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Book Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence written by Dipak K. Gupta and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains the lifecycle of terrorist organizations from an innovative theoretical perspective, combining economics with social psychology. It provides a new approach to understanding human behaviour in organized society, and then uses this to analyze the forces shaping the lifecycle of violent political movements. Economic and rational-choice theorists assume that human beings are motivated only by self-utility, yet terrorism is ultimately an altruistic act in the eyes of its participants. This book highlights the importance of the desire to belong to a group as a motivating factor, and argues that all of us face an eternal trade-off between selfishness and community concern. This hypothesis is explored through four key groups; the IRA in Northern Ireland, Al Qaeda, Hamas, and the Naxalites in India. Through this, the book analyzes the birth, growth, transformation and demise of violent political movements, and ends with an analysis of the conditions which determine the outcome of the war against terrorism. Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence will be essential reading for advanced students of terrorism studies and political science, and of great interest to students of social psychology and sociology.

Book Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism and Political Violence written by Dipak K. Gupta and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a multidisciplinary approach to understanding human behavior and uses it to analyze the forces shaping the life cycle of violent political movements. This new edition has been revised and updated, with three new chapters added. The second edition takes us deeper inside human motivations, which cause otherwise rational people to join dissident groups, willing to kill and be killed. In doing so, the book draws upon research on brain science, evolutionary biology, and social psychology to help explain pathological collective behavior. From the motivations of individual participants, the book turns to the evolution of terrorist groups by venturing into theories of organizational development. Together, these theories explain the life cycle – the birth, growth, transformation from an ideological group to a criminal syndicate, and demise – of a dissident organization. These hypotheses are supported with detailed case studies of three disparate terrorist movements: the nationalists of the IRA, the communist Naxalites of India, and the religious fundamentalists of al-Qaeda and ISIS. The book’s theory leads to an explanation of the current global trend of rising tribalism and authoritarianism. The author warns that this latest wave of xenophobia and authoritarianism is likely to be exacerbated by climate change and the consequent rise in sea levels, which could displace millions from the areas least able to mitigate the effects of global warming to the countries that can. This book will be essential reading for students of terrorism studies, and of great interest to students of social psychology, political science, and sociology.

Book Terrorism and Political Violence

Download or read book Terrorism and Political Violence written by Caroline Kennedy-Pipe and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2015-02-10 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces you to the key issues in contemporary studies on Terrorism. Its interdisciplinary approach provides a unique intellectual rigour which introduces readers to cutting-edge research. Bringing together chapters contributed by members of the Terrorism and Political Violence Association network, it offers an insight into a variety of traditional and critical perspectives. It also equips Undergraduate and Postgraduate students with the study skills needed to succeed in coursework and assignments, especially dissertation work. Drawing on the expertise of TAPVA members, this book: Explores contemporary issues, such as drone warfare, state violence, children and political violence, cyber-terrorism and de-radicalisation. Features case studies drawn from a range of international examples, lists of further reading, key concepts and questions for use in seminars and private study. Provides you with study skills content designed to help you complete your dissertation. This is the perfect textbook to guide you through your studies in terrorism, political violence, international security and strategic studies.

