Books in the Praeger Security International series

In 2009, Nigerian security forces stormed a religious cult by the name of Boko Haram, killing its leader and thousands of followers. Six years later, Boko Haram is an enemy to reckon with, boasting 15,000 members and taking credit for 20,000 deaths. This book looks at the successful rise of this terrorist group, probing the religious and political environment that enabled a relatively small cult to threaten a nation.The study draws on the author's fieldwork in Nigeria, where she had access to officials, activists, psychologists, and military personnel. Written in a clear and accessible manner, it offers a micro-to-macro investigation of the Boko Haram as a phenomenon. It also provides readers with an understanding of the regional dynamics that obstructed political and military cooperation among neighboring countries, enabling Boko Haram's success. This book traces the group's religious origins in the early 2000s and documents its violent political claims in Nigeria and across the border in Northern Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Finally, it examines the impact of the international War on Terror and presents a comparative study of other contemporary terrorism movements and their networks.

An excellent, well-written study. . . . Unique in its sociological focus and its emphasis on young widows. Choice [In] this intelligent and emotionally gripping book, [the author] peels away both the cultural-symbolic layer of heroism in war and the psychological layer of individual grief.

Operating in four African nations, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) routinely engages in human rights violations that include mutilation, murder, mass-scale abductions, and sex trafficking-and it has done so with seeming impunity for more than 20 years. This timely book offers a concise, expert analysis of Joseph Kony's terrorist organization, covering its historical antecedents, membership, operations, and ideology, as well as the ways in which it fits into a broader pattern of insurgencies. To facilitate a full understanding of the threat posed by the LRA, the author exposes the army's many atrocities, among them forced recruitment of child soldiers. Central Africa's ethnic, religious, and political tensions are examined, as is the corruption that feeds LRA operations. Finally, regional security measures, international responses, and issues related to the LRA and the International Criminal Court are examined in full.

This book examines the implications of counterinsurgency warfare for U.S. defense policy and makes the compelling argument that the United States' default position on counterinsurgency wars should be to avoid them.

This volume examines how the U.S. military must rebuild in the wake of Iraq/Afghanistan, and refocus its power projection to face the new challenges emerging in the Pacific and with China.

This textbook anthology of selected readings on pressing Middle East security concerns serves as an invaluable single-volume assessment of critical security issues in nations such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

This textbook anthology of selected readings on pressing Middle East security concerns serves as an invaluable single-volume assessment of critical security issues in nations such as Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

While one can never guarantee strategic success, which depends on policy, military prowess, and the quality of the dialogue between the two, a strategic education led by the judgments in these maxims increases the chances that one's errors will be small rather than catastrophic. The maxims are grouped according to five clusters.

This book provides a framework for assessing China's extensive cyber espionage efforts and multi-decade modernization of its military, not only identifying the "what" but also addressing the "why" behind China's focus on establishing information dominance as a key component of its military efforts.China combines financial firepower-currently the world's second largest economy-with a clear intent of fielding a modern military capable of competing not only in the physical environments of land, sea, air, and outer space, but especially in the electromagnetic and cyber domains. This book makes extensive use of Chinese-language sources to provide policy-relevant insight into how the Chinese view the evolving relationship between information and future warfare as well as issues such as computer network warfare and electronic warfare. Written by an expert on Chinese military and security developments, this work taps materials the Chinese military uses to educate its own officers to explain the bigger-picture thinking that motivates Chinese cyber warfare. Readers will be able to place the key role of Chinese cyber operations in the overall context of how the Chinese military thinks future wars will be fought and grasp how Chinese computer network operations, including various hacking incidents, are part of a larger, different approach to warfare. The book's explanations of how the Chinese view information's growing role in warfare will benefit U.S. policymakers, while students in cyber security and Chinese studies will better understand how cyber and information threats work and the seriousness of the threat posed by China specifically.

This book addresses the three central issues that continue to dominate the U.S.-Mexico relationship today: drugs, immigration, and security. Nowhere is this more palpable than at the 2,000-mile border shared by the two countries.

