Javier Argomaniz

Orla Lynch

This volume examines how both victims and perpetrators of terrorism are relevant to our understanding of political violence. While the perpetrators of political violence have been the subject of significant academic research, victims of terrorism and political violence have rarely featured in this landscape. In an effort to capture the vast complexity of terrorism, and to widen the scope of the agenda that informs terrorism research, this book presents a series of analyses that examines the role of the perpetrators, the experience of the victims, the public and media perceptions of both, and given the inherent intricacy of the phenomenon, how we might think about engaging with perpetrators in an effort to prevent further violence. By considering the role of the many actors who are central to our understanding and framing of terrorism and political violence, this book highlights the need to focus on how the interactivity of individuals and contexts have implications for the emergence, maintenance and termination of campaigns of political violence. The volume aims to understand not only how former perpetrators and victims can work in preventing violence in a number of contexts but, more broadly, the narratives that support and oppose violence, the construction of victimisation, the politicisation of victimhood, the justifications for violence and the potential for preventing and encouraging desistance from violence. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, victimology, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

Exploring Identities, Roles and Narratives

Victims and Perpetrators of Terrorism

This book examines the politicisation of victims of terrorism and the reality of the victimisation experience within the broader field of terrorism and the resulting conflict. Victims of terrorism are a unique group of individuals whose experience is overlooked in the current literature on terrorism. Since 9/11, terrorism has risen to global prominence and has become a key topic of interest with regards to media attention and national security. As a result, many European countries (as well as the USA) have had to take active steps to protect and provide for the victims of terrorism, particularly given the nature of victimisation post-3/11 (Madrid) and 7/7 (London). Recently, we have also seen an increase in the political currency of the terrorist victim; for example, the lobbying activities and political involvement of the victims of ETA terrorism and the exceptionally powerful lobby in the USA that sees the involvement of victims of terrorism and their families in policy-making and law-enforcement transformations. This book is based on extensive field work in Northern Ireland, London and Spain and presents the results, which focus on the needs and experiences of victims of terrorism and political violence, and critically analyses these findings comparatively and in their own right. The aim is to assess the provision of support initiatives in Northern Ireland, mainland UK and Spain and understand if victims' needs are being met by these initiatives but most importantly to construct a picture of the local and international interpretation of the experience of victimisation by terrorism. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, victimology, criminology, security studies and IR.

A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Study

Victims of Terrorism

Christian Kaunert

Oldrich Bures

The Treaty on the European Union stipulates that one of the key objectives of the Union is to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Given that the fight against terrorism is a prominent aspect of this general objective, it is remarkable that, in spite of its political relevance and decade-long history, it has only relatively recently received due attention in the academic community. Yet an analysis of the successes and failures of the EU's involvement in this field is imperative and this is a particularly pertinent moment to take stock of progress. The goal of this book is therefore to look back at the post-9/11 period and answer the question of whether, when it comes to the measures taken to combat terrorism following these attacks, the EU has lived up to the promise made in its founding treaties. In pursuing this goal, this volume presents the views of leading experts casting a critical eye over the EU's performance, recognising achievements but also being suitably critical when the realities did not match the European rhetoric. In doing this, the book makes a significant contribution not only to the scholarly investigation of European Union policies, but also to the study of counter-terrorism in general. This book was published as a special issue of Intelligence and National Security.

A Critical Assessment

EU Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence

This book offers a theoretically informed analysis of how coherently the European Union fights terrorism in the post-9/11 era. Few studies have looked at how the European Union has transformed into a relevant international anti-terrorist actor. Yet, as a reaction to the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London, the European Union has become increasingly active in the field of counter-terrorism. It has acted to coordinate member states' policies, to harmonise national legislation, and even to support operational work conducted by national authorities. The EU's reaction to the threat of transnational terrorism has been complex and multidimensional, ranging from the exchange of information between police and intelligence agencies to judicial cooperation, and from infrastructure protection to the fight against terrorist recruitment and financing. This book offers a comprehensive empirical account of the polity, policy and politics of EU counter-terrorism, based on an analysis of academic literature, official documents, and about fifty interviews with policy-makers, experts and practitioners carried out at EU institutions (i.e. Commission, Council, Eurojust, Europol), Permanent Representations of the EU Member States and national capitals. This book will be of much interest to students of counter-terrorism, EU politics, security studies and IR in general.

Javier Argomaniz

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