Book Review of Ronald Crelinsten, Counterterrorism (Cambridge: Polity, 2014)

What is it about?

In this book, Crelinsten aims to provide a clear understanding of the full variety of counterterrorism approaches and the variables that underlie their differences. He wishes to help us understand the complexities and challenges related to countering terrorism today (p. 14). At the outset, Crelinsten defines terrorism as the combined use and threat of violence, planned in secret and usually executed without warning, that is directed against one set of targets in order to coerce compliance or to compel allegiance from a second set of targets and to intimidate or to impress a wider audience (p. 6).

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Why is it important?

Ronald Crelinsten has devoted dozens years of his life to the study of terror. He is one of the foremost scholars in the field and a new book from him should be of interest to all who are seeking to understand the terrorist phenomenon, including law-enforcement officers who seek fresh ways to combat terror.

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