Syria is home to one of the most brutal and protracted civil wars in history, posing a threat to global stability and enabling the expansion of the Islamic State (sometimes called "ISIS"). This in-depth analysis reveals the beginning, present state, and future of this conflict.The current crises involving ISIS have attracted worldwide attention to the complex politics and cultural panorama of the Middle East, including Syria. Political analyst and author David S. Sorenson discusses the ongoing civil war in Syria from its origins, to its key players, and to its propagation into neighboring countries. In the process, the work delves into Syria's demographics, history, economy, and security to illustrate the civil war's impact on the Middle East and the world. This in-depth analysis covers the Assad regime, ISIS's role in the region, possible outcomes of the conflict, and security implications for the country.Starting with a history of Syria, the work identifies the factors that have contributed to the onset and continuation of the civil war, moves on to an analysis of the outbreak and growth of the war, and points out key factors that fueled its intensity. A look at the Islamic State considers the internationalization of the Syrian civil war, explaining how the addition of many parties outside of Syria have made the war more violent and protracted. The book concludes by considering alternative endings for the conflict and addressing the role of world powers in the conflict and its outcome.

Presenting a continent-wide comparative analysis of ethnic, political, and colonially based insurgencies, this text examines the causes, tactics, outcomes, and key individuals of African insurgent events and assesses a range of foreseeable outcomes in Africa's multiple regions of continuing political instability.Insurgencies continue to erupt in many nations of Africa. The techniques and intended purposes of today's insurgencies are evolutions of historical versions of insurgencies, long-standing strife among ethnic and political groups, and modern-era movements reflective of the ever-shrinking planet, leading to revolutions in the region. This book spans the African continent to address a diverse classification of insurgencies and revolutions, weaving them together thematically and enabling readers to make connections between their purposes, tactics, outcome, and impact. Providing researchers in African and security studies with a comprehensive body of work for further studies, this eminently readable work examines the many past and current insurgencies that have occurred in Africa, identifying their causes and predominantly common bases and rationales.Coauthored by an acclaimed scholar of African studies and a U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel with a master's degree in national security and strategic studies, this single-volume book provides an in-depth examination into the drivers, actors, tactics, weapons, intended outcomes, and sweeping consequences of the many events in Africa that have overturned existing rule or implemented rule where none existed-and in a few cases, resulted in stabilization of a nation. Readers will better understand the causal, contextual, tactical, ideological, and philosophical factors that launch insurgencies through coverage of pre-colonial insurgencies; anti-colonial resistance and national liberation movements; separatist and irredentist movements; reformist, revolutionary, and Islamist insurgencies; and genocide, warlord, and proxy insurgencies. The book's last chapter discusses how insurgent movements might be prevented through better governance, or contained or defeated with diplomatic and/or military means.

A fundamental resource for anyone interested in the long-term ramifications of the European migration crisis, this book objectively assesses how Europe's future course will be impacted by the key security, political, and economic trends and events stemming from the migration crisis.The November 13, 2015 Paris terrorist attacks marked the definitive moment when the migration crisis became associated with terrorism, stoking an increasingly heated debate over the perceived dangers of migration, Islam, and extremist politics in Europe. The sudden emergence of migration as the mobilizing factor for European security, political discourse, and socio-economic realities has profoundly affected Europe's contrasting perceptions of its own identity and values, precipitating an increasingly global response to tackling migration challenges in Europe and worldwide. Migration, Terrorism, and the Future of a Divided Europe: A Continent Transformed chronicles the turbulent events of the 2015-2016 migration crisis, creating a context in which future political, economic, social, and security trends in Europe can be understood. The study also examines in detail the deep history of the ideological origins and histories of treaties and policies that have defined the European Union and its guidance of the crisis. Readers will gain insight into the origins, factual realities, and projected ramifications for the continent's future security, politics, and socio-economic identity; the impact of media coverage on public perception; the differing policies and rhetoric of rival right- and left-wing parties in Europe; and the new security threats arising from a widened terrorist threat matrix that will comprise new targets, methods, and logistics. Finally, the book outlines the larger policy actions and trends expected, on the global level, towards handling future migration crises, and explains how this will have an impact on Europe.This important new work is the cumulative result of author Chris Deliso's extensive academic background in European history and thought; his on-the-ground presence in the target region before, during, and after the crisis; and his interviews with security officials, diplomatic figures, and practitioners directly involved with shaping the policies that were visible during the crisis. Offering a broad historical context, the text portrays the current crisis within the context of a much longer institutional and ideological divide that has existed in Europe and shaped policies for almost a century.

