Countering Terrorism and Urban Warfare

Countering Terrorism and Urban Warfare
Author: A. Niglia
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2018-09-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1614998841

Paragraph 10 of the Security Environment section of the NATO Strategic Concept adopted in 2010 clearly defines terrorism as ‘a direct threat to the security of the citizens of NATO countries, and to international stability and prosperity more broadly’. Terrorist attacks in Turkey, France, Belgium, Germany, Canada and the United States have demonstrated both the vulnerability of NATO members to terrorist activity and the need to strengthen security cooperation with countries of both the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). This book presents papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Training Course (ATC) ‘Countering Terrorism and Urban Warfare’, held in Herzliya, Israel, in November 2017. Course participants from both the military and the civilian sectors shared theoretical and practical best practice in the countering of terrorism in an urban warfare context, and the 10 papers included here cover topics such as protecting the civilian population in urban combat areas; terrorists logic behind the choice of target; what Europe can learn from its southern neighbors; countering hybrid threats in megacities and densely populated urban areas; and where will ISIS regroup? The book will be of interest to all those concerned with the countering of terrorism, particularly in urban areas.

Countering Terrorist Recruitment in the Context of Armed Counter-Terrorism Operations

Countering Terrorist Recruitment in the Context of Armed Counter-Terrorism Operations
Author: S. Ekici
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2016-02-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 161499613X

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, but almost all communities, regardless of ethnicity, religion, social status or location, are now increasingly facing the challenge of terrorist threat. What makes a terrorist organization attractive to some citizens? A better understanding of the reasons why individuals choose to join terror groups may well enhance efforts to disrupt the recruitment process of terrorist organizations and thereby support current and future counter-terrorism initiatives. This book presents the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop, 'Countering Terrorist Recruitment in the Context of Armed Counter-Terrorism Operations', held in Antalya, Turkey, in May 2015. The goal of the workshop was to share existing ideas and develop new ones to tackle terrorist recruitment. The book contains 18 articles covering topics which include: the role of NATO and other international entities in counter-terrorism; understanding recruitment methods and socialization techniques of terror networks by comparing them to gangs; social media in terrorist recruitment; drug money links with terrorist financing; and counter-terrorism and human rights. The book will be of interest to all those involved in developing, planning and executing prevention programs and policies in relation to both armed and non-armed counter-terrorism operations.

Risk Management of Terrorism Induced Stress

Risk Management of Terrorism Induced Stress
Author: E. Vermetten
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2020-02-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1643680579

Terrorism is a psychological weapon; by definition its purpose is to spread terror or fear in order to achieve goals unattainable by more conventional means. It is a weapon of asymmetric warfare whose success or failure is entirely dependent on the psychological reactions of its targets. Despite this, interest in the effects of terrorism from a behavioral and psychological perspective is relatively recent, dating initially from the 1990s and boosted by the events of September 11th 2001. This book presents papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) Risk Management of Terrorism Induced Stress – Guidelines for the Golden Hours (Who, What and When) held in Odesa, Ukraine, from 16-19 September 2018. The aim of the workshop was to bring together experts from the military, science and policy to revisit old guidelines and inform new research into novel approaches. The focus of the workshop was the so-called ‘Golden Hours’; the period immediately following a traumatic event in which therapeutic interventions are thought to have the most impact. What needs to be done in the immediate aftermath of terror, who is vulnerable and who is resilient, and when is intervention appropriate? The book is divided into sections covering the areas of biology, interventions, special populations, additional perspectives, policy, déjà-vu and future directions. Providing a comprehensive overview of the management of terror-related stress, the book will be of interest to planners and policy makers, as well as mental health professionals working with PTSD and other consequences of terror events.

