What's Wrong With Terrorism?

Robert Goodin is Professor of Social and Political Theory at the Australian National University.

• Preface viiAcknowledgements x1 Introduction 12 Terrorism as Unjust War: Killing Innocent Civilians 6Three problems with the just-war analysis of terrorism 9A different sense of ‘innocence’ 18War crime, ordinary crime or a special offence? 213 Terrorism as a Political Tactic: Intending to Instil Fear 31What sort of ‘ism’ is terrorism? 32What terrorists want 35Fear is the key 45Summing up 484 States Can Be Terrorists, Too 50The definitional ploy 53States terrorizing other states 60States terrorizing their own people 66State-sponsored terror and crimes of complicity 735 Warnings Can Be Terroristic, Too: Profiting Politically from Fear 78Threats and warnings 80Impure warnings: ‘terrorist warnings’ versus ‘warnings of terrorism’ 85Politicians’ intentions matter, too 91Terrorism as an aggravated wrong: is ‘violence’ required? 100Better ‘terrorist warnings’ than none at all? 1086 Warnings Bound to Be Misheard 111How big a deal is terrorism? 114Calibrating risks 118Mechanisms of misperception 123Mass-mediated terror 131Risks of really mass destruction 136Imprudent precautions 1427 Terrorizing Democracy 156Terrorism as a political wrong 156Fearlessness as a response 159Hobbesian solutions to non-Hobbesian problems 170Of tyrants and terrorists 1768 Conclusions 179Notes 187References 218Index 238

"This book is an indispensable guide to anyone seriously interested in how to think about the complex question of terrorism. It exposes subtle and blatant biases that characterize much contemporary discussion of the subject and offers a judicious, closely argued, and ultimately the only realistic response to terrorism."—Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh, University of Westminster