resources, grab attention through the media, and generate profit. This work is meant to generate not only thoughtful reflection but an action plan within each local community. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — D. B. Hamilton, Western Michigan University

DHS: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  Internet Resource. Reviewed in 2007aug CHOICE.
44-7111 
http://www.dhs.gov/
 
The design of this free Web site of the US Department of Homeland Security is what users have come to expect from US government sites: clean, organized, and with an appealing presentation (five style sheets control the layout). There are no scripts running on the site, which enhances its simple navigation scheme. About the Department describes the DHS mission and organizational structure; it provides links to numerous DHS documents in PDF format, some monographic in length. Information is organized under eight sections: Home, Information, Prevention, Preparedness, Research, Commerce, Travel, and Immigration. All sections can be navigated by using the always-present menu bar under the top banner. Also always present is a submenu bar with links to the About page; the Open for Business section containing information relevant to the business community; and the Press Room, which in addition to press releases provides four RSS feeds (news, press releases, speeches, and testimony). The DHS was created in 2002 “to mobilize and organize our nation to secure the homeland from terrorist attacks.” Its site is a rich information resource for the department’s current and past activities, as well as public interest information relevant to national security, such as foreign and domestic travel and trade; protection from and responses to terrorism and natural disasters; cyberspace safety; and of course the National Threat Advisory color-coded scale. A complementary resource for students and scholars is Introduction to Homeland Security (2nd ed., 2006), by Jane Bullock et al.  Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections. — J. J. Dickens, Mitchell College 

The Economic costs and consequences of terrorism, ed. by Harry W. Richardson, Peter Gordon, and James E. Moore II.  E. Elgar, 2007.  350p bibl index ISBN 1-84542-734-3, $155.00; ISBN 9781845427344, $155.00. Reviewed in 2008jan CHOICE.
45-2715  HV6432  2006-8419 CIP 

The scope of papers in this collection, edited by three University of Southern California faculty members, is broader than the title suggests. A significant part of the book, for example, focuses on the use of risk management techniques in formulating terrorism countermeasures. The range of threats considered is quite impressive–from the disruption of electric power to the poisoning of the water supply and the food chain to attacks on national monuments and theme parks. Papers are generally well written, informative, and thought-provoking, but the volume suffers from several weaknesses. First, there is little in the way of formal economic theory driving most of the essays. Second, terrorist behavior is largely assumed to be static, and the interdependence between terrorist behavior and counterterrorism policy receives scant attention. And finally, much of the analysis relies on untested assumptions and probability estimates that may be difficult to defend. These problems notwithstanding, this volume raises many important questions and is a valuable addition to the empirical literature on the economics of terrorism. Individuals charged with thinking about the design of appropriate counterterrorism and disaster management strategies will want to read this book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. –
J. H. Turek, Lynchburg College 
 
 
Fosher, Kerry B.  Under construction: making homeland security at the local level.  Chicago, 2009.  260p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780226257433, $55.00; ISBN 9780226257440 pbk, $20.00. Reviewed in 2009sep CHOICE.
47-0553  UA928  2008-18266 CIP
 
Fosher (Marine Corps Intelligence Activity) offers an academic exposé of the practical dimensions of doing homeland security. “For the majority of the people involved in homeland security at the local level, what matters most is how to stop attacks, catch attackers, minimize the harm attacks can do, respond adequately to them if they occur, and help after an attack takes place,” she notes in the introduction. To understand this, Fosher offers an ethonographic description of homeland security and weaves a narrative that describes her own encounters with those involved in homeland security in the Boston area. Her broader purpose is to provide an account of one area of national security and admittedly parts from her anthropological roots by largely avoiding the implications of her study on theory. Grappling with post-9/11 homeland security, she describes how contemporary issues are grounded in the civil defense arena of the Cold War, but concludes that the nature of securing the homeland is largely done at the local level. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate collections. –
D. S. Reveron, Naval War College 

International security & counter terrorism reference center.  EBSCO. Contact publisher for pricing.  Internet Resource. Reviewed in 2006apr CHOICE.
43-4411
http://www.epnet.com/ 

[Visited Jan’06] This database fills a niche in the online reference sphere for a searchable full-text resource on security, preparedness, and terrorism. In the aftermath of 9-11, a wealth of new policies and strategies has created a growing body of interdisciplinary literature ranging from intelligence issues to policy making to law enforcement measures. With a target audience of students, risk managers, analysts, and researchers, the Reference Center makes available over 750,000 full-text records covering such topics as homeland security, emergency planning, regional conflict, and risk management.