Countering Radicalisation and Violent Extremism Among Youth to Prevent Terrorism

Countering Radicalisation and Violent Extremism Among Youth to Prevent Terrorism
Author: M. Lombardi
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2014-12-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1614994706

Although violent extremism is not a new phenomenon, it is increasingly recognized as a major challenge of our times. The recruitment of foreign fighters by extremist organizations, and its potential impact on public safety in the countries from which they come, is also emerging as a complex issue at the forefront of international preoccupations. This book presents the proceedings of the three day NATO Advanced Research Workshop, "Countering Violent Extremism Among Youth to Prevent Terrorism", held in Milan, Italy, in June 2014. The best way to respond to violent extremism in general, and the radicalization of disaffected youth in particular, is far from clear, but the stakes are so high and the potential threat to countries worldwide so great that inaction is not an option. The goal of the workshop was to enhance the capacity of policymakers and practitioners to design strategies that will achieve verifiable human-rights based outcomes to counter violent extremism. Subjects covered in the 19 papers which go to make up this book include: the causes or drivers of violent extremism; the factors which facilitate the recruitment of youth by violent extremist groups; the risk of growing Islamophobia in some Western and Central European countries; and proactive measures to counter the radicalization of youth. The book will be of interest to all those involved in policy development, prevention programs, de-radicalization programs or research aimed at countering violent extremism and the radicalization of young people.

Enhancing Women’s Roles in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE)

Enhancing Women’s Roles in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE)
Author: S. Zeiger
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1614999473

Women can make a unique and valuable contribution to countering terrorism and violent extremism. Their participation in the wider fight against terrorism and violent extremism is essential. This is why NATO continues to encourage its allies and partners to engage more systematically on the nexus between gender and counter terrorism. This book presents edited contributions presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) Enhancing Women’s Roles in International Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Efforts, held in Madrid, Spain, from 19 – 21 March 2018, organized by Hedayah and the Fundación para el Análisis y los Estudios Sociales (FAES). The workshop was aimed at building on existing good practice and recommendations from the fields of countering violent extremism (CVE) and women, peace and security (WPS), recognizing that while many women facilitate acts of terrorism, willingly support terrorist groups and perform terrorist acts, they can also play a key role in preventing the violent extremism. The fight against terrorism requires a whole-society approach in which women’s participation is essential. Contributors to this volume explore the extent to which terrorism and violent extremism are gendered activities. They also discuss the importance of women’s social and political participation in helping to counter acts of terror and violence. Evidence-based research is used to identify how women can be empowered to enhance the fight against terrorism, and to identify opportunities for substantive, meaningful roles across a wide spectrum of counter terrorism activities. Given current and emerging threats, the book focuses in particular on NATO countries & partners in the Middle East and North Africa, and will be of particular interest to all those involved with security and gender issues.

Defense against Terrorism

Defense against Terrorism
Author: M. Coen
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1614999538

Global terrorism is a double-edged threat to democracies. Physically, because of the number of people killed and wounded, structurally, because it threatens social peace and over-reaction tends to undermine our basic values. The authors of the chapters in this book are multinational and interdisciplinary. Their papers were presented for discussion at the Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) held in Skopje (FYROM) 11-14th April 2018 on “Defence Against Terrorism, Enhancing Resilience of Democratic Institutions and Rule of Law”, organized within the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme. Results can be summarised as follows. Counter-terrorist strategy must aim to achieve less, not more, terrorism. The countries with best results are the ones that cultivate human intelligence, confidence between security services and the local population, together with a tradition of effective respect of the Rule of Law. Militarization of internal security, and intelligence systems mainly based on databases (“big data”) and artificial intelligence, though popular, are showing serious limits. More effective democracy, not less, is the key to the resilience of our societies against the “new threats”, particularly for confronting the criminal violence of terror. In discussion, some core necessities were identified: to recognize that it is the method used, not the aims, that define criminal organisations as terrorist; that there is a structural link with organized crime for financing and operative support, and that corruption facilitates and protects any illegal activity; social capital must be developed as a fundamental basic tool for enhancing resilience. This book aims to help analyse the networks and contexts that feed terrorism. It provides anyone confronted with security issues an understanding of the negative as well as the positive aspects of specific counter-measures.