Book What Terrorists Want

Download or read book What Terrorists Want written by Louise Richardson and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2007-11-13 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is at the top of my list for best books on terrorism.” –Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill How can the most powerful country in the world feel so threatened by an enemy infinitely weaker than we are? How can loving parents and otherwise responsible citizens join terrorist movements? How can anyone possibly believe that the cause of Islam can be advanced by murdering passengers on a bus or an airplane? In this important new book, groundbreaking scholar Louise Richardson answers these questions and more, providing an indispensable guide to the greatest challenge of our age. After defining–once and for all–what terrorism is, Richardson explores its origins, its goals, what’s to come, and what is to be done about it. Having grown up in rural Ireland and watched her friends join the Irish Republican Army, Richardson knows from firsthand experience how terrorism can both unite and destroy a community. As a professor at Harvard, she has devoted her career to explaining terrorist movements throughout history and around the globe. From the biblical Zealots to the medieval Islamic Assassins to the anarchists who infiltrated the cities of Europe and North America at the turn of the last century, terrorists have struck at enemies far more powerful than themselves with targeted acts of violence. Yet Richardson understands that terrorists are neither insane nor immoral. Rather, they are rational political actors who often deploy carefully calibrated tactics in a measured and reasoned way. What is more, they invariably go to great lengths to justify their actions to themselves, their followers, and, often, the world. Richardson shows that the nature of terrorism did not change after the attacks of September 11, 2001; what changed was our response. She argues that the Bush administration’s “global war on terror” was doomed to fail because of an ignorance of history, a refusal to learn from the experience of other governments, and a fundamental misconception about how and why terrorists act. As an alternative, Richardson offers a feasible strategy for containing the terrorist threat and cutting off its grassroots support. The most comprehensive and intellectually rigorous account of terrorism yet, What Terrorists Want is a daring intellectual tour de force that allows us, at last, to reckon fully with this major threat to today’s global order. KIRKUS- starred review "The short answer? Fame and payback, perhaps even a thrill. The long answer? Read this essential, important primer. Terrorist groups have many motives and ideologies, notes Richardson (Executive Dean/Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study), but they tend to similar paths: They are founded by mature, well-educated men but staffed by less learned and certainly more pliable youths; they are fueled by a sense of injustice and the conviction that only they are morally equipped to combat it; they see themselves as defenders and not aggressors; they often define the terms of battle. And, of course, this commonality: "Terrorists have elevated practices that are normally seen as the excesses of warfare to routine practice, striking noncombatants not as an unintended side effect but as a deliberate strategy." Thus massacres, suicide bombings and assassinations are all in a day's work. Richardson argues against Karl Rove, who after 9/11 mocked those who tried to understand the enemy, by noting that only when authorities make efforts to get inside the minds of their terrorist enemies do they succeed in defeating them, as with the leadership of the Shining Path movement in Peru. Still, as Rove knows, if terrorists share a pathology, then so do at least some of their victims: Once attacked, people in democratic societies are more than willing to trade freedom for security. Richardson closes by offering a set of guidelines for combating terrorism, with such easily remembered rules as "Live by your principles" and "Engage others in countering terrorists with you"–observing, in passing, that the Bush administration's attack on Iraq and subsequent occupation will likely be remembered as serving as a recruiting poster for still more terrorists. How to win? Develop communities, settle grievances, exercise patience and intelligence. That said, watch for more terrorism to come: "We are going to have to learn to live with it and to accept it as a price of living in a complex world." _________________________________________________________________________________ “Louise Richardson . . . has now produced the overdue and essential primer on terrorism and how to tackle it. What Terrorists Want is the book many have been waiting for.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice) “Lucid and powerful, Richardson’s book refutes the dangerous idea that there’s no point in trying to understand terrorists. . . . rich, readable.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “The kind of brisk and accessible survey of terrorism-as-modus operandi that has been sorely missing for the past five years . . . [What Terrorists Want] ought to be required reading as the rhetoric mounts this campaign season.”—The American Prospect “Richardson is one of the relative handful of experts who have been studying the history and practice of terrorism since the Cold War. . . . This book is a welcome source of information. It’s written by a true expert, giving her measured thoughts.”—Christian Science Monitor “Richardson’s clear language and deep humanity make What Terrorists Want the one book that must be read by everyone who cares about why people resort to the tactic of terrorism.”–Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus “This is a book of hope. Terrorism, like the poor, will always be with us in one form or another. But given sensible policies, we can contain it without destroying what we hold dear.”–Financial Times “A passionate, incisive, and groundbreaking argument that provocatively overturns the myths surrounding terrorism.”–Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “In its lucid analysis and summary, [What Terrorists Want] is simply the best thing of its kind available now in this highly crowded area.”–The Evening Standard “If a reader has the time to read only one book on terrorism, What Terrorists Want is that book. Extensive historical knowledge, personal contacts, enormous analytic skills, common sense, and a fine mix of lucidity and clarity, make of this work a most satisfying dissection of terrorists’ motives and goals, and of the effects of September 11, 2001. Richardson also offers a sharp critique of American counterterrorism policies, and a sensible plan for better ones.”–Stanley Hoffmann, Buttenwieser University Professor, Harvard University “An astonishingly insightful analysis by one of the world’s leading authorities on terrorism, this book is filled with wisdom–based not only on the author’s extensive and long-term study of terrorism but also on her experience growing up in a divided Ireland.”–Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill “A wide-ranging, clear headed, crisply written, cogently argued anatomy of terrorist groups around the world.”–Peter Bergen, senior fellow, New America Foundation, and author of The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader “Among the numerous books published on terrorism after the 9/11 attacks, Louise Richardson’s stands out as an unusually wise, sensible, and humane treatise. An engrossing and lucid book, which hopefully will be read by many and spread its unique spirit of realistic optimism.” –Ariel Merari, Professor of Psychology, Tel Aviv University “Thoughtful and stimulating . . . Controversially, and indeed courageously, [Richardson] argues that, instead of regarding the terrorists–even al-Qaeda types–as mindless and irrational creatures motivated by dark forces of evil, it would be more constructive to examine and seek to moderate some of the grievances that drive previously normal and even nondescript characters to kill and maim innocent people they don’t even know.”–The Irish Times “A textbook and a myth-buster . . . [Richardson] is calling for nothing less than a total re-evaluation of how we consider, and react to, terrorism. . . . What Terrorists Want ought to be on the bookshelf in every government office. Certainly, for any student of international affairs it is an essential reading.” –The Atlantic Affairs

