Nonviolent Response to Terrorism

Nonviolent Response to Terrorism
Author: Tom H. Hastings
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2003-12-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0786427124

Terrorism, which by definition targets civilians, is unacceptable, but a violent response to violence usually causes more violence. This book outlines some of the best thinking about nonviolent methods of resisting terrorism in the growing fields of international aid and nonviolent interposition. The first section covers immediate nonviolent response to terrorism: international negotiations, mediations, and adjudication, UN and citizen sanctions, cross-cultural communication, citizen initiatives, international treaties and the World Court, the International Criminal Court, and nonviolent resistance through raising consciousness to mobilization and resisting state-sponsored terror. The second section, on long-term non-violent response to terrorism, discusses halting arms trade and militarism, stopping arms flow to terrorists, "defunding" the military, building sustainable just economies, aid to the poor, reducing privileged overconsumption, peace and conflict education, understanding and using the media, refugee repatriation, and helping indigenous liberation struggles. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Nonviolence

Nonviolence
Author: Senthil Ram
Publisher: Nova Publishers
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2008
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781600218125

The so-called 'war on terror' has gone badly for the West, playing directly into the strategy of al-Qa'ida and the rest of the terrorist network. Why did this happen? Were there other approaches that might have been implemented with better prospects of success? This edited collection of perspectives on the non-violent counter to terrorism opens the topic to serious consideration. The development of a non-violent paradigm brings into sharp focus the deficiencies of present thinking, and paves the way for comprehending how non-violence might overcome those deficiencies and introduce viable alternatives. Since there is a general ignorance about the history, theory and operational dynamics of non-violence, these aspects are featured throughout the book, and related to the special case of terrorism. To understand empathetically the background and mind-set of the opponent (without condoning his actions), to study his culture, to avoid the strategic trap he has set, to examine the different gender reactions of a Muslim Society, to differentiate between non-violent Islam and Islamic Terrorism, to jettison the misinformed baggage we carry about violence, to appreciate the positive role education and aesthetics can play, and to investigate ways in which a non-violent counter to terrorism might be staged, including a Gandhian response. These are just some of the tasks that the contributors have collectively pursued. Their ideas excitingly open up a whole new set of possibilities for a more peaceful world.

Not War, Not Peace?

Not War, Not Peace?
Author: George Perkovich
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2016-08-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0199089701

The Mumbai blasts of 1993, the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, Mumbai 26/11—cross-border terrorism has continued unabated. What can India do to motivate Pakistan to do more to prevent such attacks? In the nuclear times that we live in, where a military counter-attack could escalate to destruction beyond imagination, overt warfare is clearly not an option. But since outright peace-making seems similarly infeasible, what combination of coercive pressure and bargaining could lead to peace? The authors provide, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of the violent and non-violent options available to India for compelling Pakistan to take concrete steps towards curbing terrorism originating in its homeland. They draw on extensive interviews with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, in service and retired, to explore the challenges involved in compellence and to show how non-violent coercion combined with clarity on the economic, social and reputational costs of terrorism can better motivate Pakistan to pacify groups involved in cross-border terrorism. Not War, Not Peace? goes beyond the much discussed theories of nuclear deterrence and counterterrorism strategy to explore a new approach to resolving old conflicts.

Why Civil Resistance Works

Why Civil Resistance Works
Author: Erica Chenoweth
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2011-08-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0231527489

For more than a century, from 1900 to 2006, campaigns of nonviolent resistance were more than twice as effective as their violent counterparts in achieving their stated goals. By attracting impressive support from citizens, whose activism takes the form of protests, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other forms of nonviolent noncooperation, these efforts help separate regimes from their main sources of power and produce remarkable results, even in Iran, Burma, the Philippines, and the Palestinian Territories. Combining statistical analysis with case studies of specific countries and territories, Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan detail the factors enabling such campaigns to succeed and, sometimes, causing them to fail. They find that nonviolent resistance presents fewer obstacles to moral and physical involvement and commitment, and that higher levels of participation contribute to enhanced resilience, greater opportunities for tactical innovation and civic disruption (and therefore less incentive for a regime to maintain its status quo), and shifts in loyalty among opponents' erstwhile supporters, including members of the military establishment. Chenoweth and Stephan conclude that successful nonviolent resistance ushers in more durable and internally peaceful democracies, which are less likely to regress into civil war. Presenting a rich, evidentiary argument, they originally and systematically compare violent and nonviolent outcomes in different historical periods and geographical contexts, debunking the myth that violence occurs because of structural and environmental factors and that it is necessary to achieve certain political goals. Instead, the authors discover, violent insurgency is rarely justifiable on strategic grounds.

Unarmed Insurrections

Unarmed Insurrections
Author: Kurt Schock
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0816641927

In the last two decades of the twentieth century, a wave of "people power" movements erupted throughout the nondemocratic world. In South Africa, the Philippines, Nepal, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), China, and elsewhere, mass protest demonstrations, strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience, and other nonviolent actions were brought to bear on a rigid political status quo. Kurt Schock compares the successes of the antiapartheid movement in South Africa, the people power movement in the Philippines, the pro-democracy movement in Nepal, and the antimilitary movement in Thailand with the failures of the pro-democracy movement in China and the anti-regime challenge in Burma. Schock develops a synthetic framework that allows him to identify which characteristics increase the resilience of a challenge to state repression, and which aspects of a state's relations can he exploited by such a challenge. By looking at how these methods of protest promoted regime change in some countries but not in others, this book provides rare insight into the often overlooked and little understood power of nonviolent action.