The familiar EBSCO interface provides a straightforward one-line basic search plus an advanced level search, each of which offers options for limiting and expanding searches. Limiters allow users to narrow results to full-text or peer-reviewed articles, and to set limits by, e.g., date, publication type, number of pages, and articles with images. Searchers can choose the Expander option to search within the text or to search related terms. Also provided is a Folder system enabling users to save articles, searches, and search alerts. Other offerings include a persistent-URL link display option and a Cited References tab. The indexed content goes beyond journal articles to include country reports, trade publications, government agency reports, industry studies, books, and book reviews, with full-text display offered in PDF and/or HTML format. Most indexed sources cover the late 1990s to the present. Some of this material may also be available in more general databases from companies such as LexisNexis and ProQuest, but this database’s specialized niche and up-to-date focus fill a need for libraries supporting security and terrorism research. EBSCO also plans to release a dedicated interface for the Reference Center that will be an option to EBSCOhost for subscribing libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels. — B. J. Hillson, George Mason University

Mandel, Robert.  Global threat: target-centered assessment and management.  Praeger, 2008.  147p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780313358456, $75.00. Reviewed in 2009apr CHOICE.
46-4683  UA23  2008-20458 CIP
 
Military planners and intelligence analysts have traditionally used threat analysis. However, the Department of Homeland Security has recently experimented with new approaches to protect critical infrastructure and mitigate terrorist attacks. Mandel (Lewis and Clark College) enters this arena with two goals: to explain the importance of threat analysis and to make the case for a new form of threat analysis. The argument is that, for a variety of reasons, the target-centered approach is better than older forms that focus on the source of the threat. First, analysts in any given country can more precisely anticipate, calculate, and counter threats to specific targets. Mandel does not like the imprecise older modes of threat analysis that attempt to gather data on sources of threats. Threat analysts usually do not have accurate information about countries, groups, or individuals that pose threats. Hence, their inferences and recommendations are flawed. The author relies on brief case studies to illustrate the above point, the most compelling being the example of Iraq, in which defense and intelligence planners misjudged Iraq’s military capabilities. Other cases are less compelling, and it may be that both forms of threat analysis have their place. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduate through research collections. — J. A. Stever, University of Cincinnati 

Mendelsohn, Barak.  Combating jihadism: American hegemony and interstate cooperation in the war on terrorism.  Chicago, 2009.  293p bibl  index  afp ISBN 9780226520117, $45.00  Reviewed in 2010feb CHOICE.
47-3445   HV6431 CIP

Mendelsohn (Haverford College) explains interstate cooperation in opposing Islamic extremism since 2001 with reference to the English School of international relations, as founded by Hedley Bull.  Specifically, Mendelsohn examines the international response to September 11 in three areas: combating terrorist funding, stemming the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and implementing border controls.  He argues that the decision by states to work with both the US and the UN in these areas is best understood with reference to the nature of al Qaeda as a threat to international society and its shared values and goals, rather than with reference to individual state interests (as the realist view would suggest).  His argument is unique, well stated, and well written.  This book is essential reading for international relations scholars on all levels, from the newest undergraduates to more seasoned researchers and professionals, and it should have a place on every library shelf by virtue of the novelty of the argument and approach.  Summing Up: Essential.  All readership levels. — M. B. Manjikian,  Robertson School of Government, Regent University

