Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism

Undoubtedly, the events of September 11, 2001, served as a wake-up call to the scourge of global terrorism facing twenty-first-century societies. But was the attack on the World Trade Center a crime or an act of war? Is seemingly indiscriminate violence inflicted on civilians ever morally justified? And should society's response always be in kind—with blind, destructive violence? For that matter, are all civilians truly "innocent"? The answers are not always so simple.

Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Ethics and Liberal Democracy provides sobering analyses of the nature of terrorism and the moral justification—or lack thereof—of terrorist actions and counter-terrorism measures in today's world. Utilising a variety of thought-provoking philosophical arguments, the historic roots of terrorism and its contemporary incarnations are explored in depth.

Detailed analyses of organisations such as the IRA, ANC, Hamas, and al-Qaeda reveal the many faces of terrorism and its disparate motives and tactics. Early chapters on the definition of terrorism, and whether terrorism is ever morally justified, are balanced with discussions on counter-terrorism strategies, methods, and moral limits on counter-terrorism to provide insights into the complexities and ethical dilemmas posed by terrorism in today's world.

Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism will greatly broaden our understanding of the nature and morality of terrorism and counter-terrorist pursuits—a crucial precondition for establishing any form of enduring peace between nations in the twenty-first-century world.