This chapter provides an overview of the international weapons trade. A history of the global arms trade is offered, highlighting the various ways in which the trade in defence and military equipment has shifted throughout the years until the present day. The chapter outlines the ways in which weapons are illicitly traded and addresses the connections between legal and illicit arms markets. Finally, the chapter addresses the many attempts that have been made in recent years to control the international arms trade, as well as prospects for its future regulation. What emerges is a rather complex picture of the global arms trade that requires attention to numerous facets involving both weapons supply and demand.
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25. The Weapons Trade
Suzette R. Grillot
Chapter
14. Security and Terrorism
Mai’a K. Davis Cross
The rise of international terrorism has made domestic security a high-profile issue in Europe. This chapter first provides an overview of the European experience of terrorism, and discusses how European governments have responded to terrorist threats. The focus then shifts to the EU level, as increasingly this is where the most significant developments are taking place in the field of security and counter-terrorism. The chapter delves into the development of the EU’s counter-terrorism policy, within the context of an increasingly stronger European approach to security more generally. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the ISIS-inspired attacks that took place between 2015 and 2017, including the effect they had on national politics.
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1. Introduction
Diego Muro and Tim Wilson
This chapter introduces the field of terrorism studies, which is the fastest-growing sub-discipline within the broader field of international relations. As a subject of study, terrorism is a cutting-edge field in terms of looking into how power relations are determined in the world today. Generally, terrorism studies have tended to see terrorism as a deliberate act of inciting of fear in other people. The chapter highlights the importance of accounting for the cost of lost lives while studying terrorism. The chapter then divides the book into three divisions: state of terrorism studies, debates in terrorism studies, and countering terrorism. Additionally, the chapter notes how case studies are used to examine concepts in relation to real-life experiences.
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17. Old and New Terrorism
Peter R. Neumann
This chapter looks into the evolution of terrorism. Changes in technology and other aspects of terrorism had produced a new form of terrorism. Globalization and the rise of information technology had allowed terrorist organizations to ‘flatten’ their hierarchies and operate across greater distances. Academic studies into new terrorism considers the following: the motives and actions of policymakers, validity of cause, and comparisons between ‘new’ and ‘old’ terrorisms. The chapter specifically considers Islam. The chapter also looks at considerations over the use of the term ‘new’ in relation to terrorism now. New terrorism has brought out a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the various trends and developments within the broader field of terrorism studies.
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2. What Are Terrorism Studies?
Tim Wilson
This chapter gives a basic overview of the field of terrorism studies. It looks at attempts to define the boundaries of terrorism as a subject. It traces the evolution of orthodox terrorism studies since the 1970s. The term terrorism was first coined during the French Revolution. Terrorism sparks powerful images of sudden, disruptive, and system-shaking political violence. The academic study of terrorism as it exists now reflects the shifting concerns of both governments and the public. Scolarship on terrorism has never been richer and more diverse than it is now. New research opportunties always raise new challenges so it will be interesting to see the field of terrorism studies evolve even further in the future.
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3. Critical Terrorism Studies
Harmonie Toros
This chapter focuses on critical terrorism studies (CTS), which is an investigation into whether terrorism exists at all. These sorts of studies look into the different actors who play a part in different practices and consequences. CTS considers how the construction of the terrorist threat serves specific political, economic, and social functions. Additionally, CTS hopes for a political project aimed at changing the world's policies and practices of security and terrorism. The chapter lists the theoretical foundations of CTS, which derive from post-structuralism and constructivism, and the Frankfurt School's ideas on critical theory. Finally, the chapter shows that terrorism is primarily seen as a political issue under the stance of CTS.
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8. Terrorism and asymmetric conflicts
Christian Olsson
This chapter assesses the question of ‘security for what purpose?’ in asymmetric conflicts where rival political-military organizations, typically a government and a clandestine group, compete to institute and enforce a socio-political order. Terrorism and the asymmetric use of violence are often understood to pose specific kinds of security challenges that distinguish them from other forms of political violence like war. The chapter highlights why parties to these conflicts often come to threaten individuals—be it through indiscriminate repression or clandestine political violence. It also shows that the protagonists of such conflicts generally seek to define security in terms of the stability of their own socio-political order, thus potentially increasing levels of violence. It is in the context of such conflicts that the chapter discusses the concepts of terrorism and counterterrorism.
