Terrorist Informers in Northern Ireland

Terrorist Informers in Northern Ireland
Author: Samantha Newbery
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2024-10-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0192885847

By using informers to provide intelligence on terrorism, the security and intelligence agencies who handle them gain knowledge of their offences. Charges may then be brought against them, provided evidence supports this course of action. But if imprisoned, an informer no longer has access to the time-sensitive, potentially life-saving intelligence they once had. There is therefore a tension between continuing to use an informer to provide intelligence on terrorism and upholding the law. This tension is at the heart of this book. Terrorist Informers in Northern Ireland analyses prominent terrorist informers such as Agent Stakeknife, and lesser-known examples, who collectively were active throughout Northern Ireland from the 1970s to the present. It looks at both those involved with republican groups and with loyalist groups, and also those working for the police, the armed forces, and MI5. Valuable pieces of the puzzle are unearthed in sources such as court judgments, official reports, and in interviews conducted by the author. The book also analyses the way successive governments, the police, the armed forces, and MI5 have addressed the regulation of terrorist informers' involvement in criminality, as well as allegations of 'collusion' between informers on one hand and the security and intelligence agencies on the other. Accordingly, the book also assesses the varied retrospective investigations into the use of terrorist informers, and therefore the competing needs for secrecy and transparency. As Samantha Newbery's research here shows, although there is a tension between intelligence and the law, this can be successfully navigated.

State Terror, State Violence

State Terror, State Violence
Author: Bettina Koch
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2015-12-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 365811181X

The volume critically discusses theoretical discourses and theoretically informed case studies on state violence and state terror. How do states justify their acts of violence? How are these justifications critiqued? Although legally state terrorism does not exist, some states nonetheless commit acts of violence that qualify as state terror as a social fact. In which cases and under what circumstances do (illegitimate) acts of violence qualify as state terrorism? Geographically, the volume covers cases and discourses from the Caucasus, South East and Central Asia, the Middle East, and North America.

Encountering extremism

Encountering extremism
Author: Alice Martini
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2020-08-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1526136635

Countering extremism is starting to receive more attention as a subject of research in academia and policy circles alike, demonstrating its rising popularity within the market. Nevertheless, the market currently lacks literature on the topic of extremism (as opposed to terrorism), and critical approaches in particular. The concept of this book thus grows from the need to look at the under-researched approaches to the topic from a critical perspective.This book brings together a set of scholars from a diverse range of countries, experts in many fields of social sciences to present valuable multidisciplinary analysis of both theoretical and practical aspects related to countering extremism. It will thus be of interest for scholars and students of the following disciplines, among others: Anthropology, Comparative Politics, Criminology, Education Studies, Gender Studies, International Relations, Post-colonial Studies, Peace Studies, Sociology, Subaltern Studies, Terrorism Studies.

The State and 'terrorists' in Nepal and Northern Ireland

The State and 'terrorists' in Nepal and Northern Ireland
Author: Priya Dixit
Publisher:
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2015
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780719091766

This book is about states' use of 'terrorism' to label others, especially specific groups within their own political territories and how such usage is legitimated. The two contexts examined are British labellings of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the 1970s-1990s and Nepal's use of 'terrorism' to describe Maoists in the post '9/11' era. The first part of the book situates it within scholarship on states and 'terrorists', two terms that are not often studied together in Terrorism Studies. Then, a rhetorical analytical approach to studying official representations of IRA and Maoists as 'terrorist' is provided. This is followed by empirical analysis of Nepal and Northern Ireland, and then a chapter which draws attention to the politics of representing others as 'terrorist' in the United States in the context of the 'war on terror'. The focus is on how language was used to label others as 'terrorist' and how this changed. This is a useful book because it outlines how rhetorical practices and ways of describing others exhibit similarities across geographical regions and before and after '9/11'. As such, discussions of there being a 'new terrorism' need to take into account that states have been utilizing similar representational strategies to label and marginalise others as 'terrorist' since before '9/11'. Overall, this book directs attention to how 'states' and 'terrorists' in Britain and Nepal formed in relation to each other and how 'terrorism' was used as a delegitimating strategy, leading to the formation of 'suspect communities' and increased 'terroristisation' of society. In this way, it suggests that the variability of 'terrorism' allows states to establish and legitimate specific practices against its others but also could be a source for resistance, as noted in the case of Nepal in 2006. This book will be valuable for scholars and students of critical terrorism studies, those who study the state and its identity-formation and scholars of Nepal and small states in the international system. It will also be of use to those interested in rhetorical analysis and media/cultural studies.

