New Wars Terrorism and Security of the State

Al Qaeda's deadly assaults against the American homeland on September 11, 2001 deeply altered regional security architectures the world over. Religious extremists responsible for having coordinated and implemented the 9/11 attacks have brought state and non-state actors to radically reconsider traditional concepts of security, including responses and the need for tactical and strategic preemption in the face of growing conventional and asymmetric threats to communities at home and abroad. Drawing upon critical new research, the analyses presented by the contributors of this volume challenge and even shatter previously held ideas about domestic and international terrorism and state-sanctioned violence. They shed light upon new conceptions of security as well as the need for actors to address existing and emerging cultures of fear and critical susceptibilities in the face of wanton violence and security of the state in the 21st century.