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27. Transnational Crime
Nathan P. Jones
This chapter defines transnational crime and other key concepts. It first defines transnational crime and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). It covers the rise of transnational crime with a focus on TCOs, their ‘new’ (networks) and ‘old’ (markets and hierarchies) organizational forms, and other useful concepts in the study of transnational crime. Second, it discusses the crime–terror debates, as criminal groups often utilize political violence for their profit-seeking ends, and terror groups use criminal activities for fundraising. It then moves on to explore the relationship between transnational organized crime (TOC) and the state, and the implications for global and national security of states. It provides a case study of TCOs in Mexico that illustrates many of the trends in organized crime since the end of the Cold War to the present. Finally, the chapter addresses how the international community has combatted transnational criminal actors as they become more powerful and increasingly diversify their revenue streams.
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8. Military power and US foreign policy
Beth A. Fischer
This chapter explores the relationship between American military power and foreign policy. It also considers important debates regarding containment, deterrence, preemption, and the limits of military power. The chapter begins with a discussion of the rise of American military power during the period 1945–91, focusing on the military implications of containment and deterrence as well as the role of deterrence in ending the arms race. It then examines the fundamental questions that the United States had to confront in the post-Cold War era regarding its role in the world and its military power; for example, whether nuclear weapons are still useful, and for what purpose the U.S. military should be deployed. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the U.S. response to terrorism, with particular emphasis on the U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan (2001) and the war in Iraq (2003).
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1. Introduction: US foreign policy—past, present, and future
Michael Cox and Doug Stokes
This work examines how domestic politics and culture shape US foreign policy, with particular emphasis on the role of institutions and processes. It considers the ways in which pressure groups and elites determine influence what the United States does abroad, the importance of regional shifts and media and their impact on the making of US foreign policy, and US relations with Europe, the Middle East, Russia, the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, and Africa. The text also discusses key issues relevant to American foreign policy, such as global terrorism, the global environment, gender, and religion. It argues that whoever resides in the White House will continue to give the military a central role in the conduct of US foreign policy, and that whoever ‘runs’ American foreign policy will still have to deal with the same challenges both at home and abroad.
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5. The Consequences of Democracy and Authoritarian Regimes
This chapter reviews the latest research showing how regime type affects a host of outcomes of interest. It explains why democratic decline matters, examining the effects of democracy on a state's conflict propensity, levels of terrorism, economic growth, human development, corruption, and human rights. The chapter then highlights two key takeaways from the research on the consequences of regime type. First, hybrid regimes, or those countries that sit in the middle of the autocracy–democracy spectrum, perform less well than either their fully democratic or fully authoritarian counterparts in a number of areas. Second, research suggests that democracies outperform dictatorship on almost every indicator examined. Ultimately, the academic record demonstrates that even after one sets democracy's intrinsic value aside, government is better when it is more democratic. Although democratic decision-making can be slower, this process is more likely to weigh risks, thereby avoiding volatile and ruinous policies.
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5. The legal system and human rights
This chapter focuses on the legal system in the UK and looks at how the legal system and human rights relate to the political system. The chapter starts by defining both the legal system and human rights and shows how they are important in politics and in our democratic society and how they work in practice. These are closely connected issues, as the UK legal system is supposed to operate within human rights principles. The chapter introduces a series of theoretical concepts that aid to the understanding of the legal system. Central to this is the concept of the rule of law. The chapter presents some practical examples to show how various goals are realized. The first example given in the provision of legal aid to those who cannot afford their own legal advice. The second example relates to how policy makers attempt to deal with threats of terrorism. The third example is the key legal basis for the upholding of human rights via the Human Rights Act 1998. The chapter finishes with a debate on the political role of courts and looks at the implications of Brexit for the legal system and human rights.
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23. The ‘War on Terror’ and the War in Afghanistan
This chapter focuses on the ‘war on terror’ of the US and its involvement in the war in Afghanistan. In the later years of the twentieth century, Middle Eastern groups launched terrorist acts against Western targets. The advent of suicide bombers and groups like al-Qaeda changed the relationships between means and ends in the use of terror. The end of the Cold War severely undermined the effectiveness of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in gathering intelligence on terrorists. The chapter first provides an overview of terrorism prior to 9/11, before discussing George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’, the defeat of the Taliban in Afghanistan during the period 2001–3 and its revival, and the problem of Pakistan. It concludes with an assessment of Barack Obama’s strategy for Afghanistan.