Nonviolent Response to Terrorism

Nonviolent Response to Terrorism
Author: Tom H. Hastings
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2004-07-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0786418745

Terrorism, which by definition targets civilians, is unacceptable, but a violent response to violence usually causes more violence. This book outlines some of the best thinking about nonviolent methods of resisting terrorism in the growing fields of international aid and nonviolent interposition. The first section covers immediate nonviolent response to terrorism: international negotiations, mediations, and adjudication, UN and citizen sanctions, cross-cultural communication, citizen initiatives, international treaties and the World Court, the International Criminal Court, and nonviolent resistance through raising consciousness to mobilization and resisting state-sponsored terror. The second section, on long-term non-violent response to terrorism, discusses halting arms trade and militarism, stopping arms flow to terrorists, "defunding" the military, building sustainable just economies, aid to the poor, reducing privileged overconsumption, peace and conflict education, understanding and using the media, refugee repatriation, and helping indigenous liberation struggles. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Gandhi and Beyond

Gandhi and Beyond
Author: David Cortright
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2020-03-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351566040

"David Cortright is a life-long activist and respected scholar. In Gandhi and Beyond, he convincingly shows the power of nonviolence as a philosophy of life, not just a method of social action. His practical analysis of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, and others brings new insights and inspiration to those of us attempting to live that philosophy, and to those, especially a new generation, who are seeking a better way to respond to their world. I commend this book to all who are seeking an alternative to violence." Jim Wallis, author of God's Politics and editor of Sojourners Is there room for nonviolence in an age of terrorism? Drawing on the legend and lessons of Gandhi, Cortright traces the history of nonviolent social activism through the early twentieth century to the civil rights movement, the Vietnam era, and up to the present war in Iraq. Gandhi and Beyond offers a critical evaluation and refinement of Gandhi's message, laying the foundation for a renewed and deepened dedication to nonviolence as the universal path to social progress and antidote to terrorism.

One Family's Response to Terrorism

One Family's Response to Terrorism
Author: Susan Kerr Van De Ven
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2008-04-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780815608738

On January 18, 1984, Malcolm Kerr, president of the American University of Beirut and a respected scholar of Middle East politics was shot dead. This book is a portrait of the intimate way in which violence pulls lives apart, of an American family caught on the stage of Middle East politics and of the moral choices required in seeking justice.

Psychology of Terrorism

Psychology of Terrorism
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2007
Genre:
ISBN:

In compiling this annotated bibliography on the psychology of terrorism, the author has defined terrorism as "acts of violence intentionally perpetrated on civilian noncombatants with the goal of furthering some ideological, religious or political objective." The principal focus is on nonstate actors. The task was to identify and analyze the scientific and professional social science literature pertaining to the psychological and/or behavioral dimensions of terrorist behavior (not on victimization or effects). The objectives were to explore what questions pertaining to terrorist groups and behavior had been asked by social science researchers; to identify the main findings from that research; and attempt to distill and summarize them within a framework of operationally relevant questions. To identify the relevant social science literature, the author began by searching a series of major academic databases using a systematic, iterative keyword strategy, mapping, where possible, onto existing subject headings. The focus was on locating professional social science literature published in major books or in peer-reviewed journals. Searches were conducted of the following databases October 2003: Sociofile/Sociological Abstracts, Criminal Justice Abstracts (CJ Abstracts), Criminal Justice Periodical Index (CJPI), National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts (NCJRS), PsycInfo, Medline, and Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS). Three types of annotations were provided for works in this bibliography: Author's Abstract -- this is the abstract of the work as provided (and often published) by the author; Editor's Annotation -- this is an annotation written by the editor of this bibliography; and Key Quote Summary -- this is an annotation composed of "key quotes" from the original work, edited to provide a cogent overview of its main points.

Radicalization to Terrorism

Radicalization to Terrorism
Author: Sophia Moskalenko
Publisher:
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2020
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190862599

Terrorism and radicalization came to the forefront of news and politics in the US after the unforgettable attacks of September 11th, 2001. When George W. Bush famously asked "Why do they hate us?," the President echoed the confusion, anger and fear felt by millions of Americans, while also creating a politicized discourse that has come to characterize and obscure discussions of both phenomenon in the media. Since then the American public has lived through a number of domestic attacks and threats, and watched international terrorist attacks from afar on television sets and computer screens. The anxiety and misinformation surrounding terrorism and radicalization are perhaps best detected in questions that have continued to recur in the last decade: "Are terrorists crazy?"; "Is there a profile of individuals likely to become terrorists?"; "Is it possible to prevent radicalization to terrorism?" Fortunately, in the two decades since 9/11, a significant body of research has emerged that can help provide definitive answers. As experts in the psychology of radicalization, Sophia Moskalenko and Clark McCauley propose twelve mechanisms that can move individuals, groups, and mass publics from political indifference to sympathy and support for terrorist violence. Radicalization to Terrorism: What Everyone Needs to Know synthesizes original and existing research to answer the questions raised after each new attack, including those committed by radicalized Americans. It offers a rigorously informed overview of the insight that will enable readers to see beyond the relentless new cycle to understand where terrorism comes from and how best to respond to it.