Book Understanding Terrorism

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism written by Gus Martin and published by SAGE Publications, Incorporated. This book was released on 2017-10-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[Gus Martin] has expertly curated the most important topics and sources in the field and put them together in an ideal manner to assist students in understanding the breadth and complexity of modern-day terrorism. Coupled with the instructor and student resources, this text is a perfect introduction to the field.” —Ryan Vogel, Director of National Security Studies, Utah Valley University Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues offers a multidisciplinary, comprehensive exploration of domestic and international terrorism that helps students develop the knowledge and skills needed to critically assess the expressions and underlying causes of terrorism. The Sixth Edition has been updated with new information on terrorist attacks and organizations, as well as key topics such as failed states, the lone-wolf model, state terrorism, human rights violations, and cyberterrorism. Discussion of policies and counterterrorism has been augmented to help students understand the challenges, perspectives, and issues relevant to terrorism today. Give your students the SAGE edge! SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Learn more at edge.sagepub.com/martin6e.

Book Explaining Terrorism

Download or read book Explaining Terrorism written by Martha Crenshaw and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume comprises some of the key essays by Professor Crenshaw, from 1972 to the present-day, on the causes, processes and consequences of terrorism. Since the early 1970s, scholars and practitioners have tried to explain terrorism and to assess the effectiveness of government responses to the threat. From its beginnings in a small handful of analytical studies, the research field has expanded to thousands of entries, with an enormous spike following the 9/11 attacks. The field of terrorism studies is now impressive in terms of quantity, scope, and variety. Professor Crenshaw had studied terrorism since the late 1960s, well before it was topical, and this selection of her work represents the development of her thought over time in four areas: defining terrorism and identifying its causes the different methods used to explain terrorism, including strategic, organisational and psychological approaches how campaigns of terrorism end how governments can effectively contribute to the ending of terrorism. This collection of essays by one of the pioneering thinkers in the field of terrorism studies will be essential reading for all students of political violence and terrorism, security studies and IR/politics in general.

