The book examines the evolving nature of national and international security in the post-Cold War era, focusing on non-military threat potentials and how these may best countered. Six specific issues are discussed: terrorism, the heroin and cocaine trade, privacy, environmental degradation, the spread of disease, and uncontrolled migration. The book concludes that greater national coordination, inter-agency cooperation, and international collaboration is needed if these problems are going to be dealt with effectively.

The book examines the dynamic of West European terrorism and counter-terrorism as it has evolved since the late 1960s. It assesses past, present and future terrorist trends and analyzes the internal security policies that have been initiated by the member states of the European Union (EU), both singularly and collectively, to combat terrorism in Western Europe. Throughout the book the theme of liberal democratic legitimacy and accountability is stressed, something that is brought particularly to bear on the latest EU internal security provision - the Maastricht Third Pillar.