The Ethics of Counterterrorism

The Ethics of Counterterrorism
Author: Isaac Taylor
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2018-05-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1351016938

States across the globe spend billions of dollars fighting terrorism annually. As well as strategic questions about the way in which the money should be spent, we are also confronted with a host of moral issues here, many of which are poorly understood. The Ethics of Counterterrorism offers the first systematic normative theory for guiding, assessing, and criticising counterterrorist policy. Many commentators claim that state actors combating terrorism should set aside ordinary moral and legal frameworks, and instead bind themselves by a different (and, generally, more permissive) set of ethical rules than is appropriate in other areas. The book assesses arguments for this view, and more specifically investigates whether widely-endorsed restrictions on state action in the areas of surveillance, policing, armed conflict, criminal justice, diplomacy, and cultural integration need to be weakened when we are confronted with terrorist threats. With its novel overall framework for assessing counterterrorist strategies, its comprehensive analysis of existing practices, and its bringing the tools of analytic philosophy to bear on new questions regarding how states can fight terrorism both effectively and morally, The Ethics of Counterterrorism promises to be an important point of reference for future debates in this area.

Counter-Terrorism

Counter-Terrorism
Author: Miller, Seumas
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2021-07-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1800373074

This insightful book provides an analysis of the central ethical issues that have arisen in combatting global terrorism and, in particular, jihadist terrorist groups, notably Al Qaeda, Islamic State and their affiliates. Chapters explore the theoretical problems that arise in relation to terrorism, such as the definition of terrorism and the concept of collective responsibility, and consider specific ethical issues in counter-terrorism.

Counter-Terrorism, Ethics and Technology

Counter-Terrorism, Ethics and Technology
Author: Adam Henschke
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2021-12-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030902218

This open access book brings together a range of contributions that seek to explore the ethical issues arising from the overlap between counter-terrorism, ethics, and technologies. Terrorism and our responses pose some of the most significant ethical challenges to states and people. At the same time, we are becoming increasingly aware of the ethical implications of new and emerging technologies. Whether it is the use of remote weapons like drones as part of counter-terrorism strategies, the application of surveillance technologies to monitor and respond to terrorist activities, or counterintelligence agencies use of machine learning to detect suspicious behavior and hacking computers to gain access to encrypted data, technologies play a significant role in modern counter-terrorism. However, each of these technologies carries with them a range of ethical issues and challenges. How we use these technologies and the policies that govern them have broader impact beyond just the identification and response to terrorist activities. As we are seeing with China, the need to respond to domestic terrorism is one of the justifications for their rollout of the “social credit system.” Counter-terrorism technologies can easily succumb to mission creep, where a technology’s exceptional application becomes normalized and rolled out to society more generally. This collection is not just timely but an important contribution to understand the ethics of counter-terrorism and technology and has far wider implications for societies and nations around the world.

Ethics of Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism

Ethics of Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism
Author: Georg Meggle
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2013-05-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 311032749X

We are supposed to wage war against Terrorism - but exactly what we are fighting against in this war, there is nearly no consensus about. And, much worse, nearly nobody cares about this conceptual disaster - the main thing being, whether or not you are taking sides with the good guys. This volume is an analytical attempt to end this disaster. What is Terrorism? Are terrorist acts to be defined exclusively on the basis of the characteristics of the respective actions? Or should we restrict such actions to acts performed by non-state organisations? And, most important, is terrorism already by its very nature to be morally condemned? But, having a clear idea of what Terrorism is, would be only the beginning. Rational moral assessment still needs two further components: The relevant facts; and the relevant values and norms. Now, in a field where systematic disinformation has been even proclaimed to be the official policy, facts are obviously very hard to get at. This volume is mainly interested in Ethics: What's wrong with Terrorism? And what is morally right or morally wrong, respectively, with all the different means of Counter-Terrorism? What are the moral boundaries for waging war agains terrorism? What are the right ways of dealing with terrorists? And what about the alleged anti-terrorism wars on Afghanistan and Iraq? With contributions from Marcelo Dascal, Tomis Kapitan, Daniel Messelken, Seumas Miller, Olaf L. Mueller, Igor Primoratz, Charles P. Webel, Per Bauhn, Rüdiger Bittner, C. A. J. (Tony) Coady, Haig Khatchadourian, Georg Meggle, Peter Simpson, Carolin Emcke, Ralf Groetker, Laurence Lustgarten, Thomas Mertens, Aleksandar Pavkovic, Filimon Peonidis, Janna Thompson, Véronique Zanetti

Ethics and Terrorism

Ethics and Terrorism
Author: Max Taylor
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2021-11-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000481247

