Terrorism & America – A Commonsense Strategy for a Democratic Society (BCSIA Studies in International Security) - Hardcover

Heyman, Philip

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262082721 ISBN 13: 9780262082723

Publisher: MIT Press, 1998

Synopsis

The bombings of the World Trade Center and the Oaklahoma City federal building have shown that terrorist attacks can happen anywhere in the United States. Around the globe, massacres, hijackings, and bombings of airliners are frequent reminders of the threat of terrorism. The use of poison gas in the Tokyo subway has raised the spectre of even more horrible forms of terror - including the use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In this book, Philip Heymann argues that the United States and other democracies can fight terrorism while preserving liberty and maintaining a healthy, unified society. Drawing on his experience in the U.S. Departments of State and Justice, he shows how domestic and foreign intelligence-gathering can thwart terrorism, how the United States must cooperate and share information with its allies, and how terrorism can be prevented in many cases. Terrorism will never disappear completely, but the policies Heymann offers can limit the harm to Americans and protect the integrity of U.S. governmental processes.

About this title

Review

-- Ronald Payne, Times Literary Supplement

-- Professor Ariel Merari, Head of the Political Violence Unit, Tel Aviv University, and founder and former commander of Israel's Hostage Negotiations and Crisis Management Team

" A useful contribution to the growing body of work on terrorism." -- Ronald Payne, Times Literary Supplement

" In an area burdened with cliches, this book is a breeze of sanity and wisdom... It is must reading for every person concerned with coping with terrorism in a democratic society." -- Professor Ariel Merari, Head of the Political Violence Unit, Tel Aviv University, and founder and former commander of Israel's Hostage Negotiations and Crisis Management Team

" Heymann offers a range of intelligent... suggestions for handling traditional terrorist threats, from avoiding concessions, cooperating with allies, and prosecuting suspects, to relying on crack hostage-rescue teams or military retaliation where appropriate. He makes a persuasive case for avoiding overreaction, arguing both that it would be tragic for democracies to abandon their cherished freedoms and principles in a quest for absolute security and that there is little reason to believe that a heavy-handed approach to counter-terrorism would work." -- Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs

& quot; A useful contribution to the growing body of work on terrorism.& quot; -- Ronald Payne, Times Literary Supplement

& quot; In an area burdened with cliches, this book is a breeze of sanity and wisdom... It is must reading for every person concerned with coping with terrorism in a democratic society.& quot; -- Professor Ariel Merari, Head of the Political Violence Unit, Tel Aviv University, and founder and former commander of Israel's Hostage Negotiations and Crisis Management Team

& quot; Heymann offers a range of intelligent... suggestions for handling traditional terrorist threats, from avoiding concessions, cooperating with allies, and prosecuting suspects, to relying on crack hostage-rescue teams or military retaliation where appropriate. He makes a persuasive case for avoiding overreaction, arguing both that it would be tragic for democracies to abandon their cherished freedoms and principles in a quest for absolute security and that there is little reason to believe that a heavy-handed approach to counter-terrorism would work.& quot; -- Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs

"A useful contribution to the growing body of work on terrorism."-- Ronald Payne, "Times Literary Supplement"

"Heymann offers a range of intelligent... suggestions for handling traditional terrorist threats, from avoiding concessions, cooperating with allies, and prosecuting suspects, to relying on crack hostage-rescue teams or military retaliation where appropriate. He makes a persuasive case for avoiding overreaction, arguing both that it would be tragic for democracies to abandon their cherished freedoms and principles in a quest for absolute security and that there is little reason to believe that a heavy-handed approach to counter-terrorism would work."-- Gideon Rose, "Foreign Affairs"

About the Author

Ester van der Voet is Associate Professor of Industrial Ecology in the Institute for Environmental Sciences at the University of Leiden. She is the coeditor of Heavy Metals: A Problem Solved?.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262082721
• ISBN 13: 9780262082723
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 203