Terrorism Risk Assessment Instruments

Terrorism Risk Assessment Instruments
Author: R. Corrado
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021-03-25
Genre: Criminal behavior, Prediction of
ISBN: 9781643681665

The search for a distinct "terrorist profile" has been going on for many years, and while it is generally agreed that nobody is born a terrorist, there is plenty of disagreement about why a person might become one. Whereas personal and situational push and pull factors can be combined to determine how and why young people become involved in terrorism, preventing an individual from following a path that ends in violence without moral restraint poses an enormous challenge, especially in an open society. This book presents papers from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop titled "A Review of the Utility of Existing Terrorism Risk Assessment Instruments and Policies: Is there the Need for Possible New Approaches?", held in Berlin, Germany, on 29-30 November 2019. Researchers were asked to present papers for discussion sessions with invited participants and practitioners from a number of NATO member and partner countries. Various assessment instruments for identifying problematic individuals at an early stage were presented by experts. It was generally agreed that, due to cultural, religious and other differences, there is no simple way to identify the relatively few high-risk individuals among the larger population of politically radicalized but not necessarily violent individuals who pose no threat. Framed by an Introduction and Conclusion, the 16 chapters in the book are divided into three parts: Theory and Risk/Threat Assessment Instrument Policy Themes; Implementation of Politically Motivated Terrorism Protocols; and Personality Traits/Disorders, Anti-State Terrorism Profiles and the DSM-5 Personality Trait Instrument. This practice-oriented book will be of interest to all those tasked with protecting society from some of its most dangerous members.

NATO's Secret Armies

NATO's Secret Armies
Author: Daniele Ganser
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2005-06-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1135767858

This fascinating new study shows how the CIA and the British secret service, in collaboration with the military alliance NATO and European military secret services, set up a network of clandestine anti-communist armies in Western Europe after World War II. These secret soldiers were trained on remote islands in the Mediterranean and in unorthodox warfare centres in England and in the United States by the Green Berets and SAS Special Forces. The network was armed with explosives, machine guns and high-tech communication equipment hidden in underground bunkers and secret arms caches in forests and mountain meadows. In some countries the secret army linked up with right-wing terrorist who in a secret war engaged in political manipulation, harrassement of left wing parties, massacres, coup d'états and torture. Codenamed 'Gladio' ('the sword'), the Italian secret army was exposed in 1990 by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to the Italian Senate, whereupon the press spoke of "The best kept, and most damaging, political-military secret since World War II" (Observer, 18. November 1990) and observed that "The story seems straight from the pages of a political thriller." (The Times, November 19, 1990). Ever since, so-called 'stay-behind' armies of NATO have also been discovered in France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Greece and Turkey. They were internationally coordinated by the Pentagon and NATO and had their last known meeting in the NATO-linked Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) in Brussels in October 1990.

Dirty Entanglements

Dirty Entanglements
Author: Louise I. Shelley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2014-07-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107015642

Using lively case studies, this book analyzes the transformation of crime and terrorism and the business logic of terrorism.

Maritime Security: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from Maritime Piracy and Narcotics Interdiction

Maritime Security: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from Maritime Piracy and Narcotics Interdiction
Author: E.R. Lucas
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1643680897

It can be easy to forget the critical role that maritime transport plays in the global economy, but international maritime transportation is still responsible for around 90% of global trade. Protecting the maritime infrastructure essential for this trade from terrorism is a major concern for the international community. This book originates from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) Counter-Terrorism Lessons from Maritime Piracy and Narcotics Interdiction, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in May 2019. Participants in the three-day workshop included policymakers, senior military officers, and academics from NATO member states, international organizations, and two partner nations: Colombia and Israel. Their extensive discussions focused on methods for protecting critical maritime infrastructure, such as ports, supplies, and personnel, from seaborne terrorist attacks. Presentations and roundtables also addressed the human and social factors that contribute to the defense against terrorism in the maritime domain. The book is divided into three sections: organized crime and narcotrafficking; maritime piracy; and terrorism, and aims to bridge the gaps between these three substantive areas of maritime security research. These have remained largely separate areas of research in the past, with the result that valuable maritime security lessons from counter-piracy and counter-narcotics operations have not been fully incorporated into counter-terrorism best practice. The book facilitates the transmission of lessons learned from counter-piracy and counter-narcotic operations to formulate recommendations for best practice and technological innovations to manage maritime terrorism, and will be of interest to all those working in the field.