Why has Africa been the subject of so many accusations related to genocide? Indeed, the number of such allegations related to Africa has increased dramatically over the past 15 years. Popular racist mythology might suggest that Africans belong to "e;tribes"e; that are inherently antagonistic towards each other and therefore engage in "e;tribal warfare"e; which cannot be rationally explained. This concept is wrong, as Timothy J. Stapleton explains in A History of Genocide in Africa: the many conflicts that have plagued post-colonial Africa have had very logical explanations, and very few of these instances of African warring can be said to have resulted in genocide.Authored by an expert historian of Africa, this book examines the history of six African countries-Namibia, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Nigeria-in which the language of genocide has been mobilized to describe episodes of tragic mass violence. It seeks to place genocide within the context of African history, acknowledging the few instances where the international legal term genocide has been applied appropriately to episodes of mass violence in African history and identifying the many other cases where it has not and instead the term has been used in a cynical manipulation to gain some political advantage.Readers will come to understand how, to a large extent, genocide accusations related to post-colonial Africa have often served to prolong wars and cause greater loss of life. The book also clarifies how in areas of Africa where genocides have actually occurred, there appears to have been a common history of the imposition of racial ideologies and hierarchies during the colonial era-which when combined with other factors such as the local geography, demography, religion, and/or economics, resulted in tragic and appalling outcomes.

A comprehensive textbook that overviews common technologies utilized within the homeland security enterprise with an emphasis on contemporary homeland security mission areas and end-user applications.

Now updated and expanded for its second edition, this book investigates the role intelligence plays in maintaining homeland security and emphasizes that effective intelligence collection and analysis are central to reliable homeland security.The first edition of Homeland Security and Intelligence was the go-to text for a comprehensive and clear introduction to U.S intelligence and homeland security issues, covering all major aspects including analysis, military intelligence, terrorism, emergency response, oversight, and domestic intelligence. This fully revised and updated edition adds eight new chapters to expand the coverage to topics such as recent developments in cyber security, drones, lone wolf radicalization, whistleblowers, the U.S. Coast Guard, border security, private security firms, and the role of first responders in homeland security.This volume offers contributions from a range of scholars and professionals from organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School, the National Intelligence University, the Air Force Academy, and the Counterterrorism Division at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. This breadth of unique and informed perspectives brings a broad range of experience to the topic, enabling readers to gain a critical understanding of the intelligence process as a whole and to grasp what needs to happen to strengthen these various systems.The book presents a brief history of intelligence in the United States that addresses past and current structures of the intelligence community. Recent efforts to improve information-sharing among the federal, state, local, and private sectors are considered, and the critical concern regarding whether the intelligence community is working as intended-and whether there is an effective system of checks and balance to govern it-is raised. The book concludes by identifying the issues that should be addressed in order to better safeguard our nation in the future.

Military robots are already being used in conflicts around the globe and are affecting both the decision to go to war and the means by which wars are conducted. This book covers the history of military robotics, analyzes their current employment, and examines the ramifications of their future utilization.

This book looks into four areas of our world's international security crisis: the growing threat of America's homegrown jihadists, the continuing rise of terrorism, the causes of gross violations of human rights, and the pervasiveness of civil war.When American jihadists join such international terrorist organizations as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Al Qaeda, the danger to security and stability is often magnified on both global and domestic fronts. The global rise of terrorism in turn causes a deterioration in the quality of human rights for politically disadvantaged people or minority groups within a national territory; meanwhile, the internal crisis created by terrorist violence and human rights violations can expedite the development of civil war, which is likely to endanger domestic and international stability.Taking a consistent theoretical and empirical approach, Emerging Security Challenges: American Jihad, Terrorism, Civil War, and Human Rights explicates the relationships among these four closely related areas of concern for national security. Each chapter presents systematic, empirical evidence of security trends for more than 100 sample countries, determined using the most current statistical methods. Given that security studies should provide practical policy recommendations, this book also offers potentially effective policy suggestions at the end of each chapter.