Book Terrorism Studies

    Book Details:
  • Author : John Horgan
  • Publisher : Routledge
  • Release : 2012
  • ISBN : 0415455049
  • Pages : 526 pages

Download or read book Terrorism Studies written by John Horgan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive reader seeks to equip the aspiring student, based anywhere in the world, with a comprehensive introduction to the study of terrorism.

Book Walking Away from Terrorism

Download or read book Walking Away from Terrorism written by John Horgan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This accessible new book looks at how and why individuals leave terrorist movements, and considers the lessons and implications that emerge from this process. Focusing on the tipping points for disengagement from groups such as Al Qaeda, the IRA and the UVF, this volume is informed by the dramatic and sometimes extraordinary accounts that the terrorists themselves offered to the author about why they left terrorism behind. The book examines three major issues: what we currently know about de-radicalisation and disengagement how discussions with terrorists about their experiences of disengagement can show how exit routes come about, and how they then fare as ‘ex-terrorists’ away from the structures that protected them what the implications of these findings are for law-enforcement officers, policy-makers and civil society on a global scale. Concluding with a series of thought-provoking yet controversial suggestions for future efforts at controlling terrorist behaviour, Walking Away From Terrorism provides an comprehensive introduction to disengagement and de-radicalisation and offers policymakers a series of considerations for the development of counter-radicalization and de-radicalisation processes. This book will be essential reading for students of terrorism and political violence, war and conflict studies, security studies and political psychology. John Horgan is Director of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at the Pennsylvania State University. He is one of the world's leading experts on terrorist psychology, and has authored over 50 publications in this field; recent books include the The Psychology of Terrorism (Routledge 2005) and Leaving Terrorism Behind (co-edited, Routledge 2008)

Book Understanding Terrorism

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism written by Gus Martin and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2010 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As in previous editions, Understanding Terrorism, Third Edition offers a multi-disciplinary, comprehensive exploration of contemporary terrorism that helps readers develop the knowledge and skills they need to critically assess terrorism in general and terrorist incidents in particular. The Third Edition offers new, updated theories and cases, offers a consolidated discussion of ideological terrorism, and new photographs, updated tables, enhanced graphics and a new two-color design. Key Features: - A "one-stop shop" for understanding terrorism, emphasizing contextual analysis and multiple perspectives - New or expanded case studies and profiles, covering such topics as the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, women as terrorists, events in Zimbabwe, the Palestinian movement and other religious terrorism, the death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Hezbollah, FARC (including the Betancourt operation), recent narco-terrorist events in Mexico, and terrorist profiles of Leila Khaled and Abu Nidal - Includes "Opening Viewpoints" at the beginning of each chapter with relevant examples to introduce readers to the themes and theories in the discussion that follows - Updated throughout with new Chapter Perspectives, Cases in Point, photos, literature references, recommended readings, web exercises, and recommended web pages - Ends each chapter with "Discussion Boxes" that provide controversial information, along critical thinking questions to stimulate classroom discussions - Outstanding Ancillaries, with an updated Student study site including study tools, links to online video resources, SAGE journal articles, and more. Click on 'Links and Resources' (top left hand corner) to see more. Understanding Terrorism is a core resource for undergraduate students of terrorism.

Book Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism

Download or read book Evolutionary Psychology and Terrorism written by Max Taylor and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-08-27 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the evolutionary context of terrorism and political violence. While evolutionary thinking has come to permeate both biological and social-science theorising, it has not yet been applied systematically to the areas of terrorism and political violence. This volume seeks to do this for the first time. It presents a collection of essays on evolutionary psychology and terrorism, which encourage the reader to approach terrorism from a non-traditional perspective, by developing new approaches to understanding it and those who commit such acts of violence. The book identifies evolutionary thought as heuristically important in the understanding of terrorism, explores the key conceptual themes, and provides an evolutionary (and cross-species) understanding of the community-wide effects of terrorist attacks. The contributors bring forward innovative ideas and concepts to assist the practitioner, analyst and academic to better understand and respond to the threat of terrorism. In doing so this book challenges existing assumptions about terrorism and those who carry out such acts, in order to move the debate into new areas characterized by an emphasis on intellectual quality and rigour, an interdisciplinary approach, and a drawing together of theory and practice. The intention is to provide a sufficient discussion to enable the reader to both understand the relevance of evolutionary thinking to terrorism and political violence, and to appreciate the practical implications of conceptualising problems in this way. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, psychology, criminology and security studies.