Perrow, Charles.  The next catastrophe: reducing our vulnerabilities to natural, industrial, and terrorist disasters.  Princeton, 2007.  377p bibl index afp ISBN 0-691-12997-5, $29.95; ISBN 9780691129976, $29.95.  Outstanding Title! Reviewed in 2007dec CHOICE.
45-2108  HV551  2006-37984 CIP 
  
Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks have exposed the US’s vulnerabilities to natural and unnatural disasters. What should be done to prevent such catastrophes in the future? Acclaimed sociologist and systems analyst Perrow (emer., sociology, Yale), addresses this question. He identifies three classes of disasters–natural, organizational (industrial accidents), and deliberate (terrorism)–and argues that they each arise from a concentration of industrial and critical infrastructures. He locates the sources of these disasters in the concentration of energy (e.g., explosive, toxic, and flammable substances and water dams), human populations, and economic and political power, especially the power industry, the Internet, and food production. Perrow contests the government’s excessive focus on protecting these concentrated targets and instead argues for their deconcentration to make them less attractive to terrorists and less vulnerable to natural and unnatural disasters. The dispersed infrastructures, he concludes, would only make the US more secure without sacrificing efficiency. The book is written in a highly readable prose that is accessible to general audiences. Indispensable for undergraduate/graduate collections in disaster management studies and risk assessment studies, and extremely useful for environmental studies and environmental sociology. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — T. Niazi, University of Wisconsin 

Posner, Eric A.  Terror in the balance: security, liberty, and the courts, by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule.  Oxford, 2007.  319p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-531025-X, $29.95; ISBN 9780195310252, $29.95. Reviewed in 2007sep CHOICE.
45-0544  KF5060  2006-7848 CIP 

Posner (Univ. of Chicago) and Vermeule (Harvard) have performed a vital service for academia. Recently, legal scholars have produced a hefty shelf of books on the civil liberties implications of the war on terror. Most trot out the usual court decisions, cobble together the usual arguments, and reach the usual conclusion: the war on terror is a grave threat to civil liberties, and the courts must vigorously resist it. Posner and Vermeule take a much different tack. They argue that because times of crisis demand secrecy, speed, and flexibility, the courts and the legislature should defer, and historically have deferred, to the executive branch. The act of governing always involves trade-offs between liberty and security, and new threats shift the balance. The very virtues that make the judicial and legislative branches so effective in stable periods may become vices and liabilities in times of crisis. Theirs is a hard-nosed argument–one that many academics, at a safe remove from the frontlines of national security, will likely reject. But one that should be heard nonetheless. Summing Up: Highly recommended Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. — R. D. Stacey, Regent University 

Rees, Wyn.  Transatlantic counter-terrorism cooperation: the new imperative.  Routledge, 2006.  219p bibl index ISBN 0-415-33138-2, $135.00; ISBN 0415331390 pbk, $35.95; ISBN 9780415331388, $135.00; ISBN 9780415331395 pbk, $35.95. Reviewed in 2007sep CHOICE.
45-0531  HV6431  2005-37438 MARC 

Rees (Univ. of Nottingham, UK) has made a critical contribution to the emerging study of international counterterrorist cooperation. His book should serve as the impetus for further study, and as a model for analytical approaches to the issue. The work examines transatlantic counterterrorism cooperation in the context of historical security and law enforcement ties between the US and its European allies. Though centered on policy, Rees places his examination of counterterrorism cooperation within the theoretical literature on regimes, hegemony, and inter-state cooperation. The theoretical discussions allow Rees to consider how well theory and policy mesh in the post-Cold War era. The author examines US-EU, NATO, and G-8 cooperation on counterterrorism. Comparing the three methods through which the US and Europe cooperate provides for an assessment of which venue may generate the most significant level of cooperation, and which theories of international relations best explain the cooperation that exists. Rees looks at law enforcement, intelligence, border control, and financial partnerships in the context of both external and internal policies. Recommendations for the US include the necessity for more co-equal consultation with Europe; the EU is advised to take a larger leadership role in global counterterrorism. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — W. W. Newmann, Virginia Commonwealth University 

