Uniting Against Terror: Cooperative Nonmilitary Responses to the Global Terrorist Threat

by David Cortright and George A. Lopez (editors)

From the publisher:
As terrorist attacks continue around the world, from London and Madrid to Afghanistan and Iraq, questions multiply about the effectiveness of current antiterrorist strategies. America's reliance on military approaches and the Bush administration's avowal of a constant state of war have overshadowed nonmilitary, multilateral efforts, and there has been an analogous neglect of these alternative strategies in the literature on terrorism. Uniting Against Terror fills this gap, examining and evaluating post-9/11 cooperative nonmilitary responses to the global terrorist threat, with a particular focus on efforts of the United Nations, the Financial Action Task Force, the European Union, and a wide array of multilateral institutions.

Uniting Against Terror argues that defeating the global terrorist threat requires engaging international financial, diplomatic, intelligence, and defense communities and law enforcement organizations in an atmosphere of cooperation. It examines cooperative diplomatic and economic policies to address the changing face of terrorism and the global Al Qaida threat, differentiates between protective measures and long-term preventive policies, and makes recommendations for effective cooperative nonmilitary strategies. Included are chapters that analyze the UN and its role, the unique blend of sanctions and diplomacy that convinced Libya to end its support of terrorism, efforts to halt the financing of terrorist networks, and an account of the European Union's unified "Plan of Action" against terrorism.

Contributors:
Stephanie Ahern, Oldrich Bures, David Cortright, Kathryn L. Gardner, Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf, Jason Ipe, George A. Lopez, Thomas E. McNamara, Alistair Millar, Eric Rosand

"Cortright and Lopez have done a huge service to all those interested in pursuing the pros and cons of an activist foreign policy, short of the recourse to war. Chapters by well-known experts describe real-life experiences dealing with 'rogue states' like Libya, and there is also a very useful review of the surprisingly effective counter-terrorism activities of the United Nations, little known and less understood in the United States. The thoughtful, and characteristically low-key but potent, foreword by former Congressman Lee Hamilton is worth a read in itself. Altogether, a major contribution." - A. Peter Burleigh, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1997-1999)