Reconciliation after Terrorism

Reconciliation after Terrorism
Author: Judith Renner
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2012-03-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136583718

Reconciliation after Terrorism brings together scholars from the hitherto disparate fields of terrorism and reconciliation studies, in order to examine whether reconciliation is a possible strategy for dealing with and ending a terrorist conflict. Although terrorist activities often play a role in situations of conflict and transition, terrorists are generally not taken into consideration as active participants by researchers and practitioners. In some cases, the terrorists turn into political actors during the reconciliation process and their past is not an issue anymore, as it was the case with the ANC in South Africa. This book examines the notion of reconciliation with terrorists from a theoretical and empirical perspective. The notion of engagement and reconciliation with terrorist groups is generally seen as problematic, if not impossible. This is somewhat surprising, given that the idea of societal reconciliation has become a common response to state terror- although not usually in situations of conflict with sub-state terrorist actors. Similar to state terror, sub-state terrorism is a sign of a deep societal rift which reconciliation measures may help to overcome. The text investigates the reconciliatory process further, raising the central questions: (a) what constitutes ‘reconciliation’ as a process and an outcome; and (b) how can reconciliation be facilitated in a situation of social conflict. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, transitional justice, conflict resolution, peace and conflict studies and IR in general. * * *Reconciliation after Terrorism was featured in the Terrorism Bookshelf: Top 150 Books on Terrorism and Counterterrorism, selected and reviewed by Joshua Sinai. -Perspectives on Terrorism , Vol. 6, No 2, 2012* * *

Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies

Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies
Author: Richard Jackson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2016-04-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317801628

This new handbook is a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge essays that investigate the contribution of Critical Terrorism Studies to our understanding of contemporary terrorism and counterterrorism. Terrorism remains one of the most important security and political issues of our time. After 9/11, Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) emerged as an alternative approach to the mainstream study of terrorism and counterterrorism, one which combined innovative methods with a searching critique of the abuses of the war on terror. This volume explores the unique contribution of CTS to our understanding of contemporary non-state violence and the state’s response to it. It draws together contributions from key thinkers in the field who explore critical questions around the nature and study of terrorism, the causes of terrorism, state terrorism, responses to terrorism, the war on terror, and emerging issues in terrorism research. Covering a wide range of topics including key debates in the field and emerging issues, the Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies will set a benchmark for future research on terrorism and the response to it. This handbook will be of great interest to students of terrorism studies, political violence, critical security studies and IR in general.

Critical Terrorism Studies

Critical Terrorism Studies
Author: Jacob L. Stump
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2013
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0415620465

This book is an introduction to critical approaches to terrorism studies. While there is a growing body of Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) literature devoted to empirical examples and conceptual development, very little has been written about how to systematically carry out this kind of research. Critical Terrorism Studies fills this gap by addressing three key themes: The position of terrorism studies and critical terrorism studies in the discipline of International Relations (IR) Theoretical and methodological elaborations of critical approaches to the study of terrorism Empirical illustrations of those approaches. Drawing upon a range of engaging material, the volume reviews a series of non-variable based methodological approaches. It then goes on to provide empirical examples that illustrate how these approaches have been and can be utilized by students, teachers, and postgraduate researchers alike to critically and rigorously study terrorism. This textbook will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, sociology, critical security studies, and IR in general.

Terror, Insurgency, and the State

Terror, Insurgency, and the State
Author: Marianne Heiberg
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 526
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780812239744

The result of a multiyear project spearheaded by the late Marianne Heiberg, "Terror, Insurgency, and the State" assembles the findings of more than a dozen scholars who have conducted extensive field research with rebel groups. This comparative analysis documents the aim of longstanding insurgent groups.

Understanding Terrorism

Understanding Terrorism
Author: Bernard S Phillips
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2015-12-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317249844

Two fundamental problems within the social sciences are the failure to integrate the existing segments of knowledge and a very limited ability to point out directions for solving social problems, given that lack of integrated knowledge.This volume illustrates the integrated work of seven sociologists to reverse this situation not only for the problem of terrorism but also for any substantive or applied problem. C. Wright Mills in The Sociological Imagination castigated the failure to integrate social science knowledge, and this volume carries forward his efforts to analyze human complexity.To understand and confront terrorism we require not only the integration of social science knowledge bearing on that problem, as illustrated by these authors. We also require the integration of that knowledge with the understanding of those on the front lines in order to connect the dots of specialized basic and applied knowledge, which this volume makes possible.

Terrorists at the Table

Terrorists at the Table
Author: Jonathan Powell
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2015-06-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1466878916

Should governments talk to terrorists? Do they have any choice? Without doing so, argues author Jonathan Powell in Terrorists at the Table, we will never end armed conflict. As violent insurgencies continue to erupt across the globe, we need people who will brave the depths of the Sri Lankan jungle and scale the heights of the Colombian mountains, painstakingly tracking down the heavily armed and dangerous leaders of these terrorist groups in order to open negotiations with them. Powell draws on his own experiences negotiating peace in Northern Ireland and talks to all the major players from the last thirty years—terrorists, Presidents, secret agents and intermediaries—exposing the subterranean world of secret exchanges between governments and armed groups to give us the inside account of negotiations on the front line. These past negotiations shed light on how today's negotiators can tackle the Taliban, Hammas and al-Qaeda. And history tells us that it may be necessary to fight and talk at the same time. Ultimately, Powell brings us a message of hope: there is no armed conflict anywhere in the world that cannot be resolved if we are prepared to learn from the lessons of the past.