Robertson, Ann E.  Terrorism and global security.  Facts on File, 2007.  408p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8160-6766-X, $45.00. Reviewed in 2008mar CHOICE.
45-3566  HV6432  2006-29477 CIP 
 
This volume by Robertson (Memorial Inst. for the Prevention of Terrorism) successfully meets its goal of being “a first-stop resource for research on the key challenges facing the world today.” Part of the “Global Issues” series, it consists of three sections: “At Issue,” “Primary Sources,” and “Research Tools.” The first part offers an extensive introduction to many aspects of terrorism–from its definition to a discussion of terrorists’ identity and tactics to information on counterterrorism efforts. Robertson also discusses domestic terrorism, foreign terrorists and their US activities, and antiterrorism efforts in the US. Additionally, she focuses on various countries and the terrorist threats they face, including Great Britain, Germany, Japan, and Colombia. “Primary Sources” contains US and foreign documents, including international conventions, statements by various officials, and criminal complaints against terrorists. The outstanding “Research Tools” section provides support ranging from selecting a topic to creating an argument. It includes information from a variety of sources, e.g., traditional print and online reference resources. The volume also includes “Facts and Figures,” “Key Players,” “Organizations and Agencies,” an annotated bibliography, and a chronology (1920-2007). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. — K. Evans, Indiana State University 

Sauter, Mark A.  Homeland security: a complete guide to understanding, preventing, and surviving terrorism, by Mark A. Sauter and James Jay Carafano.  McGraw-Hill, 2005.  483p bibl index afp ISBN 0-07-144064-X, $69.95. Reviewed in 2005dec CHOICE.
43-2506  HV6432  2004-30511 MARC 
 
Sauter and Carafano have compiled an excellent resource from a criminal justice and history perspective, and they have organized it according to homeland security origins, terrorism, and general homeland security. What sets this book apart from others is its coverage of infrastructure and the important role of private business in almost all things related to homeland security. The highly qualified authors do a good job showing how contemporary domestic security has metamorphosed since the era of the world wars. They overuse the phrase “modern terrorism,” and do so without adequately distinguishing it from the so-called old terrorism. Chapter 11 is underdeveloped. Of the five appendixes, four are significant. Appendix 1, which describes Islamic terrorist groups, is outdated and should cover all terrorist groups. The authors state that the 18 stand-alone chapters help “build a full conceptual foundation for understanding and responding to the threat of terrorism.” They are correct. If this book becomes available in paperback, it should be adopted for classroom use: the short chapter quizzes are valuable, and the chapter objectives could easily be turned into short assignments. Regardless, it should currently be in libraries as a homeland security reference. Superb index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, researchers, and faculty. — P. Fagan, College of the Southwest 

Treverton, Gregory F.  Intelligence for an age of terror.  Cambridge, 2009.  306p bibl index; ISBN 9780521518451, $29.99. Reviewed in 2009dec CHOICE.
47-2282  JK468  2008-47224 CIP 
  
Treverton (director, RAND Corporation’s Center for Global Risk) has an extensive background in intelligence. This book is his most important yet. He describes a paradigm shift so crucial for intelligence that its implications are only beginning to be felt. In the Cold War days, intelligence was produced for policymakers and military commanders. It was always secondary to the military in importance. Due to terrorism, the consumers are now tens of thousands of first responders and police officers who must also serve as intelligence collectors. The line between strategic intelligence and tactical intelligence has become blurred. In terms of protecting the citizenry, intelligence is more important than the military–at least when it comes to dealing with terrorism. Treverton describes clearly and effectively how poorly the intelligence community is structured to meet the current threats. The second portion of the book deals with detailed bureaucratic proposals and it is heavy going even with frequent reference to the four-page list of acronyms. This material is best reserved for inside-the-Beltway policy wonks. The final third of the book is devoted to constitutional threats posed by terrorism. Treverton is not optimistic. Since the threat is within as well as from abroad, intelligence becomes more intrusive into the private lives of US citizens. Given the fear levels in the US, he feels that the Dick Cheney vision for America will probably prevail over those concerned with civil liberties. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — H. Nelsen, emeritus, University of South Florida

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