This book provides a unique insight into the ethical issues and dilemmas facing practitioners and researchers of terrorism and counterterrorism. Ethics play a central if, largely, unrecognised role in most, if not all, issues relevant to terrorism and political violence. These are often most noticeable regarding counterterrorism controversies, while often virtually absent from discussions about academic research practice. At a minimum, ethical issues as they relate to terrorism have rarely been explicitly addressed in a direct or comprehensive manner. The chapters in this edited volume draws on the experience of both practitioners and researchers to explore how a regard to ethical issues might influence and determine research and practice in counter terrorism, and in our understanding of terrorism. Ethics and Terrorism recognizes that there are conflicting and often irreconcilable perspectives from which to view terrorism and terrorism research. In calling for greater attention to these issues, the goal is not to resolve problems, but to explore and clarify the assumptions and dilemmas that underpin our understanding of the personal, institutional and societal ethical boundaries and constraints around terrorism and responses to it. This book will be of value to practitioners and researchers, and to policy makers and the broader interested community. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Terrorism and Political Violence.

Ethics in Counter-Terrorism

Ethics in Counter-Terrorism
Author: Magdalena Badde-Revue
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2018-04-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004357815

European armed forces have frequently had to participate in counter-terrorist operations while abroad. For many, however, counter-terrorist operations in their home country are a relatively new phenomenon. Armed and uniformed soldiers can now be seen doing work which is, in some respects, comparable to that of the civilian security forces. What are the ethical implications of this phenomenon? To what extent does it change the relationship between the soldier and the democratic state? Do emerging technologies encroach on democratic freedoms? Does the phenomenon re-define the relationship between the police and the military? Under what conditions can soldiers be trained to achieve victory by force of arms, be used effectively in crowded city centres? Conversely, do we also risk over-militarising our police?

Terrorism and Counterterrorism

Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Author: Carl Wellman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 135
Release: 2013-01-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9400760078

This book presents a definition of terrorism that is broad and descriptive and much needed to prevent misunderstanding. The book identifies the features that make terrorism ‘wrong’, including coerciveness, the violation of rights and undermining of trust. Next, it evaluates reasons given for terrorism such as the protection of human rights and the liberation of oppressed groups as not normally justified. Following this, the book identifies and evaluates international responses to terrorism, taking into account General Assembly and Security Council resolutions, United Nations conventions and criminalization in international law. It also looks at national responses which often take the shape of surveillance, detention, interrogation, trials, targeted killings, intrusion and invasion. Finally, the book discusses how, if at all, the moral norms of personal morality apply to the actions of nation states.​

The Moral Dimension of Asymmetrical Warfare

The Moral Dimension of Asymmetrical Warfare
Author: Th. A. Van Baarda
Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
Total Pages: 545
Release: 2009
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004171290

PART I The superpower and asymmetry PART II Jus ad bellum, jus in bello, jus post bellum PART III Leadership and accountability PART IV Soldiers perspectives PART V Ethical Education and Decision-making for the Military PART VI Stress and trauma PART VII The media PART VIII Democracy under Scrutiny PART IX In Hindsight

The Ethics of War

The Ethics of War
Author: A. J. Coates
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 1997-09-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780719040467

Drawing on examples from the history of warfare from the crusades to the present day, "The ethics of war" explores the limits and possibilities of the moral regulation of war. While resisting the commonly held view that 'war is hell', A.J. Coates focuses on the tensions which exist between war and morality. The argument is conducted from a just war standpoint, though the moral ambiguity and mixed record of that tradition is acknowledge and the dangers which an exaggerated view of the justice or moral worth of war poses are underlined. In the first part, the broad image of the just war is compared with the competing images of realism, militarism and pacifism. In the second part, the moral issues associated both with the decision to go to war and with the manner in which war is conducted are explored. Was the allied decision to go to war in the Gulf premature? were economic sanctions a more effective and morally preferable option? was Britain justified in going to war over the Falklands? did the allied bombing of Germany in the Second World War constitute a war crime? should the IRA's claim to belligerent status be recognised? these questions and more are raised in this important book.

The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism

The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism
Author: Erica Chenoweth
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 824
Release: 2019-03-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0191047139

The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism systematically integrates the substantial body of scholarship on terrorism and counterterrorism before and after 9/11. In doing so, it introduces scholars and practitioners to state of the art approaches, methods, and issues in studying and teaching these vital phenomena. This Handbook goes further than most existing collections by giving structure and direction to the fast-growing but somewhat disjointed field of terrorism studies. The volume locates terrorism within the wider spectrum of political violence instead of engaging in the widespread tendency towards treating terrorism as an exceptional act. Moreover, the volume makes a case for studying terrorism within its socio-historical context. Finally, the volume addresses the critique that the study of terrorism suffers from lack of theory by reviewing and extending the theoretical insights contributed by several fields - including political science, political economy, history, sociology, anthropology, criminology, law, geography, and psychology. In doing so, the volume showcases the analytical advancements and reflects on the challenges that remain since the emergence of the field in the early 1970s.