Book Understanding Terrorism and Counter Terrorism

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism and Counter Terrorism written by Rashmi Singh and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-31 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new textbook seeks to fill a gap in the literature by providing an accessible overview of both terrorism and counter-terrorism. The book aims both to contextualise terrorism historically and to introduce students to the multiple concepts and debates that are necessary to formulate an accurate and holistic understanding of the field. At the same time, it also introduces them to the key mechanisms of and challenges faced in counter-terrorism. In all cases, the concepts and debates are empirically illustrated by examples of state and non-state terrorism from around the globe. To this end, the book is divided into three parts. Part I serves to introduce the students to the fundamental underpinnings of terrorism, and covers issues of definition, methodology and typology while also outlining key concepts that can be used to study the phenomenon. Part II covers nuts-and-bolt issues such as organisational structures, terrorist recruitment, financing and modus operandi, using examples and case studies to explain how different terrorist organisations are financed, structured and how this impacts the scope and nature of their operations. Part III is dedicated to responses to terrorism, and provides students with a brief history of counter-terrorism before moving on to address some key responses adopted by the state. In covering key aspects of both terrorism and counter-terrorism, this textbook underscores the simultaneous evolution of both phenomena and encourages students to view them as two sides of the same coin. It also places both in historical context and thereby challenges popular contemporary concpetions of terrorism as an Islamist phenomenon. This textbook will be essential reading for students of terrorism studies, political violence and counter-terrorism, and recommended for students of security studies, homeland security and IR in general.

Book Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism

Download or read book Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism written by Ramon Spaaij and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-12-08 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What drives the lone wolf terrorist to commit mass violence? What are their ideologies and motivations? How do they plan and carry out their attacks, and who do they target? How can lone wolf terrorism be effectively countered? One of the first in-depth analyses of lone wolf terrorism, this publication sets out to answer these questions. Drawing on extensive international data and qualitative case studies, it examines the global patterns in and key features of lone wolf terrorism over the past four decades. This engaging text will be essential reading for students and researchers on terrorism and violent conflict and offers unique and invaluable insights to those working to prevent or minimize the effects of terrorism and political violence.

Book Understanding Terrorism Innovation and Learning

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism Innovation and Learning written by Magnus Ranstorp and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-04-24 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role of terrorist innovation and learning in theory and practice, and in the context of three specific EU case-studies. It is often said that terrorist groups are relatively conservative in character operating in a technological vacuum – relying almost exclusively on bombs and bullets. This observation masks increasing complexity and creativity and innovation within terrorist groups and one of the most distinguishing features of al-Qaeda’s terrorist operations is its propensity for remarkable innovation. This book examines how and why terrorist groups innovate more generally and al-Qaeda-related terrorist plots in Europe more specifically. The starting point for this book was twofold. Firstly to examine the issue of innovation and learning more generically both in theory, within specific themes and within the context of al-Qaeda’s influence on this process. Secondly, this book examines the evolution of specific al-Qaeda-related plots in three specific northern EU states – the United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany - where there has been a significant volume of planned, failed and executed terrorist plots. In particular, these case studies explore signs of innovation and learning. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, security studies and IR in general.