Now updated and expanded for its second edition, this book investigates the role intelligence plays in maintaining homeland security and emphasizes that effective intelligence collection and analysis are central to reliable homeland security.The first edition of Homeland Security and Intelligence was the go-to text for a comprehensive and clear introduction to U.S intelligence and homeland security issues, covering all major aspects including analysis, military intelligence, terrorism, emergency response, oversight, and domestic intelligence. This fully revised and updated edition adds eight new chapters to expand the coverage to topics such as recent developments in cyber security, drones, lone wolf radicalization, whistleblowers, the U.S. Coast Guard, border security, private security firms, and the role of first responders in homeland security.This volume offers contributions from a range of scholars and professionals from organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School, the National Intelligence University, the Air Force Academy, and the Counterterrorism Division at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. This breadth of unique and informed perspectives brings a broad range of experience to the topic, enabling readers to gain a critical understanding of the intelligence process as a whole and to grasp what needs to happen to strengthen these various systems.The book presents a brief history of intelligence in the United States that addresses past and current structures of the intelligence community. Recent efforts to improve information-sharing among the federal, state, local, and private sectors are considered, and the critical concern regarding whether the intelligence community is working as intended-and whether there is an effective system of checks and balances to govern it-is raised. The book concludes by identifying the issues that should be addressed in order to better safeguard our nation in the future.

This book examines the impact of the National Security Act of 1947, the most important foreign policy legislation that many Americans (including policymakers and academics) have never heard of.Since September 11, 2001, the White House-under both Bush and Obama-has pushed the envelope of taking the United States to war (without declarations), interrogating prisoners of war, spying on potential threats, and acting unilaterally. Why have these trends occurred? How has the apex of foreign power shifted, causing a sea change that has fueled a continual turf war between Capitol Hill and the White House? And perhaps most critically, what is America's role in the world now, and what should it be? The Rise of the American Security State: The National Security Act of 1947 and the Militarization of U.S. Foreign Policy argues that the National Security Act of 1947 and the early Cold War created a bipartisan consensus among U.S. policymakers that spanned several administrations. The result of this consensus and the National Security Act was the creation of permanent institutions: the permanent Defense Department with a secretary of defense; the intelligence community, which has grown to 17 agencies; and significantly, the National Security Council inside the presidency. Collectively, these three developments have led to the militarization of U.S. foreign policy. Readers will grasp how concepts and strategies that were in their infancy during the Cold War era have persisted and continued to affect today's U.S. foreign policy.

This single-volume work documents Pakistan's troubled history, which has led to current global insecurities and created a breeding ground for radical insurgency and terrorism.Why is the volatile political status of Pakistan so critical to world security? How did the tribal region of northwest Pakistan become home to numerous insurgent factions, including the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda? Is the government of Pakistan actively combating or facilitating terrorism and the growth of extremism? Pakistan: The Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the Rise of Terrorism addresses and answers these questions and more, providing a current and comprehensive examination of the terrorist and insurgent groups that use Pakistan as their global base of operation.Readers of this book will better understand how the activities of terrorist groups such as the Pakistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Al Qaeda in Pakistan threaten the future of the state and why the situation in Pakistan is considered by many to be more vital to American interests than Afghanistan. Author William J. Topich evaluates the changing nature of U.S. policy in the region, including analysis of policy regarding drone strikes that target various radical groups, of state stabilization options, and of ongoing United States-Pakistan relations. His assessment of Pakistan's key role in global security accounts for the country's longstanding conflict with India, the Afghanistan wars, and the impact of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and identifies possible future scenarios for Pakistan and the accompanying implications for security.

This cohesive set of case studies collects scholarly research, policy evaluation, and field experience to explain how terrorist groups have developed into criminal enterprises.Terrorist groups have evolved from orthodox global insurgents funded by rogue sponsors into nimble and profitable transnational criminal enterprises whose motivations are not always evident. This volume seeks to explain how and why terrorist groups are often now criminal enterprises through 12 case studies of terrorist criminal enterprises written by authors who have derived their expertise on terrorism and/or organized crime from diverse sources. Terrorist groups have been chosen from different regions to provide the global coverage.Chapters describe and analyze the actors, actions, problems, and collaborations of specific terrorist criminal enterprises. Other elements discussed include links to such facilitating conditions as political culture, corruption, history, economy, and issues of governance. This work advances scholarship in the field of counterterrorism by expanding the understanding of these terrorist groups as entities not driven purely by ideology but rather by the criminal enterprises with which they often coincide.

