文章基本信息

标题：The Terrorism Lectures: A Comprehensive Collection for Students of Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and National Security. By Dr. James J.F. Forest. Santa Ana, CA: Nortia Press, 2012.
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作者：Mark Roberts
期刊名称：Journal of Strategic Security
印刷版ISSN：1944-0464
电子版ISSN：1944-0472
出版年度：2013
卷号：6
期号：1
页码：86-87
出版社：Henley-Putnam University
摘要：Dr. James J.F. Forest's The Terrorism Lectures is one of those rare books that actually delivers what it promises. The book attempts to mirror a university level terrorism course using each chapter as a lecture that can be taken as part of a larger body or sui generis. Written in an informal, even conversational style, it takes a nuanced, complex topic and makes it less arcane while still maintaining a certain level of intellectual rigor. Each chapter has questions for discussion at the end to help the reader focus on the salient points. The first lecture undertakes the definitions and historical framework of the topic. By outlining how different entities rega rd terrorism (e.g. State Department vice Department of Defense vice Department of Justice etc.), the author shows that how we define terrorism depends upon on the prism throug h which we see it. Terrorists do not abide by what we view as the conventional norms of political and societal values, choosing to target innocent people while causing psychological trauma. He draws the distinction between terrorism and criminal activity in that the former has political change to drive a new status quo as its motive while the latter is motivated by profit. Forest posits that to understand terrorism, we must understand how terrorists view themselves and how they rationalize their behavior