Book Understanding Terrorism Innovation and Learning

Download or read book Understanding Terrorism Innovation and Learning written by Magnus Ranstorp and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-04-24 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the role of terrorist innovation and learning in theory and practice, and in the context of three specific EU case-studies. It is often said that terrorist groups are relatively conservative in character operating in a technological vacuum – relying almost exclusively on bombs and bullets. This observation masks increasing complexity and creativity and innovation within terrorist groups and one of the most distinguishing features of al-Qaeda’s terrorist operations is its propensity for remarkable innovation. This book examines how and why terrorist groups innovate more generally and al-Qaeda-related terrorist plots in Europe more specifically. The starting point for this book was twofold. Firstly to examine the issue of innovation and learning more generically both in theory, within specific themes and within the context of al-Qaeda’s influence on this process. Secondly, this book examines the evolution of specific al-Qaeda-related plots in three specific northern EU states – the United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany - where there has been a significant volume of planned, failed and executed terrorist plots. In particular, these case studies explore signs of innovation and learning. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, security studies and IR in general.

Book The Psychology of Terrorism

Download or read book The Psychology of Terrorism written by John G. Horgan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-16 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new edition of John Horgan's critically acclaimed book is fully revised and expanded. The book presents a critical analysis of our existing knowledge and understanding of terrorist psychology. Despite the on-going search for a terrorist pathology, the most insightful and evidence-based research to date not only illustrates the lack of any identifiable psychopathology in terrorists, but demonstrates how frighteningly 'normal' and unremarkable in psychological terms are those who engage in terrorist activity. By producing a clearer map of the processes that impinge upon the individual terrorist, a different type of terrorist psychology emerges, one which has clearer implications for efforts at countering and disrupting violent extremism in today's world. In this 2nd edition, Horgan further develops his approach to the arc of terrorism by delving deeper into his IED model of Involvement, Engagement and Disengagement – the three phases of terrorism experienced by every single terrorist. Drawing on new and exciting research from the past decade, with new details from interviews with terrorists ranging from al-Qaeda to left-wing revolutionaries, biographies and autobiographies of former terrorists, and insights from historic and contemporary terrorist attacks since 2005, Horgan presents a fully revised and expanded edition of his signature text. This new edition of The Psychology of Terrorism will be essential reading for students of terrorism and political violence, and counterterrorism studies, and recommended for forensic psychology, criminology, international security and IR in general.

Book The Foundations of Modern Terrorism

Download or read book The Foundations of Modern Terrorism written by Martin A. Miller and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking history of the roots of modern terrorism, ranging from early modern Europe to the contemporary Middle East.

Book Essentials of Terrorism

Download or read book Essentials of Terrorism written by Gus Martin and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2008 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Essentials of Terrorism is an ideal anchor textbook for investigating the many aspects of terrorism, political violence, and homeland security. That it is easily adapted to these subjects means that instructors will be able to design a variety of instructional packages around it. In this way, the text is a versatile resource." -SirReadaLot.org Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies is a comprehensive yet compact resource that provides a thorough introduction to many facets of the world of modern terrorism. This briefer, captivating version of Gus Martin's popular text Understanding Terrorism, Second Edition is an effective stand-alone textbook for undergraduate classes. It can also be used effectively in conjunction with other resources, such as Martin's collection of readings The New Era of Terrorism or with other supplemental books or journal articles for an upper-level undergraduate or master's level audience. Key Features - Provides a foundation for understanding terrorism: Extensive coverage in Chapter 1 helps readers grasp and define the concept of terrorism; each chapter includes extensive historical background. * Presents simple, helpful pedagogical aids to bolster learning: Chapter introductions, chapter perspectives, chapter summaries, discussion boxes, and a glossary bring key concepts to life for students. * Offers engaging coverage of cutting-edge issues: The author addresses contemporary topics, including gender-selective terrorism, media coverage of terrorism issues and related ethical issues, the Internet and terrorism, and religious terrorism. Martin provides additional coverage of the conflict in Iraq to illustrate its impact on international terrorism. * Includes stimulating illustrative aids: Maps and dramatic photos help show the locations of terrorist activity and the devastation caused by terrorist activity;