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24. The War in Iraq
This chapter focuses on the Iraq war of 2003–11 and the troubles in the Middle East. George W. Bush’s advisers, led by Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld, had been considering an attack on Iraq well before 9/11. At the same time, many experts within the government pointed to the lack of any evidence for Iraqi-sponsored terrorism directed against the United States. The threats to US national security were outlined to Bush in a briefing just prior to his inauguration; these threats came primarily from al-Qaeda’s terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear arms and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The chapter first considers the US decision to invade Iraq, before discussing the war, taking into account the US’s Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war’s costs to the US and to Iraq. It also examines the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and concludes with an assessment of the ‘Arab Spring’.
Book
John W. Young and John Kent
International Relations Since 1945 provides a comprehensive introduction to global political history since World War II. The text has been comprehensively updated to cover the period between 2001 and 2012. Discussing the World Trade Center bombing and concluding with the run-up to the 2012 US presidential elections, a new final section outlines broad developments including the changing world order and the global financial crisis. Three new chapters look at terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the rise of major new powers, including China. Student learning is supported by a range of helpful learning features, including biographies of key figures and chronologies of events.
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29. Terrorism and globalization
James D. Kiras
This chapter examines how globalization has contributed to the growth of terrorism as a global phenomenon. It considers whether global terrorism is the price states pay for entry into and continued access to a globalized system, why violent Islamic extremism continues to be the primary motivator for global terrorist violence, and whether freedoms should be restricted to ensure greater security against the threat of global terrorism. The chapter first looks at the definitions of terrorism before tracing the transformation of terrorism from a transnational to a global phenomenon. It then explores the role of technology in terrorism and ways of combating terrorism. The two case studies in this chapter deal with activities of the so-called Islamic State in the Philippines and Mozambique since 2017 and the US ‘insurrection’ on 6 January 2021.
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8. The twenty-first century and smart power
Joseph S. Nye Jr.
This chapter examines US foreign policy as ‘smart power’, a combnation of hard and soft power, in the twenty-first century. The beginning of the twenty-first century saw George W. Bush place a strong emphasis on hard power, as exemplifed by the invasion and occupation of Iraq. This was evident after 9/11. While the war in Iraq showcased America’s hard military power that removed a tyrant, it failed to resolve US vulnerability to terrorism; on the contrary, it may have increased it. The chapter first considers the Obama administration’s reference to its foreign policy as ‘smart power’ before discussing Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy, the role of power in a global information age, soft power in US foreign policy, and how public diplomacy has been incorporated into US foreign policy.
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11. Irregular Warfare Terrorism and Insurgency
James D. Kiras
This chapter examines two types of irregular warfare: terrorism and insurgency. It first considers the problematic definitions given to irregular warfare, terrorism, and insurgency before discussing the theory and practice of irregular warfare. In particular, it highlights the role of time, space, legitimacy, and/or support in insurgent and terrorist campaigns. It then analyses counterinsurgency and counterterrorism in theory and practice, focusing on three important elements of successful campaigns against insurgents and terrorists, namely, location, isolation, and eradication. It also explores contemporary and future irregular threats and how they are driven by a combination of culture, religious fanaticism, and technology. Finally, it comments on the role to be played by information technology in irregular wars of the future, which some observers expect to be fought in cyberspace.
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14. Conventional Power and Contemporary Warfare
John Ferris
This chapter examines how conventional power shapes warfare in the contemporary world. It considers the present and emerging state of conventional military power, how conventional forces function in areas such as distant strike and urban warfare, and how their role differs from that of other forms of force, including terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The chapter first provides a historical background to demonstrate the important role played by conventional power in war before discussing the rise of new world orders in 1945, 1989, and 2001. It then describes states possessing power and hyperpower, along with the revolution in military affairs and how developing countries may trump it through various strategies. It also shows how the distribution of conventional power is changing, noting that Western countries are in decline and new world powers are emerging, especially China and India.
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1. Introduction
Strategy in the Contemporary World
John Baylis, James J. Wirtz, and Jeannie L. Johnson
This book examines strategy in the contemporary world. Part I considers the enduring issues that animate the study of strategy and tackles topics ranging from the causes of war to questions about culture, morality, and war. Part II deals with issues that fuel strategic debates, with chapters on terrorism and irregular warfare, nuclear weapons, arms control, weapons of mass destruction, conventional military power, peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention, and cyberwar. Part III discusses critical and non-Western approaches to the study of strategy and security that have emerged in recent years, and concludes by reflecting on future prospects for strategic studies. This introduction provides an overview of strategic studies, criticisms that are made of strategic studies, and how strategic studies relates to security studies.