"This book tries to answer two key questions. The first is why certain periods are more prone to war than others. The other is why certain wars that involve polar powers end with their territorial expansion whereas other wars end in their contraction or maintaining their territorial status. In conclusion, it is asked whether the polarity of the system affects these two outcomes, and if so, how"--

In the post-World War II era, the Soviet Union and the United States wanted to gain the advantage in international security. Both engaged in intelligence gathering. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the espionage game.For more than four decades after World War II, the quest for intelligence drove the Soviet Union and the United States to develop a high-stakes "game" of spying on one another throughout the Cold War. Each nation needed to be aware of and prepared to counter the capabilities of their primary nemesis. Therefore, as the Cold War period developed and technology advanced, the mutual goal to maintain up-to-date intelligence mandated that the process by which the "game" was played encompass an ever-wider range of intelligence gathering means. Covering far more than the United States and Soviet Union's use of human spies, this book examines the advanced technological means by which the two nations' intelligence agencies worked to ensure that they had an accurate understanding of the enemy.The easily accessible narrative covers the Cold War period from 1945 to 1989 as well as the post-Cold War era, enabling readers to gain an understanding of how the spies and elaborate espionage operations fit within the greater context of the national security concerns of the United States and the Soviet Union. Well-known Cold War historian Sean N. Kalic explains the ideological tenets that fueled the distrust and "the need to know" between the two adversarial countries, supplies a complete history of the technological means used to collect intelligence throughout the Cold War and into the more recent post-Cold War years, and documents how a mutual desire to have the upper hand resulted in both sides employing diverse and creative espionage methods.

This important work addresses the difficult ethical issues surrounding the accessibility of food to all people as a human right, and not a privilege that emerges because of social structure or benefit of geography.Food sovereignty-the right of peoples to define their own chosen food and agriculture, free of monopolization or threats-is the path to stopping global hunger. This book approaches the topic from a solutions-based perspective, discussing concrete policy providing for sovereignty, or control, of one's own food sources as a solution that, while controversial, offers more promise than do the actions of international organizations and trade agreements. Providing access to safe, healthy food is an ethical responsibility of the world's nations, not just a right of the elite or wealthy.This book presses the need to formulate policies that address the problems of poverty and hunger on a more humane and meaningful level. Organized thematically, chapters are based on such topics as food security, food sovereignty, human rights, and sustainability that focus on the global food system. Specific case studies provide examples of global hunger and poverty issues. Taken in its entirety, the book informs readers of how their food consumption might negatively affect the global poor, while its concluding chapters offer solutions for alleviating problems in the global food system.

Written for the general reader as well as the professional, this succinct but comprehensive work examines the hybrid nature of the two violent extremist movements threatening the United States: Islamist extremism and white nationalism.Scholarship as well as popular discourse on terrorism often focuses disproportionately on specific groups without paying sufficient attention to the ideology that motivates them. This book emphasizes understanding and countering the ideology that fuels extremism over preoccupation with specific organizations such as Al Qaeda or ISIS. It sets contemporary terrorist threats in perspective, avoiding fear-mongering and political rhetoric.The book examines the nature of violent extremism today in all its forms, including lone wolves and cyber threats. Focusing on the threats posed by both international and domestic terrorism, it analyzes each in depth as a multidimensional hybrid phenomenon: each threat exists as an ideology, as distinct groups espousing that ideology, and as a network of followers. Short, easy-to-read chapters take readers through the subject matter in a clear, methodical manner. Written in an accessible style by an author who has studied terrorism for more than 30 years and provided extensive media coverage on the subject, the work is a valuable addition to the literature on violent extremism.

This book will help civilian and military leaders, opinion makers, scholars, and interested citizens come to grips with the realities of the 21st-century global security arena by dissecting lessons from both the past and the present.This book sets out to accomplish four tasks: first, to outline the evolution of the national and international security concept from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) to the present; second, to examine the circular relationship of the elements that define contemporary security; third, to provide empirical examples to accompany the discussion of each element-security, development, governance, and sovereignty; and fourth, to argue that substantially more sophisticated stability-security concepts, policy structures, and policy-making precautions are required in order for the United States to play more effectively in the global security arena.Case studies provide the framework to join the various chapters of the book into a cohesive narrative, while the theoretical linear analytic method it employs defines its traditional approach to case studies. For each case study it discusses the issue in context, findings and outcomes of the issue, and conclusions and implications. Issue and Context sections outline the political-historical situation and answers the "What?" question; Findings and Outcome sections answer the "Who?", "Why?", "How?", and "So What?" questions; and Conclusions and Implications sections address Key Points and Lessons.

"This timely book provides the inside story of the development of mobile public alert and warning technology in the United States and addresses similar systems being used in Australia, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands"--

A comprehensive textbook that overviews common technologies utilized within the homeland security enterprise with an emphasis on contemporary homeland security mission areas and end-user applications.