Global Alert: The Rationality of Modern Islamist Terrorism and the Challenge to the Liberal Democratic World

ISBN-13: 9780231172127 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 240 str.

Boaz Ganor

Opis

Many associate terrorism with irrational behavior and believe only lunatics could perpetuate such horrific acts. Global Alert debunks this myth by anatomizing the rationale behind modern terrorism. It draws a distinct picture of its root and instrumental causes and plots the different stages of a terrorist attack, from indoctrination and recruitment to planning, preparation, and launch.

Global Alert also exposes the measured exploitation of democratic institutions by terrorists to further their goals. Despite its strong capabilities and extensive resources, the modern liberal-democratic state is nevertheless subject to the rules of war, which partially restrict the state's ability to operate and maneuver. Boaz Ganor shows how terrorist organizations exploit these values to paralyze or neutralize the states they oppose. In outlining this new "hybrid" terrorist organization and its activity in both the military-terrorist arena and the political-welfare arena, Ganor advances an international doctrine for governing military operations between state and nonstate actors as part of a new type of armed conflict termed "multidimensional warfare."

Recenzje

"Ganor makes the point that terrorism is not mindless violence, although earlier generations of terrorists seldom thought beyond the barrels of their guns. At best, they were tacticians, not strategists. While bloody-minded thugs and suicidal fanatics still fill the ranks, today's terrorist leaders think strategically. They have benefitted from decades of experience, observing their predecessors, enabling them to create new kinds of organizations and formulate strategies that exploit the disadvantages of the democratic state. Intellectually, states have not kept up. Official counter-terrorist doctrines are mired in old debates about the need to remove root causes, win hearts and minds, or shed self-imposed constraints and become more ruthless. Radical rethinking is in order. Global Alert starts us in a new direction. " - Mr. Brian Jenkins, Senior Advisor to the President, RAND Corporation