Wow! eBook
The New Face of Terrorism: Threats from Weapons of Mass Destruction 3rd revised edition
Author(s): Nadine Gurr (Author), Benjamin Cole (Author)
- Publisher: I B Tauris & Co Ltd
- Publication Date: 30 Aug. 2009
- Edition: 3rd revised edition
- Language: English
- Print length: 336 pages
- ISBN-10: 1860648258
- ISBN-13: 9781860648250
Book Description
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN), terrorism and the war on terror are major features of international relations and global concern. Terrorist threats and actual violence have become increasingly dangerous and lethal since the 1970s. However, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 heralded a new era in terrorist action and was the culmination of a terror campaign against American targets world-wide. The revised 3rd edition of ‘The New Face of Terrorism’ evaluates the continuing threat and counter-measures since ‘9/11’ and into the 21st century. It points out that while the mass-destruction of ‘9/11’ has not been repeated there has been a steady, if small, increase in attacks involving CBRN elements, sometimes combined with conventional explosives. The prime suspects have been al-Qaeda and its associates and there have been attacks in the USA, Britain, Italy, Spain and theatres of war like Afghanistan and Iraq. The New Face of Terrorism is a sober and measured evaluation of the CBRN threat and argues that continuing terror attacks are inevitable and the ‘war on terror’ will be a continuing feature in international politics and military action. Yet much fear can be the result of suspicion and hearsay and effective counter-terrorist measures must be measured and based not only on effective police and military intelligence and action but on careful evaluation of the politics, motivations, scientific and technical abilities of groups – no terrorist group has made a nuclear device – and religious and personal motivation.
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘The topic is unquestionably of major importance, on a par with some of the most serious environmental dangers we face.’ –Adrian Guelke, Professor of Comparative Politics at the Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict, Queen’s University, Belfast and author of ‘Terrorism and Global Disorder’
About the Author
Dr Benjamin Cole is an Honorary Reserach Fellow at the Centre for Critical Incident Research, School of Psychology, University of Liverpool – a new academic body specialising in the phenomenon of terrorism. He received his PhD in International relations from Southampton University in 1998. He is the editor of Conflict, Terrorism and the Media in Asia (Routledge 2006) and co-author with Dr Nadine Gurr of The New Face of Terrorism (IB Tauris 2001 and 2002).
