1st Edition

Responding to Terrorism Political, Philosophical and Legal Perspectives

By Robert Imre, T. Brian Mooney Copyright 2008

    Terrorism and political violence as a field is growing and expanding. This volume provides a cross-disciplinary analysis - political, philosophical and legal - in a single text and will appeal to readers interested in studying this phenomenon from all perspectives. The volume covers the full spectrum of issues, including torture, terrorism causes and cures, legal issues, globalization and counter-terrorism. The authors bring their individual specialities to the fore in a concise and easy to follow format. Comprehensive and well informed, Responding to Terrorism will appeal to a variety of disciplines including sociology, politics, security studies, philosophy, international law and religious studies. The originality of the volume makes it a valuable addition to any college or university library and classroom.

    Introduction; Chapter 1 Terrorism: Causes and Cures; The Socio-politics of Terror: Poverty, Evil, Statecraft and Modernity, Rob Imre; An International Law Approach, Ben Clarke; Chapter 2 Is Torture an Effective Response to Terrorism?; Torture Works: But not on Terrorists, Imre Rob; Torture, Tragedy and Natural Law, T. Brian Mooney; Terrorism, Torture and the Rule of Law, Ben Clarke; Chapter 3 Is International Terrorism an Inevitable Consequence of Globalization?; Legal Aspects of Globalization, Ben Clarke; Terrorism, Story-Telling and Existential Communication, T. Brian Mooney; The Politics of Religious Violence, Rob Imre; Chapter 4 Counter-Terrorism: Public/Social Policy, Social Engineering and Just War; Bungle in, Bungle out, Muddle through, Rob Imre; Effective Counter-Terrorism: Sound Foreign Policy, Intelligence Gathering, Policing, Social Engineering and Necessary Use of Force, Ben Clarke; Just War and Terrorism, T. Brian Mooney;

    Biography

    Dr Robert Imre is Senior Research Fellow at the Research Institute for Organisational and Institutional Performance Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, Australia, T. Brian Mooney is Associate Professor of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore. Benjamin Clarke is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Law, University of Notre Dame, Australia.

    'This volume, which focuses on Australian perspectives on terrorism, provides significant new dimensions. Four main areas are treated in this intriguing analysis: responses to uses of torture, legal approaches, terrorism as a consequence of globalisation and counter-terrorism. There is a nice blend of the heterodox, theoretical and concrete cases. Without doubt this is a challenging, perceptive and useful book that must be essential reading in the sometimes hyper-ventilated field of terrorism studies.' Alan O'Day, Greyfriars Hall, University of Oxford, UK 'Terror does not respect disciplinary boundaries. In confronting the global reality of terror from philosophical, political and legal perspectives, Imre, Mooney and Clarke, open the way for deeper and more considered responses to our age. Their message is one of totality, of the need to consider terrorism as a crisis of ideas, of politics and of laws. In this they offer a wealth of insights to both researchers and policymakers.' Kieran Tranter, Griffith University, Australia 'What is the nature and source of terrorism? What responses to it are effective and just? The authors of this deeply engaging and thoughtful volume carefully address these difficult questions in a way that is informed by politics, philosophy and law. The result is an illuminating insight into the complexity of the phenomenon of contemporary terrorism.' John N. Williams, Singapore Management University, Singapore 'The book is unique in its sociopolitical, philosophical, and legal approach, which creates an alternative to the numerous economic, military, and area studies perspectives that generally dominate the literature...The book is an excellent resource for upper-division undergraduates and graduate students in political science, sociology, law, and philosophy programs...Highly recommended.' Choice 'The book is a very useful addition to the literature on international terrorism and should find a place in all libraries which focus on