Combating Terrorism in the 21st Century: American Laws, Strategies, and Agencies

This combination A–Z encyclopedia and primary document collection serves as an authoritative and enlightening overview of US counterterrorism politics, policies, attitudes, and actions related to both foreign and domestic threats. This book provides a compelling overview of US laws, policies, programs, and actions in the realms of counterterrorism, as well as comprehensive coverage of the various domestic and foreign terrorist organizations threatening America, including their leaders, ideologies, and practices. Entries are supplemented with a carefully selected collection of primary sources that track the evolution of US counterterrorism policies and political debate. These documents not only illuminate major events and turning points in America's fight against terror – both foreign and homegrown – but also help readers understand debates about the effectiveness, morality, and constitutionality of controversial policies that have either been implemented or proposed, from waterboarding to targeted assassination to indefinite incarceration at Guantánamo Bay. In addition, this resource shows how political controversies over counterterrorism strategies are spilling over into other areas of American life – from debates about privacy rights, government surveillance, and racially-discriminatory actions and beliefs to arguments about whether US firearms policies are a boon to terrorists.