Outsmarting The Terrorists

Given that the war on terror is currently being fought the way crime typically is-after the fact-this country cannot protect its citizens from future terrorist events solely in this way. Instead, measures must be taken to actually stop terrorists before they can attack. Here, the authors argue that government anti-terrorism policy must pay much more attention to reducing opportunities for terrorist attacks by protecting vulnerable targets, controlling the tools and weapons used by terrorists, and by removing the conditions of everyday life that make these attacks possible. While some of this work is done on an ad hoc basis, there are no recognized methods to guide the work, there is limited experience on which to draw, and the government has no trained professionals to oversee the work. In this book, the authors address these deficiencies, and lay out a systematic approach for reducing opportunities for terrorism. The current "take-them-out mindset" may be the main reason why reducing opportunities for terrorism has been so neglected by governments, but another important reason is that the task seems so overwhelmingly difficult. How can we possibly protect every vulnerable target or person? How can we control all the everyday tools that terrorists must use in carrying out their attacks? How can we control their weapons when we cannot even keep guns out the hands of ordinary criminals? In this book, the authors show that these tasks are indeed manageable. They take readers through the methods for preventing terrorism and the policies that will assist in this important work. They show that in order to protect the country from terrorists, security forces must do what the terrorists do: identify vulnerable targets, analyze their specific weaknesses, consider the tools and weapons needed to attack, and assess access to the targets. Once these steps are taken, security agencies can then provide appropriate protection, limit accessibility, anticipate the forces needed to combat a potential attack, and plan carefully for an attack if it does occur. By "outsmarting the terrorists" security forces undertake the same analysis of vulnerabilities and opportunities that terrorists themselves undertake in planning their operations, and can more effectively defeat them before they strike. This books shows how this approach works and can succeed.

Given that the war on terror is currently being fought the way crime typically is—after the fact—this country cannot protect its citizens from future terrorist events solely in this way. Instead, measures must be taken to actually stop terrorists before they can attack. Here, the authors argue that government anti-terrorism policy must pay much more attention to reducing opportunities for terrorist attacks by protecting vulnerable targets, controlling the tools and weapons used by terrorists, and removing the conditions of everyday life that make these attacks possible. While some of this work is being done on an ad hoc basis, there are no recognized methods to guide the work, there is limited experience on which to draw, and the government has no trained professionals to oversee the work. In this book, the authors address these deficiencies, and lay out a systematic approach for reducing opportunities for terrorism. The current take-them-out mindset may be the main reason why reducing opportunities for terrorism has been so neglected by governments, but another important reason is that the task seems so overwhelmingly difficult. How can we possibly protect every vulnerable target or person? How can we control all the everyday tools that terrorists must use in carrying out their attacks? How can we control their weapons when we cannot even keep guns out the hands of ordinary criminals? In this book, the authors show that these tasks are indeed manageable. They take readers through the methods for preventing terrorism and the policies that will assist in this important work. They show that in order to protect the country from terrorists, security forces must do what the terrorists do: identify vulnerable targets, analyze their specific weaknesses, consider the tools and weapons needed to attack, and assess access to the targets. Once these steps are taken, security agencies can then provide appropriate protection, limit accessibility, anticipate the forces needed to combat a potential attack, and plan carefully for an attack if it does occur. By outsmarting the terrorists security forces undertake the same analysis of vulnerabilities and opportunities that terrorists themselves undertake in planning their operations, and can more effectively defeat them before they strike. This books shows how this approach works and can succeed.

Offers a new and innovative method for combatting terrorism before it happens.

This book provides the first empirical analysis of lone-actor terrorist behaviour. Based upon a unique dataset of 111 lone actors that catalogues the life span of the individual’s development, the book contains important insights into what an analysis of their behaviours might imply for practical interventions aimed at disrupting or even preventing attacks. It adopts insights and methodologies from criminology and forensic psychology to provide a holistic analysis of the behavioural underpinnings of lone-actor terrorism. By focusing upon the behavioural aspects of each offender and by analysing a variety of case studies, including Anders Breivik, Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and David Copeland, this work marks a pointed departure from previous research in the field. It seeks to answer the following key questions: Is there a lone-actor terrorist profile and how do they differ? What behaviours did the lone-actor terrorist engage in prior to his/her attack and is there a common behavioural trajectory into lone-actor terrorism? How ‘lone’ do lone-actor terrorists tend to be? What role, if any, does the internet play? What role, if any, does mental illness play? This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism/counter-terrorism studies, political violence, criminology, forensic psychology and security studies in general.

