The adoption of the Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism by the League of Nations in 1937 marked the entrance of terrorism in the field of international law. The present-day international legal framework for the prevention and combatting of terrorism started in the 1960’s with the adoption of the 1963 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board Aircraft. This framework now consists of various multilateral treaties and protocols relating to specific categories of terrorist acts as well as several regional conventions on international terrorism in general. However, a comprehensive multilateral convention on terrorism is still lacking. This is mainly due to the continuing lack of agreement within the United Nations on a common definition of international terrorism.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research on Terrorism. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 250a. Crimes against Foreign States (Counterfeiting Currency, Terrorism, etc.) and subject heading (keyword) Terrorism are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
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Description: Juger le terrorisme tout en respectant les principes et garanties de l’État de droit est, plus que jamais, devenu un défi pour le monde judiciaire et les sociétés démocratiques. Dans cet ouvrage, académiques et praticiens du droit se sont réunis afin de contribuer à le relever en adoptant une perspective interdisciplinaire. Depuis le difficile problème de la définition du terrorisme jusqu’à celui du droit de la défense en passant par les questions relatives à l’entraide judiciaire et à l’extradition, les principales dimensions du procès terroriste y font l’objet d’une analyse circonstanciée. Destiné tant aux praticiens du droit qu’aux spécialistes universitaires, cet ouvrage offre une synthèse indispensable des principales questions soulevées par la dimension judiciaire de la lutte internationale contre le terrorisme.
Ludovic Hennebel et Damien Vandermeersch (eds.), 2009Description: What were the reasons behind the terrorist attacks of September 11th and the many others perpetrated by radical Islamist groups? Does the cause of Islamist terrorism relate to the lack of democracy in the Middle East? The assumption that there is a causal link between the two phenomena was widely accepted in the post-2001 period and appeared to inform Western foreign policies in the region, but does the premise really stand up to scrutiny? Through detailed research into the activities of both radical and moderate organizations across the Middle East, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hizbullah, and the GIA, and via interviews with key personnel, Katerina Dalacoura investigates whether repression and political exclusion pushed Islamist entities to adopt terrorist tactics. She explores whether inclusion in the political process has had the opposite effect of encouraging Islamist groups toward moderation and ideological pragmatism. In a challenge to the conventional wisdom, she concludes that Islamist terrorism is not a direct consequence of authoritarianism in the Middle East, and that there are many other political and social factors that generate radicalism or inspire moderation.
Katerina Dalacoura, 2011Description: In The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda, Fawaz Gerges, a public intellectual known widely in the academe and media for his expertise on radical ideologies, including jihadism, argues that the Western powers have become mired in a “terrorism narrative,” stemming from the mistaken belief that America is in danger of a devastating attack by a crippled Al-Qaeda. To explain why Al-Qaeda is no longer a threat, he provides a briskly written history of the organization, showing its emergence from the disintegrating local jihadist movements of the mid-1990s-not just the Afghan resistance of the 1980s, as many believe-in “a desperate effort to rescue a sinking ship by altering its course.” During this period, Gerges interviewed many jihadis, gaining a first-hand view of the movement that bin Laden tried to reshape by internationalizing it. He reveals that transnational jihad has attracted but a small minority within the Arab world and possesses no viable social and popular base. Furthermore, he shows that the attacks of September 11, 2001, were a major miscalculation–no “river” of fighters flooded from Arab countries to defend Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, as bin Laden expected. The democratic revolutions that swept the Middle East in early 2011 show that al-Qaeda today is a non-entity which exercises no influence over Arabs’ political life. Gerges shows that there is a link between the new phenomenon of homegrown extremism in Western societies and the war on terror, particularly in Afghanistan-Pakistan, and that homegrown terror exposes the structural weakness, not strength, of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. Gerges concludes that the movement has splintered into feuding factions, neutralizing itself more effectively than a Predator drone.
Fawaz A. Gerges, 2011Description: The book examines the military response, analyzing legal issues related to treating terrorism as an armed conflict. These include the legal authority to use military force; determining when the law of armed conflict comes into force; the law of targeting and how this authority is applied to terrorist operatives; preventive detention; and prosecution of terrorists by military commission. The book also analyzes the Law Enforcement Response to international terrorism, including the legal framework for gathering counter-terrorism intelligence information, prosecuting terrorists and their sponsors, and freezing terrorist assets, domestically and internationally. Finally, the book examines the federal statutes authorizing civil liability for personal injury or death caused by acts of international terrorism.
Jimmy Gurulé and Geoffrey S. Corn, 2011Three Hague-based organizations, T.M.C. Asser Institute, the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism of the University of Leiden/Campus Den Haag and the Dutch Institute for International Relations ‘Clingendael’, announced to join forces to set up an independent institute that will contribute to the study and policy-making in the field of counter-terrorism. The institute is financed by [...]
Read moreOn 31 March 2009, the Dutch government is hosting the ´International Conference on Afghanistan: a Comprehensive Strategy in a Regional Context´ at the World Forum in The Hague.
Building on the achievements of previous Conferences in Bonn, London and Paris, this Conference should reaffirm the solid and long-term commitment of the international community to [...]
Read moreTerrorism in the jungle. Colombian armed forces rescued 15 hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Ms Betancourt was held prisoner for six years in the Colombian jungle.
Read moreMore relevant links in Delicious
Principles of Counter-terrorism Law / , 2011
The Rise and Fall of Al-Qaeda / , 2011
Juger le terrorisme dans l'état de droit / , 2009
Terrorism and International Law : Accountability, Remedies, and Reform / , 2011
Terrorism and the Law / , 2011
International Humanitarian Law and Terrorism / , 2011
