Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism by Richard English (Wardlaw Professor of Politics, Director of the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) Fellow of the British Academy, Wardlaw Professor of Politics, Director of the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) Fellow of the British Academy, University of St Andrews)
Terrorism and counter-terrorism represent enduringly and globally important phenomena, and the mutually shaping relationship between non-state terrorism and state counter-terrorism continues to influence world politics. Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism brings together leading scholars in the field to analyse this relationship, and to do so in distinctive manner. The book sustainedly assesses the interaction of terrorism and counter-terrorism through drawing on a range of academic disciplines in dialogue with one another. It addresses the dynamics of counter-terrorism more interrogatively and concentratedly than is common in much of the scholarly literature, and it highlights a theme that is all too rarely considered in the field: namely, the shared and mutually-echoing failings and illusions involved in the politics of terrorism and counter-terrorism alike. Chapters analyse post-9/11 counter-terrorism, the ongoing evolution of al-Qaida, the imperatives and challenges and global context of western counter-terrorist efforts, and the reasons why terrorist campaigns sometimes endure and sometimes come to an end. Candid and wide-ranging, Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism offers rigorous and original argument on a subject of the highest significance.