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER​ Named one of the most anticipated novels of the season by People, Associated Press, Time, Los Angeles Times, Parade, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and more. From the #1 bestselling authors Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny comes a novel of unsurpassed thrills and incomparable insider expertise—State of Terror. After a tumultuous period in American politics, a new administration has just been sworn in, and to everyone’s surprise the president chooses a political enemy for the vital position of secretary of state. There is no love lost between the president of the United States and Ellen Adams, his new secretary of state. But it’s a canny move on the part of the president. With this appointment, he silences one of his harshest critics, since taking the job means Adams must step down as head of her multinational media conglomerate. As the new president addresses Congress for the first time, with Secretary Adams in attendance, Anahita Dahir, a young foreign service officer (FSO) on the Pakistan desk at the State Department, receives a baffling text from an anonymous source. Too late, she realizes the message was a hastily coded warning. What begins as a series of apparent terrorist attacks is revealed to be the beginning of an international chess game involving the volatile and Byzantine politics of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran; the race to develop nuclear weapons in the region; the Russian mob; a burgeoning rogue terrorist organization; and an American government set back on its heels in the international arena. As the horrifying scale of the threat becomes clear, Secretary Adams and her team realize it has been carefully planned to take advantage of four years of an American government out of touch with international affairs, out of practice with diplomacy, and out of power in the places where it counts the most. To defeat such an intricate, carefully constructed conspiracy, it will take the skills of a unique team: a passionate young FSO; a dedicated journalist; and a smart, determined, but as yet untested new secretary of state. State of Terror is a unique and utterly compelling international thriller cowritten by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th secretary of state, and Louise Penny, a multiple award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling novelist.

A book that will change the way we think about al-Qaeda, intelligence, and the events that forever changed America.

Although there has been an increase in research on terrorism across the social and behavioural sciences in the past few decades, until recently most of this work has originated from political science, psychology or economics. Therefore, our focus in this book on criminological conceptual frameworks and empirical studies that engage terrorism and responses to it is unique. We include a distinguished group of researchers that offer their distinctive insights into criminological perspectives on terrorism. The contributors focus on criminological perspectives that have rarely, if ever, been previously applied to the study of terrorism. This includes a range of perspectives from rational choice to social disorganization; from strain to routine activities theory. This volume will advance understanding of terrorism by taking advantage of criminological contributions, and at the same time will serve as a useful update to the criminologists and their students already working in this area. It would also be a helpful introduction to those criminologists and their students who would like to be more engaged in this important area of research. This book was originally published as a special issue of Terrorism and Political Violence.

Terrorism, Crime, and Public Policy describes the problem of terrorism; compares it to other forms of aggression, particularly crime and war; and discusses policy options for dealing with the terrorism. It focuses on the causes of terrorism with the aim of understanding its roots and providing insights toward policies that will serve to prevent it. The book serves as a single-source reference on terrorism and as a platform for more in-depth study, with a set of discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Individual chapters focus on the nature of terrorism, theories of aggression and terrorism, the history of terrorism, the role of religion, non-religious extremism and terrorism, the role of technology, terrorism throughout the modern world, responses to terrorism, fear of terrorism, short-term approaches and long-term strategies for preventing terrorism, balancing security and rights to liberty and privacy, and pathways to a safer and saner 21st century.

Bidragydere: Bruce Hoffman; Andrew Silke; John Horgan; Gavin Cameron; Leonard Weinberg; William Eubank; Avishag Gordon; Walter Enders; Todd Sandler; Louise Richardson; Frederick Schulze; Gaetano Joe Ilardi

The author presents a clear-sighted and sobering analysis of where we are today in the struggle against terrorism. Jenkins, an internationally renowned authority on terrorism, distills the jihadists' operational code and outlines a pragmatic but principled approach to defeating the terrorist enterprise. We need to build upon our traditions of determination and self-reliance, he argues, and above all, preserve our commitment to American values.